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Post by WH241 on Aug 2, 2024 16:53:48 GMT
Good point. However who actually has the capacity? NP already have the 299, 389 & 399 on the way but no buses to run it currently. Depends if Sullivan's are prepared to hire them vehicles Can’t speak for the company but they could and have a income in the short term. As I said in my other post I’d be shocked if Stagecoach doesn’t take on the 549 and Go Ahead the routes they have won. There is the issue with drivers but imagine some will want to go with the routes.
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Post by LondonNorthern on Aug 2, 2024 16:53:56 GMT
Good point. However who actually has the capacity? NP already have the 299, 389 & 399 on the way but no buses to run it currently. Depends if Sullivan's are prepared to hire them vehicles Very few of the Streetlites are out and about nowadays so might prove difficult!
I suspect 217, 298 and W9 will be taken on by Metroline. 299/327/389/399 to GAL
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Post by DT 11 on Aug 2, 2024 16:55:00 GMT
Good point. However who actually has the capacity? NP already have the 299, 389 & 399 on the way but no buses to run it currently. Depends if Sullivan's are prepared to hire them vehicles That is a good point. All good hiring them but realistically does any other garages have the capacity to house all these routes. You could potentially run the 217 from HT temporarily. At least the School routes have a few weeks. You have 217 298 299 327 389 399 549 W9 that all need to be covered. The 327 & 549 should be the easiest one because of the 1 PVR.
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Post by ADH45258 on Aug 2, 2024 16:58:38 GMT
This is big. Who will take on the routes at such short notice? I expect Metroline will likely be involved - if any Sullivan drivers are looking to continue on the same routes, PB is only a short distance away from SM. Metroline also have various diesels which have recently been withdrawn, so some might be able to return to TFL service again if not sold yet. With the timing of this, at least the school routes are finished for the summer, which are a significant proportion of Sullivan's TFL work. Also their biggest daytime route, the 217, is largely paralleled by other routes (231/317) so at least no area will go unserved. The priority should probably be the 298/299/W9 which have more unique sections. As someone else has already suggested, considering the Woodford-area changes are taking place next month, Stagecoach could probably run the 549 until then. Maybe TFL could also see if Go Ahead can take over the 299 early. Similarly Uno could perhaps use their school fleet to take over the 298 early - if they are able to find a new allocation before September (maybe ex-H98 ADEs)? A lot could also depend on what Sullivan want to do with their current TFL fleet. Will they keep some batches for non-TFL routes, sell them off, or transfer them with the routes to other operators?
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Post by ThinLizzy on Aug 2, 2024 16:58:43 GMT
Depends if Sullivan's are prepared to hire them vehicles That is a good point. All good hiring them but realistically does any other garages have the capacity to house all these routes. You could potentially run the 217 from HT temporarily. At least the School routes have a few weeks. You have 217 298 299 327 389 399 549 W9 that all need to be covered. The 327 & 549 should be the easiest one because of the 1 PVR. companies like Ensignbus could easily take on the smaller PVR routes. I assume the drivers are also being made redundant overnight
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Post by mondraker275 on Aug 2, 2024 17:00:10 GMT
Wonder if there was an contingency plan discussed or in motion from TfL side for others to pick up work at such short notice? Seems this was on cards for an while? I am not familiar with Sullivans work on the TfL side. Strikes me as strange to make comments that they “were an unwelcome partner”. They couldn’t meet the low costs unlike other operators that ate going through simular motions? 😕 Also, hope senior staff are not on holiday or are off on a Friday. Either way this is probably big enough to get people on a conference call. I think you got into the protocol you have on strikes, and prioritise getting the disruption message out there tonight, and cobble together what you can for the weekend (prioritising some services) and have a solution for Monday. Someone mentioned (it may have been quote from Dean) that they were told/advised to not bid for one of the recent contracts (may have been 298) which in one way seems helpful but on the other is not fair competitively albeit your history running a route previously is one of the criteria. Did Sullivans not have the chance to do what other companies did and terminate contracts early?
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Post by ADH45258 on Aug 2, 2024 17:04:07 GMT
Depends if Sullivan's are prepared to hire them vehicles Can’t speak for the company but they could and have a income in the short term. As I said in my other post I’d be shocked if Stagecoach doesn’t take on the 549 and Go Ahead the routes they have won. There is the issue with drivers but imagine some will want to go with the routes. The only thing is, other operators might not want to hire the existing allocations from Sullivan, if they have enough spare already. Like how the 413 used spare SEs when it was novated to Go Ahead, rather than the MCMs moving with it. If the 299 went to NP early for example, Go Ahead do have a lot of spare 61reg SEs available which could be used for now.
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Post by abellion on Aug 2, 2024 17:09:51 GMT
There go my plans of getting E63 on the 298
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Post by galwhv69 on Aug 2, 2024 17:12:10 GMT
That is a good point. All good hiring them but realistically does any other garages have the capacity to house all these routes. You could potentially run the 217 from HT temporarily. At least the School routes have a few weeks. You have 217 298 299 327 389 399 549 W9 that all need to be covered. The 327 & 549 should be the easiest one because of the 1 PVR. companies like Ensignbus could easily take on the smaller PVR routes. I assume the drivers are also being made redundant overnight Sullivans use large amounts of agency staff, so I would assume drivers would be given the option to transfer to commercial routes to cover any shortages there.
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Post by jrussa on Aug 2, 2024 17:14:16 GMT
I hope drivers were made aware this morning or yesterday and are not finding out while driving. I can see some services running horribly until midnight (bunching, drivers not following schedule)
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Post by DT 11 on Aug 2, 2024 17:25:58 GMT
Can’t speak for the company but they could and have a income in the short term. As I said in my other post I’d be shocked if Stagecoach doesn’t take on the 549 and Go Ahead the routes they have won. There is the issue with drivers but imagine some will want to go with the routes. The only thing is, other operators might not want to hire the existing allocations from Sullivan, if they have enough spare already. Like how the 413 used spare SEs when it was novated to Go Ahead, rather than the MCMs moving with it. If the 299 went to NP early for example, Go Ahead do have a lot of spare 61reg SEs available which could be used for now. They could potentially go to MB to release 9.3m sized vehicles to the 299
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Post by barrypotter on Aug 2, 2024 17:29:01 GMT
Not my picture.
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Post by moz on Aug 2, 2024 17:33:11 GMT
Maybe TFL do a South Thames Bus esque thing? North Thames Buses Not many 'on call' operators left nowadays. I know Travelmasters is in a bit of a slump so far as work during August, but it's a bit of a trek from Sheppey up to North London! Moz
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Post by kmkcheng on Aug 2, 2024 17:39:39 GMT
The press release
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Post by DT 11 on Aug 2, 2024 17:54:08 GMT
Just seen official information that NP will takeover the 299/389/399 tomorrow
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