Rotala Management - Questions & Answers

[Westy]

You definitely need a fleet name irrespective of livery!

Mind you NX are only just starting to get their bum into gear on this anyway.

There is a Black Diamond single decker still floating round with branding for a  long withdrawn Walsall to Willenhall 529 every 12 mins.

[PM]

You definitely need a fleet name irrespective of livery!

Mind you NX are only just starting to get their bum into gear on this anyway.

There is a Black Diamond single decker still floating round with branding for a  long withdrawn Walsall to Willenhall 529 every 12 mins.

Not any more-havent seen T443 EBD for a while actually

[Westy]

You definitely need a fleet name irrespective of livery!

Mind you NX are only just starting to get their bum into gear on this anyway.

There is a Black Diamond single decker still floating round with branding for a  long withdrawn Walsall to Willenhall 529 every 12 mins.

Not any more-havent seen T443 EBD for a while actually

Sure I saw one the other day in Walsall.

[PM]

You definitely need a fleet name irrespective of livery!

Mind you NX are only just starting to get their bum into gear on this anyway.

There is a Black Diamond single decker still floating round with branding for a  long withdrawn Walsall to Willenhall 529 every 12 mins.

Not any more-havent seen T443 EBD for a while actually

Sure I saw one the other day in Walsall.

Oh right not saying you didnt tbf just I personally havent been on it since the end of july

[trident4370]

Hi Simon, Thanks for joining the forum and taking our questions. I have 3 questions that aren't really that "constructive", I am just asking for personal curiosity! Firstly now that 30804 is the only nifty fifty left, are there any plans to re-upgrade the 50 or will it continue to be a mish mash of any buses? Secondly I remember a while back you trialled a 35E service but the service seemed very short lived, I just wondered now that competition on the 50 has stepped up, would it be a considerable option to re introduce the 35 service to boost Diamonds overall frequency between Moseley/KH and Birmingham and combine day ticket options? Finally have Diamond ever looked at operating on the Outer Circle in the past or recently?
Looking forward to your reply!

1.  50 Service - What we currently do is under review.
2.  35E - I am not sure I remember this service.  What was it?
3.  No.

Thanks for the reply Simon, I am glad the 50 is getting some attention! The 35E was the Birmingham - Pool Farm section of the NX 35 but I don't think it was run for more than a couple of months before it was gone again, I know it was back when the 178 also topped up the services through Balsall Heath/Moseley, and it was usually Royale operated. ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/24759744@N02/3579137809/in/set-72157628983460325 )

[nitromatt1]

You definitely need a fleet name irrespective of livery!

Mind you NX are only just starting to get their bum into gear on this anyway.

There is a Black Diamond single decker still floating round with branding for a  long withdrawn Walsall to Willenhall 529 every 12 mins.

Not any more-havent seen T443 EBD for a while actually

Sure I saw one the other day in Walsall.

Oh right not saying you didnt tbf just I personally havent been on it since the end of july

Remember seeing that in Dudley recently, on 42 I think.

[winston]

1.  I believe some were built in 2009. 
2.  The Scania's are too big for the Contracts or not new enough for replacing the 57 plates.
3.  In the Interim Announcement which is available on our Plc Web site, it gives a list of areas were the revenue has dropped.  The West Midlands features on that list, but the poor weather has contributed also.
4.  Yes
5.  We have recieved feed back today from the manufacturer.  Of the batch some are New, 1 year old and 3 years old.  We are not interested in the price on the 3 year old kit.  We believe there is better value in the New and 1 year old, we are at present still negotiating the final price.
6.  At the present moment in time to service the fleet, Church Road is required.  We have 3 options, 1 maintain the current position, 2.  Invest in the current depot, extend the workshop and facilities.  3.  Move somewhere different altogether.  Now we have the OFT result, we need to review and consider our options.
7.  We are not part of any BBA bid.

