Impera Bus & Coach

[Route102]

RE: Impera Bus & Coach - FLEET NEWS ONLY

(26/11/2012 00:41)First Class Wrote:  

(26/11/2012 00:35)3111 Wrote:  

(25/11/2012 22:48)First Class Wrote:  Keep an eye out

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/13...tender/new

I think that this was completely unneeded and unnecessary. Reasons have been stated and plenty of time has been left for another company to take-over the contract. As passengers, all we should be concerned about is having a fully-functioning service. If that's what we have, then what's your problem? And you've brought-up the 30 - again, unneeded and unnecessary in this situation.

I have the right to find out whether Impera (or any other company) is pulling a fast one with my council tax contributions.

You can't have companies bidding for routes on the cheap then dropping out before expiry because the route doesn't suit them for whatever reason, leading to more expense being incurred when a whole new tender process has to be re-ran at short notice!

Impera's reasons don't add up IMO. I am suspicious so I am investigating.

If Impera raised concerns about reliability, I am very sure Merseytravel would have investigated and, if required, amended the timetable to resolve this problem. This is a fairly easy fix. If Merseytravel investigated and found no problems, or refused to investigate, then that suggests something is up with the Impera version of events, or that Merseytravel does not care about timekeeping, and Merseytravel need a good kick up the backside.

That leaves the only other reason given as Vandalism. If Merseyside police are aware of 34 incidents involving Impera services in Liverpool, they would be very willing to target that problem. Even with the vandalism, this route SHOULD be profitable, (unless Impera deliberately under-priced to win the contracts). Other operators did not have this problem on the routes, which again, makes me question the accuracy of this. Would a company really give up a lucrative series of contracts just because of vandalism?

The reason I mentioned the 30 in the FOI request is because Impera appears to be getting a taste for starting routes and subsequently changing their minds...

Merseytravel were often informed of the timings of the route where the problems where, but as this would mean scheduling another bus into the service, nothing happened. We would fill lost mileage forms out and service delay forms (when more tan 10mins late) to feed back to Merseytravel, again nothing happened!