Rotala Management - Questions & Answers

[Simon Dunn]

The Streetlites start to enter service tomorrow in Redditch.

They are intended to be used primarily at this stage on 51/55/56.

Was it the 5 x Door Forward models that are due for Redditch?

Do you have any dates set as yet for possible changes to the RH & KR networks following the reviews you are currently undertaking?

They were all 10.8 m Door Forward versions.

At present we have a number of public forums for which need to be undertaken and the results reviewed


Simon

[vinh1000]

Hey Simon

Any way of possibly arranging a date for a depot visit ie open day like NXWM?

Regards

[Cedric]

why is Kidderminster getting old big bus from Redditch and Redditch getting all the new ones could the not be share out between the two depots

We moved some routes from Redditch to Kidderminster on 1st October, at that point some buses were transferred from Redditch to undertake the work.

simon  one of the buses transferred is in a state  which is not really a good advert for diamond I saw it on Thursday afternoon on the 292  it  is in the red and white livery fleet no 30445  it had  damage on the  rear offside   at  the side of the rear window
which was filthy 

Simon  I  hope you did not  think   I was running  the company down  in what I said before,  what I was trying to say  was that
seening Kidderminster is a new area  for the company  it does not create a good impression of the company  especialy with you  being in the middle of the review of the Kidderminster area. and  I did hear others comenting  on the state of 30445 .  when is the results of the review likely to be  .one point  is  there any chance of diamond  starting to  use the bus station again
as when buses are queing up to get to stands or double parked while loading if it can not get on stand it creates  a traffic jam in the street and emergency services could not get through. and with the bus station being near to Tesco where a lot of people do there shoping  it would not so far to carry heavy shoping,  when the bus station was used before the town hall stops where just used  to pick up no  setting down or waiting for time to depart.

[bususer12]

Quick Question, how much is an adult week ticket for the birmingham and Black Country area?  The adverts on your buses say £10, but on the site is £13, could you clarify which is the live price on your machines?

[Simon Dunn]

Hey Simon

Any way of possibly arranging a date for a depot visit ie open day like NXWM?

Regards

If you wish to visit the depot, and take photographs please email dave.russell@rotala.co.uk.  He will accommodate this.

We are at present tidying both the West Midlands Depots up.  This is something we will consider in the future, but at present it is not a priority

[Simon Dunn]

Has anyone thought at diamond of extending the 4s that terminate at West Bromwich to Blackheath with another 4 running as a 4M to compete against NXWM?

Or even launching a Walsall to Dudley via Oldbury and the 121 route as part of the 4?

I will forward your comment to our Commercial team

[Simon Dunn]

Hi Simon,

When can we looking forward to seeing any changes from the Redditch and Kidderminster reviews being implemented?

Cheers

We have not placed a deadline on the consultation.  There are a number of community forums we are undertaking, to gain a better picture

[winston]

Hey Simon

Any way of possibly arranging a date for a depot visit ie open day like NXWM?

Regards

If you wish to visit the depot, and take photographs please email dave.russell@rotala.co.uk.  He will accommodate this.

We are at present tidying both the West Midlands Depots up.  This is something we will consider in the future, but at present it is not a priority

Hi Simon,

Does the tidying include the removal of scrap / withdrawn buses?

[Simon Dunn]

I would be interested to know what happened to 30806 today on the 002 about 1 o'clock as quite frankly what happened could have caused a huge incident and it is very fortunate that no passengers or other drivers were hurt, my praise goes out to the driver who coped very well and managed to get it somewhere near the kerb at least, it seemed that either the handbrake or footbrake just jammed fully on at about 30 MPH, sending the bus swinging to the rear and coming to an abrupt halt, with no electrics working and the engine just dying, did it ever restart? Or did it have to be towed?

We need to investigate the incident.  However, the cause of the incident was to do with the Batteries and not the braking system. 

