Rotala Management - Questions & Answers

[Simon Dunn]

Simon
re my last post here are my sugestions for the Kidderminster network

service 1 needs no change
service 2  reroute it back along the main road going up bewdley hill  and a right turn a catchems end to go through the queensway
service 2L reroute it back along the main road going up bewdley hill  and not round the estates in bewdley  because as it is a long distance route
to Ludlow  this would make it better able to keep to time .
service3 no change
service X3  as I said before  make it  Redditch-Kidderminster-bewdley(town centre)-stouport -Astley cross . this would enable people from bewdley to get to Redditch  and reddicth hospital easier
service  4a  Go back to how it  was as   there as been a cut in service here  have in it as the following
service 4 habberley-ferndale-franche  back down  the main  franche road to Kidderminster maybe  4a going the other way round
service 5 puxton drive- Fairfield- wolverly  this would partly replace whittles 7
service 6  greenhill -sionhill-cookley this would  replace the rest of the  whittles 7   and the bit to cookley  is also covered by the 9 which is a subsidisd  service as well as the 7 so combinded the who save the council money and give the cookley people better service as the 9 is only run by ford transit type none dda
service10 as it is now except for when the vehicle leaves  spennells   instead of going back up comberton road  turn the other way and go up chester road south back to Kidderminster it would be a little quicker and only misses 2 stops out which are cover by the x3  and  nobody hardly gets on at them.
service  15 do not realy know much about it
service 125 is subsidised a bit by  SCC  to  help operators  to cover the villages along the route it is well used in the summer by tourist  and  most of the time other times a year as it is the only way to get to Kidderminster or bridgnorth if you have no   car as it is the only bus service  that is the bridgnorth to Kidderminster section  buses leaving kiddeminster to go to Stourbridge  I have seen seam fairly well loaded as it does not go the main road it goes through Norton in to Stourbridge  and  till you get to the out skirts of Stourbridge  it is the only bus
service 192  the only thing I can think of if all 192 turned right just past stourport school it would  give a better service to that part of stourport.
maybe the 125 and 192  could be linked up with some of your  black country  and Birmingham area services . to provide better transport links for Kidderminster to other areas .  and maybe even some sunday services in the area . I have not mention  the following services as I do not know enough about them  they are the 133,294,295, 303.   Simon know some of these are not diamond services , you will have a idea why I have listed them  regards cedric

Dear Sir,

I have forwarded your comments to our commercial team.

Thank you

Simon

[Simon Dunn]

Hi Simon,

That's good news on securing the 8 extra full size buses from Yourbus, I'm assuming that the 3 x Signature Merc Citaro's haven't been taken in part exchange?

I was thinking whether the additional buses/resulting withdrawals & cascades could work as follows to benefit TE, RH & KR garages:

Tividale:

In - SV04DVH/ DVK/ DVL/ DVM - B7RLE/Wright
       BK10 MFX/MFY - B7RLE / Plaxton Centro
       
Out - MPD's 20501, 20502, 20505 (Red Diamond liveried), 20507 (GWM Liveried) & 20535/36 (allover Red ex Swift 226) cascaded to KR via repaint.

Only 3 buses remain not in either current allover blue or Black Diamond livery i.e. Darts 30454/5 (allover Red ex Swift 226) & 30487 (GWM) livery

Redditch:

In - SN10 CDF/CDK - Enviro 300's
 
Out - Darts 20850 & 30902 to KR, excess spares to leave namely MPD's - 20372 (Red Diamond liveried) goes first.

Kidderminster:

In - Large Darts 20850 & 30902 & MPD's 20535/6
Out - V-reg MPD's 20652/54/57 & 658

Direct swaps to standardize fleet:

TE - MAN 30806 (after repaint) - swapped with an RH B7RLE
LAC - MAN 30704 & 30804 swapped with Longs Darts 30636 & 30701 at RH

- All MAN's concentrated at RH
- Majority of Darts removed from RH

Future - Additional E300's acquired for RH as/when become available to cascade B7RLE to Tividale

Any good?

