Devon & Cornwall Transit 2022 Week 25

The weekly look back on what has been published on the Registered Local Bus Services site over the last week. As always click through for more details including timetables and maps.

Last Week

Three services cut by Stagecoach at the end of July. I suspect there will be a lot more changes to come on the same date which will appear here over the coming weeks. Other than that there is just a new school service registration for Dartline

Licence	Route	Start Point	End Point	Effective	Notes	OPERATOR
PH0005305.078	SID 011	Exmouth, Dinan Way	Sidmouth Community College	04-Sep-2022	NEW REGISTRATION: Mon - Friday term-time only. One AM and one PM journey	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH1020951.049	4 4A	Axminster Railway Station	Millwey Rise	31-Jul-2022	Cancellation Accepted	STAGECOACH DEVON LTD
PH1020951.332	K	Exeter City Centre	Exeter Science Park	31-Jul-2022	Cancellation Accepted	STAGECOACH DEVON LTD
PH1020951.321	L	Exeter South Street	Pinhoe	31-Jul-2022	Cancellation Accepted	STAGECOACH DEVON LTD

Coming up this week

Another annual event service for Stagecoach this week along with a new shuttle service for the Ladock Valley near Truro. I cant see anything on line for this one though!

Licence	Route	Start Point	End Point	Effective	Notes	OPERATOR
PH1020951.359	LRE (Exeter Let's Rock, Perfect Day)	Exeter St Davids Station	Powderham Castle	02-Jul-2022	Operates for Lets Rock Exeter on 2 July 2022 and A Perfect Day on 3 July 2022 and for these events on similar dates each year	STAGECOACH DEVON LTD
PH2048071.001	LV1	Ladock Valley	Truro	01-Jul-2022	Monday to Saturday 9am to 2pm then 4pm to 10pm	MATTHEW COE

It remains to be seen if the cancellations from Stagecoach are just the beginning of a raft of service cuts across Devon & Cornwall, especially for those areas which did not get the extra promised government funding (Plymouth and Torbay). Of course the 4 above is just one part of the registration for the 4 service and its possible that the K&L may be replaced by a new service. It will be interesting to watch over the coming weeks.

Two for today: Ex Airbus Olympians

In my view the best buses that have plied the X80 / Gold service between Plymouth & Torbay were these fine Olympians

34192 May 2005

First did attempt some route branding but it wasn't brilliant. Would have been better without the contorted woman on the side to be fair. The clean look as above works much better. You cant help but think if the present team at First (and the new relaxed group policy towards liveries) were in place they could and would have done so much more to promote this service.

34197 May 2005

Devon & Cornwall Transit 2022: Week 24

The weekly look back on what has been published on the Registered Local Bus Services site over the last week. As always click through for more details including timetables and maps.

Last Week

A few odds and ends from the last week:

• Sewards: new timetable from September for Colyford school service
• Stagecoach: Annual Event registration for Lets Rock, New timetable from this week for UNI service
• First Kernow: Route and timetable variation for Falmouth Coaster although nothing has been published and no obvious change was made. The Falmouth Park & Ride seems to start this week although I have not found any information anywhere on this!

Licence	Route	Start Point	End Point	Effective	Notes	OPERATOR
PH0004853.007	COLY3	Stockland, Cokers Elms	Colyford, The Elms	05-Sep-2022	Route and timetable variation	RICHARD MERVYN SEWARD & CATHERINE ELSIE SEWARD
PH0004983.608	Falmouth Coaster	Falmouth, The Moor	Pendennis Point	28-May-2022	Route and timetable variation. No new timetable published on traveline since 10 April	FIRST SOUTH WEST LIMITED
PH0004983.611	Falmouth Park and Ride	Falmouth, Ponsharden Park and Ride Site	Falmouth, Marine Road, National Maritime Museum	20-Jun-2022	Timetable variation - updated dates of operation	FIRST SOUTH WEST LIMITED
PH1020951.359	LRE (Exeter Let's Rock, Perfect Day)	Exeter St Davids Station	Powderham Castle	02-Jul-2022	Operates for Lets Rock Exeter on 2 July 2022 and A Perfect Day on 3 July 2022 and for these events on similar dates each year	STAGECOACH DEVON LTD
PH1020951.334	UNI	University of Exeter Streatham	High Street and University of Exeter St Lukes	19-Jun-2022	Timetable variation	STAGECOACH DEVON LTD

