East Anglia Bus Scene

[markymark2000]

There is a lengthy interview with Peter Nathanail of Transport Made Simple in Route One this week.

Transport Made Simple: customer focus paves fast track to success

Ten years after co-founding Transport Made Simple's predecessor aged 19, Peter Nathanail runs one of the UK's largest independent operators.

www.route-one.net

One particular line caught my eye:


Assuming £250k per bus, that's around 40 vehicles - more if smaller buses are part of this.

I'm not so sure that a "customer obsessed" operator would have such a lack of care towards data quality that TMS do, and consistently ignore customers when they report these issues to them.
A "customer obsessed" operator would care about providing easy to understand timetables for these customers (not ones where Saturday timetables are wildly different to Mon-Fri including basic things like last buses being retimed sometimes by a few minutes earlier, forcing passengers to needlessly think more about their bus times).
A Customer Obsessed operator would have an easy to understand network too, not one whereby a single corridor can be made up of 6+ route numbers because every tiny variations and short hop has it's own route number.
A "Customer obsessed" operator wouldn't have spent the past 6+ months having 2 routes under different brands competing against each other (Hedingham 42 vs Flagfinders 60), or had 3 different brands in a town with not a single bit of ticket acceptance for the town network nor connections (Braintree)

The way TMS runs things commercially is EXACTLY why the public are wanting franchising and public control. When one holding company owns multiple brands and refuses ticket acceptance between them. Timetables that are needlessly, stupidly confusing.

Never fails to amuse me when companies put out these statements and they are filled with more holes than a colander. Can clearly talk the talk but fail to walk the walk! I know some changes are on the way but still, VERY long overdue and still won't address some of the fundamental issues which have been in place since the day that Vectare was formed and since then been carried through Vectare, Central Connect and now TMS.

 

[F Great Eastern]

They look very short on vehicles today with some really odd allocations.

YN56 FDD from Flagfinders was on the 50 early evening despite Bustimes suggesting otherwise.
Meanwhile an OmniLink appeared to be on the 51 because of a shortage of breadvans.

 

[nesw]

There appears to be a mistake with their SIRI tracking with Flagfinders line 60 also showing vehicles on the Central Connect 60 that runs in Brentwood.

 

[Simon75]

Thankfully the X30 seems to be back to being double deckers virtually all of the time. Double deckers (Scania N250s) are also occasionally appearing on the X10 as well. Usually at nighttime and Sundays.
Interestingly First are chucking out all sorts of things on the 59 on Sundays (the rest of the week it’s operated commercially by Arriva), and that includes E400s. It’s years since double deckers were seen on the 59.

I was told by a driver on the 59 that it interworks with another route that needs double deckers

 

[F Great Eastern]

There were at least two flagfinders vehicles actually on former Chambers routes today.

 

[Wawanesa]

I'm not so sure that a "customer obsessed" operator would have such a lack of care towards data quality that TMS do, and consistently ignore customers when they report these issues to them.
A "customer obsessed" operator would care about providing easy to understand timetables for these customers (not ones where Saturday timetables are wildly different to Mon-Fri including basic things like last buses being retimed sometimes by a few minutes earlier, forcing passengers to needlessly think more about their bus times).
A Customer Obsessed operator would have an easy to understand network too, not one whereby a single corridor can be made up of 6+ route numbers because every tiny variations and short hop has it's own route number.
A "Customer obsessed" operator wouldn't have spent the past 6+ months having 2 routes under different brands competing against each other (Hedingham 42 vs Flagfinders 60), or had 3 different brands in a town with not a single bit of ticket acceptance for the town network nor connections (Braintree)

The way TMS runs things commercially is EXACTLY why the public are wanting franchising and public control. When one holding company owns multiple brands and refuses ticket acceptance between them. Timetables that are needlessly, stupidly confusing.

Never fails to amuse me when companies put out these statements and they are filled with more holes than a colander. Can clearly talk the talk but fail to walk the walk! I know some changes are on the way but still, VERY long overdue and still won't address some of the fundamental issues which have been in place since the day that Vectare was formed and since then been carried through Vectare, Central Connect and now TMS.

Although TMS's heart is in the right place, they do still have a long way to go in turning some parts of the operation around. I understand that recently there was a day at Sudbury depot when the number of agency drivers exceeded those directly employed which is quite appalling. In contrast, the Flagfinders part of the business seems to chug along ok with elderly but immaculate vehicles. Incidentally, Flagfinders still employ as a driver, Robert MacGregor, the one time managing director of Hedingham & District until he sold the business to Go-Ahead.

