Chaserider

[ContainsNuts]

As you seem a new poster and the content of your posts can I ask if you have a connection with Chaserider at all?

I have a connection with the bus industry, and I do find the relentless criticism of this operator by this individual particularly annoying. It's a very difficult time at present and I don't think a constant monologue of missing trips and breakdowns is helpful. And I doubt very much that it's the reason why people visit forums such as this.

[Bob]

I have a connection with the bus industry, and I do find the relentless criticism of this operator by this individual particularly annoying. It's a very difficult time at present and I don't think a constant monologue of missing trips and breakdowns is helpful. And I doubt very much that it's the reason why people visit forums such as this.

Scroll past then if you prefer. Thats what i did to your monologue in the main..... I wondered if you were on commission for them? 13 year old Solos, that have never even had a seat retrim and are in a pretty dire state arent suited to interurban routes cos they dont have much capacity and the examples at Cannock are suffering horrendous reliability problems. So yes theres a driver shortage but it probably wouldnt matter at Cannock cos the bus theyre short of a driver for would probably be broken down anyway. And it IS a poir service. Theyve completely wrecked the 71 since taking it over. Countless times it hasnt turned  up/ran at all/broke down/missed our estate out with no warning etc and  people rely on it for hospital appts, but cant cos its so poor reliability wise. Select operated it through pandemic and didnt seem to have the reliability issues? They run the 875 Cannock to Stafford without reliability issues that the Chaserider 74 has.....And local passengers dont think much of Chaserider either judging by social media posts.

[ContainsNuts]

Scroll past then if you prefer. Thats what i did to your monologue in the main..... I wondered if you were on commission for them? 13 year old Solos, that have never even had a seat retrim and are in a pretty dire state arent suited to interurban routes cos they dont have much capacity and the examples at Cannock are suffering horrendous reliability problems. So yes theres a driver shortage but it probably wouldnt matter at Cannock cos the bus theyre short of a driver for would probably be broken down anyway. And it IS a poir service. Theyve completely wrecked the 71 since taking it over. Countless times it hasnt turned  up/ran at all/broke down/missed our estate out with no warning etc and  people rely on it for hospital appts, but cant cos its so poor reliability wise. Select operated it through pandemic and didnt seem to have the reliability issues? They run the 875 Cannock to Stafford without reliability issues that the Chaserider 74 has.....And local passengers dont think much of Chaserider either judging by social media posts.

I shan't comment that n this any further as I'm quite obviously up against an expert who is so judgemental they are not willing to listen to reason. Quite sad really.

[Bob]

Judgemental ? Its based on experience of using them regularly. Providing a poor, unreliable service isnt really the best way to do business surely?

[MW]

I shan't comment that n this any further as I'm quite obviously up against an expert who is so judgemental they are not willing to listen to reason. Quite sad really.

A bit of advice for you my friend,

A number of us have already taken your position and tried to reason with Bob and Discodave (anyone remember him?!) in the past. In the end we've all given up and learnt to ignore him.

[Bob]

Maybe look at their facebook page, at the community section and look at passengers experiences.

[Wumpty]

I've read all of the comments posted here intently and offer my opinion (for what it is worth):

Chaserider assumed operation of the former Arriva Cannock area network in good faith. They are attempting to offer a service to maintain a transport link in South Staffordshire. Unfortunately, with national driver shortages and breakdowns, it is proving challenging and frustrating all round.

There are some that are quick to judge without stopping to think about what would happen if Chaserider decided to crease operation, as did Arriva - the same protestations about leaving them in the lurch/no buses for Cannock/social media uproar in being stranded.

I've worked in the bus industry and to get a fledgling operation off the ground under extremely challenging times, a cut throat market using a fleet of buses which are highly sophisticated machines is no easy feat. They are doing the very best they can with limited resources in a an area that is mostly rural competing for patronage against cars, trains and other bus companies. Chaserider has some extremely experienced and focused people working for, and with them and they're nobody's fool. The amount of investment placed in Chaserider to support the communities is enormous and the constant barage of abuse meted at them is atrocious.

By all means, have your opinion, but please be constructive; treat it like your own - how would YOU solve these issues if the money was coming out of your pocket? How would you feel if the same people kept slating you with no apparent substance or offer of solution?

Be careful what you wish for and just be kind.

[Steveminor]

Well said.
Since I have previous experience in the cannock market I can tell you the vast majority of services are not commercially viable even pre covid. So remember with passenger levels circa 70% & BRG not covering full operating costs & with a fleet that was in dire need of improvements from its previous operator, the challenge of keeping that network intact is immense. Then factor in the national driver shortage & it's a wonder Julian hasnt thrown in the towel.
I dont know many people that would take on that network in this current climate. Ah nx I hear some may say, well they're having their own difficulties at present hence why for the first time in my memory they are cutting complete routes & cutting frequency at a level never before seen.

So give them guys some slack the industry is in turmoil at present.

