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Post by N230UD on Nov 19, 2017 0:10:30 GMT
More competition is planned for Harlow.
Arriva are extending their Harlow local route 9 to Epping Station, so competing against the Trustybus service 419/420. Some of you may remember Arriva withdrew from the Harlow-Epping corridor a good few years back after facing competition from SM Coaches.
Trustybus have retaliated by registering a route 40 in Harlow, competing against Arriva's 10 to the Church Langley estate.
This isn't the 1990s, this is 2017 when even successful operators such as Stagecoach are making cutbacks. And south-west Essex isn't exactly good bus territory, thanks to relentless levels of competion from dodgy operators a good few years back .
I don't think any operator will have success out of this. Surely Arriva should be concentrating on improving their existing services, rather than wasting resources on this.
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Post by snoggle on Nov 19, 2017 0:27:03 GMT
More competition is planned for Harlow. Arriva are extending their Harlow local route 9 to Epping Station, so competing against the Trustybus service 419/420. Some of you may remember Arriva withdrew from the Harlow-Epping corridor a good few years back after facing competition from SM Coaches. Trustybus have retaliated by registering a route 40 in Harlow, competing against Arriva's 10 to the Church Langley estate. This isn't the 1990s, this is 2017 when even successful operators such as Stagecoach are making cutbacks. And south-west Essex isn't exactly good bus territory, thanks to relentless levels of competion from dodgy operators a good few years back . I don't think any operator will have success out of this. Surely Arriva should be concentrating on improving their existing services, rather than wasting resources on this. Depends on whether they think that a competitive strike can weaken / kill Trustybus and / or EOS Buses. I am sure Arriva can defend route 10. I am actually slightly surprised they haven't done a Mercedes Minibus attack in Harlow. Being able to remove competition may be a viable strategy for Arriva now and if they can restore a monopoly in Harlow they'll be pleased after decades of "war". |
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Post by tony4387 on Nov 19, 2017 8:06:06 GMT
Personally I'd like to see either trustybus or eos take on the remaining routes of regal busways
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Post by joefrombow on Nov 19, 2017 9:10:09 GMT
Personally I'd like to see either trustybus or eos take on the remaining routes of regal busways Has Regal fully gone under now ? I know they cut back a while back on all their major routes ? (Canvey route 1 etc) Shame as they were one of the better operators out of the smaller ones at one point . |
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Post by tony4387 on Nov 19, 2017 9:53:47 GMT
It looks like from an other forum I belong to that they are withdrawing from there 10 service in Chelmsford at some point in the new year so it looks like there doing it gradually
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Post by vjaska on Nov 19, 2017 13:23:46 GMT
Personally I'd like to see either trustybus or eos take on the remaining routes of regal busways Has Regal fully gone under now ? I know they cut back a while back on all their major routes ? (Canvey route 1 etc) Shame as they were one of the better operators out of the smaller ones at one point . A lot of people from Essex regard Regal as absolute cowboys and would be happy to see the back of them. Trusttybus doesn't much good mentions especially with a nickname of "Rustybus". EOS though seem to have a good reputation from what I hear. |
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Post by N230UD on Nov 19, 2017 16:32:16 GMT
From December, Regal Busways will just be left with the 10/10A in Chelmsford, the 104/6 in Basildon, and the 900 Freeport shuttle in Billericay. But as tony4387 says, they have also deregistered the 10 now as well.
My experience of Regal is very much of a 'cowboy' operator. I've often had buses not turning up, and when they do, they are often battered filty buses, with paper in the windscreen with the route number (if at all), and drivers with poor communication. They have also repeatedly de-reoofed buses under the notorious railway bridge at Chelmsford Station. Despite that though, there have been rare occasions when drivers have been very professional with uniform and good customer service.
Trustybus are probably a lot better than Regal. Their buses are (generally) smarter, and i've found them to be far more reliable than Regal. Some good drivers. But they are a mixed bag, and they seem to be making a lot of cutbacks.
EOS seem to be the only decent operator in the area. They try really hard with customer service, as can be seen with their Twitter feed. Good website too, and they make an effort with paper timetables. Drivers generally really good. Buses are a mixed bag, with some smart vehicles but some not. Most buses seem to have either digital destination displays, or roller blinds, but they still can be seen with the traditional Harlow-style A4-paper in windscreen. They have managed to make a moderate success in an area where others have failed.
I doubt EOS or Trustybus will be in a hurry to replace Regal's routes. Their routes are quite a distance from their bases, and they're not great bus territory. Although, EOS do manage to operate a route in Brentwood so anythings possible.
But back to Harlow - Arriva appear to be making more of an effort now, and perhaps are now in a better position to try and get a monopoly back. But it still seems a very strange move to me in the current climate. I can see the 'network benefits' of Arriva extending their routes, but it will probably be hard work to get the Epping corridor back from Trustybus. Also, if the Arriva extention to Epping negatively affects the 419, this will have a knock on effect with route 420 which continues after Epping to Ongar. Will Arriva be willing to extend to Ongar if they "win" the war? I partly doubt it, and Essex CC will be very unlikely to step in to fill the gap.
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Post by snoggle on Nov 19, 2017 23:01:55 GMT
But back to Harlow - Arriva appear to be making more of an effort now, and perhaps are now in a better position to try and get a monopoly back. But it still seems a very strange move to me in the current climate. I can see the 'network benefits' of Arriva extending their routes, but it will probably be hard work to get the Epping corridor back from Trustybus. Also, if the Arriva extention to Epping negatively affects the 419, this will have a knock on effect with route 420 which continues after Epping to Ongar. Will Arriva be willing to extend to Ongar if they "win" the war? I partly doubt it, and Essex CC will be very unlikely to step in to fill the gap. I can think of one operator who runs from Brentwood to Ongar who might be tempted to reach Epping if there is no other competition.  |
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Post by joefrombow on Nov 20, 2017 4:41:44 GMT
But back to Harlow - Arriva appear to be making more of an effort now, and perhaps are now in a better position to try and get a monopoly back. But it still seems a very strange move to me in the current climate. I can see the 'network benefits' of Arriva extending their routes, but it will probably be hard work to get the Epping corridor back from Trustybus. Also, if the Arriva extention to Epping negatively affects the 419, this will have a knock on effect with route 420 which continues after Epping to Ongar. Will Arriva be willing to extend to Ongar if they "win" the war? I partly doubt it, and Essex CC will be very unlikely to step in to fill the gap. I can think of one operator who runs from Brentwood to Ongar who might be tempted to reach Epping if there is no other competition. Now that certain operator have had consistently high standards and are in my eyes the epitome of how small bus companies should be run :-) they could even teach Arriva and First a thing or two . |
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Post by tony4387 on Nov 20, 2017 13:19:04 GMT
Something tells me we are talking about ensignbus here lol
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Post by N230UD on Nov 20, 2017 20:19:54 GMT
But back to Harlow - Arriva appear to be making more of an effort now, and perhaps are now in a better position to try and get a monopoly back. But it still seems a very strange move to me in the current climate. I can see the 'network benefits' of Arriva extending their routes, but it will probably be hard work to get the Epping corridor back from Trustybus. Also, if the Arriva extention to Epping negatively affects the 419, this will have a knock on effect with route 420 which continues after Epping to Ongar. Will Arriva be willing to extend to Ongar if they "win" the war? I partly doubt it, and Essex CC will be very unlikely to step in to fill the gap. I can think of one operator who runs from Brentwood to Ongar who might be tempted to reach Epping if there is no other competition. Didn't think about that! Perhaps there is a silver lining in all this. |
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