Showing posts with label where next. Show all posts
Showing posts with label where next. Show all posts

19 March 2021

Where Next: First South West

A while back we took a closer look at Stagecoach and what this year might hold for them. Finally we now have a closer look at First South West, or First Kerrnow / Cornwall by Kernow or whatever you want to call them. There has been a lot of speculation earlier this year that First were coming back into Plymouth and Stagecoach were wanting to pull out. Some saying its a done deal but no one has been able to pin anything down and I have to say I remain unconvinced. I can see that Stagecoach might want to pull out but I remain less than convinced that First would want to come back.

When it was first announced that Plymouth Citybus had won the main contract for Transport for Cornwall there were some that saw the end of First in Cornwall. For years Cornwall along with Devon was very much an unloved Corner of First Group and quite a drain on their finances. As a result it was very much a dumping ground for First Group fleets with lots of older buses running round in all sorts of liveries. The arrival of Alex Carter and his team very much changed all of that!

It has taken a while, but the whole operation is very different these days. Its profitable for the first time in years, had even purchased a fleet of brand new double deckers for Cornwall and have worked wonders with a set of smart new liveries which throw the old First Group rules out of the window!  When they lost such a large chunk of their service work they were in no mood to sit back and let all their hard work go to pot. They came out fighting and sort to refocus on tourism and school contract work. Cornwall is perfect for this sort of work as it has amazing scenery and stunning coastlines and so many opportunities for open top services especially that First Kernow (FK) have been quick to build on.

The COVID disaster and the ever so long lockdowns due to the governments lack of action when it counted, meant that last season was cut short, but they did get routes up and running for a short time at least. Hopefully this year ahead with the vaccination program being the one thing that this government has got right, should mean the opening up of all their new services and with overseas travel likely to be restricted for a good time yet, more people will want to come done to Cornwall and FK is ready for them!

Its not just open top services either. There is a whole new day tripper network which appears to be using The Eden Project as a hub. FK go big with their marketing and have introduced the new branding for these services. You wont miss seeing these out and about!

Of course its not just Cornwall. Top of my post lockdown to-do list, as I am sure it is for many of you, is the new Dartmoor Explorer, which does bring them back into Plymouth! The buses look stunning so again will certainly turn heads and alert non bus travellers that such a service exists. Hopefully this first season will work well and we will see this service thrive.

Then we have the new Exmoor Coaster.

another one one on the to-do list!

The other big area which FK has invested in, is their Truronian coach brand. First Group never seem that interested in coaches but once again FK does things differently and have built up a strong brand by bringing in as many decent coaches as they can get from within the group and also good quality coaches from elsewhere. Lots of railway replacement works helps with a good sized fleet of PSVAR compliant coaches on hand has helped ensure the future for the coach operation when others have scaled back or even closed down.

So the conclusion is that FK are on the up! They have been working incredibly hard during lockdown and everything points to them coming out fighting for every passenger they can get and grasping all opportunities for growth in the new holiday where for a while at least its very much a staycation for most people. I for one will be one of those passenger's when I get the chance.

Which then brings me back to the opening paragraph. Whist we will be seeing more of FK in and around Plymouth through their Dartmoor Explorer, Rail Replacements and college contract work, I am not sure why they would want to come and take on Plymouth Citybus for the routine bus work in the city. Unless Citybus start to ramp up on commercial work in Cornwall and aggressively target FKs services in The Duchy then I cant see them bothering that much in needless competition.

Of course it it has to be said for all the reasons mentioned above, any new operation by First in Plymouth will be a very different beast to the one that Citybus saw off all those years ago.

Anyone disagree and still think that FK are Plymouth bound? What new services are you looking forward too, and where do you think FK will venture next?

