Wednesfield Garage

[Bob]

Commercial 530s..another failure..cant even win against banga lol

[2206]

Commercial 530s..another failure..cant even win against banga lol

Wander how they will do on the 74 with Social Travel  starting.

[Bob]

probably wont affect em too much tbf

[PM]

Commercial 530s..another failure..cant even win against banga lol

It is indeed, good news for Banga and hopefully means they can continue to improve and the corridor reverts back to a sensible number of buses on it!

Note Banga not withdrawing their 891 though no doubt a retaliation agaibst Arriva so starting on the 530 has hurt their business.

Just 10 and 19 left as purely WM commercial routes now?

I reckon it's only a matter of time before they get shot of the op, there's no move to replsce lost work save taking work out of Cannock and Stafford...

[arrifirststage]

It is indeed, good news for Banga and hopefully means they can continue to improve and the corridor reverts back to a sensible number of buses on it!

Note Banga not withdrawing their 891 though no doubt a retaliation agaibst Arriva so starting on the 530 has hurt their business.

Just 10 and 19 left as purely WM commercial routes now?

I reckon it's only a matter of time before they get shot of the op, there's no move to replsce lost work save taking work out of Cannock and Stafford...

I must admit that the present Wednesfield operations hardly seem viable to an outsider.
However,surely this is only part of the present problems for Arriva Midlands since it appears that the entire Midlands operation is not flourishing.
I can see the Company being split up,with Oswestry,Telford and Shrewsbury joining Arriva North West and Derby,Leicester and Burton merging with Arriva the Shires (as already has been mentioned before).
This leaves Cannock,Stafford and Tamworth ............are the two former worth keeping the way things are going,and the feeling persists that Stagecoach would snatch their hands off for Tamworth.
Maybe complete and utter rubbish,but it is a few thoughts to pass away a quiet Sunday morning.
Stafford would probably go the way of Hereford and be consumed by independents and Cannock???.........maybe Bob will get his wish for a NX company to spread northwards.

[Bob]

Well as ive said before, they were close to selling Cannock previously so you never know. According to upcoming changes to the network, the Sapphire 1 is being cut to half hourly as is the 33. Surprised by the 1 being cut tbf

[winston]

I must admit that the present Wednesfield operations hardly seem viable to an outsider.
However,surely this is only part of the present problems for Arriva Midlands since it appears that the entire Midlands operation is not flourishing.
I can see the Company being split up,with Oswestry,Telford and Shrewsbury joining Arriva North West and Derby,Leicester and Burton merging with Arriva the Shires (as already has been mentioned before).
This leaves Cannock,Stafford and Tamworth ............are the two former worth keeping the way things are going,and the feeling persists that Stagecoach would snatch their hands off for Tamworth.
Maybe complete and utter rubbish,but it is a few thoughts to pass away a quiet Sunday morning.
Stafford would probably go the way of Hereford and be consumed by independents and Cannock???.........maybe Bob will get his wish for a NX company to spread northwards.

I very much doubt Arriva would ever sell Tamworth, it always gets the new investment as per Telford I would therefore expect it to be one of the most profitable garages within AM. Wednesfield appears by far the weakest most vulnerable operation.

[Bob]

They might sell it if offered a really good deal though? Do you think theyre bothered about Cannock, Theyvs invested in the last couple of years, but prior to that the fleet was dreadful. That said  standards are slipping. The 60/ X60 has gone from 61 plates to tat the Staffords have gone from branded 57 plates to tat when the deckers arent on which is frequent, so you never know. Wednesfield though? Its a joke, nothing theyve ever launched has been successful and as i say its hilarious that they cant compete against banga! I feel sorry for anyone whod ever bought monthly or season tickets on any commercial route they introduced! lol

[PM]

They might sell it if offered a really good deal though? Do you think theyre bothered about Cannock, Theyvs invested in the last couple of years, but prior to that the fleet was dreadful. That said  standards are slipping. The 60/ X60 has gone from 61 plates to tat the Staffords have gone from branded 57 plates to tat when the deckers arent on which is frequent, so you never know. Wednesfield though? Its a joke, nothing theyve ever launched has been successful and as i say its hilarious that they cant compete against banga! I feel sorry for anyone whod ever bought monthly or season tickets on any commercial route they introduced! lol

Doubt there are msny of those givrn website is hard to navigate and fares promotion is pretty bad

I agree with the general opinion that the midlands op is being attacked on sll fronts, it just needs First in Leicester or an operstor in Derby to have a go...

