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Post by simonk82701 on Sept 11, 2023 16:49:08 GMT
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Post by crossscythe on Sept 11, 2023 17:17:33 GMT
Generally, bus companies do not have to hold themselves accountable, as they are private businesses, in the same way McDonald's doesn't have to explain to the government why they ran out of Big Macs. However, service 76a is likely to be a tendered service, so TM Travel will likely face KPI charges from the SYMCA. I wonder if First would be interested in running the 18 up to Chancet Wood turning point, there could be a small market for it. |
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donc
Inspector
Posts: 591 
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Post by donc on Sept 11, 2023 17:18:01 GMT
Why is it Sheffield again? What about the rest of South Yorkshire I know people in Wadworth and Tickhill get a bad service from Stagecoach 22, what about the people of Rotherham since First depot closed, what about Barnsley people.
Time the Star looked at the rest of the county Sheffield has trams, trains and competing bus companies (I know the story was about Chancet Wood which seems to have just bus 76) but time the rest of the county got some newspaper articles about it's declining bus services.
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Post by simonk82701 on Sept 12, 2023 6:44:54 GMT
Sorry my views on this are quite firm, if that many 76a's are cancelled, then £1000 fine per run missed, enforced by the traffic commissioner. And once a fine has been issued, any company is prevented from withdrawing the service by the T/C until they show they can run it properly. That would stop this very poor behaviour very quickly. I know some of you may disagree with me and that's okay, but we need to get some discipline back into this industry as at the moment we are being walked all over.
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Post by alemaster on Sept 12, 2023 13:59:38 GMT
Many bus companies are cancelling way too many buses, but this is due to driver shortage and is a national industry wide problem that has existed since Covid.
The 76a is a SYMCA tendered service and very few operators are bidding for such work now as they don't consider it the best use of limited resources.
The rest of the article is rather politically biased an in my view it is a bit rich of a council to be criticising bus services when many of the problems are caused by the council not providing the right infrastructure or operating conditions and generally discouraging bus use.
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Post by crossscythe on Sept 13, 2023 10:35:16 GMT
It seems the smaller operators e.g. South Pennine are very happy to take on tender work, where as larger operators are only really interested in the commercial market. I reckon the SYMCA will have had to pay a steep incentive to get Stagecoach to take on the 61.
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Post by alemaster on Sept 13, 2023 11:58:00 GMT
Smaller operators probably prefer tendered work as there is less financial risk and commercial services within South Yorkshire don't really make much money. The big operators have significant established commercial networks, First have in the last year or so cut theirs to the core chopping off the non-standard bits like the 52a extension to Wisewood/Loxley and the evening/Sunday 24 to Bradway. This is a combination of driver shortages and needing to make some tweaks to timetables to make them more reliable.
Stagecoach (and to a limited extent First) are still bidding for tenders but given they don't have the level of driver resource they would like are being quite selective in what they bid for.
You'll recall Stagecoach took on the 61/62 when Powells (and HCT group in general) went belly up which was ahead of the main tendering exercise and only took on Monday to Saturday - they didn't go for the 6 or 10/10a back then as they simply didn't have the resource. Presumably the 61/62 worked best for Ecclesfield depot operationally. Of course since then First have axed the 52a up to Wisewood and Loxley which has delivered more passengers for the 61/62!