Winston,

We have not sold the Signature buses.

The buses we have acquired will come in stages over the next 4/5 weeks, and two of the 04 plate Volvos will be out of test.

When they enter service, we will try to standardise the vehicles at Garage more.  We havent exactly decided what yet.




Simon

[Cedric]

Simon
re my last post here are my sugestions for the Kidderminster network

service 1 needs no change
service 2  reroute it back along the main road going up bewdley hill  and a right turn a catchems end to go through the queensway
service 2L reroute it back along the main road going up bewdley hill  and not round the estates in bewdley  because as it is a long distance route
to Ludlow  this would make it better able to keep to time .
service3 no change
service X3  as I said before  make it  Redditch-Kidderminster-bewdley(town centre)-stouport -Astley cross . this would enable people from bewdley to get to Redditch  and reddicth hospital easier
service  4a  Go back to how it  was as   there as been a cut in service here  have in it as the following
service 4 habberley-ferndale-franche  back down  the main  franche road to Kidderminster maybe  4a going the other way round
service 5 puxton drive- Fairfield- wolverly  this would partly replace whittles 7
service 6  greenhill -sionhill-cookley this would  replace the rest of the  whittles 7   and the bit to cookley  is also covered by the 9 which is a subsidisd  service as well as the 7 so combinded the who save the council money and give the cookley people better service as the 9 is only run by ford transit type none dda
service10 as it is now except for when the vehicle leaves  spennells   instead of going back up comberton road  turn the other way and go up chester road south back to Kidderminster it would be a little quicker and only misses 2 stops out which are cover by the x3  and  nobody hardly gets on at them.
service  15 do not realy know much about it
service 125 is subsidised a bit by  SCC  to  help operators  to cover the villages along the route it is well used in the summer by tourist  and  most of the time other times a year as it is the only way to get to Kidderminster or bridgnorth if you have no   car as it is the only bus service  that is the bridgnorth to Kidderminster section  buses leaving kiddeminster to go to Stourbridge  I have seen seam fairly well loaded as it does not go the main road it goes through Norton in to Stourbridge  and  till you get to the out skirts of Stourbridge  it is the only bus
service 192  the only thing I can think of if all 192 turned right just past stourport school it would  give a better service to that part of stourport.
maybe the 125 and 192  could be linked up with some of your  black country  and Birmingham area services . to provide better transport links for Kidderminster to other areas .  and maybe even some sunday services in the area . I have not mention  the following services as I do not know enough about them  they are the 133,294,295, 303.   Simon know some of these are not diamond services , you will have a idea why I have listed them  regards cedric

Dear Sir,

I have forwarded your comments to our commercial team.

Thank you

Simon

Simon
Re my suggestion about service 10 there would only be one stop  missed out realy not 2 because at the one people mostly cross the road and get the bus before it goes around spennells  to make sure of get on . and  the one that who  be missed  out is covered by the x3 and it is very rare a buses picks  anyone up there   cedric

[PM]

Hi Simon

Thanks for previous replies!

1) I see the ex WCC citaro(s) (looks as if at least one) is for auction again:

http://coachandbusmarket.com/ads/mercedes-citaro-0530-e5-bus-2008/

Could be ideal for building up a greater fleet of them at Long Acre or Preston.

2) Presumably Yourbus still have three B9TL deckers for sale they don't appear to be using, as they are surplus to requirement. Did you explore acquiring these as part of your recent deal with Yourbus? Would they be ideal for increasing capacity on UWE services, potentially cascading B7rle's to Diamond?

3) I see the frequency of the 2 is being cut back to every 40 mins from 15th December. This seems a busy and well-used corridor-just wondered why this is the plan, especially given Whittle's are withdrawing from the 2A/C to Bewdley.

4) I see WCC themselves are taking over part of the 15 left without a service when the 2A/C gets withdrawn. Was this something Rotala considered running commercially/or bidding to gain the contract for it?

