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Post by sconehead85 on Sept 6, 2013 1:32:38 GMT 1
According to the "West Midlands buses in photographs" site Arriva have purchased the part share of Cenrebus Yorkshire and the whole of Centrebus in Hinckley, Leicestershire. No other parts of Centrebus are involved in Arriva's partial takeover AFAIK.
sconehead85
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Post by timelesstable on Sept 6, 2013 10:35:07 GMT 1
My understanding the effective date is next Monday
Effective 9th September
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Post by driver6540 on Sept 6, 2013 19:04:20 GMT 1
What,(If any) effect will this have on HBC/K-Line operations?. Will these fleets now be part of the corporate Arriva set-up and be Inter-urbaned accordingly, or will they continue to trade as "stand-alone" subsiduaries within the Arriva group?. What is dwarfer1979's take on this, as an employee who may be affected.
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Sept 6, 2013 19:37:20 GMT 1
What,(If any) effect will this have on HBC/K-Line operations?. Will these fleets now be part of the corporate Arriva set-up and be Inter-urbaned accordingly, or will they continue to trade as "stand-alone" subsiduaries within the Arriva group?. What is dwarfer1979's take on this, as an employee who may be affected. Well there is another thread that had a copy of the press release. It suggests the Centrebus ops will be managed as part of Arriva Yorkshire, however will remain as a stand alone units - I guess will be along similar lines to Wardle and Arriva Midlands. |
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Sept 6, 2013 21:14:46 GMT 1
It says they will be managed separately from Arriva Yorkshire.
I hope the K-Line brand is retained. The HBC name could stay, but the name in Elland and Leeds as well as the livery would have to change.
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SF07
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Post by SF07 on Sept 6, 2013 22:18:24 GMT 1
My understanding the effective date is next Monday Effective 9th September The Leicestershire Transport Updates Facebook page have said that Centrebus's Hinckley services will be taken over by Arriva from Monday. Would imagine that the same will apply to Centrebus Yorkshire, if the reports are correct. |
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Post by dwarfer1979 on Sept 7, 2013 9:50:10 GMT 1
What,(If any) effect will this have on HBC/K-Line operations?. Will these fleets now be part of the corporate Arriva set-up and be Inter-urbaned accordingly, or will they continue to trade as "stand-alone" subsiduaries within the Arriva group?. What is dwarfer1979's take on this, as an employee who may be affected. Well there is another thread that had a copy of the press release. It suggests the Centrebus ops will be managed as part of Arriva Yorkshire, however will remain as a stand alone units - I guess will be along similar lines to Wardle and Arriva Midlands. Wasn't a press release that was quoted but my unofficial reply on the East Midlands New Group (that was then copied by someone else to the YDBN Group) replying to the first partial reports of the deal, as far as I know no press release has been issued. From what I understand the Centrebus Holdings Yorkshire operation will remain separate from Arriva Yorkshire (it appears to have its own Manager transferred from outside Arriva Yorkshire) with a different name & in a non-standard livery (it has been suggested they will remain Orange to a new style), as you say similar to Wardles. The Hinckley operation will be merged back in to Arriva Midlands in time. There won't be a straigt cut off from Centrebus on Monday, they will still be providing enquiry support etc for a while, publicity and the like will still reference Centrebus for a while, whilst things are set up locally and we won't be removing the service details from the Centrebus website immediately. Being based at Head Office at Leicester doesn't directly affect me other than to reduce my workload from ridiculously heavy to just very heavy, who knows I may even be able to take most of my holiday enititlement next year. |
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Sept 7, 2013 22:22:51 GMT 1
I seem to recall that Centrebus Holdings came about originally because Arriva were going to buy Stagecoach (ex Yorkshire Traction) Huddersfield and CentreBus K-Line, but then they decided to join forces for these takeovers.
I am unsure why Centrebus Yorkshire cannot just become part of Arriva Yorkshire. Maybe it still will in a few years.
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Sept 7, 2013 23:21:51 GMT 1
They want to preserve Arriva Yorkshire's profit margins and quality level?
