We start with the news of a major restructure at First. First Bus is to be separated from the rest of First Group. At the moment it's unclear whether that means it'll be sold, either in parts or in one transaction, or whether it'll just be spun off from the group and floated on the stock market as a separate entity. We'll let you know as soon as First's fate becomes clearer.
Over at Bluestar, there could be some disruption to services this Tuesday 18th June, due to industrial action by members of the RMT. Keep an eye on their website and Twitter feed (which also appears on the right hand side of the desktop version of this page) for the latest details.
See all upcoming changes across the region at-a-glance here.
No services will be affected on Tuesday as Bluestar will have drivers on loan from other depots including drivers from Oxford and Sunderland
ReplyDeleteNice to note that Oxford and Sunderland are so well staffed that they can afford to release staff to break a strike
ReplyDeleteThese would be drivers who are choosing to work on their rest days or holidays, so nothing to do with being over staffed.
DeleteI note Bluestar have published what if the strike goesahead they will operate tomorrow. Most of the public won't notice much difference particularly with the 17 and 18 as the circumstance. Under normal circumstance
Deleteis paethetic in how the services operate.Bluestar management live in a dream world as to their so called shining service across the City.Still with a reduced service will improve the air quality for all in Southampton.Let's hope the Union call more strikes
Not tommorow mate as Bluestar have drivers on loan tommorow from other depots to cover the strike
DeleteDifficult to know what's happening at First whether bus or train related
ReplyDeleteDaily Echo: people's comments about the strike say that the drivers are paid less than the cleaners? Judging by the state of the 18's- I'm surprised they're even cleaned!
ReplyDeleteAll the chav`s from Millbrook dropping their empty drinks bottles and cans instead of taking their rubbish and disposing of it properly
DeleteYes,and the ones from Thornhill.I'm surprised as the day goes on the buses on 18 remain as clean as possible considering the type of people in some instances the drivers have to put up with.
DeleteYou only have to see the kind of idiots bus drivers have to deal with on Bluestar`s FB page when all these numpties kept asking if their bus was going to be running rather than just read the article and see for themselves.
DeleteNot good for health and safety when you have bottles and cans rolling along the floor on buses and falling down the stairs as someone could fall over them and get injured.
DeleteI am wondering if the drivers will demonstrate tomorrow or they will ever bother to get off the bed. #strikegoals
ReplyDeleteInteresting to note the passenger comments on the Bluestar facebook page about the strike.Even on a normal day outside the peak it's nothing to wait about 40 minutes on a 7/8 minute frequency for a bus to turn up and many very early 18's don't show up.I expect tomorrow with a proposed 15 minute fequency two will show up together each half hour as it's quite common daily on a 7/8 minute frequency for two too turn up every 15 minutes.Even on Sundays on a 15 minute frequency it's regular two turn up together each half hour.Altogether it's a poor show most days.Even mid to late evening Mondays to Saturdays you get trips missing some days.A great pity that First ever took the City to Thornhill section off as this was mostly reliable in My observations.The bluestar 7 doesn't fare much better in operation with it's supposed 30 minute frequency where many times buses just don't show up judgeing by comments made by potential users.
ReplyDeleteWell back to normal tomorrow on Bluestar.However lots of people won't notice much difference in their service to todays disruption with the strike.The main problem is there is no one on the ground in sight to monitor services, they all seem to be out of sight in a backroom watching a monitor.Needs a complete shake up in how it's operated
ReplyDeleteWhat possible reason would there be for putting them in sight? Then you would have the public constantly interrupting their work. That is the role of the travel shop, who can access any information that the public need.
DeleteAs far as the strike went, it was a complete damp squib. Out of over 300 staff, 99 were in the union. 86 of those voted to strike, but only 42 did so! They sent back many of the borrowed staff early, because they were not needed to run the published reduced timetable. In the end, they could have probably run a full service, if there had been time to change things. This brave union has now apparently instructed its members not to work any overtime for two weeks in July. Good luck with that instruction, as they can't even get their members to obey a strike call. Today proved that most of their members are just not interested in the ego trip that their leaders are on. Re election coming up by any chance at the RMT? You can bet on it!
I feel Sorry for those drivers that wanted to do a days work in Southampton but did not sadly get the chance
DeleteIn looking at the photos of the strike action on the Daily Echo website one of the drivers on the far left of the photos had only recently just moved from First Bus
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DeleteSo sorry my previous comment identified the person.
ReplyDeleteI know who you are talking about. I really don’t like him, despite being a close friend of him in the past.
Yes, he is part of RMT and he just wanted a day off to walk the dog and stay in bed crying how miserable he is.
