A1YBG
Forum Member
METRO Here to get you there. Arriva Buses Here to get you there. Arriva need to get original slogans
Posts: 1,935
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Post by A1YBG on May 17, 2011 8:32:03 GMT 1
Just been posted on metro that Yorkshire line are not running any services today!
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Post by boris on May 17, 2011 9:53:50 GMT 1
Actually you seem a bit upbeat to say your company's just gone under... He left the company 2 months ago and they owe him wages.
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Post by blister987 on May 17, 2011 11:23:28 GMT 1
Hello Boz!
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Post by timelesstable on May 17, 2011 11:26:16 GMT 1
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Post by angrycommuter on May 17, 2011 11:47:20 GMT 1
They started off spread too thinly and on routes that are already well served, particularly the Morley to Leeds corridor. Instead of working as a parasite operator (like Sunny Travel etc.) they should have tried to differentiate themselves and offer a customer/passenger focused service to an area that has a relatively poor service. Operating an hourly service that is customer friendly can be successful - Longstaff 205 shows that many passengers appreciate a local friendly service.
Unfortunately it seems that the Yorkshire Line business plan wasn't up to scratch.
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Post by westyorkshirebus on May 17, 2011 17:17:13 GMT 1
They started off spread too thinly and on routes that are already well served, particularly the Morley to Leeds corridor. Instead of working as a parasite operator (like Sunny Travel etc.) they should have tried to differentiate themselves and offer a customer/passenger focused service to an area that has a relatively poor service. Operating an hourly service that is customer friendly can be successful - Longstaff 205 shows that many passengers appreciate a local friendly service. Unfortunately it seems that the Yorkshire Line business plan wasn't up to scratch. They did, they were providing links to St James and Pinderfields which people apparantly wanted, but it seemed there wasn't enough people wanting these links in reality (as is often the case) The main issue seems to be that the operator didn't have enough money in the bank to cover initial start up costs. Even if passenger volumes were lower than expected, there should have been enough funds to cover this. How many payments to Rotala did they make before they had to recall their vehicles?!
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Post by www.buseireann.ie on May 17, 2011 17:57:06 GMT 1
Web site has been taken down, it's not looking good.
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Post by timelesstable on May 17, 2011 19:11:43 GMT 1
Started with all that promise and lasted a few days over 15 weeks, must have been short of working capital from day one. How many times have we see this before.
Taking the big boys on can be made to work. Take a look at M-Travel, mix of school contracts and a couple of competing routes using really old secondhand deckers.
Stringers, smaller again a bit of school work and and competing in just one area. They now appear to prefer Darts long or short to Varios or the odd Solo. They also do a fair bit of coaching so their eggs aren't confined to the one basket.
Ross Travel, very little school work, nice coach fleet and a couple of dedicated routes, fleet always looks cared for and is steadily upgraded. They are moving towards Solos from Varios.
Plenty of options to examine all different and yet managed correctly can be made to work. I know there are plenty more but M-Travel is now much larger the other two are only slightly larger.
Talking of Ross travel I saw their Scania in Castleford this afternoon, circa 15:30 passing outside Castleford BS.
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Post by mayneway on May 17, 2011 20:44:34 GMT 1
Started with all that promise and lasted a few days over 15 weeks, must have been short of working capital from day one. How many times have we see this before. Taking the big boys on can be made to work. Take a look at M-Travel, mix of school contracts and a couple of competing routes using really old secondhand deckers. Plenty of options to examine all different and yet managed correctly can be made to work. I know there are plenty more but M-Travel is now much larger the other two are only slightly larger. The problem was they didn't anticipate how much cash flow they would need from day one. On any new commerical service it can be months before the operator sees a return on there money, yet in these months staff still need paying, vehicles need fuel ect, sadly this seemed to be overlooked by Yorkshire Line. It begs the question, what kind of previous experience did any of the people behind Yorkshire Line have in the public transport industry. There is still room for small independants to develope, just look at Strawberry Bus over on Merseyside, but you have got to know where your market is from day 1. The MD of Strawberry tried commercial ventures but quickly realised that it wouldn't make enough capital so they opted for tenders and school work, this is crucial for any small operator becuase it brings in revenue from day one of operation.
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Post by timelesstable on May 17, 2011 21:45:39 GMT 1
It begs the question, what kind of previous experience did any of the people behind Yorkshire Line have in the public transport industry.[/quote]
To obtain an Operators Licence they would need the services of a Qualified Traffic Manager, unfortunately they don't have to prove any financial acumen.
