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Post by joefrombow on Aug 26, 2021 19:27:34 GMT
First Essex are splitting the infamous long running Route 100 Lakeside - Chelmsford in half , I still remember this as Premier 100 in Thamesway days (It currently operates as two halves in a sense anyway as drivers do one half and buses wait at Basildon for 5 minutes either way ) Passengers will now have to change buses at Basildon but both halves will still have the same route number and through tickets will be available I'm guessing .
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Post by LondonNorthern on Oct 6, 2021 18:34:45 GMT
Thought some might be interested in this but massive credit to the drivers involved in moving 5 E500s from Aberdeen down to Camborne for FSW. I mean that must have been a trek and a half especially as that's around ~700 or so miles (including drivers needing to make stops - I know two were parked up in Wells depot in Somerset) but sadly this does mean an end to the Closed Top Trident era down there... It would be great if one of these was preserved
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Post by TNL33036 on Oct 15, 2021 14:50:05 GMT
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Post by TNL33036 on Oct 21, 2021 17:29:12 GMT
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Post by LondonNorthern on Oct 22, 2021 14:14:32 GMT
YY13VKP (Thought this would be relevant to you as you seem to be an avid user of First WY) but 37049-52 will be moving to Somerset.
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Post by TB123 on Oct 28, 2021 11:40:56 GMT
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b5f2dd80-3710-11ec-8ef4-8e6db1a4b82a?shareToken=2c1e35164d9c76d3dba8e355484b963fThere's this very interesting article in the Times today regarding First group - behind a paywall, but jist of it is a focus on the core UK bus and railway markets, but also mention of a possible re-entry to the London bus market....this ties in quite closely with the recent rumours of a possible acqusition of another transport group that's in a spot of bother at the minute, who just so happens to be the biggest London bus operator....Very interesting times ahead.
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Post by Nathan on Oct 28, 2021 11:45:55 GMT
Would be funny if they bought Tower Transit 😂 Full circle
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Post by tony4387 on Oct 28, 2021 20:42:06 GMT
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b5f2dd80-3710-11ec-8ef4-8e6db1a4b82a?shareToken=2c1e35164d9c76d3dba8e355484b963fThere's this very interesting article in the Times today regarding First group - behind a paywall, but jist of it is a focus on the core UK bus and railway markets, but also mention of a possible re-entry to the London bus market....this ties in quite closely with the recent rumours of a possible acqusition of another transport group that's in a spot of bother at the minute, who just so happens to be the biggest London bus operator....Very interesting times ahead. Wonder what group the rumours are about
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Post by TB123 on Oct 28, 2021 20:47:10 GMT
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b5f2dd80-3710-11ec-8ef4-8e6db1a4b82a?shareToken=2c1e35164d9c76d3dba8e355484b963fThere's this very interesting article in the Times today regarding First group - behind a paywall, but jist of it is a focus on the core UK bus and railway markets, but also mention of a possible re-entry to the London bus market....this ties in quite closely with the recent rumours of a possible acqusition of another transport group that's in a spot of bother at the minute, who just so happens to be the biggest London bus operator....Very interesting times ahead. Wonder what group the rumours are about Go-Ahead.
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Post by tony4387 on Oct 28, 2021 20:51:24 GMT
Didnt realise go ahead group where in a spot of bother financially
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Post by TB123 on Oct 28, 2021 20:56:56 GMT
Didnt realise go ahead group where in a spot of bother financially They aren't. But the share price is very weak, as was the case with Stagecoach - and loook what happened to them. Vulnerable to a takeover
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Post by tony4387 on Oct 28, 2021 21:21:50 GMT
Would be nice to first back in London
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Post by southlondon413 on Oct 28, 2021 22:25:02 GMT
Didnt realise go ahead group where in a spot of bother financially They aren't. But the share price is very weak, as was the case with Stagecoach - and loook what happened to them. Vulnerable to a takeover Indeed, there are also rumours in the financial community commenting that the Stagecoach/National Express merger will open up various industries to large mergers. The transport industry, which has largely escaped huge mergers from within itself, is looking increasingly vulnerable especially as rail transport is a guaranteed source of income now the government has changed the way it franchises.
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Post by snowman on Oct 29, 2021 0:32:05 GMT
Didnt realise go ahead group where in a spot of bother financially They aren't. But the share price is very weak, as was the case with Stagecoach - and loook what happened to them. Vulnerable to a takeover GoAhead being kicked off the SouthEastern rail franchise for financial irregularities caused a massive tumble in their share price. Probably has caused a cash and credit line squeeze for them. First Group have just sold their US Greyhound business to Flixbus (although payments are staged over about 18 months from memory), so they. effectively have pot of cash available to spend. A lot of public transport Operators have suffered during the pandemic, kept going through COVID bailout funds which are coming to a end. With usage not yet approaching 100% of pre-pandemic levels all are likely to see lower revenues for a while. These weakened companies are to some extent vulnerable. No idea if they will try and buy parts of some London Operators to re-enter London bus market.
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Post by southlondon413 on Oct 29, 2021 7:51:30 GMT
They aren't. But the share price is very weak, as was the case with Stagecoach - and loook what happened to them. Vulnerable to a takeover GoAhead being kicked off the SouthEastern rail franchise for financial irregularities caused a massive tumble in their share price. Probably has caused a cash and credit line squeeze for them. First Group have just sold their US Greyhound business to Flixbus (although payments are staged over about 18 months from memory), so they. effectively have pot of cash available to spend. A lot of public transport Operators have suffered during the pandemic, kept going through COVID bailout funds which are coming to a end. With usage not yet approaching 100% of pre-pandemic levels all are likely to see lower revenues for a while. These weakened companies are to some extent vulnerable. No idea if they will try and buy parts of some London Operators to re-enter London bus market. First actually made a $19 million loss on the Greyhound sale, recently paid off over £1.3 billion worth of debt and almost £350 million in pensions and a further near £350 million to shareholders. They don’t have that much cash remaining but they are importantly carrying very little debt right now and could afford to acquire Go Ahead as part of their recently announced plans to expand in the UK. However the biggest question for me would be the rail services. No way the CMA would allow First to retain the GTR lines, it would make them the only operator bar Cross Country across the whole of Southern England. They’d have to offload one of them and in my opinion that would be SWR.
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