Centrebus's services and vehicles used are in many cases a different beast compared to Arriva's network. Elland & Leeds work is mainly Metro contracts along with HJC's old stuff using life expired vehicles. I would guess overheads would be lower at Centrebus and drivers wages/pensions etc would be a different ball game.
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i901
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Post by i901 on Sept 8, 2013 22:37:49 GMT 1
They want to preserve Arriva Yorkshire's profit margins and quality level? Centrebus's services and vehicles used are in many cases a different beast compared to Arriva's network. Elland & Leeds work is mainly Metro contracts along with HJC's old stuff using life expired vehicles. I would guess overheads would be lower at Centrebus and drivers wages/pensions etc would be a different ball game. Correct - different pay and conditions, different working practices, and generally a "low cost" setup. Hence why the ex Centrebus work is being kept as a different business to Arriva Yorkshire. |
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SF07
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Post by SF07 on Sept 12, 2013 21:25:19 GMT 1
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Oct 12, 2013 20:51:37 GMT 1
Some of you will know that these operations have been renamed Yorkshire Tiger, except that K Line retains its name. Could this be sold soon, to M Travel for example?
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kendall17
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Post by kendall17 on Oct 12, 2013 21:01:02 GMT 1
No. K-Line has been a well built brand in Huddersfield, why change it when everything already right.
On the buy-out note, Arriva now (indirectly) have access to other parts of Leeds - was it all part of a master plan? Jointly go into a new market with a lesser operator, earn some tenders and eventually, make Centrebus an offer they couldn't refuse for their shares?
Or am I thinking too far into it?
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Oct 12, 2013 21:15:15 GMT 1
This means that Arriva will trade with 3 different names in Huddersfield! They will be pure Arriva on routes like the 229, Yorkshire Tiger on routes like the 80 and K-Line on route 366 for example.
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Oct 12, 2013 22:17:58 GMT 1
Some of you will know that these operations have been renamed Yorkshire Tiger, except that K Line retains its name. Could this be sold soon, to M Travel for example? Probably one of the strangest suggestions I've ever heard on this forum. K-Line has a lot of customer loyalty, has used the same livery since around 1990, their commercial work has mostly been in place since the 90s with hardly any changes as well. |
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i901
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Post by i901 on Oct 13, 2013 10:49:47 GMT 1
Some of you will know that these operations have been renamed Yorkshire Tiger, except that K Line retains its name. Could this be sold soon, to M Travel for example? How do you get to the conclusion that 1. Arriva will want to sell the profitable K-Line operation And 2. M Travel want to buy it (or indeed want to buy anyone)? |
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Post by www.buseireann.ie on Oct 13, 2013 12:28:27 GMT 1
To be fair it's not too barmy a suggestion because it's strange how the K Line brand will be remaining, not dissing K Line but is it really such a strong brand as in will passenger numbers fall away on profitable K Line routes should they be included into the Yorkshire Tiger name? As for the M Travel suggestion, everyone who were around back in the mid 90s may remember some routes being swapped between rival companies to stop competition, I think it involved the 223/4 and some of the Leeds or Wakefield routes K Line were competing with Yorkshire Woollen/West Riding on? Can't remember the exact deal but a deal took place in order to stop a bus war at the time. Although this may appear very strange and unlikely, if Arriva were to offer M Travel K Lines routes, it wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened.
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Post by MetrolineGA1511 on Oct 13, 2013 20:12:22 GMT 1
Thanks Bus Eireann, although I appreciate that the people questionning my speculation will know the area better than I do. I guessed that Arriva were even less inclined to integrate K-LIne. M Travel are a leading West Yorkshire independent, albeit to the east of Leeds, while Tates Travel are based in South Yorkshire. Another suitor for K-Line could be TLC as they are based relatively nearby.
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Oct 13, 2013 22:41:46 GMT 1
M-Travel have hardly any money to spend, they don't run many routes mainly school work, they have been done by the traffic commisioner for lack of maintenance & are buying loads of second hand cheap buses & not painting them. I wouldnt exactly call them leading. TJ Walsh are bigger than M Travel.
