Rotala in the West Midlands

[richie]

Ash I agree! Rotala made a promising start when they first took over, however standards and fleet presentation seem to have slipped somewhat of late with all the various liveried buses around. the level of investment in the fleet also seems to have dropped, I'd like to think they would also some new buses over & above the Hybid Versa's to replace all the MAN's that have been sold. The passengers of the 16, 142 & 404 have gone back to older buses

The only recent marketing is for the hyrid versa's but there just in the black diamond livery with just a bit of extra branding. I think both blue and black diamond needs to review it's fleet and to start with all the vehciles they are keeping paint into the correct livery, then sell off or scrap the older, uneeded vehicles, the all over white buses eg R410FFC have been like it for a while now and have been in full service with no intention of sale. Vehicle allocation to routes seems to have gone astray using solo's on the busier diamond routes such as the 16,301 and 401/4E means they could be losing potential customers as the buses fill up easily in the busier parts of the day they seem to have replaced the mcv's with solo's and smaller darts for me this is not a replacement for the buses lost there no where near the same vehicle in terms of capacity. Also the 16 and 404E have gone from vehicles that were a year old to vehicles that are around 15 years old. So ensure the larger vehicles are put on the routes. The 417 sees the royale centro's which could be used on much busier services so put the wright cadets back on the 417 which used to be ideal. Branding for me was good but not a major concern having red diamond buses and all over white buses with no company name on is confusing and not setting a good image for the company its suppose to be promoting. If they have lost these contracts and had versa's, solo's and smaller darts as replacements for the mcv's why havent the older darts been withdrawn.

I think they should just sell up while they are worth something im sure arriva or NX would be interested in parts of their opperation

[winston]

I doubt NX would be allowed by the competition commission to ever take over Rotala's Diamond businesses either in part or full due to the monopoly they already have in the West Midlands and Rotala being the second biggest operator in the region

Ash I agree! Rotala made a promising start when they first took over, however standards and fleet presentation seem to have slipped somewhat of late with all the various liveried buses around. the level of investment in the fleet also seems to have dropped, I'd like to think they would also some new buses over & above the Hybid Versa's to replace all the MAN's that have been sold. The passengers of the 16, 142 & 404 have gone back to older buses

The only recent marketing is for the hyrid versa's but there just in the black diamond livery with just a bit of extra branding. I think both blue and black diamond needs to review it's fleet and to start with all the vehciles they are keeping paint into the correct livery, then sell off or scrap the older, uneeded vehicles, the all over white buses eg R410FFC have been like it for a while now and have been in full service with no intention of sale. Vehicle allocation to routes seems to have gone astray using solo's on the busier diamond routes such as the 16,301 and 401/4E means they could be losing potential customers as the buses fill up easily in the busier parts of the day they seem to have replaced the mcv's with solo's and smaller darts for me this is not a replacement for the buses lost there no where near the same vehicle in terms of capacity. Also the 16 and 404E have gone from vehicles that were a year old to vehicles that are around 15 years old. So ensure the larger vehicles are put on the routes. The 417 sees the royale centro's which could be used on much busier services so put the wright cadets back on the 417 which used to be ideal. Branding for me was good but not a major concern having red diamond buses and all over white buses with no company name on is confusing and not setting a good image for the company its suppose to be promoting. If they have lost these contracts and had versa's, solo's and smaller darts as replacements for the mcv's why havent the older darts been withdrawn.

I think they should just sell up while they are worth something im sure arriva or NX would be interested in parts of their opperation

[PM]

I see no problem in Rotala at all. Im sure investment will come soon and much of their fleet is fantastic. Fair enough they are rationalizing elements of their business but this can be a good business decision...

[MW]

I see no problem in Rotala at all. Im sure investment will come soon and much of their fleet is fantastic. Fair enough they are rationalizing elements of their business but this can be a good business decision...

Timetables mean nothing to Rotala. Well the Central Connect bit anyway. Every single Signature route is late.

[4504]

I can't speak for the perry barr section of the route, but the merry hill section does get some decent loads from my knowledge.

The 123.

The 123 was just two routes taken over and joined together. The Perry Barr to Bearwood section has a very long history (WMPTE 40 until deregulation, then Midland Red West 440)

Ah, so that explains why we still have the '40X' service operated by Hi-Ride between Bearwood and Perry Barr then (which pretty much follows the 123 route).

The 123 is still a Centro tendered route, and I think it is up for renewal in October, so who knows who will be running it from then.....

It wouldnt surprise me if arriva took over that route, but it would be nice to see NXWM operate it aswell

It wouldn't surprise me if the route disappears as part of the Sandwell Review and gets replaced by something else. As it is now, it is a very long and convoluted route, and I can't imagine anyone ever travelling the full route to get from one major shopping centre (Merry Hill) to another one (Perry Barr One Stop).

[Justin Tyme]

I see no problem in Rotala at all. Im sure investment will come soon and much of their fleet is fantastic. Fair enough they are rationalizing elements of their business but this can be a good business decision...