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Post by crossscythe on Sept 13, 2023 15:30:33 GMT
Smaller operators probably prefer tendered work as there is less financial risk and commercial services within South Yorkshire don't really make much money. The big operators have significant established commercial networks, First have in the last year or so cut theirs to the core chopping off the non-standard bits like the 52a extension to Wisewood/Loxley and the evening/Sunday 24 to Bradway. This is a combination of driver shortages and needing to make some tweaks to timetables to make them more reliable. Stagecoach (and to a limited extent First) are still bidding for tenders but given they don't have the level of driver resource they would like are being quite selective in what they bid for. You'll recall Stagecoach took on the 61/62 when Powells (and HCT group in general) went belly up which was ahead of the main tendering exercise and only took on Monday to Saturday - they didn't go for the 6 or 10/10a back then as they simply didn't have the resource. Presumably the 61/62 worked best for Ecclesfield depot operationally. Of course since then First have axed the 52a up to Wisewood and Loxley which has delivered more passengers for the 61/62! I notice TM Travel have now extended the 31 to Loxley too, which I presume goes through parts of Wisewood. With the 57 running through the Far Lane end of the estate, Loxley and Wisewood don't do too badly for service coverage now, and there is always the regular Supertram at Malin Bridge for those who don't mind a walk. The 52a suffered severe reliability issues when it ran to Wisewood. I would assume the traffic on Middlewood Road was an aggrevating factor. You are right, tendering poses low financial risk to the operator and in somecases, guaranteed work forever. The smaller operators don't have the resources to run the frequent routes but I can see Hulley's having a stab at it, as their network grows. I believe they have even recruited agency drivers to cope with the demand. Interestingly, Mainline used to do a significant amount of tender work on the side. Halfway garage used to have a fleet of N***DWE Beavers that worked as mobility buses. Perhaps the rollout of fully lowfloor buses has brought an end to that market. It will be interesting to see how Stagecoach do when they lose the Supertram contract, whether people will still buy Stagecoach Dayriders or switch to First Day tickets. |
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Post by alemaster on Sept 13, 2023 17:23:24 GMT
Smaller operators probably prefer tendered work as there is less financial risk and commercial services within South Yorkshire don't really make much money. The big operators have significant established commercial networks, First have in the last year or so cut theirs to the core chopping off the non-standard bits like the 52a extension to Wisewood/Loxley and the evening/Sunday 24 to Bradway. This is a combination of driver shortages and needing to make some tweaks to timetables to make them more reliable. Stagecoach (and to a limited extent First) are still bidding for tenders but given they don't have the level of driver resource they would like are being quite selective in what they bid for. You'll recall Stagecoach took on the 61/62 when Powells (and HCT group in general) went belly up which was ahead of the main tendering exercise and only took on Monday to Saturday - they didn't go for the 6 or 10/10a back then as they simply didn't have the resource. Presumably the 61/62 worked best for Ecclesfield depot operationally. Of course since then First have axed the 52a up to Wisewood and Loxley which has delivered more passengers for the 61/62! I notice TM Travel have now extended the 31 to Loxley too, which I presume goes through parts of Wisewood. With the 57 running through the Far Lane end of the estate, Loxley and Wisewood don't do too badly for service coverage now, and there is always the regular Supertram at Malin Bridge for those who don't mind a walk. The 52a suffered severe reliability issues when it ran to Wisewood. I would assume the traffic on Middlewood Road was an aggrevating factor. You are right, tendering poses low financial risk to the operator and in somecases, guaranteed work forever. The smaller operators don't have the resources to run the frequent routes but I can see Hulley's having a stab at it, as their network grows. I believe they have even recruited agency drivers to cope with the demand. Interestingly, Mainline used to do a significant amount of tender work on the side. Halfway garage used to have a fleet of N***DWE Beavers that worked as mobility buses. Perhaps the rollout of fully lowfloor buses has brought an end to that market. It will be interesting to see how Stagecoach do when they lose the Supertram contract, whether people will still buy Stagecoach Dayriders or switch to First Day tickets. The 31 is a SYMCA tender which was introduced last November to cover Upperthorpe, parts of Lower Walkley, Wisewood and Loxley to provide a daytime service to replace the two First withdrew (52a being one, I can't remember the number of the other one!) |