This week

No new timetables due this week other than the Park & Ride and UNI services detailed above

Social Media This week

Ready to seek out the sun… pic.twitter.com/uBUd0v7EZ7

— Marc Huws (@MarcMorganHuws) June 15, 2022

Ready for the paintshop and a new home in Minehead in time for the high summer season with @adventuresbybus pic.twitter.com/BiCHH0FfKG

— Marc Huws (@MarcMorganHuws) June 16, 2022

Monday 20th - Friday 24th Road closure in St Budeaux at the junction at the bottom of Victoria Road. #PCB11 #PCB12 #PCB12A #PCB72 #PCB21 #PCB21A services towards St Budeaux Square will go via Pemros Road, Saltburn Road, Stirling Road on to Victoria Road to the Square. pic.twitter.com/wBhRMtVj4I

— Plymouth Citybus (@plymouthbus) June 19, 2022

All change at the top?

Its been a busy time for the big bus groups. Stagecoach has agreed to be taken over by DWS which means that the offer from National Express has fallen by the wayside. Presumably this will mean that The Falcon will remain with Stagecoach now. Shortly before the DWS bid was accepted Stagecoach in London purchased Lea Interchange Depot and operations from Kelsian Group for £20 million. MorningStar. I thought at the time it seemed an odd time for Stagecoach to make this purchase but then we see that Kelsian had made a bid to purchase Go Ahead Group, along with another bid from Kinetic / Globalvia.

It now seems that the Kinetic / Globalvia bid is the preferred option for Go Ahead:

One of Britain’s biggest transport companies, the Go-Ahead Group, has accepted a £650m takeover bid from a consortium of the Australian bus operator Kinetic and the infrastructure specialists Globalvia.

Go-Ahead, a leading provider of UK bus services and the operator of the UK’s biggest commuter rail network, Govia Thameslink Railway, said its board unanimously recommended the offer to shareholders, after receiving two approaches from buyers.

It is the latest British transport company to become a takeover target, along with Stagecoach and FirstGroup.

Go-Ahead said the proposal was a “compelling offer”, a cash bid that values the group at 24% more than Friday’s closing price, before the approach was public

A deal would be expected to be completed in October, should shareholders accept the terms. The leadership team would remain in place and the group would stay headquartered in Newcastle and London.

Christian Schreyer, the chief executive of Go-Ahead, said: “This is a compelling offer which combines an attractive valuation for shareholders with bright prospects for Go-Ahead’s operations and colleagues around the world.

“We have confidence in Go-Ahead’s future as an independent business but see that being part of a truly global mass transit platform will yield exciting opportunities.”

Michael Sewards, a co-CEO of Kinetic, said his firm, as Australia and New Zealand’s largest and fastest growing operators of buses, “will not only provide the necessary long-term capital but the expertise to facilitate the rapid transition of Go-Ahead’s bus fleet from diesel to zero emission technology”. Guardian

It remains to be seen what effect new ownerships will have on local operations by Stagecoach and Go Ahead once the dust settles.

Library:

DWS Bid for Stagecoach... Routeone

Stagecoach buys east London bus operations

Go Ahead Group – Statement re possible offers.

Go-Ahead accepts £650m takeover offer from Kinetic and Globalvia _ Go-Ahead _ The Guardian

 First Group optimistic of returning bus passenger volumes amid takeover offer rejection

Devon & Cornwall Transit 2022: Week 23

The weekly look back on what has been published on the Registered Local Bus Services site over the last week. As always click through for more details including timetables and maps.

Last Week

It remains very quiet, with just the one new notice this week:

Licence	Route	Start Point	End Point	Effective	Notes	OPERATOR
PH0006635.001	KINGS1	Exmouth, Swimming Pool, Imperial Road	The Kings School, Barrack Road Ottery St Mary	22-Jul-2022	Cancelled Registration	KEVIN WILLIAM CRUDGE & SUSAN CRUDGE

This week

There is just the one new timetable this coming week – for the Oceanfest annual event:

Licence	Route	Start Point	End Point	Effective	Notes	OPERATOR
PH1020951.257	21C (21C)	Croyde Bay	Bideford	17-Jun-2022	To revise timetable - Operates Fri 17, Sat 18 & Sun 19 June 2022 and each year when the Oceanfest Festival is held	STAGECOACH DEVON LTD

Social Media

23652, 23651 and 23701 at Royal Cornwall Show today. pic.twitter.com/5r6azbmnMt

— Truronian Coaches (@TruronianC) June 10, 2022

and thats it!