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Post by dwarfer1979 on Oct 14, 2013 8:18:47 GMT 1
On the buy-out note, Arriva now (indirectly) have access to other parts of Leeds - was it all part of a master plan? Jointly go into a new market with a lesser operator, earn some tenders and eventually, make Centrebus an offer they couldn't refuse for their shares? Or am I thinking too far into it? Yes you are overthinking it. Can't go into too much detail as the reasoning is not (and probably never will fully be) in the public domain but the reasons for the sale are very much more recent in their origin and money was not the driving factor behind the deal. |
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kendall17
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Justice for the 96!
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Post by kendall17 on Oct 14, 2013 8:23:04 GMT 1
On the buy-out note, Arriva now (indirectly) have access to other parts of Leeds - was it all part of a master plan? Jointly go into a new market with a lesser operator, earn some tenders and eventually, make Centrebus an offer they couldn't refuse for their shares? Or am I thinking too far into it? Yes you are overthinking it. Can't go into too much detail as the reasoning is not (and probably never will fully be) in the public domain but the reasons for the sale are very much more recent in their origin and money was not the driving factor behind the deal. Cheers, I dont know why it came into my head. Probably wanted just to start some huge speculative rumour as I've spent too much time on here. |
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Post by www.buseireann.ie on Oct 14, 2013 21:55:35 GMT 1
Theirs an interesting post on this issue on the Secret Leeds forum, according to an ex Arriva driver, it's been well known in the industry that Arriva wanted certian routes in West Yorkshire such as the Airport routes but could never get them on tendering, perhaps Centrebus were only meant to be a temporary partner who's role was to assist in partnership with Arriva with the means to obtain these contracts with a bargain basement company, something Arriva don't have any experience doing but Centrebus do perhaps?
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Oct 14, 2013 23:03:44 GMT 1
Well if its come from a driver it's bound to be true, you know what driver gossip is like!
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Post by dwarfer1979 on Oct 15, 2013 8:21:42 GMT 1
Theirs an interesting post on this issue on the Secret Leeds forum, according to an ex Arriva driver, it's been well known in the industry that Arriva wanted certian routes in West Yorkshire such as the Airport routes but could never get them on tendering, perhaps Centrebus were only meant to be a temporary partner who's role was to assist in partnership with Arriva with the means to obtain these contracts with a bargain basement company, something Arriva don't have any experience doing but Centrebus do perhaps? Given the 757 is commercial there would have been nothing to stop Arriva doing the same if they wanted. As I said the reason for the sale was a relatively recent change in external circumstance that made the sale an attractive proposition, wasn't money driven and was a mutual (I suspect that it was actually raised by Centrebus but I am not entirely 100% on that) idea that suited both parties. The original reasoning for the joint venture was to provide a low-cost operation for Arriva to give access to a different (flatter & more streamlined) management model suited for gaining contracts & adept at developing marginal services to a commercial footing whilst giving Centrebus a partner with a strong financial footing for an operation that would have required a higher level of investment than most of the operations Centrebus operated at the time. Time has moved on and circumstances have changed that meant a different structure was more appropriate for taking the business forward which Arriva was better suited to offer. |
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Post by davopazza on Oct 20, 2013 22:19:01 GMT 1
M-Travel have hardly any money to spend, they don't run many routes mainly school work, they have been done by the traffic commisioner for lack of maintenance & are buying loads of second hand cheap buses & not painting them. I wouldnt exactly call them leading. TJ Walsh are bigger than M Travel. You say M Travel have hardly any money to spend but I wonder what gives that idea unless the accounts have been seen. M Travel have also recently increased their O licence to 30 I believe and are developing the routes especially with the new X64. Perhaps they want to reduce the commercial risk by developing routes slowly along with commercial school services. With regards to to livery, they will only have a small maintenance team to look after the vehicles and apply the livery so may from time to time run vehicles in none standard livery as there is no point leaving them stood around in the depot. I have seen other operators run vehicles in previous operators livery. I have used m travels services in the past and have found them to be a good operator with drivers that deliver good customer service. |
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