[Bob]

Well said.
Since I have previous experience in the cannock market I can tell you the vast majority of services are not commercially viable even pre covid. So remember with passenger levels circa 70% & BRG not covering full operating costs & with a fleet that was in dire need of improvements from its previous operator, the challenge of keeping that network intact is immense. Then factor in the national driver shortage & it's a wonder Julian hasnt thrown in the towel.
I dont know many people that would take on that network in this current climate. Ah nx I hear some may say, well they're having their own difficulties at present hence why for the first time in my memory they are cutting complete routes & cutting frequency at a level never before seen.

So give them guys some slack the industry is in turmoil at present.

I get that  but things like two hour delays due to breakdowns etc would just put people off  the comments from passengers about buses simply not running, no info put out etc, people not being able to get to and from work, school on their fb doesnt paint a great picture. It'll become a vicious circle.  My comment re the Solos being unsuited to interurban routes is nothing to do with their engines or the fact theyre like a smaller Versa its to do with the fact that theyre knackered, if they werent they wouldnt break down daily, and also as jamie pointed out theyre hopelessly inadequate capacity wise at times.

[Wumpty]

I get that  but things like two hour delays due to breakdowns etc would just put people off  the comments from passengers about buses simply not running, no info put out etc, people not being able to get to and from work, school on their fb doesnt paint a great picture. It'll become a vicious circle.  My comment re the Solos being unsuited to interurban routes is nothing to do with their engines or the fact theyre like a smaller Versa its to do with the fact that theyre knackered, if they werent they wouldnt break down daily, and also as jamie pointed out theyre hopelessly inadequate capacity wise at times.

So again @Bob the questions to you are;

What aspect of the Solos is "knackered" if it's not the engines? If the engines aren't at fault, what else makes the bus breakdown and stop running?

If Solos are as "knackered" as you say, what bus types would YOU suggest running in their place?

If Solos are "hopelessly inadequate capacity wise", what other bus types would be suitable instead to allow them to run almost empty on some trips and then offer appropriate capacity at other times? Not many bus types I know of that offer the same weight to fuel economy ratio as the Solos.

As for Facebook - it's very easy for someone to sit on a keyboard and complain about "not being able to get to and from work, school" and have a bunch of "friends" backslap them for bringing these companies to account, though I'd be interested to see how many of these people ACTUALLY use the buses themselves.

I'd be grateful if you'd share your answers so we can all offer Chaserider some support.

[Bob]

It could be things like gearbox? Alternator? Battery?

What types? Well i wouldnt have got rid of the Commanders? So that there were sufficient decent sized buses. Theres only 1 left running. In addition to the reliability probs with the Solos they inherited, some of the stuff they drafted in has been poor. 104/106. Or the two MCV Sb180s, theyve both neen off road for nearly a fortnight after breaking down in service,.

I maybe wouldnt have brought the 1 back until i was able to run the existing network reliably.  This isnt an attack on them but for example if you decided to switch to the 1 and regularly there were 1 hour gaps, 90 min gaps, last trips not turning up etc all of which have been happening , would you just give up, as a passenger i mean, and go back to the X51? Cos looking at loadings thats what seems to have happened. A driver on the 1 told me a couple of weeks ago that it looked like it would do ok at first but trade dropped off cos of a mixture of unreliability and obvs other trips maybe not running due to staff shortage. I use the X51 normally i have to say reliability wise it is vastly better.

[Wumpty]

It could be things like gearbox? Alternator? Battery?

What types? Well i wouldnt have got rid of the Commanders? So that there were sufficient decent sized buses. Theres only 1 left running. In addition to the reliability probs with the Solos they inherited, some of the stuff they drafted in has been poor. 104/106. Or the two MCV Sb180s, theyve both neen off road for nearly a fortnight after breaking down in service,.

I maybe wouldnt have brought the 1 back until i was able to run the existing network reliably.  This isnt an attack on them but for example if you decided to switch to the 1 and regularly there were 1 hour gaps, 90 min gaps, last trips not turning up etc all of which have been happening , would you just give up, as a passenger i mean, and go back to the X51? Cos looking at loadings thats what seems to have happened. A driver on the 1 told me a couple of weeks ago that it looked like it would do ok at first but trade dropped off cos of a mixture of unreliability and obvs other trips maybe not running due to staff shortage. I use the X51 normally i have to say reliability wise it is vastly better.

@Bob appreciate your time responding and this does now give us an insight and something more constructive to work with.

[Jamie A]

On the subject of knackered solos... 163 gave up today leaving a fare few passengers waiting for a 74

[Westy]

Think I must be keeping the 1 going?

[Steveminor]

The thing with VDLS is when they go wrong if you dont have experience with the type then they can be a devil to sort out & even if you do know the intricacies of the type then if they have become problematic then it's best to let them go, that's speaking from a depth of experience as there were a couple of VDLs we were glad to be rid of.
Regarding the 1 etc then there was a requirement of CBSSG & BRG to operate (or have registered) a certain percentage or as close to 100% of pre covid mileage as possible. That maybe what led to some of these changes.