[Simon Dunn]

Seeing you are changing the 301 end of October,  any chance of leaflets to coincide?

The Early morning journeys are changed, together with inserting stand time at Walsall bus Station.  Sundays remain unchanged

[Simon Dunn]

Quick Question, how much is an adult week ticket for the birmingham and Black Country area?  The adverts on your buses say £10, but on the site is £13, could you clarify which is the live price on your machines?

The Black Country ticket is £12.50 and the Whole network ticket is £20.00.

What bus has the £10 ticket on?

[Steveminor]

Sorry if this seems rude Simon but what has happened to your companies competative spirit. Only a few years ago you were introducing more & more head to head routes against NX & we're doing really well on some of them. It has been a long time since you started any new competative routes & have cut some long standing competative routes like the 904, 97 etc. I know that passenger numbers had been falling but it just seemed like the will to fight had gone long before the routes were cancelled.
There are so many routes that I think Diamond could do well on & that are crying out for competition, the 900 for example which we did well on at AMPM we only came off as the Deckers were needed for other work & the darts proved too unreliable for the route.
Do you have any plans to increase your comparative portfolio?

[PM]

Hi Simon

Looking at the recent fleetchanges, why does it seem that coaches are sold and then very similar ones acquired-surely easier to just keep them
Are there plans to move even more solos down to wessex?
Why is 20856 a probable write off-doesnt it just have minor damage at the back?
Are there plans to reinstate any more/repaint any more older darts in addition to 30382/30388
Will any euro2 mpds like the W361 one be repainted/prepped for service or is the plan to withdraw them
Why are VGX darts being withdrawn when older ones like 30382 are entering service?

[Simon Dunn]

Hey Simon

Any way of possibly arranging a date for a depot visit ie open day like NXWM?

Regards

If you wish to visit the depot, and take photographs please email dave.russell@rotala.co.uk.  He will accommodate this.

We are at present tidying both the West Midlands Depots up.  This is something we will consider in the future, but at present it is not a priority

Hi Simon,

Does the tidying include the removal of scrap / withdrawn buses?

Winston,

We have sold a number of buses recently, and we continue to sell what we have left.

Yes, as part of this exercise we are disposing of vehicles which will never see the road again.  In addition, we have large amounts of old stock, which we have been selling parts going back to the acquisition of North Birmingham Busways, Ludlows of Halesowen etc, for vehicles that we simply don't operate anymore.



Simon

[Simon Dunn]

Sorry if this seems rude Simon but what has happened to your companies competative spirit. Only a few years ago you were introducing more & more head to head routes against NX & we're doing really well on some of them. It has been a long time since you started any new competative routes & have cut some long standing competative routes like the 904, 97 etc. I know that passenger numbers had been falling but it just seemed like the will to fight had gone long before the routes were cancelled.
There are so many routes that I think Diamond could do well on & that are crying out for competition, the 900 for example which we did well on at AMPM we only came off as the Deckers were needed for other work & the darts proved too unreliable for the route.
Do you have any plans to increase your comparative portfolio?

Approx two years ago, the market started to go under a huge amount of change.  BSOG reductions/ SQPS introduction/ Review of DFT guidelines around Concessionary reimbursement/Reduction in Contracted Services Budget.  At the same time, we looked at what we were doing, and how we were performing and felt that the right direction for our business was to focus and improve the quality of what we were providing.  As a result we started to re-brand the business, focused on what we considered were the core corridors, invested in our driver training, and invested in the overall fleet.

We do want to grow our West Midlands Business, but at the same time we want the quality to be right in everything we do and we want focus on our core underlying values .

Rotala are an AIM business, and as such Shareholders want maximisation of shareholder value, growing dividend, growing value and growth in the stock value.  Therefore, in the overall business, in the medium term the business needs to continue to grow.

Putting all this to one side.  I personally work extremely long hours, and I am dedicated to  whatever I do.  I need to feel proud of what we do.





Simon