Many Thanks

[Cedric]

Hi Simon

Thanks for previous replies!

1) I see the ex WCC citaro(s) (looks as if at least one) is for auction again:

http://coachandbusmarket.com/ads/mercedes-citaro-0530-e5-bus-2008/

Could be ideal for building up a greater fleet of them at Long Acre or Preston.

2) Presumably Yourbus still have three B9TL deckers for sale they don't appear to be using, as they are surplus to requirement. Did you explore acquiring these as part of your recent deal with Yourbus? Would they be ideal for increasing capacity on UWE services, potentially cascading B7rle's to Diamond?

3) I see the frequency of the 2 is being cut back to every 40 mins from 15th December. This seems a busy and well-used corridor-just wondered why this is the plan, especially given Whittle's are withdrawing from the 2A/C to Bewdley.

4) I see WCC themselves are taking over part of the 15 left without a service when the 2A/C gets withdrawn. Was this something Rotala considered running commercially/or bidding to gain the contract for it?

Many Thanks

Regarding the old 2a/2c  diamond  are rerouting the 2 to cover the Queensway bit of the 2a/2c  so that means all the Kidderminster to bewdley
is covered  and diamond  already cover the stourport to Kidderminster   section    so it just the bewdley to stourport  section  wWCC are taking over as the 15. but  whittles still have there  15 going as well

[PM]

Hi Simon

Thanks for previous replies!

1) I see the ex WCC citaro(s) (looks as if at least one) is for auction again:

http://coachandbusmarket.com/ads/mercedes-citaro-0530-e5-bus-2008/

Could be ideal for building up a greater fleet of them at Long Acre or Preston.

2) Presumably Yourbus still have three B9TL deckers for sale they don't appear to be using, as they are surplus to requirement. Did you explore acquiring these as part of your recent deal with Yourbus? Would they be ideal for increasing capacity on UWE services, potentially cascading B7rle's to Diamond?

3) I see the frequency of the 2 is being cut back to every 40 mins from 15th December. This seems a busy and well-used corridor-just wondered why this is the plan, especially given Whittle's are withdrawing from the 2A/C to Bewdley.

4) I see WCC themselves are taking over part of the 15 left without a service when the 2A/C gets withdrawn. Was this something Rotala considered running commercially/or bidding to gain the contract for it?

Many Thanks

Regarding the old 2a/2c  diamond  are rerouting the 2 to cover the Queensway bit of the 2a/2c  so that means all the Kidderminster to bewdley
is covered  and diamond  already cover the stourport to Kidderminster   section    so it just the bewdley to stourport  section  wWCC are taking over as the 15. but  whittles still have there  15 going as well

I know the service will be covered-what I was interested to hear was why in WCC's service change listings, the 2 is down as being reduced to every 40 minutes.

[Cedric]

Hi Simon

Thanks for previous replies!

1) I see the ex WCC citaro(s) (looks as if at least one) is for auction again:

http://coachandbusmarket.com/ads/mercedes-citaro-0530-e5-bus-2008/

Could be ideal for building up a greater fleet of them at Long Acre or Preston.

2) Presumably Yourbus still have three B9TL deckers for sale they don't appear to be using, as they are surplus to requirement. Did you explore acquiring these as part of your recent deal with Yourbus? Would they be ideal for increasing capacity on UWE services, potentially cascading B7rle's to Diamond?

3) I see the frequency of the 2 is being cut back to every 40 mins from 15th December. This seems a busy and well-used corridor-just wondered why this is the plan, especially given Whittle's are withdrawing from the 2A/C to Bewdley.

4) I see WCC themselves are taking over part of the 15 left without a service when the 2A/C gets withdrawn. Was this something Rotala considered running commercially/or bidding to gain the contract for it?

Many Thanks

Regarding the old 2a/2c  diamond  are rerouting the 2 to cover the Queensway bit of the 2a/2c  so that means all the Kidderminster to bewdley
is covered  and diamond  already cover the stourport to Kidderminster   section    so it just the bewdley to stourport  section  wWCC are taking over as the 15. but  whittles still have there  15 going as well

I know the service will be covered-what I was interested to hear drug was why in WCC's service change listings, the 2 is down as being reduced to every 40 minutes.

