Arriva Buses Wales - Chester Depot

[iMarkeh]

RE: Arriva Buses Wales - Chester Depot

(03/10/2018 10:14)Turbostar19 Wrote:  Routing the X4 past Chester station is directly competing with Stagecoach's X8 on the Chester - Cheshire Oaks corridor. Judging by the number of customers boarding at the station, I'd say Arriva have done their homework.

Equally, some of the early runs between E'port & Chester have the potential to do well, as again, the existing Stagecoach services seem to load well early on weekdays, (less so on Saturday's).

Now, I would fully agree with you. However, they have timed up the X4 just behind the X8 so any potential passengers will already be picked up. Only the few people who missed the bus will actually see the X4. They have certainly looked and see there is a good opportunity but the timings mean the route won't work as well as it could.

The early services may do really well. My confusion is why there is an earlier start on a Saturday than a weekday.

The whole thought process behind it is really good. I think Arriva will get quite a few people off the 5 (old SP) but the timings have let them down massively. I would have thought that if they wanted to capitalise on this extension, they would have ensured all the times worked.

(03/10/2018 10:49)T42 PVM Wrote:  I bet the vast majority of those users have Stagecoach tickets so cant see very many using Arriva

A lot of tourists board at the train station and purchase tickets. The biggest thing is getting the passengers from Chester (as then you are almost garunteed the return customer on the way back). Depending on how the drivers are feeling on that day, they could make a lot off Cheshire Oaks from confused tourists (A good driver would just say wait for a Stagecoach bus, a bad driver would say their ticket isn't valid and tell them they need to purchase another ticket).

(03/10/2018 11:07)Raawwwrrr! Wrote:  Most passengers who board here are visiting the zoo over Cheshire Oaks outlet though.

It depends what time of year. During the summer holidays a lot of people go to the zoo but around this time of year and especially until around January most people are going to Cheshire Oaks. I think the best way to work would be to have both on the route so then all year round it should be busy but then you are jeopardising the reliability with the Zoo and Cheshire Oaks both being major traffic hotspots at times.