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Post by blister987 on May 17, 2011 21:55:20 GMT 1
You can pull it to bits as much as you like, one thing is for certain, the initial ideology, and effort was put in by everyone involved from the Directors to the drivers. Many including myself gave up a lot and put in a lot of time to make what we did work. To operate week one with well over 95% of services operated within 5 min of correct time was amazing. The drivers put in so much and were so proud to be apart on something new, something trying to be different, more than your average bus company.
My gratitude goes to the drivers who gave total dedication many are registered on this site as I have since before we started operations in January and who along with me watched your comments and thoughts and strove to be better than the competition. Yes we were let down, but not necessarily all to blame on the owners, the initial estimates were very good and without some issues encountered by third parties Out of our our control then I'm quite sure things would have turned out differently.
As said before I had left the company a while back but still have regular contact with the drivers who made my time there enjoyable and I have to thank them for that. In my new position with another company I would offer nearly all of them a job if one was available as I'm sure you witnessed your self how good they were compared with the average Leeds or Wakefield bus drivers.
John
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Post by blister987 on May 17, 2011 22:10:10 GMT 1
It begs the question, what kind of previous experience did any of the people behind Yorkshire Line have in the public transport industry. To obtain an Operators Licence they would need the services of a Qualified Traffic Manager, unfortunately they don't have to prove any financial acumen.[/quote] Actualy you do have to prove financial standing to gain an operators licence, £8500 for the first vehicle and £4500 for every vehicle after but you have to remember that running a bus company is a difficult and complex process that's affected b so many external influences, even a windy day has a huge impact on takings. The knock on effect from a single driver not coming in for a small company with just 5 buses is catastrophic compared to the likes of first who are big enough to have spare drivers sat around. This just isn't practical for a small operation. Those of you who actualy work in the industry will have more of a concept of this. Experience isn't always the issue. Decisions made even by qualified, of long Serving managers can affect a small operation just as the weather can. Not to get into an argument but many enthusiasts just don't understand the actual internal working. From day one Matty had some comments that were 'abused' by other uses unfairly. It has been hard not to comment sometimes, especially when the colour scheem pic was posted before even the directors had decided on one. Well done Matty
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Post by nickfoster on May 17, 2011 22:14:21 GMT 1
Has there been any offical comment from Yorkshire Line? I noticed that they had lowered the prices in the Wakefield area last week from £1.30 from Alverthorpe to Wakefield which was the same as arriva, to £1. The loadings seemed pretty good but the drivers started to wear casual clothes and no uniforms, buses not turning up etc.
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Post by mayneway on May 17, 2011 22:41:39 GMT 1
It begs the question, what kind of previous experience did any of the people behind Yorkshire Line have in the public transport industry. To obtain an Operators Licence they would need the services of a Qualified Traffic Manager, unfortunately they don't have to prove any financial acumen. Actualy you do have to prove financial standing to gain an operators licence, £8500 for the first vehicle and £4500 for every vehicle after but you have to remember that running a bus company is a difficult and complex process that's affected b so many external influences, even a windy day has a huge impact on takings. The knock on effect from a single driver not coming in for a small company with just 5 buses is catastrophic compared to the likes of first who are big enough to have spare drivers sat around. This just isn't practical for a small operation. Those of you who actualy work in the industry will have more of a concept of this. Experience isn't always the issue. Decisions made even by qualified, of long Serving managers can affect a small operation just as the weather can. Not to get into an argument but many enthusiasts just don't understand the actual internal working. From day one Matty had some comments that were 'abused' by other uses unfairly. It has been hard not to comment sometimes, especially when the colour scheem pic was posted before even the directors had decided on one. Well done Matty [/quote] I do understand, and although an enthusiast ive been involved in my family's bus and coach firm since leaving school and it is hard work. I myself was really impressed with the way the vehicles were turned out in the first week of operation, but the image you started with on day one was sadly not what many experienced in later months, with old tatty Vario's that lets be honest belonged in the scrap yard, and the smart appearence of drivers in uniforms quickly got dropped in favour of causual clothes. It is ashame its not lasted 12 months but thats the way things go, but you are right, alot of people dont realise how things like the weather can impact on a bus service.