Thanks for all your replies,

3. I've seen the Interim report, the turnover is broken down in to Contracted / Commercial & Charter Services, it isn't broken down to show the performance of each subsiduary company - on a side note the Rotala Plc website will also need to be updated to remove the Blue / Black & Red Diamond logo's off the home page & combine the three businesses under the 'Our Companies' section to combine the three buses under just Diamond.
5. Sounds promising with further new/nearly new buses if it comes off
6. Would I be correct in saying that Plymouth Road depot has very little spare land surrounding it that can be be used to increase the depot capacity & engineering facilities? Could the Kidderminster depot facilities not be utilized more to reduced costs of Church Road? As it seems that KR depot is only at a third to half capacity maximum. Does the lease on Church Road have much longer to run? Another potential issue on vacating Church Road is that you could leave Diamond vunerable to a new entrant in to the Redditch market with a purpose built bus depot available for use/lease......
7. Weblink for Brierley Hill Better Bus Network Transformation BBA Bid Submission Bus http://www.centro.org.uk/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.aspx?lID=7711&sID...%E2%80%8E

On page 6 it states the following:

A4. Total package cost (£m):
£10.0m (£1 local contribution for every £1 from DfT)

A5. Total DfT funding contribution sought (£m):
£5.0m (£3m capital and £2m revenue)

A5. Source of local contribution:

£1.5m from Westfield Shoppingtowns Limited as a contribution towards the
state of the art Merry Hill Bus Station
£1.3m from Centro (Transforming Bus Travel Partnership fund) as a
contribution towards upgrading the strategic bus routes and highway network
detailed in A4
£2.2m from National Express and Rotala for new buses on strategic corridors

NX have delivered new E200's for the 222 which was believed to be their share of the above commitment, are Rotala Plc no longer involved?

[Ash]

You definitely need a fleet name irrespective of livery!

Mind you NX are only just starting to get their bum into gear on this anyway.

There is a Black Diamond single decker still floating round with branding for a  long withdrawn Walsall to Willenhall 529 every 12 mins.

Not any more-havent seen T443 EBD for a while actually

It was on the 4 a couple of days ago.

[dayvid]

3.   There are two reasons why

1.   We expected the Competition Commission report, to have a greater impact on the Multi-Operator ticketing in the West Midlands.  It didn't.   

 

Here we have it from the horse's mouth..... this is why no operator will ever make any serious inroads into NX's monopoly. And why Rotala in particular chooses to make its investment and concentrate it resources in other areas, where they can actually achieve a decent market share.  I don't think people realise how much of a monopoly NX have achieved via the lack of multi operator ticketing in this area. It simply doesn't happen anywhere else.

I worked at Long Acre before i moved out of Birmingham and whe Central Connect did the 17's 37's and 97's NXWM didnt like it . We carried so many in the peaks, passengers loved it as our lil Darts would get them from A to B quicker and with less hassle than NXWM. The livery designs were good too. Its a shame that NXWM have such a hold on the area, passengers and enthusiasts think this is great but in reality its pants. Theres so much potential with Rotala if no one believes me then just look at their Preston operations.

[winston]

3.   There are two reasons why

1.   We expected the Competition Commission report, to have a greater impact on the Multi-Operator ticketing in the West Midlands.  It didn't.   

 

Here we have it from the horse's mouth..... this is why no operator will ever make any serious inroads into NX's monopoly. And why Rotala in particular chooses to make its investment and concentrate it resources in other areas, where they can actually achieve a decent market share.  I don't think people realise how much of a monopoly NX have achieved via the lack of multi operator ticketing in this area. It simply doesn't happen anywhere else.

I worked at Long Acre before i moved out of Birmingham and whe Central Connect did the 17's 37's and 97's NXWM didnt like it . We carried so many in the peaks, passengers loved it as our lil Darts would get them from A to B quicker and with less hassle than NXWM. The livery designs were good too. Its a shame that NXWM have such a hold on the area, passengers and enthusiasts think this is great but in reality its pants. Theres so much potential with Rotala if no one believes me then just look at their Preston operations.

