Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[mbonwick]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Why do passengers on the Wirral deserve choice any more than those living in other parts of the country, eg. Cumbria?

[moreton407]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
The Wirral has two major bus operators, three if you include Avon Buses, yet it's mainly Arriva who seem to run the most major routes.

[WhiteVanMan]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(21/12/2013 16:32)mbonwick Wrote:  Why do passengers on the Wirral deserve choice any more than those living in other parts of the country, eg. Cumbria?

The Wirral is a large urban area, with a higher demand for a better bus service, unlike Cumbria, which is large rural area, with a very little demand for a bus service.

[wirralbus]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(21/12/2013 09:20)moreton407 Wrote:  

(21/12/2013 08:31)WAITING FOR THE 437 Wrote:  Now stagecoach has established itself on the Wirral. When can they start new services. Dear Stagecoach Greasby 437 could do with either QBP or competition. Its a monopoly at the moment. As is the 410 Clatterbridge to New Brighton. Not sure Stagecoach knows that New Brighton or Wallasey exsits.

Would be great if Stagecoach introduced some new services, the drivers constantly try and flog their weekly tickets, saying that they are cheaper than Arriva, but to be honest, Stagecoach go nowhere as near as many places as Arriva.

But would they want a bus war on the Wirral?

Stagecoach would need drivers to start a bus war as First keeping on making the depot at Rock Ferry smaller to try and make what they had profitable , as for competing on the 410 and 437 where would the arriva drivers go that soon found they arriva didnt need , it needs to be thought through a bit , so it sounds like pie in the sky at the moment . Stagecoach dont need to antagonise at the moment just do things slowly .

[CX06 EBK (Administrator)]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
With the willingness of both Arriva and Stagecoach to enter into QBPs on this side of the water I doubt either would be interested in any form of bus war on the Wirral. They are probably happy enough with what they have and don't want to enter into a tit for tat state of competition. First tried on the 432/3 and it didn't go so well.

[polarbear]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
I agree it's unlikely we'll see any sort of turf war between Stagecoach & Arriva on the Wirral. Don't forget that these two also have operations on the other side of the Mersey & Stagecoach are the minority player in many ways so they could end up having their fingers burnt if they went head to head with Arriva.

I suspect the way forward with Stagecoach will be acquisitions of other operators over time. I can think of a few operations that would fit nicely into their portfolio & bolster their market share in the area without upsetting Arriva.

[WAITING FOR THE 437]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Why would introducing additional services on the wirral result in a bus war! Two routes that could do with some level of choice for the passenger would be the 410 and 437.. The passenger numbers merit alternative operators.. Presently they are both a monoploy. Why are the routes 1,2 and 471/472 so different. I think the 410 and 437 should become QBP's

[YN05 WKE]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
And the 432 & 433 would be good

[CX06 EBK (Administrator)]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
The same logic could be applied for the 20 in Liverpool, which could easily sustain two operators. If Stagecoach started up on there, you could see Arriva retaliating on the 20/21 in Liverpool. Both operators clearly aren't that interested in competition with the introduction of QBPs on some of the most busiest routes in Liverpool (82/86, 14, 10/A) and continued cooperation in the Wirral with QBPs taken over from First.

Those routes may merit alternate operators but you have to think of the other side of the coin where there are Stagecoach routes just over the water that could also benefit from alternate operators. Would they want to risk Arriva starting up on those routes as a come back? It is a business after all and any potential threats to that would probably see a retaliation.

[Fox]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(22/12/2013 13:10)WAITING FOR THE 437 Wrote:  Why would introducing additional services on the wirral result in a bus war! Two routes that could do with some level of choice for the passenger would be the 410 and 437.. The passenger numbers merit alternative operators.. Presently they are both a monoploy. Why are the routes 1,2 and 471/472 so different. I think the 410 and 437 should become QBP's

Bus companies work for profit and not for "variety"

Stagecoach will not create a copy of the 410/437 as arriva has a very frequent monopoly of the passengers. If Stagecoach did run the 410/437, do you honestly think that Arriva would be fine for another operator to come in and take their passengers and profit?

The routes in Liverpool were split operators long before stagecoach or arriva came into the picture and that is why they continue to operate, Stagecoach didn't just suddenly decide to start those services, they already ran in CMT/MTL/GTL days in some form or shape.

If you think of it another way, Arriva has the lions share of North Wirral, and Stagecoach the South, Likewise in Liverpool with Stagecoach having the lions share of the Kirkby corridor.