Arriva take over Midland

[Bob]

Yea, they need 29 seaters for all their routes, cause theyre so successful lol. I still cant see exactly what Arriva are gonna be able to do with it to make it expand? Bit of a dead duck really?

[Ashley]

Transfer 2 Commanders or something to Wednesfield for the 10, transfer those east lancs eyesores to Wardies with the DAFs. Why did Telford have 4787 does anybody know, bit off topic sorry?

[Bob]

A 37 seat Dart could probably cope with the 10 couldnt it?

[arrivaaston]

4787 went to Telford for a college service, in between college duties it can be found working the "Arriva Staff Shuttle" and surely Wardle could transfer the mercedes benz sprinter "taxi" buses for Midlands routes lol

[arrivaaston]

2218 T48WUT now in use at Wednesfield

[Bob]

Aint that a nail?

[arrivaaston]

Not sure m8, its the 1 that was in Cannocks yard for months, sounded ok, better than the lj51*** darts, 2 of them had faults 2day

[Discodave]

2218 T48WUT now in use at Wednesfield

Still a lot of Arriva branded darts around the back and still not in service.  Not much cop being there with Hill Top services coming over

[Bob]

I doubt Wednesfields gonna get any new or even modern buses, the way its looking its just going to be a Dart MPD graveyard

[Bob]

Looking forward to 12 months from now, where do people see the ex-Midland operation? Will they be roughly the same ie an entire fleet of clapped out midibuses ( probably Dart only), will there be investment, will there be new routes, will they expand with new ones, will they compete successfully on busy NXWM routes therefore grabbing a piece of the market, will it be reduced like Chase was?

[danny]

I would like to think that arriva will test the waters, do their market reseach and make the most of their expansion, maybe if routes are registered that prove sucessfuf then newer buses may be either transfered from other operations or even brought new, would be intresting to see if they register against NXWM on any route (personally can't see it, NXWM would wip the floor with them) but would be intresting to see two big boy company's battle it out

[Steveminor]

I personaaly think it would be the other way round, Arriva could wipe the floor with NXWM if they gave it 100%. But as it is & knowing Arriva they will probably not take advantage of the situation, make a complete hash of their commercial competitive services, lose their tendered work & end up closing the operation.

[richie]

I would be surprised if they didn't give it a go in the midlands despite not a lot happening as yet they have invested in midland and more than just buses after they were took over arriva advertised for a GM the current midland op doesn't require a 50k a year post so I suppose time will tell. But they are no threat to NX as NX have too much to loose to let them be. The only operator that could give NX a run for their money is stagecoach but they have no intention in running them down they want the business not he remnants.

[Bob]

How exactly would they win hands down? No chance at the moment and the fact that theyre transferring in tired 29 seat Darts from London & even worse knackers from the Midlands suggests a) they arent planning to expand onto any busy services b) they havent got a chance with a a crap fleet like that its just replacing crap with more crap

[andy]

How exactly would they win hands down? No chance at the moment and the fact that theyre transferring in tired 29 seat Darts from London & even worse knackers from the Midlands suggests a) they aren't planning to expand onto any busy services b) they havent got a chance with a a crap fleet like that its just replacing crap with more crap

Do you not think that they realised the condition of many of the Midland vehicles when they took over ? They probably earmarked several for immediate or very imminent withdrawal as I would imagine they are beyond practical extension of use, so the only solution in those circumstances is to draft spare vehicles in, just as NX has done for years with it's reserve fleet. They cannot just suddenly lay their hands on a batch of Arriva standard new vehicles at that sort of notice. Even if they wanted to invest that money (bearing in mind they still don't know exactly where they're going with it just yet), many manufacturers have long build lead times and certainly don't carry that sort of stock.

The refurbs they have done on the London stock may only extend their life for a year or two but if it's been done economically that can be budgeted for. They can then look to replace them in a year or two's time...again just as NX are starting to do with vehicles that they refurbished recently.

And as you point out, they also have a variety of MPD's spare elsewhere in the operation and you will find that these are probably in better condition mechanically and mileage wise than the Midland stock, hence drafting them in. It doesn't mean they are expecting all these Darts to run for the next 5 years. These days a large operator can withstand the cost of a basic refurb and repaint to extend the life for a short period, as long as they get their money's worth out of what it operates. A refurb these days is not the same as the old mid life overhaul the likes of WMPTE used to do and does not have the same cost ratio.

Some of the Midland stock will warrant extension, some won't.

These vehicles will not be long term.