Arriva North West - Winsford Depot

[Bevan Price]

RE: Arriva North West - Winsford Depot

(23/04/2016 19:41)copey Wrote:  The 84's are returning to decker operation from Monday after a short trial with Pulsars in an effort to reduce fuel costs. Some services were being overloaded coming out of Chester with a result of passengers being left behind. Not good on a hourly frequency.
The service is struggling to make profit even after reducing the vehicle numbers probably due to the route length and number of concessionary fares. This is an industry wide problem due to the cash starved councils not being able to afford to reimburse the operators with a reasonable amount of money to cover free travel.
The results can be seen by the unfortunate demise of Routemaster on the route which was not helped of course by another operator deciding to try and get a share.
Nothing else of any significance to report on the fleet side.

The problem with the 84 is that it runs through many miles of sparsely populated countryside, generating few passengers. Similar routes elsewhere have not survived, and if Chester was not such a tourist / shopping magnet, I doubt that the Nantwich - Chester section of 84 would still exist.