Dayvid, where those routes not that busy during the daytime then? I can only assume the revenue earn't during the peaks alone wasn't enough to warrant keeping the routes going hence they're eventual withdrawal 

[Isle of Stroma]

There is a Black Diamond single decker still floating round with branding for a  long withdrawn Walsall to Willenhall 529 every 12 mins.

T443EBD. I lost count of the number of times I reported that it was still carrying 529E branding - only to find it still intact the next time!

I worked at Long Acre before i moved out of Birmingham and whe Central Connect did the 17's 37's and 97's NXWM didnt like it . We carried so many in the peaks, passengers loved it as our lil Darts would get them from A to B quicker and with less hassle than NXWM. The livery designs were good too.

Quite. Although I wasn't overly keen on orange for the 97, they could be seen & picked out from a fair distance, which certainly helped. It was a shame that the three routes mentioned were allowed to peter out. Pulling back to Tile Cross from Marston Green & alternate trips back to Olton on the 37 sounded the death knell for these two (IMO). I'm still stunned that no-one else has since tried their luck on the 97 though.

I am aware that Simon is of the opinion that Drivers can monitor themselves, unfortunately that wasn't the case towards the end. Still, at least I enjoyed doing my little bit & wish Rotala all the best in the future.

[winston]

Quite. Although I wasn't overly keen on orange for the 97, they could be seen & picked out from a fair distance, which certainly helped. It was a shame that the three routes mentioned were allowed to peter out. Pulling back to Tile Cross from Marston Green & alternate trips back to Olton on the 37 sounded the death knell for these two (IMO). I'm still stunned that no-one else has since tried their luck on the 97 though.

I am aware that Simon is of the opinion that Drivers can monitor themselves, unfortunately that wasn't the case towards the end. Still, at least I enjoyed doing my little bit & wish Rotala all the best in the future.

Who else is there to have a go on the 97 other than possibly Claribels? Do they have capacity at their depot to expand any further?

[Isle of Stroma]

Who else is there to have a go on the 97 other than possibly Claribels? Do they have capacity at their depot to expand any further?

1) Names have been put forward. Some spoof, some have thought about it.

2) Nope, full to the brim at current premises. Possible to outstation more at Airparks I suppose.

[Tony]

Who else is there to have a go on the 97 other than possibly Claribels? Do they have capacity at their depot to expand any further?

1) Names have been put forward. Some spoof, some have thought about it.

Yes, I remember being told that Arriva were going on the 97s last year....still waiting!

[Cedric]

[
Love the new style rotala branding eg for summer sale!! Next time, could this be put by the entrance to buses or at the bottom of the windscreen to advertise it a bit more? Think this was the only point of mine that you missed but just to say Im a huge fan of the current "style" if thats the right word? The redditch guides and timetables are absolutely spot on and in my view industry leading but is there one for kidderminster and other routes other than redditch/247/142/143? Could some be made for birmingham routes

Also, don't know to what extent you were involved with diamond buses in the early days of rotala ownership but I've got timetables for diamond 144/002/56 and connect 10/904/37/17/97/119. Were any other timetables produced out of interest-if you don't know this no worries-but Im thinking 301/404 as it was then or anything else and does rotala still have copies of these old timetables printed and possibly available to those of us who collect anything diamond buses

Cheers and Im sorry if the quoting thing has gone crazy!!!

Thanks very much for reading this and best of luck with improving diamond buses in the coming months

1.  E300's.  Yes, we are pleased with what we have acquired.
2.  W90*JNF - The none operational buses, I believe are beyond economical repair.
3.  There is a Kidderminster guide.  If you send me your address offline, I will post you one.

I am sorry I have mixed up the responses.  If I have missed anything let me know.
[/quote]
may  I say your guide for the Kidderminster local services and x3   it is good to have a proper guide
again rather than printout from  the Worcestershire hub Kidderminster   it would  be nice if  there was a guide that had the out of town 133/292/294/295/303 services
[/quote]

If you send me your address I can arrange to have all timetables sent to you.
many thanks for taking time out of your busy day to send the timetables  to me
[/quote]