Arriva clean up again!!!

[danny]

Well they operating a bus service with standard buses so it wouldnt really bother me, cant see it bothering anyone else really

[PM]

I have heard ppl say that the name is rather apt especially for one of the routes the 39 which covers Bangham Pit and Weoley Castle......

[danny]

If im honest i did not no what wmsnt stood for until an hour ago lol it doh bother me i think its commendable that all can use them

[Badger]

I'd like to think as a nation we've stopped seeing special needs as a bad thing to be honest :/

[danny]

It isnt, people with special needs have alot to offer,  predujuice comes from ignorance (I am in no way acusing anyone on this sight of such just incase it reads that way) and special needs covers a lot of different areas of the spectrum, from sight to mobility, and i for one am glad that their are services out their that help people with a special need without patronisation and regain a persons independance.

[nx4737]

True-it is unfair for the smaller operators. However, some of these can have lower costs eg vip!! who I notice havent won anything if Im right.....

Lets hope it stays that way.

[Discodave]

Haha clever hansons something tells me they knew exactly what they were doing lol

Another well done to Hansons from me clip arrivas wings brilliant.

[woody38]

Seems to have been WMSNT who were the winners, gaining a lot of contracts off Blue Diamond!

Would anyone find it off-putting to catch a public service operated by West Midlands Special Needs Transport though?  ::)

Well they operating a bus service with standard buses so it wouldnt really bother me, cant see it bothering anyone else really

To right Danny but things are changing look at the paraolympics, I have seen the buses WMSN use in Aldridge they use solos, that look the same as what everybody else is useing, but if somebody still has a problem they can always walk.

I do thing Diamond will close there West Midlands operations down, the company is half the size it was when they bought it

[danny]

Thankyou, ive been watching the paraolympics and it truely is insperational, they do have some nice buses the solos are the nicer ones and the primos, does anyone know what routes they won?

[winston]

here is the link to the tender changes from October 2012, inless some are missing Arriva are not mentioned

Correct. Arriva have won absolutely nothing! Thank Hansons for that.

Arriva put in a bid that included operating most of the tendered services up for grabs. The bid they put in was a price for all of these services. This was accepted by Centro as the cheapest bid to cover these services and hence rumours of Arriva mopping up. But they didn't count for Hansons ruining the party by deciding to register one of the services in the bid commercially (287 I think). This then cancelled the whole Arriva bid as that route was included. Every other route then went to the lowest individual tender for that route, and none of them were Arriva's.

PMSL at Arriva's failed antics and fair play to Hanson's for scuppering Arriva's plans in this round of tendering

That's Diamond & now Arriva that Hanson's have stood up too....... Depending on how Arriva have taken the news they could decide to register competing services on Hanson's commercial routes

[Tomjusttom]

And risk a Hansons and National Express retaliation? Reason i mention NX because look at some of the routes that they and Hansons serve like the Merry Hill to Stourbridge corridor.

I think Arriva may try to take some in the next tender batch by doing it per route instead of as a big batch. Either that or try to take someone else over

[winston]

And risk a Hansons and National Express retaliation? Reason i mention NX because look at some of the routes that they and Hansons serve like the Merry Hill to Stourbridge corridor.

I think Arriva may try to take some in the next tender batch by doing it per route instead of as a big batch. Either that or try to take someone else over

I think at present NX will be sitting tight monitoring the situation.... awaiting further developments. NX can fight off Arriva if needs be, I'm not sure who's the biggest between NX Group & Arriva with all it's European operations, I should imagine it may well be NX, Arriva does now however have the backing of its parent company DB. No matter how big Arriva are the new West Midlands operation will need to be break even/profitable at some point they can't run Centro tenders at knock down prices for ever

To be honest Rotala may as well sell their entire Diamond/Flights Hallmark business to Arriva, as they seem to have lost all interest in the WM and lost any fight they once had......

[PM]

Agree with the various main comments expressed.
1) Glad VIP didnt win any contracts
2)Well done to Hanson's as it is run extremely competently-well done for scuppering arriva's plans
3)Rotala may as well be honest with themselves as to whether they want the WM operation or if not sell to arriva and buy something more profitable
4)NXWM must be watching the situation though not particularly alarmed as they have most travellers locked in by the travelcard and they are a big group both in the UK and abroad and they will fight arriva if needs be.
5)Also have a great deal of admiration for anyone with special needs-watching the paralympics is awe-inspiring especially Ellie Symmonds cos she's from the WM area-maybe NXWM could name a few buses after famous WM olympians

[Bob]

i wish nxwm would come and attack Arriva in Cannock, if they started running on the 1 to walsall theyd be the main player in no time with their better buses & lower fares, they could even get some trade on the Wolverhampton route. Sadly it most likely wont ever happen

[andy]

Guys I find it a bit laughable that everyone is jumping for joy and ranting about how terrible Arriva's tactics are. Do you seriously think that NX don't get up to this sort of behaviour? Any big player in the industry will try it's damnest to expand, it's what their shareholders expect and demand. You can't have one rule for one and others for the rest, what we have is a deregulated free market. I don't agree with the system as it stands but Arriva are perfectly entitled to be aggressive in the marketplace so you'll have to live with it. If you don't like them, don't catch their buses, it's that simple.