Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

[MTL0201]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

(13/11/2018 16:57)mrd97 Wrote:  Forgive me for sounding stupid, but why don’t Merseytravel just get Stagecoach or someone to step in? To my understanding these services received ‘top up’ funding when they were with Avon, so surely it won’t cost them any more to change providers? Instead of inadequately replacing yet another vital bus service by putting an extension on a commercial service. For example, Prenton Dell needs a direct bus to Birkenhead and a direct bus to Arrowe Park. Having a link to Woodchurch Road (Sainsbury’s) was also beneficial for older residents to do their shopping. This has now stopped. A few years ago, there was 5 buses an hour in each direction along Prenton Dell. Diverting the 418, if it happens, is beyond stupid, that way passengers have to travel on the bus for around 40 minutes to get to Birkenhead, in the opposite direction than buses to Birkenhead have travelling for years.

As been pointed out, because it's not as simple as Merseytravel getting someone to operate a route, for a number of reasons the operator may not even be willing to operate a route on even at request, lack of resources mostly recruiting more drivers being the main drawback, then is the depot big enough to take all the extra buses needed for the extra routes.