Two for Today: Unhappy Dart

When I say two, I mean one bus – two photos…

First Devon & Cornwall Dennis Dart M501CCV seen here under tow at Marsh Mills on 28th May 2005

Then again on the 13th June 2005 the same bus behind the same tow truck heading towards the same destination (The Ride), this time further along the Embankment as it cross the main line at Laira.

Stagecoach P801-806XTA

One of the first things that Stagecoach did when they took over Devon General was to introduce a batch of decent full size coaches into the fleet to use on its main Plymouth – Exeter X38 and Exeter – Torquay X46 services. They were very much welcomed as they replaced Harrys awful bread vans that had been used for a few years. Remarkably the last of these coaches was only sold for scrap at the end of last year! It has to be said the classic clean design on this Plaxton body has aged very well too.

52343 8 Feb 2010

52344 Exeter 22 April 2017

52344 27 November 2006 about to set of for Exeter, one of the main routes these were brought for.

52345 23 April 2017 The Ride.  This was the last of the batch to survive with Stagecoach, being sold for scrap in December last year. Its use as a trainer being the reason it lasted so long.

Devon & Cornwall Transit 2022: Week 22

The weekly look back on what has been published on the Registered Local Bus Services site over the last week. As always click through for more details including timetables and maps.

Last Week

Its all gone quiet again – as there have been no new notices coming through this last week.

Coming Up

There are a few new timetables introduced this coming week with a batch of new school services from Dartline staring on Monday. As these are closed school services there are no public timetables published that I can see.  The only other change being an annual special event service registration cancellation for Stagecoach.

Licence	Route	Start Point	End Point	Effective	Notes	OPERATOR
PH1020951.325	21A (21A)	Barnstaple Bus Station	Croyde Bay	12-Jun-2022	To Cancel special event registration (Braunton D Day Events since 2019)	STAGECOACH DEVON LTD
PH0005305.071	COLY 9	Exeter, Sidwell Street	Colyton Grammar School	06-Jun-2022	NEW: Monday to Friday school days only One AM and one PM journey	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0005305.072	COLY 5	Exeter, Buckerall Lodge	Colyton, Colyton Grammar School	06-Jun-2022	NEW: Monday to Friday school days only One AM and one PM journey	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0005305.073	TG001	Exeter, Sidwell Street	Torquay Grammar School	06-Jun-2022	Monday to Friday school days only One AM and one PM journey	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0005305.077	TG002	Clyst St. Mary	Torquay Grammar School	06-Jun-2022	Monday to Friday school days only One AM and one PM journey	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0005305.074	TG003	Digby, Russell Way	Torquay Grammar School	06-Jun-2022	Monday to Friday school days only One AM and one PM journey	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0005305.075	TG004	Ipplepen Clampit Road	Torquay Grammar School	06-Jun-2022	Monday to Friday school days only One AM and one PM journey	DEALTOP LIMITED
PH0005305.076	TG005	Clyst St. George, Darts Farm	Torquay Grammar School	06-Jun-2022	Monday to Friday school days only One AM and one PM journey	DEALTOP LIMITED

Social Media Highlights

Great to be at the Exeter Platinum Jubilee Sreet party today! Come along and enjoy the celebrations! #platinumjubilee pic.twitter.com/hrIYTTuIie

— Stagecoach South West (@StagecoachSW) June 2, 2022

Our friends from the Devon General Omnibus trust have joined us as the Exeter High Street Jubilee Party today with one of the fabulous vintage vehicles! #platinumjubilee pic.twitter.com/4ewW7Vd0bm

— Stagecoach South West (@StagecoachSW) June 2, 2022

It's #WorldEnvironmentDay and we're thankful to our customers for choosing to travel by coach A full coach can take up to 50 cars off the road, resulting in lower CO2 emissions per passenger per kilometre! https://t.co/ta1FfVKMMy pic.twitter.com/XXZ8UQinBC

— National Express (@nationalexpress) June 5, 2022