I think they'll keep all but Wednesfield as otherwise it could erode more profitable parts of the ntwork as well. I think Wednesfield's days are numbered unless as a WM base for Staffordshire services crossing the boundary. Even by doing that they undermine existing garages.

I also don't really get what there is to buy at Wednesfield. Garage space possibly plus the 19 and 10, vehicles are not what anyone would be rushing out to buy and then there are the 2012 tenders won at stupid prices that are most likely loss making by now if not before.

[Bob]

I wouldnt imagine Cannocks much more than a bit of a basket case either. The upcoming cuts announced so far are only the ones that go into the West Mids. i wonder what the purely within Staffs services will look like. The cuts to the 1 though? A sapphire route! If custom had increased as intended etc surely they wouldnt be cutting? Maybe this'll spur another operator to run on the corridor

[winston]

They might sell it if offered a really good deal though? Do you think theyre bothered about Cannock, Theyvs invested in the last couple of years, but prior to that the fleet was dreadful. That said  standards are slipping. The 60/ X60 has gone from 61 plates to tat the Staffords have gone from branded 57 plates to tat when the deckers arent on which is frequent, so you never know. Wednesfield though? Its a joke, nothing theyve ever launched has been successful and as i say its hilarious that they cant compete against banga! I feel sorry for anyone whod ever bought monthly or season tickets on any commercial route they introduced! lol

The investment at Cannock appeared to coincide with when NXWM expressed an interested in the area & won the Staffs CC tenders

[BK63 YWP]

National Express Staffordshire any one? Or Xplore Staffordshire?

[Westy]

Wednesfield would be swallowed by Wolverhampton.

Cannock would be swallowed by Walsall. Can't see them keeping Cannock as an outstation.

Don't know how Walsall would arrange the Cannock bit they would inherit, but I could see Wolves merging the 70 with their 11, as that runs up the Cannock Road doesn't it?

Thing is if NX have a straight inherit of the routes of the Wednesfield & Cannock operations, how long before they would start withdrawing them as none profitable?

Could NX build a 'super garage' in South Staffordshire to take over Walsall, Wolves, Wednesfield & Cannock operations, to save money?

Would this involve certain routes in the south of the Wolves & Walsall covered areas being taken over by Pensnett & West Bromwich for operational reasons?

(Mods - If you think this worthy of a separate thread, then move it, but don't just pooh pooh it or delete it for being off topic, as it could be a goer!)

[Bob]

if anything were to happen i dont think nx would set up a staffordshire branding. i think theyd just run inherited routes from wolves and walsall. Also i could see routes like the 74/75 being held onto by arriva & run from other garages.The previous aborted sell off involved swarming Cannock with Lynxes & B6s.Imagine a B6 trying to get up Bradbury Lane on a Pye Green lol

[winston]

In the unlikely event that NX were to acquire both Wednesfield & Cannock, I think there would be sufficient capacity at both Walsall & Wolverhampton garages to adsorb the fleet & routes. Pensnett could easily be expanded at considerably less cost than having to build a super garage if additional capacity was required, WA & WN routes could then be moved around accordingly. NX would more than likely attract interest from the competition authorities if they were to acquire Wednesfield, however the remaining WM routes could be of interest to Diamond who seem to be doing pretty within the Walsall area.

Arriva do seem far more focused on European of late, Arriva Midlands is loosing ground and on the receiving end of competition from numerous smaller operators, London has lost a large number of Tfl contracts and Bolton is a shadow of its former self since Blue Bus was acquired by Arriva.