AM/PM

[Steveminor]

AMPM had built up a loyal following so even when NXWM did retaliate with extra buses they still had there own passengers. Unfortunately when Greenbus asked AMPM for assistance running a couple of routes, these vehicles were taken off the 6 rather than from the spare capacity, this meant letting down passengers who had bought AMPM day tickets who then decided not to buy them again (you can't blame them really) . Then a decision was taken to raise fares to with 10p of NXWM. This also lost some of the loyal passengers, IMHO you can't charge the same price for a inferior frequency or service.
With the loss of so many AMPM regulars the company was unable to compete sufficiently to get a large enough market share to keep the route viable.

[nx4737]

Shall we discuss the Tamwroth operation again?

[Steveminor]

Tamworth was profitable, however the thinking was that the 71 would provide higher profits because it was closer to the depot (when a company is short on money wrong decisions can be made to its own detriment) That was wrong & had it not all gone wrong we would have returned to Tamworth in higher numbers probably competing on the 8 & 9 as well. There were some interesting plans had we returned & no it wasn't just to copy Arrivas routes but to use our new found knowledge to innovate. Yes both sides resorted to the normal competition tactics of cutting routes etc but you the passengers benefitted from lower fares for a while & still benefit from a higher frequency on the Sunday 110.
If I were still in the industry I would definately look at running those ideas with whomever I worked for, well not quite true as there are some operators who don't have the right vehicles for the job.

[richie]

Am I right in saying that AMPM were excluded the sale and acceptance of n network tickets?

[Steveminor]

That is correct. It came after another operator complained that AMPM were selling the NBus tickets trio cheap (at the same price as the NX daysaver). The arguement was that the difference is the commission we are losing as Centro is still receiving the full amount owed to them. This then changed into Centro not believing how many NBus tickets were actually being sold they thought the number should be lower (again what difference would that make to Centro as they would actually be gaining money). Eventually Centro agreed the figures were correct & put it before the Centrocard operators group whether to allow AMPM back into the scheme. Since only one operator agreed then AMPM remained barred from the scheme.
I would like to point out (as anyone who caught the buses during this time can confirm), although AMPM received no payments for excepting the network cards they never once turned them away even though they were fully entitled to do so.

[Isle of Stroma]

That is correct. It came after another operator complained that AMPM were selling the NBus tickets trio cheap

Yep, can't imagine for one second how that one came about  :)  I don't recall that it was the same rate as a daysaver, it was after the nbus went up to £3.70 from £3.60, but am-pm (for some entirely philanthropic reason - i'm sure....) continued punting them at the old rate.

I also know they continued to sell the nbus after they were suspended....   ::)

[Steveminor]

Yes several drivers were reprimanded for that. Their excuse was that passengers were complaining quite heavily. This didn't go on for very long though. We also offered a £3.70 ticket to cover both Tamworth & Birmingham routes for a while, this was withdrawn after we became aware some people were trying to pass them off as NBus tickets. A NXWM inspector drew it to my attention after he caught one in a 14, I can't see how the driver mistook it for an Nbus as the cross boundary day ticket was not double length.

[fleetline6477]

I loved AMPM at the start of operation. The 6 was a well planned route with branded buses. The 900 was also a great idea, introducing Saturdays only to test the water was a great idea and on the occasions I used it was very busy. The 11 Outer Circle was also good, sadly the frequency could never be frequent enough to build up a regular customer base.

I think they got too big too quickly. As an enthusiast I much preferred travelling on AMPMs Olympians than NXWM Tridents and Geminins.

From memory the 11 was killed when frequency was reduced even further and buses were taken off route for driver breaks instead of relief. The 900 seemed to go from very good loads to running virtually empty when they introduced those all over white MCV Evolution single deckers with baggage facilities and then I think they reverted back to double deckers, took on school contracts over in Coventry again reducing the timetable.

A great start a great shame the way it all ended.