Good to see you're back to your old ways posting libellious comments and personal attacks on people you barely know.
DeleteThis is specifically about one person that hurt my feelings and it happens he is a bus driver and I know he was on strike as he is part of the RMT. I can't name him though.
DeleteIf it is the person that I suspect you are talking about Claudio, you are quite correct that he is a member of the RMT, however he voted against strike action and worked overtime yesterday in his own protest against the people running the union! It was also interesting to hear that eight people revoked their RMT membership yesterday reportedly, in disgust at the way the union have gone about things.
DeleteYes I saw him walking along Pound Tree Road in Bluestar Uniform so he was defantly working that day
DeleteAmazing how people jump the gun just because they see someone in a photo published in the echo.Unions are a strange lot leadership wise.although in many cases they do good for their membership,at other times they cause nothing but misery for their members.Working practises change as the years go bye, a thing some of the leadership refuse to accept.Railways are a good example of this
DeleteNot related to this, but the Cangos in Andover will be run again by Stagecoach from July. What is happening with Wheelers?
ReplyDeleteHardly worth Wheeler's running the services in the very short time they have had them.In lots of past cases in other areas they don't seem to have kept anything for very long.
DeleteAny chance of an apology to your former friend Claudio?
DeleteWheelers seem to have a very strange business model which is over reliant on council subsedies. Everyone else in the industry has recognised that this type of work will become extinct anytime soon, and only takes it when it suits them to.
ReplyDeleteIt will be a question of time until we have no tendered services. Wheelers will be hardly hit by the extinction of such services. I fear about the W1 service as it hardly carries any patronage, for what I’ve seen.
DeleteThe increase of impairments in such small companies will mean only the biggest will survive, fearing we may have an oligopoly on the bus services in the long term (5-10 years)
You know, I am not quite as sure that will be the case Claudio.
DeleteYes, I agree now that smaller independents are potentially starting to struggle, but others less so.
When you add into that that DB have been looking at options with Arriva (Bus) and the recent re-structuring of First, and the question is more of who would buy a large group of individual companies.
Example. If GoAhead offered to buy all of First the competitions Commission would probably intervene.Even if Stagecoach cherry picked parts of the operation eyebrows would be raised.
I wonder whether in fact we have the potential to head back to local management buyouts or even local councils considering arms length shells to keep public transport in their towns.
I hope I am wrong as i appreciate the contribution from small companies to the bus market.
DeleteThe majority of the British public don't care a toss who run their service as long as have a one Only competion minded idiots have other opoinions and they have no idea of what people want as they live in a never never land
DeleteI thought that Claudio person was leaving the country and we wouldn't hear from him again?
ReplyDeleteHe is not allowed to leave until he makes an apology to his former friend, who he wrongly named as a striker!
DeleteHe allready has left
DeleteBluestar have shared online & on Twitter what their diversion plans are for this Sunday's Armed forces day parade.
ReplyDeleteNothing from First as yet. They haven't even announced about West End Rd 8pm-6am closures yet... Bluestar put it on their site last wk & at some bus stops.
Let's face it, there is nobody left at First who is remotely interested in what is going on in Southampton!
ReplyDeleteTrue, although customers would like to know.
DeleteOh, come on, now! The customers only pay their wages. Why should they matter?
DeleteSecond time in four days that More have cancelled the short journeys on route 4 due to "a higher level of driver absence than anticipated".
ReplyDeleteDriver absence is quite common in todays bus world.Makes Me laugh where they are always posting to leave your car at home and try the bus and then you find you haven't got a bus to use.Salisbury is particularly bad for cancellations due to no drivers available.Not the interest today either in wanting to drive buses
ReplyDeleteIf they want drivers they need to hire applicants.
DeleteI applied two months ago. Did not even get a "no thanks."
So did I, but after making a simple phone call to them I was taken on almost immediately. Try it.
DeleteI have been in a new job for a few weeks now, but I will bear that in mind for future.
DeleteLikewise I applied for Salisbury Reds, nothing from them either.
You're obviously not a people person. Maybe go down the First route of, "you've got a licence, you'll do"
DeleteJust seen on Echo site about RMT planning more Bluestar strikes? It's been postponed for the moment but they're threatening to strike for a wk, not a day.
ReplyDeleteThe Echo article is a bit of a muddle and is mixing and matching quotes from before the strike with more recent comments and uses the terms industrial action and strike interchangeably.
DeleteI believe what was threatened for next week was an overtime ban rather than an all out strike.
