Franchised bus network.

[RW]

Clearly it appears from local media reports that the West Midlands Mayor is going to pursue a franchised bus network for the West Midlands area, subject to a public consultation exercise. At this very early stage do we know what the implications might be for NXWM and other operators, good or bad, and is there any actions they might or can consider taking to protect their existing operations in the area?
As a slightly tongue in cheek comment please tell me that we won't end up with fleets of yellow buses throughout the county.

[woody38]

For me I thing franchising is a good idea, two many areas don't have bus services.

[Tony]

For me I thing franchising is a good idea, two many areas don't have bus services.

And you think they will find the money to run any new services when the existing ones are costing over £50m a year?

[BlackCountryBusSpotter]

For me I thing franchising is a good idea, two many areas don't have bus services.

There is a reason, not all areas have demand, where are they going to find the money, oh Yeah increase fares

[Coventrybususer95]

Would be interested to see in Coventry at the moment there's only 3 big companies that run routes in the city 

But the downside would be is there enough space for companies to open depots in the city's or would it be a case of buses having to come from outside of the country to run services 

[cardew]

But the downside would be is there enough space for companies to open depots in the city's or would it be a case of buses having to come from outside of the country to run services

The Combined Authority plan to own the depots as can be seen in their WMCA Bus Depot Strategy regardless of whether franchising goes ahead or not. They've purchased Walsall depot already.

[Solo1]

The mayor said lower fares yet they are going up  I know of areas that kept the fares low 

[Tony]

The mayor said lower fares yet they are going up  I know of areas that kept the fares low

Lower fares was always going to be a lie unless it was matched with higher council tax. 

[LD713821]

It will be a big change the branding will most likely be WMB (image) unless mayor wants to rebrand entire WMT, it looks smart anyway and the best branding out of the country in my opinion. I hope interior will be nice though, new NX is already pretty good.

The route numbers will be changed across the county (cant be the same anymore) Solihull new tenders are already using 6xx - Wolverhampton most likely 5xx, Birmingham will probably have simple one/two digit priority.

The WM however does not have enough depots to run all WM routes (some ran by SC in leamington/rugby) they need to purchase new sites in the WM area

Will also be interesting to see if the new franchise has Stratford X20, Tamworth 110 & Bromsgrove 20

[BBS]

It will be a big change the branding will most likely be WMB (image) unless mayor wants to rebrand entire WMT, it looks smart anyway and the best branding out of the country in my opinion. I hope interior will be nice though, new NX is already pretty good.

The route numbers will be changed across the county (cant be the same anymore) Solihull new tenders are already using 6xx - Wolverhampton most likely 5xx, Birmingham will probably have simple one/two digit priority.

The WM however does not have enough depots to run all WM routes (some ran by SC in leamington/rugby) they need to purchase new sites in the WM area

Will also be interesting to see if the new franchise has Stratford X20, Tamworth 110 & Bromsgrove 20

Their intentions are to purchase the current NXWM depots, if their able to do the routes, why will there be a need for more?

[cardew]

Their intentions are to purchase the current NXWM depots, if their able to do the routes, why will there be a need for more?

Two BC replacements for a start. I doubt that NX are looking for two new sites in the current environment

[frostjay974]

When is the redevelopment of the current site expected to happen?

[Stu]

Clearly it appears from local media reports that the West Midlands Mayor is going to pursue a franchised bus network for the West Midlands area, subject to a public consultation exercise. At this very early stage do we know what the implications might be for NXWM and other operators, good or bad, and is there any actions they might or can consider taking to protect their existing operations in the area?

Regarding implications for operators, the 'bad' is undoubtedly that our operators could all lose out on contracts if they get awarded to 'bigger' groups from outside the area, such as Arriva, First, Go-Ahead etc (and to an extent Stagecoach, although they already have some presence here).

You'd have to feel sorry for smaller quality independents such as Kevs and Landflight, and there's even a risk that both Diamond and NX Bus - the two dominant operators - could lose out.

That would represent a monumental change in this region.

It all depends really how the franchise system is going to work, and how contracts will be tendered. TfGM took an 'area' approach with 'large' and 'small' franchises, while TfL award contracts on a route by route basis.

It would be 'good' if Landflight could win a 'small' franchise in the Solihull area, while Kevs win one covering the south-west Birmingham area.

Regarding actions operators could take, I don't think there are any really, whatever will happen will happen. It must be very difficult for any operator to be planning any long-term strategy or significant investment at this time, knowing that it could potentially be worthless in a couple of years time.

The mayor said lower fares yet they are going up  I know of areas that kept the fares low

Sorry but you've fallen for the propaganda - the single fare is changing due to the fare cap increasing to £3.00, no other ticket prices are changing.

Mark my words, the mayor will continue to use this stick to beat our bus operators with, and the messaging will be "franchising means lower fares". Wait until later this year when TfWM put up nBus prices again, for the overdrive to really kick in!

[MW]

The most logical way I can see is TfWM purchase all the depots/land, allocate routes to depots and then award the operation of depots to the cheapest bidder.

Has Diamond's Tividale depot been discussed in any of these TfWM meetings?

[Westy]

Would the operators still own their vehicles, or would somehow TfWM get their hands on them? (Eg all of NX's vehicles get owned by TfWM, a sort of reverse of 1986!)

If Stagecoach, for example, won a load of contracts/franchises/whatever you want to call them, would they have to source their own vehicles, as they do now, or would they hire them from TfWM?