Sorry miss read questions  it might just be that WCC
Have made a some errors  as they did with the last
Changes on the 2L they had it as running hourly  through
To Ludlow  when it should every  90 mins  can not see
Diamond cutting  down the 2 to what would be 3 buses
every 2 Hours

[PM]

Hi Simon

Thanks for previous replies!

1) I see the ex WCC citaro(s) (looks as if at least one) is for auction again:

http://coachandbusmarket.com/ads/mercedes-citaro-0530-e5-bus-2008/

Could be ideal for building up a greater fleet of them at Long Acre or Preston.

2) Presumably Yourbus still have three B9TL deckers for sale they don't appear to be using, as they are surplus to requirement. Did you explore acquiring these as part of your recent deal with Yourbus? Would they be ideal for increasing capacity on UWE services, potentially cascading B7rle's to Diamond?

3) I see the frequency of the 2 is being cut back to every 40 mins from 15th December. This seems a busy and well-used corridor-just wondered why this is the plan, especially given Whittle's are withdrawing from the 2A/C to Bewdley.

4) I see WCC themselves are taking over part of the 15 left without a service when the 2A/C gets withdrawn. Was this something Rotala considered running commercially/or bidding to gain the contract for it?

Many Thanks

Regarding the old 2a/2c  diamond  are rerouting the 2 to cover the Queensway bit of the 2a/2c  so that means all the Kidderminster to bewdley
is covered  and diamond  already cover the stourport to Kidderminster   section    so it just the bewdley to stourport  section  wWCC are taking over as the 15. but  whittles still have there  15 going as well

I know the service will be covered-what I was interested to hear drug was why in WCC's service change listings, the 2 is down as being reduced to every 40 minutes.

Sorry miss read questions  it might just be that WCC
Have made a some errors  as they did with the last
Changes on the 2L they had it as running hourly  through
To Ludlow  when it should every  90 mins  can not see
Diamond cutting  down the 2 to what would be 3 buses
every 2 Hours

I agree with you there that it's probably a mistake! :)

[Simon Dunn]

Hi Simon

Thanks for previous replies!

1) I see the ex WCC citaro(s) (looks as if at least one) is for auction again:

http://coachandbusmarket.com/ads/mercedes-citaro-0530-e5-bus-2008/

Could be ideal for building up a greater fleet of them at Long Acre or Preston.

2) Presumably Yourbus still have three B9TL deckers for sale they don't appear to be using, as they are surplus to requirement. Did you explore acquiring these as part of your recent deal with Yourbus? Would they be ideal for increasing capacity on UWE services, potentially cascading B7rle's to Diamond?

3) I see the frequency of the 2 is being cut back to every 40 mins from 15th December. This seems a busy and well-used corridor-just wondered why this is the plan, especially given Whittle's are withdrawing from the 2A/C to Bewdley.

4) I see WCC themselves are taking over part of the 15 left without a service when the 2A/C gets withdrawn. Was this something Rotala considered running commercially/or bidding to gain the contract for it?

Many Thanks

Dear Sir,

1.  As a rule, I am not going chasing buses around auctions.  So I doubt we will be buying any
2.  We have registered nothing as yet.  Therefore this shouldnt be on the WCC website.
3.  We did look at it, but didnt consider it would be commercially viable.




Simon

[Westy]

How is the 302 doing so far?

Apart from the branded buses, havent seen any real promotion for it!

(Noticed youve got the £2.50 day return on it!)

I have promoted it via a locally based Facebook group seeing the guy that ran it was highly critical of Nx's reliability in the past!

[Simon Dunn]

How is the 302 doing so far?

Apart from the branded buses, havent seen any real promotion for it!

(Noticed youve got the £2.50 day return on it!)