Judging by their Final Results for 2011 at www.rotalaplc.com, Rotala clearly agree.  Their turnover and profit have gone up, and they seem optimistic for the future in the West Midlands.

[Isle of Stroma]

Timetables mean nothing to Rotala. Well the Central Connect bit anyway. Every single Signature route is late.

Of course, you'll have all the necessary documentary proof to back up that rather sweeping - & wildly inaccurate statement, wont you?  ::)

[winston]

They will have done, as the figures now include a full contribution from the Preston Bus acquisition. Turnover grew 26% to £56.1 million while profit grew 14% to £1.88million. But let's put in to perspective, Rotala Group currently have an operating margin of only 3.35%, most of the bigger groups want a minimum of 10% from subsidiary's companies. A £1.88 million profit isn't going to buy you many new vehicles when you consider you need to replace a fleet of 575 buses.

Also to consider, Diamond Bus have lost a number of Centro contracts to Arriva, any they still have must be under threat of loss when next up for tender. Also Flights Hallmark have loss the NEC shuttle contract which kept a fleet of 10 Dart SLF's employed plus extra's to Travel de Courcey

I see no problem in Rotala at all. Im sure investment will come soon and much of their fleet is fantastic. Fair enough they are rationalizing elements of their business but this can be a good business decision...

Judging by their Final Results for 2011 at www.rotalaplc.com, Rotala clearly agree.  Their turnover and profit have gone up, and they seem optimistic for the future in the West Midlands.

[Ash]

When go-ahead owned diamond there was never any investment in vehicles it even made a loss, most of the black diamond fleet is inherited vehicles which has seen a lack of investment probably since pete's travel days which has caused the fleet to become old together with 12-15 year old darts, at least Rotala ensure that the black diamond operation was all low floor pretty quickly and got rid of all the first generation of darts

[MW]

Timetables mean nothing to Rotala. Well the Central Connect bit anyway. Every single Signature route is late.

Of course, you'll have all the necessary documentary proof to back up that rather sweeping - & wildly inaccurate statement, wont you?  ::)

Yes. If you want proof, go to Solihull and wait for one. I work part time in Solihull Town Centre opposite the Bus stops so yes I do know.

[Lukeee]

[/quote]
It wouldn't surprise me if the route disappears as part of the Sandwell Review and gets replaced by something else. As it is now, it is a very long and convoluted route, and I can't imagine anyone ever travelling the full route to get from one major shopping centre (Merry Hill) to another one (Perry Barr One Stop).
[/quote]


I've done it a few times  :D nice ride on a dart (as long as its not one of the ex london darts).

[PM]

I see no problem in Rotala at all. Im sure investment will come soon and much of their fleet is fantastic. Fair enough they are rationalizing elements of their business but this can be a good business decision...

Judging by their Final Results for 2011 at www.rotalaplc.com, Rotala clearly agree.  Their turnover and profit have gone up, and they seem optimistic for the future in the West Midlands.

Exactly-tho some people seem to think that rotala inherited step entrance buses from Go-Ahead-this was not the case. All step entrance buses were sold under go-ahead at an auction at hill top i think it was-many went to green bus/premiere of nottingham and joe's travel also had a few...

[Isle of Stroma]

Timetables mean nothing to Rotala. Well the Central Connect bit anyway. Every single Signature route is late.

Of course, you'll have all the necessary documentary proof to back up that rather sweeping - & wildly inaccurate statement, wont you?  ::)

Yes. If you want proof, go to Solihull and wait for one. I work part time in Solihull Town Centre opposite the Bus stops so yes I do know.

I inquired on the remote off-chance that You might have proof, which of course you don't. I'm well acquainted with Solihull (having been there yesterday & three times within the last week), although I must admit I am unaware of the shop near the stops that has no distracting customers & and provides an outward facing chair in the front window...

[Nathan4775]

The 123.

The 123 was just two routes taken over and joined together. The Perry Barr to Bearwood section has a very long history (WMPTE 40 until deregulation, then Midland Red West 440)

Ah, so that explains why we still have the '40X' service operated by Hi-Ride between Bearwood and Perry Barr then (which pretty much follows the 123 route).

The 123 is still a Centro tendered route, and I think it is up for renewal in October, so who knows who will be running it from then.....

It wouldnt surprise me if arriva took over that route, but it would be nice to see NXWM operate it aswell

It wouldn't surprise me if the route disappears as part of the Sandwell Review and gets replaced by something else. As it is now, it is a very long and convoluted route, and I can't imagine anyone ever travelling the full route to get from one major shopping centre (Merry Hill) to another one (Perry Barr One Stop).

Ive know 1/2 people to travel on the full route, Its the only bus to Merry Hill from Handsworth the next route is 11A - Soho Road - 74 West Bromwich - 238/404 to Merry Hill

[matt904102]

Going back to the days of the Birmingham Coach Company, I believe the 217 West Bromwich to Merry hill was their own idea.