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24 February 2021

Where Next: Stagecoach Devon

Earlier this month the full accounts for Stagecoach Devon were released on the Companies House web site

Stagecoach Devon Limited is a public transport operator, operating predominantly local bus services in Devon. The

Company also operates the Falcon coach service providing connections to Bristol city centre and the airport. The

Company operates a fleet of 432 (2019:430) buses and employs 1,247 (2019: 1 ,230) people.

Results and performance

The results of the Company for the period ended 02 May 2020 show a profit on ordinary activities before taxation of

£1,058,000 (2019 loss: £345,000) and revenue of £55,841,000 (2019: £56,279,000)

The Company's business is built on a commercial formula of low fares, investment and high customer service which

has maintained our presence in the region, however, the Company has been adversely impacted by the substantial

fall in passenger demand for public transport in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Future outlook

With the continuing uncertainty of the COVID-19 situation and the UK's recovery, it remains difficult to reliably predict

financial performance for the new financial year ending 1 May 2021. In the short-term, the actions we have taken and

the payments from government for continuing bus services should ensure we continue to generate positive EBITDA

and avoid significant operating losses. As COVID-related restrictions have been relaxed, we have restored services

and our regional bus vehicle mileage is now at around 98% of prior year levels.

Nevertheless, with ongoing physical distancing requirements placing a capacity constraint on our vehicles and

government advice discouraging public transport use in the short-term, government is continuing payments to bus

operators for the increased level of services.

Looking further ahead, we expect a lasting effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel patterns with an acceleration in

trends of increased working from home, shopping from home, telemedicine and home education. We anticipate that it

will be some time before demand for our regional bus services returns to pre-COVID levels and we are planning for a

number of scenarios. We are continuing to review our cost base, to reduce overheads and plan for adjustments to

direct and semi-direct costs across a range of scenarios. At the same time, we see positive drivers for the business

from a renewed societal focus on health, wellbeing and the environment. Buses across the UK can play a major role

in a cleaner, greener and more resilient economy and society, tackling climate change with strong government action

to reduce car use


The full document can be viewed from my Library document here

Where do they go from here?

This is a question I will be asking for the three main companies over the next week or so. These are my thoughts but please feel free to join in and add your comments!

There has been a lot of chatter over the last few months with many confidently predicting that Stagecoach would be leaving Plymouth with First South west set to come back and take over The Ride. I genuinely have no idea if this is true or not. It is quite possible that this was planned but plans have been put on hold due to lockdown in which case who knows if plans have changed?

At the time of the original takeover of Plymouths operations by Stagecoach it seemed pretty clear that one of the big advantages for Stagecoach was The Ride – with plenty of room when some of their other depots were very short of space. The setting up of The Ride as a major base for Megabus as well as the successful Falcon service seemed to bode well for Plymouth. However the Megabus side of things didn't stay here for long. Although I would stop short of saying they clearly wanted out of Plymouth, over the last few years I've often had the feeling that Stagecoach’s heart wasn't really in Plymouth. They did get a most of the City Council tenders a few years ago, only to loose many of them back to Citybus recently. Other than that nothing has changed.

So will First come back into Plymouth in a big way? That's a question I will be looking more into when I take a closer look at First South West shortly. Its easy to see what's in it for Stagecoach if they really do want out? its less clear for me why FSW would want to come back?

Pandemic Recovery

With the ending of at least some of the restrictions in sight over the coming few months all eyes will be on the operators to see how they recover from the lockdown. We don't know much of SCs plans yet but open top services do feature…

Stagecoach OT

Stagecoach OT

In the meantime the new liveries continue to roll out in Plymouth as well as the others areas of Devon. Although the standard livery is very slowly growing on me, the yellow version looks cheap compared to the excellent Stagecoach Gold brand which really did manage to convey a premium service. It seems the group as a whole is turning its back on route specific branding which is a shame. Maybe its time to renumber Gold as X80 or something?

Stagecoach 10460 SN65NZT

So what do you think the rest of 2021 holds for Stagecoach in Devon? and in particular do their plans include pulling out or staying in Plymouth?

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