[Steveminor]

Yes the MCVs there were actually 4 of them leased one of which blew up its gearbox on arrival at the depot & was never used in service. I think to be honest it was the unreliability of the MAN Evos that killed the passenger base on the 900. The Rugby schools really were worth doing one of the schools was priced at what we would expect a bus to take in a whole day, just for doing an afternoon only journey. The 11 was only profitable when it was operated in conjunction with the Greenbus school contracts & never really took off when it stood alone hence the cut backs that caused takings to drop further. A lesson to other small operators, when you start cutting back a service to try & make it profitable, don't bother it will just lose you more money better to cut your losses & move on.
Yes the company grew very quickly however (& this is just my opinion) had the Greenbus contracts been signed & sorted out correctly then the company would have survived. The problem came when all those nice financed Olympians had nothing to do to pay for or justify themselves. This caused a financial Black Hole which ultimately there was no recovery from. At the end there was sufficient money coming in to pay off the bills however the damage was done & the money saving plans that killed the business had already been put into action.
I will say that Mick Singh was totally blameless for the shambles that killed the company & is the only person that really lost out both financially and respectfully. His only guilt is that of the Sikh culture, which is to (publicly)stand by your family no matter what. It's a shame that someone else didn't respect the Sikh tradition of "listening to your Father & doing what he says".

Please please what anyone thinks of AMPM don't judge or blame Mick for it he deserves much better than he has got.

[PM]

A real shame that AMPM failed as they seemed very promising initially-did they re-emerge as Solihull Travel or was that something different?

[BCMobile]

All I've heard about this company was that they didn't tax/MOT or insure the buses? Was this true?

[Steveminor]

Solihull Travel was set up whilst AMPM were still running & that is part of the reason for the downfall. I can't & won't go into it in detail other than what was printed in the press. I was put down as the Director of Solihull Travel & my signature & details were forged on official companies house documents, in effect giving me the company. However I had never signed anything & was not about to be the fall guy for something that someone else had done & was doing. One of the drivers then "decided to set up his own company B'ham Travel" unfortunately this guy stupid enough to agree to be a fall guy was also too stupid to fool the TC as to who was really behind the company & therefore did not allow the licence to be granted.
Come on how stupid did Mel Kang think the TC's are. (Not slander as it is all documented & has been made public through the press) He contacted the TC pretending to be me using his own mobile without withholding his number. The contact number for B'ham Travel was the same number. Now the TC knew this was Mel Kangs number as it was on file as his personal contact number for AMPM Travel.

Yes it's a real shame AMPM failed but in a way it's also a good thing as "due to intentionally attempting to deceive the office of the Traffic Commisioner Mel Kang is prohibited from holding an operators licence indefinatly."
Cowboys like him do not deserve the right to run buses & I can honestly say, if it weren't for me & Mick constantly having to reign him in AMPM would have gone to the wall a lot sooner. Is it a coincidence that it fell apart the first time I went on holiday I'll leave that for you guys to decide.
Since I am no longer in the bus industry I honestly don't particularly care lol

[Steveminor]

BCMobile that is not true the vehicles that were purchased by Solihull Travel already had MOTs and were insured by Solihull Travel.
The problem lies with a company with 10 discs & buses trying to insure 30.
I'm sure you guys can figure out the rest of the story.

[BCMobile]

BCMobile that is not true the vehicles that were purchased by Solihull Travel already had MOTs and were insured by Solihull Travel.
The problem lies with a company with 10 discs & buses trying to insure 30.
I'm sure you guys can figure out the rest of the story.

I see. Quite an issue occurred.

Was any company a true threat to TWM/NXWM?

[Steveminor]

With a combined fleet total of 30 I would think not indeed after the war on the 6 there was never really any animosity between NX & AMPM we they just sort of left us alone. Now Rotala maybe a different matter we took the 71 off them the 178 177 & 175 & were planning an assault on the S3, which they knew about. What was not know by them was the preparations to take on the 70 in redditch and an extension of the X50 to take in more of the 57/58 maybe similar to what Greenbus are now planning however with the added advantage that First had approached us wishing us to accept their tickets if they accepted ours in return. Of course this would have had to go through the OFT but with the councils backing of the scheme this shouldn't have been a problem.