Claribels

[BBS]

Claribels Pulsar 1 YJ58 FDV Side dest not working

[Michael Bevan]

Rotala to acquire Claribels...

https://www.diamondbuses.com/news/rotala-plc-acquisition-announcement/

[2206]

Rotala to acquire Claribels...

https://www.diamondbuses.com/news/rotala-plc-acquisition-announcement/

So Diamond will run on the Birmingham - Ward End - Chelmsley corridor alongside NX then? Will it be ran from Tividale?

[BK63 YWP]

So Diamond will run on the Birmingham - Ward End - Chelmsley corridor alongside NX then? Will it be ran from Tividale?

Too early to say, it's just been confirmed rotala are buying claribels but nothing is said to what will happen with the routes commercially operated by claribels, for certain that the tendered routes will run.

[metrocity]

Too early to say, it's just been confirmed rotala are buying claribels but nothing is said to what will happen with the routes commercially operated by claribels, for certain that the tendered routes will run.

All the tendered routes they operate are currently out for tender aswell

[igogeneral]

Not many small operators left now then, interesting times ahead.

[Gareth]

Sad news. I've been a very regular user of them for over 30 years. Longer if you count school transport to the local swimming baths. I hope Diamond carry on their commercial services, to lose 3 or 4 buses an hour on an increasing terrible corridor will make commuting even worse.

[2206]

Sad news. I've been a very regular user of them for over 30 years. Longer if you count school transport to the local swimming baths. I hope Diamond carry on their commercial services, to lose 3 or 4 buses an hour on an increasing terrible corridor will make commuting even worse.

I think NX have 12+ buses an hour as well. But i've never found the corridor to be " increasingly terrible" as well.
The service was experiencing delays earlier, affecting both operators. But I think that late running is due to a road closure (Aston Church Rd) and traffic conditions. And of course the buses can't fly over such things.

[BusMan Greg]

It's a shame that Diamond are taking them over! Less variety of operators in the west mids

[markcf83]

Rotala to acquire Claribels...

https://www.diamondbuses.com/news/rotala-plc-acquisition-announcement/

Best of luck to them.

[BBS]

All the tendered routes they operate are currently out for tender aswell

That Includes the 36 right?

[Stu]

That Includes the 36 right?

The 36 is a tendered route, yes.

[BBS]

The 36 is a tendered route, yes.

well that's like the 6th or 7th time that route is getting operator change

[Stu]

Rotala to acquire Claribels...

https://www.diamondbuses.com/news/rotala-plc-acquisition-announcement/

Well, that's one of my predictions for this year ticked off already :D
http://wmbusphotos.com/forum/index.php?topic=6142.msg297792#msg297792


Like with Hansons before, its never nice to see a smaller operator swallowed up by a bigger group, but these are strange times indeed, and with the direction that bus operators are being guided and demands being placed upon them (namely the push towards zero emission vehicles), it would seem to me that this is designed to squeeze out the smaller operating companies in favour of the 'big groups/companies'.

And if you can't compete, as a smaller operator, your only choice is to go out of business, or sell up.

In this case, it would seem that the owners of Claribels decided that public bus operations are just not worth it anymore, so in a way I can't blame them for offloading that part of their business, in order to concentrate and focus on what is presumably more profitable for them.

I can only hope that the current staff at Claribels retain their jobs with Diamond Bus, and that Diamond continue to operate the services to the standards that Claribels customers have become used to.

[Gareth]

I think NX have 12+ buses an hour as well. But i've never found the corridor to be " increasingly terrible" as well.
The service was experiencing delays earlier, affecting both operators. But I think that late running is due to a road closure (Aston Church Rd) and traffic conditions. And of course the buses can't fly over such things.

It's increasingly terrible. I know buses can't can't fly over cars, I know there's traffic, I know there's also delays to Claribels. I also know that out of 12 buses an hour, 5 or 6 of them turn up within 5 minutes. But that isn't the point here. The point I was making is that if we lose 3 or 4 buses an hour on the 94 route, the people who use those three or four buses will now be using the NX service resulting in far busier buses and Priory Queensway at 4pm being more unbearable than it already is.