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Post by blister987 on May 17, 2011 23:04:32 GMT 1
I recommended against the Varios in my last week. They were in terrible condition and should have been scrapped, wouldn't operate them on the back of my CPC but history is what it is. The darts we started with on paper were a great deal but as with many things on paper and reality dont always work out the same. The best bus was alaways 142 named after my wife, Helen. Although odd looking it was cheap, excellent condition and very reliable.
Unfortunately after I left the stand in operations staff didn't have the facility's available to keep ontop of uniforms as cost was an issue. I always expected and continue to expect the best from my drivers and in return give them the respect they deserve.
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Post by mayneway on May 17, 2011 23:19:20 GMT 1
I recommended against the Varios in my last week. They were in terrible condition and should have been scrapped, wouldn't operate them on the back of my CPC but history is what it is. The darts we started with on paper were a great deal but as with many things on paper and reality dont always work out the same. The best bus was alaways 142 named after my wife, Helen. Although odd looking it was cheap, excellent condition and very reliable. Unfortunately after I left the stand in operations staff didn't have the facility's available to keep ontop of uniforms as cost was an issue. I always expected and continue to expect the best from my drivers and in return give them the respect they deserve. Couldn't agree more with you regarding the Vario's, having driven them with there previous owner, they only sold the worst ones and are still running the better ones, they were at the end of there working life and didn't give the best impression after the great launch with the Darts. Disagree with your comments about uniforms though. Red polo shirts can be bought for pence on eBay, and if money was really an issue ask drivers to wear plain white shirts, looks alot better than t shirts and football tops which is what i saw the other week when i was there. Would you say it was the vehicles overall that brought YL to an abrupt end then?
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Post by blister987 on May 17, 2011 23:25:44 GMT 1
I don't think it professional to comment on the reason or blame. My personal thoughts are my own and my opinions only. There are always many reasons for the failure of a company no o e thing or person is normally at fault but an accumulation of items.
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Post by mayneway on May 17, 2011 23:34:13 GMT 1
Carnt fault you for that. Lets just hope the Vario's get put out of there misery, once and for all
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Matty
Forum Member
Posts: 5,615
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Post by Matty on May 18, 2011 0:31:15 GMT 1
Carnt fault you for that. Lets just hope the Vario's get put out of there misery, once and for all What and sell them to a company that will sort them out good and proper... TJ Walsh. lol
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Post by timelesstable on May 18, 2011 6:57:19 GMT 1
It begs the question, what kind of previous experience did any of the people behind Yorkshire Line have in the public transport industry. To obtain an Operators Licence they would need the services of a Qualified Traffic Manager, unfortunately they don't have to prove any financial acumen. Actualy you do have to prove financial standing to gain an operators licence, £8500 for the first vehicle and £4500 for every vehicle after but you have to remember that running a bus company is a difficult and complex process that's affected b so many external influences, [/quote] I actually used "Acumen" for a reason, and yes I have worked in the industry for a good number of years.
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Post by www.buseireann.ie on May 18, 2011 8:52:48 GMT 1
Metro via facebook have said theirs going to be more news announced later on Yorkshire Line's future.
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jc
Forum Member
Posts: 431
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Post by jc on May 18, 2011 14:09:58 GMT 1
Not to get into an argument but many enthusiasts just don't understand the actual internal working. From day one Matty had some comments that were 'abused' by other uses unfairly. It has been hard not to comment sometimes, especially when the colour scheem pic was posted before even the directors had decided on one. Well done Matty I think folks like yourself need to be more a part of the furniture on forums like this. You can 'put the record straight' when folks like myself who have never been in the industry and would have no idea of how to budget for anything come up with wild ideas and aspirations - and believe me, I've had loads
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puggy
Forum Member
Posts: 350
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Post by puggy on May 18, 2011 20:01:23 GMT 1
Let me guess Centrebus gets the routes and the Darts
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Matty
Forum Member
Posts: 5,615
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Post by Matty on May 18, 2011 21:37:45 GMT 1
Let me guess Centrebus gets the routes and the Darts No, buses will return back to the leaser and the routes will be withdrawn because they are not neccesary.
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Post by timelesstable on May 18, 2011 22:14:18 GMT 1
Let me guess Centrebus gets the routes and the Darts No, buses will return back to the leaser and the routes will be withdrawn because they are not neccesary. You mean they found some to lease those buses, I think they bought them on the cheap. I agree routes will be discontinued, their buses are likely to go for scrap and the proceeds used to discharge some of their outstanding debts, starting with the tax man
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