Chaserider

[Bob]

i cannot understand why the management keep some of these solos with all the problems that come with them , that 104 for one,  is so unreliable its an embarrassment. Again today pye green ploughed with the full sized saloons whilst interurban busy routes have to endure cramped unreliable solos ,  or twin door small seating capacity ex London spec things.
The amount of lost mileage and revenue with these abortion solo heaps of scrap must be eye watering.
Shame as was kind of hoping chaserider would of been a better option for our area than the previous lot , sadly not, they are in desperate need of some decent sized capacity vehicles for the interurban work. Perhaps form a vehicle interworking allocation cycle of the 60/74/826/828 with some decent sized capacity vehicles, cramped small solos at school times is a joke on these routes.

Apparently a couple of long dead solos are about to be brought back to life

[BusMan Greg]

Apparently a couple of long dead solos are about to be brought back to life

162 and 175 by any chance?

[Westy]

Haven't seen  a Solo yet on that first 1 south this week!

2 mornings have been that ex airport thing I mentioned earlier!

[Steveminor]

i cannot understand why the management keep some of these solos with all the problems that come with them , that 104 for one,  is so unreliable its an embarrassment. Again today pye green ploughed with the full sized saloons whilst interurban busy routes have to endure cramped unreliable solos ,  or twin door small seating capacity ex London spec things.
The amount of lost mileage and revenue with these abortion solo heaps of scrap must be eye watering.
Shame as was kind of hoping chaserider would of been a better option for our area than the previous lot , sadly not, they are in desperate need of some decent sized capacity vehicles for the interurban work. Perhaps form a vehicle interworking allocation cycle of the 60/74/826/828 with some decent sized capacity vehicles, cramped small solos at school times is a joke on these routes.

It's worth remembering though that they took over in the height of the pandemic, passenger numbers have failed to return in any significant quantities & current funding does not make up for the losses bus companies are making on a daily basis. Plus funding is most likely to take another drop in 70 days time and as it stands at present there is no commitment from the dft to pay anything more than 90% encts payments.

In those circumstances most operators would struggle

[Wumpty]

It's worth remembering though that they took over in the height of the pandemic, passenger numbers have failed to return in any significant quantities & current funding does not make up for the losses bus companies are making on a daily basis. Plus funding is most likely to take another drop in 70 days time and as it stands at present there is no commitment from the dft to pay anything more than 90% encts payments.

In those circumstances most operators would struggle

Couple this with the still-reluctance of many passengers to use public transport (potentially heightened by the removal of Plan B restrictions), then passenger numbers won't return to usual levels. Granted, working from home has now been lifted, though many businesses have found homeworking mutually beneficial to the and the workforce, again affecting the anticipated returning patronage.

Chaserider have still soldiered on (like many smaller bus companies) to provide a service - if it's hard for large companies, you can only imagine what it must be like for them.

[Bob]

Another 2hr gap btwn service on the 62 cannock to lich today due to a failed solo 🤷‍♂️ imagine if you relied on it

[Westy]

Looks like, according to Bustimes.org, the first 2 number 1's are running roughly 15 to 20 minutes late, so I've had to go round to the Bloxwich Road for a Walsall bus.

The first 1 on it's return journey,  now seems to be 5 mins approx behind!

[BusMan Greg]

From the Staffordshire County Council website:

from 20 February
Chaserider routes
Service 3 (Cannock - Brownhills) will be cancelled. Staffordshire County Council will be tendering a replacement service and details will be added once known.
Service 60 (Cannock - Lichfield) will have a revised route and timetable. The stop by the Tesco store will no longer be served.
Service 62 (Cannock - Lichfield) will have a revised timetable. The Saturday service will be cancelled.
Service 63 (Cannock - Rugeley) will have a revised timetable.
Service 70 (Huntington - Wolverhampton) will have a revised timetable and a revised route in Wolverhampton city centre.
Service 71 (Huntington - Wolverhampton) will have a revised timetable and a revised route in Great Wyrley and Wolverhampton city centre.
Service 74 will have a revised route and timetable, operating between Stafford and Cannock only.
Services 826/828 (Stafford - Lichfield) will have a revised timetable. Service 826 will operate Monday to Friday only with a slight route change around Kingston Hill.
Service 827 (Stafford - Baswich) will be cancelled.

[Westy]

Interesting to see who'll take over the 3.

Surely it's a toss up between a straight replacement by Select, or National Express incorporating it into another route?

[Tony]

Interesting to see who'll take over the 3.

Surely it's a toss up between a straight replacement by Select, or National Express incorporating it into another route?

Or Chaserider

[BusMan Greg]

I wonder what the replacement will be, obviously SCC have decided that the 3, in it's current form, isn't sustainable!

[Tony]

I wonder what the replacement will be, obviously SCC have decided that the 3, in it's current form, isn't sustainable!

No it's Chaserider that have decided that it isn't sustainable, that is why SCC are putting a tender out.

[Westy]

No it's Chaserider that have decided that it isn't sustainable, that is why SCC are putting a tender out.

Never really got that.

The original operator decides it's unsustainable,  so it goes to tender, but somehow it's low enough or acceptable enough to the authority for the original operator to win it!

I'm sure @Tony will explain as he normally does though!

[2206]

so it goes to tender, but somehow it's low enough or acceptable enough to the authority for the original operator to win it!

Presumably they weren't undercut by another operator. If other operators bid for it.
e.g. TFWM site says Thandi won the 424 on lowest tender £3, 360 per week.
https://www.tfwm.org.uk/media/mfsg20lr/september-2021.pdf

[Bob]

Or Chaserider

Maybe only chaserider submitted a bid