Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[chester285]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Cheshire west and Chester would of actually taken this into account when the tendering process was issued, When first gained the contract a total of 14 buses including spares were ordered for the park and rides, when First Sold Chester and Wirral to Stagecoach the fleet and the contract was included in the deal, Stagecoach wouldn't operate the contract on behalf of First as they wanted out of the region full stop, the renewal of the existing contract is scheduled to be 2016 so no renewal has been made at all as yet! Of the 14 buses allocated 13 remain in dedicated livery for the park and rides with one vehicle been painted in to corporate livery, Renewal of contacts in the summer would not have any affect at all for services at Christmas as different times of the year require different levels of service.

(23/11/2014 09:46)Dentonian Wrote:  I'm not sure why you automatically say that the drivers are "poor", without knowing all the facts. If an extra bus is required in the build up to Christmas, then the tendering authority (Chester City Council?) should build that in, and allow for the extra cost.
I wasn't even aware that the contract had changed hands from First - which begs the seperate question of what has happened fleetwise, given that it's something like 8 buses worth, isn't it? - suggesting the lead up to Christmas is he wrong time to renew such a contract.
Such large contracts should be let in the Summer (eg. start of the school holidays), so that there is spare capacity to cope with unexpected problems, and less customers to be inconvenienced if said problems do occur.

[wirralbus]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
If there service is that poor on certain days of the week as some one said the abundance of Retail Parks will cause untold delays , somebody should say that two vehicle is unworkable , 3 vehicle operation may be acceptable , park and ride timetable will then be reliable . Everything is down to cost and sounds like Cheshire West and Chester Council would like to do it on the cheap.

[R879 HRF]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Cheshire west arnt huge on investment in public transport, as can be seen by the quality of near enough every bus stop and bus station in the county!

Having been to sealand road a number of times in the last few weeks , I was queuing for at least 10 minutes in the traffic for the greyhound park.. add this to city centre traffic, plus passenger loading times, plus the usual traffic light stops on route, on each trip, the service is bound to struggle. The same applies to route 1 around Cheshire oaks, it's impossible to make up time and the timetable cant really be altered to suit all scenarios.. just typical for this time of year! If radios where fitted, along with use of gps, I agree extra buses should be dispatched where necessary like they do in London.

[chester285]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Its true what R879 HRF says about the council not being huge on investment in public transport, all you need to do is look at Chester bus station and the quality of the bus shelters, It does make you wonder though regarding the park and rides having recently amended the timetables whether this is also playing a factor, Unfortunately the British Public are quick to complain about services, whether it being Bus, Train or just waiting to to pay for goods in a shop at this time of year more its inevitable delays are going to have effects.

(23/11/2014 12:40)R879 HRF Wrote:  Cheshire west arnt huge on investment in public transport, as can be seen by the quality of near enough every bus stop and bus station in the county!

Having been to sealand road a number of times in the last few weeks , I was queuing for at least 10 minutes in the traffic for the greyhound park.. add this to city centre traffic, plus passenger loading times, plus the usual traffic light stops on route, on each trip, the service is bound to struggle. The same applies to route 1 around Cheshire oaks, it's impossible to make up time and the timetable cant really be altered to suit all scenarios.. just typical for this time of year! If radios where fitted, along with use of gps, I agree extra buses should be dispatched where necessary like they do in London.

[PO59 MXJ]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Its the same on race days as the 31s are on diversions plus the traffic. You also have the design fault with the Volvos and them losing coolant which doesnt help matters when they need topping up. Thats obvioisly going to hold the bus up.

[wirralbus]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Seems not another bellyache is then made to both Cheshire West and Chester Council and Stagecoach then , there should be a more robust solution maybe not running along Sealand Road but travelling through Blacon instead.

[PO59 MXJ]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Through the 20mph zone, dodging all the parked cars, speed bumps, chicanes and crazy kids. Your going past it to come back on yourself. To be honest with you, bombing Sealand Road site would be the better option haha.

Until Stagecoach find a larger location for the Chester depot then extra buses are never going to happen. Personally I think they should find a huge piece of land in Hooton and merge Chester and Rock Ferry.

Also heard a rumour today that Stagecoach are after Townlynxs T1 service. Arriva have reduced their fares to £1 on the 10, 11 and 12s to push Townlynx out. If the rumour is true, could it be the start of Stagecoach entering North Wales?

[wirralbus]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
In certain parts of Sealand Road even with the Bus Lanes you was not even doing 10 mph , so 20 mph would be fast in comparsion.

[chester285]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
I personally cannot see Chester relocating to Hooton as there would be dead mileage on vehicles starting out from Chester, I would think they are more likely to relocate to either to the Sealand Road area near to the football ground or Ellesmere Port area, possible down oil sites road where there is a lot of land available, and is also adjacent to the Motorway network, another possibility to an out station to relieve the over crowding of Chester. If the rumours are true that stagecoach are after the T1 could they compete with Arriva who have reduced their fares on the routes stated!

(23/11/2014 22:24)Shaun821 Wrote:  Through the 20mph zone, dodging all the parked cars, speed bumps, chicanes and crazy kids. Your going past it to come back on yourself. To be honest with you, bombing Sealand Road site would be the better option haha.

Until Stagecoach find a larger location for the Chester depot then extra buses are never going to happen. Personally I think they should find a huge piece of land in Hooton and merge Chester and Rock Ferry.

Also heard a rumour today that Stagecoach are after Townlynxs T1 service. Arriva have reduced their fares to £1 on the 10, 11 and 12s to push Townlynx out. If the rumour is true, could it be the start of Stagecoach entering North Wales?

[wirralbus]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
I know tongue in cheek couldn't they buy the site of the Park and Ride site in Sealand Road , its a big enough space of land .

Question how full do all the other park and ride sites get ?

I do know that the Chester Zoo one does get very close to capacity at busy times of the year.