I have promoted it via a locally based Facebook group seeing the guy that ran it was highly critical of Nx's reliability in the past!

Dear Sir,

It is too early to assess its performance.

Thank you for your assistance with promotion




Simon

[Cedric]

Hi Simon

Thanks for previous replies!

1) I see the ex WCC citaro(s) (looks as if at least one) is for auction again:

http://coachandbusmarket.com/ads/mercedes-citaro-0530-e5-bus-2008/

Could be ideal for building up a greater fleet of them at Long Acre or Preston.

2) Presumably Yourbus still have three B9TL deckers for sale they don't appear to be using, as they are surplus to requirement. Did you explore acquiring these as part of your recent deal with Yourbus? Would they be ideal for increasing capacity on UWE services, potentially cascading B7rle's to Diamond?

3) I see the frequency of the 2 is being cut back to every 40 mins from 15th December. This seems a busy and well-used corridor-just wondered why this is the plan, especially given Whittle's are withdrawing from the 2A/C to Bewdley.

4) I see WCC themselves are taking over part of the 15 left without a service when the 2A/C gets withdrawn. Was this something Rotala considered running commercially/or bidding to gain the contract for it?

Many Thanks

Dear Sir,

1.  As a rule, I am not going chasing buses around auctions.  So I doubt we will be buying any
2.  We have registered nothing as yet.  Therefore this shouldnt be on the WCC website.
3.  We did look at it, but didnt consider it would be commercially viable.




Simon

Simon
I agree with  what you said  about the bewdley  to stouport  route 15 (or2A/2C ) as the few times I have been on , or seen bus on that section apart part from the the school am/ pm runs  even a solo or mpd would not get any where near full,   the best thing for that section would be like I said in a earlier post to divert the x3  along there

[winston]

Hi Simon,

With the impending closure of Whittle's bus business, I was wondering if it might be worth Rotala approaching EYMS Group about the possibility of acquiring some of it's larger Darts which will become surplus i.e.

154 YX03MWG
155 YX03MWJ
156 YX03MWK
164 GK03NFT
170 YX04JVW

Of the few older Darts that may need replacing in the EYMS fleet, I suspect the E200's returning to Hull might cover those.

[Simon Dunn]

Hi Simon,

With the impending closure of Whittle's bus business, I was wondering if it might be worth Rotala approaching EYMS Group about the possibility of acquiring some of it's larger Darts which will become surplus i.e.

154 YX03MWG
155 YX03MWJ
156 YX03MWK
164 GK03NFT
170 YX04JVW

Of the few older Darts that may need replacing in the EYMS fleet, I suspect the E200's returning to Hull might cover those.

Winston,

We are always looking for good value opportunities to improve our fleet.

Last year I spent several months, and several hundreds of thousands of pounds dealing with an OFT enquiry, and until EYMS have concluded any transaction the last thing I would want to do would be to get involved with some potential conspiracy theory over why we had acquired some buses.


Simon

[winston]

Hi Simon,

With the impending closure of Whittle's bus business, I was wondering if it might be worth Rotala approaching EYMS Group about the possibility of acquiring some of it's larger Darts which will become surplus i.e.

154 YX03MWG
155 YX03MWJ
156 YX03MWK
164 GK03NFT
170 YX04JVW

Of the few older Darts that may need replacing in the EYMS fleet, I suspect the E200's returning to Hull might cover those.

Winston,

We are always looking for good value opportunities to improve our fleet.

Last year I spent several months, and several hundreds of thousands of pounds dealing with an OFT enquiry, and until EYMS have concluded any transaction the last thing I would want to do would be to get involved with some potential conspiracy theory over why we had acquired some buses.

Simon

Simon,

Fair point, I just thought it might have been a mutually beneficial transaction that benefits both parties. Maybe best to wait until after 5th Jan then.

Based of your previous Oft experience, I assume Diamond not be registering any additional services covering any former Whittle's routes until approached by WCC or other parties, as that would surely attract more conspiracy theories then buying a few surplus buses & using them on your existing services?