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Post by alemaster on Sept 13, 2023 17:28:48 GMT
TM Travel do seem to be struggling to get enough buses out and there are regular reports of the 76a and M17 among other failing to operate. Today looking at bustimes.org only one round trip operated on the M17 all day - the 13:40 Jordanthorpe to Dore and 14:10 return - the 09:40, 10:40, 11:40, 12:40 and 17:15 all have no reports of running. bustimes.org/services/m17-dore-bradway-jordanthorpe-2/vehicles |
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Post by crossscythe on Sept 13, 2023 17:34:43 GMT
I notice TM Travel have now extended the 31 to Loxley too, which I presume goes through parts of Wisewood. With the 57 running through the Far Lane end of the estate, Loxley and Wisewood don't do too badly for service coverage now, and there is always the regular Supertram at Malin Bridge for those who don't mind a walk. The 52a suffered severe reliability issues when it ran to Wisewood. I would assume the traffic on Middlewood Road was an aggrevating factor. You are right, tendering poses low financial risk to the operator and in somecases, guaranteed work forever. The smaller operators don't have the resources to run the frequent routes but I can see Hulley's having a stab at it, as their network grows. I believe they have even recruited agency drivers to cope with the demand. Interestingly, Mainline used to do a significant amount of tender work on the side. Halfway garage used to have a fleet of N***DWE Beavers that worked as mobility buses. Perhaps the rollout of fully lowfloor buses has brought an end to that market. It will be interesting to see how Stagecoach do when they lose the Supertram contract, whether people will still buy Stagecoach Dayriders or switch to First Day tickets. The 31 is a SYMCA tender which was introduced last November to cover Upperthorpe, parts of Lower Walkley, Wisewood and Loxley to provide a daytime service to replace the two First withdrew (52a being one, I can't remember the number of the other one!) The 135, known formerly as the 66? Used to run round Upperthorpe and on to Chap, Thorpe Hes, Droppingwell and Roth. |
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Post by crossscythe on Sept 13, 2023 17:35:53 GMT
TM Travel do seem to be struggling to get enough buses out and there are regular reports of the 76a and M17 among other failing to operate. Today looking at bustimes.org only one round trip operated on the M17 all day - the 13:40 Jordanthorpe to Dore and 14:10 return - the 09:40, 10:40, 11:40, 12:40 and 17:15 all have no reports of running. bustimes.org/services/m17-dore-bradway-jordanthorpe-2/vehiclesThe ULEZ nonsense cannot be helping. A shame they can't pick up any Streetlites that Ensignbus have on sale. |
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Post by alemaster on Sept 13, 2023 18:00:33 GMT
TM Travel do seem to be struggling to get enough buses out and there are regular reports of the 76a and M17 among other failing to operate. Today looking at bustimes.org only one round trip operated on the M17 all day - the 13:40 Jordanthorpe to Dore and 14:10 return - the 09:40, 10:40, 11:40, 12:40 and 17:15 all have no reports of running. bustimes.org/services/m17-dore-bradway-jordanthorpe-2/vehiclesThe ULEZ nonsense cannot be helping. A shame they can't pick up any Streetlites that Ensignbus have on sale. I don't think fleet is the issue, it is driver availability. |
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Post by The Captain on Sept 13, 2023 19:26:38 GMT
TM Travel do seem to be struggling to get enough buses out and there are regular reports of the 76a and M17 among other failing to operate. Today looking at bustimes.org only one round trip operated on the M17 all day - the 13:40 Jordanthorpe to Dore and 14:10 return - the 09:40, 10:40, 11:40, 12:40 and 17:15 all have no reports of running. bustimes.org/services/m17-dore-bradway-jordanthorpe-2/vehiclesDriver shortage. It's not helping by existing drivers telling customers on such as the 9 that they are missing because of ULEZ and a lack of compliant vehicles. The ex Lothian E400s are looking like a great purchase. Not. |
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Post by TC60054 on Sept 14, 2023 13:17:39 GMT
TM Travel do seem to be struggling to get enough buses out and there are regular reports of the 76a and M17 among other failing to operate. Today looking at bustimes.org only one round trip operated on the M17 all day - the 13:40 Jordanthorpe to Dore and 14:10 return - the 09:40, 10:40, 11:40, 12:40 and 17:15 all have no reports of running. bustimes.org/services/m17-dore-bradway-jordanthorpe-2/vehiclesBustimes is not a reliable source of whether a journey has operated or not. |
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