You are absolutely correct that it is supposed to be an overtime ban only. It has been postponed until after the next meeting. Very few of the strikers ever do any overtime anyway, so it would have an even more limited impact.
DeleteSeems a very strange way to go about a dispute to me... Historically you would do a work to rule, then an overtime ban and when all else fails, you strike! This union seems very backwards in lots of ways!
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ReplyDeleteIs that any of your business Reece?
DeleteWhat if he/she has two jobs so he can support his family? Lots of people have to just to survive in this day and age.
You really do need to find something better to do than just finding any reason to have a go at anything to do with First.
I'm not mate he told me off his own back.
DeleteDon't forget I am a First Bus supporter
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ReplyDeleteI assume First know of his other job? I am not sure that I would want to ride on a bus where the driver has already done a days work elsewhere, when fatigue could be setting in! Both could be part time ventures, but there is a real risk of working hours laws being broken, which are there for safety.
ReplyDeleteI expect working hours are broken quite frequently all over the place and have been done so long before this ridiculous health and safety obsession was forced upon us.Whatever bus you travel on you don't know the persons circumstance before they took on their duty
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ReplyDeleteQuite so! Is there any possibility that we can stick to reporting service changes, rather than sniping at the operators and their staff?
DeleteTonight there has been an accident on Lordshill way involving a Single Decker bus and a car.
ReplyDeleteA First no.3?
DeleteIt was a First bus involved and thoughts go out to all involved.
DeleteThe Focus Transport site - please refer to the right hand column >>>>> - reports that First's operations in Bolton are supposed to be going to Rotala (subject to the usual paperwork).
ReplyDeleteThey are - sold for £5.3m, and due to transfer in August. Does not include Vantage, tenders or Yellow School Bus routes.
DeleteQueens road now go north west
DeleteBolton soon to become diamond north west
Oldham to be confirmed
How long till southampton sells
Trust you to bring Southampton into it as you allways do Michael
DeleteThe Manchester sale is not linked in anyway to the recent announcement to separate the bus business from the group business, therefore has nothing to do with Southampton. The sale of the Manchester operations has been in the pipeline for a while and is a completely different situation.
DeleteJust announced this morning, 2 July 2019, by RATP Dev of the sale of Yellow Buses to a management buyout team.
ReplyDeleteKen Traveline
Hey Ken. I was going to announce that, but fortunately you did it before me.
DeleteRegards.
It'll be interesting to see how it pans out. I didn't get the feeling that RATPdev were too controlling over how it was run... But I'll bet they're glad to be rid of it !
DeleteI wonder just how many years it will stay with local management before an offer comes from a large group and it's sold again?
DeleteYou are right that the time may come when they are available for sale again, but the here and now will be very interesting, seeing whether they have the financial muscle to play with the big boys! In any event it will be great to see the RATP name taken off the fleet. What an off putting name it was. In my opinion they need to do a very swift standardisation of their fleet at very least.
DeleteMy take on this is that Yellow buses will not come up for sale, but just disappear. Go Ahead cannot buy it due to competition law, but they can increase the on road competition. Then over time (years) Yellow buses will run out of money, where as more bus has a multi-national to cover any loss virtually indefinitely. In other words RATP as the backing multi-national has pulled out, leaving the road for Go Ahead group to take over the only way allowed.
DeleteCompare if First sold Southampton to its management, how long before Bluestar could up the competition to bankrupt it.
Your take on both looks accurate to me. Southampton is already happening, as Bluestar looks to squeeze First down further, so unless a surprise buyer comes in, which looks unlikely, I can see inventive duplication of First routes being accelerated rapidly over the coming months, leaving no competition questions to be answered!
DeleteI note the new management team have given a very rosey picture of how Yellow Buses is at present performing.I wonder how long before riches turn to rags again.In Southampton who would want to buy what's left of local operations by First.If the 2 and 11 were withdrawn tomorrow no one would hardly notice except the hardy First fans.At present both Millbrook and Weston are so overbused it beggars belief.I should not imagine either that now the 17 runs more or less the same route between City and Lordshill it's attracted much new custom apart from the fact that on their Southampton local routeswhat there was has been taken from the First 3 which was once a boyant route customer wise.It's still not bad but nothing to what it once was.Considering over recent years First have invested in new vehicles on what they operate it's all very sad to see the way it's going as Bluestar is not always the shining star it portrays to be
ReplyDeleteThe point that I was making was that Go ahead would probably want to buy out First Hampshire and Dorset, which would have to include Southampton, which they do not want. By making sure that they are already on all of the routes, there would be no competition questions to answer, and they effectively scrap all First routes on day one. End of problem.
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