The competing services of Hedingham 42 and Flagfinders 60 is indeed weird although it would appear to have been a consequence of Go-Ahead local management not knowing that they were about to be sold to TMS. I imagine that this will get sorted when the "Love Your Bus" funding for the Hedingham/ Yeldham area comes in to operation.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Them going on about 'Customer Obsession' sounds like someone has swallowed a book about Jeff Bezos and Amazon.

They can mouth the words all they want, but people actually need to see it in action and we don't see it in the former Chambers and Hedingham routes.

 

[nesw]

Not forgetting the commercially run 701 Chelmsford Sandon Park & Ride with three vehicles chasing the tale of the contracted First services. I believe that passenger numbers are on the low side.

 

[markymark2000]

The competing services of Hedingham 42 and Flagfinders 60 is indeed weird although it would appear to have been a consequence of Go-Ahead local management not knowing that they were about to be sold to TMS. I imagine that this will get sorted when the "Love Your Bus" funding for the Hedingham/ Yeldham area comes in to operation.

I appreciate that the 42 and 60 existed under very different operators and circumstances and any merge/takeover would have created a situation at least short term, of them competing against eachother. At a bare minimum though within the first month of the Hedingham takeover, should have brought ticket acceptance and cross promotion/combined timetables etc.

 

[Russel]

Them going on about 'Customer Obsession' sounds like someone has swallowed a book about Jeff Bezos and Amazon.

They can mouth the words all they want, but people actually need to see it in action and we don't see it in the former Chambers and Hedingham routes.

Indeed, I'll be genuinely surprised if the likes of Clacton see any meaningful improvements, just hiring an extra cleaner would be a good start, I use the 74 from Colchester into Clacton semi-regular and the ex London Geminis and E400s are some of the filthiest buses I've used internally.

 

[buslad1988]

Them going on about 'Customer Obsession' sounds like someone has swallowed a book about Jeff Bezos and Amazon.

They can mouth the words all they want, but people actually need to see it in action and we don't see it in the former Chambers and Hedingham routes.

Let’s see if/when these new vehicles start materialising… they still seem to be very greedy wanting to expand further. The fact that in the route one article they actively say they want anyone who’s thinking about selling up in the area to approach them!

There can’t be that many operators left! Sanders, Lynx and Border Bus appear solid. Ipswich Buses is ticking along whilst the local authority changes go through. Arriva now seem interested in Southend again - Colchester on the other hand; that would tag on nicely to the former Hedingham/Chambers ops.

I can see TMS also going in heavy on tender rounds with councils and local colleges to try and get more of a foothold into Ipswich.

Personal preference but I still don’t particularly like the livery/branding TMS use and their publicity material is awful.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

I'm not so sure that a "customer obsessed" operator would have such a lack of care towards data quality that TMS do, and consistently ignore customers when they report these issues to them.
A "customer obsessed" operator would care about providing easy to understand timetables for these customers (not ones where Saturday timetables are wildly different to Mon-Fri including basic things like last buses being retimed sometimes by a few minutes earlier, forcing passengers to needlessly think more about their bus times).
A Customer Obsessed operator would have an easy to understand network too, not one whereby a single corridor can be made up of 6+ route numbers because every tiny variations and short hop has it's own route number.
A "Customer obsessed" operator wouldn't have spent the past 6+ months having 2 routes under different brands competing against each other (Hedingham 42 vs Flagfinders 60), or had 3 different brands in a town with not a single bit of ticket acceptance for the town network nor connections (Braintree)

The way TMS runs things commercially is EXACTLY why the public are wanting franchising and public control. When one holding company owns multiple brands and refuses ticket acceptance between them. Timetables that are needlessly, stupidly confusing.

Never fails to amuse me when companies put out these statements and they are filled with more holes than a colander. Can clearly talk the talk but fail to walk the walk! I know some changes are on the way but still, VERY long overdue and still won't address some of the fundamental issues which have been in place since the day that Vectare was formed and since then been carried through Vectare, Central Connect and now TMS.

Perhaps the owners comments are more ambition than reality but they clearly are trying. The vast improvement and development of the old Galleon network and the printed publicity on pre Go-Ahead takeover work are good examples, let alone the stabilisation of Waltham Abbey which for donkeys years had been an ever changing mess of operators like Regal.

Playing devils advocate things do take time. They've owned the Go East Anglia bits for less than a year still and it would presumably be wreckless to go in and immediately make massive changes. Aside from the internal turmoil that would likely cause at an operation that had suspected issues beforehand anyway, it would surely be prudent to get proper data and understand how things work, what state the fleet is actually in, where efficiences can be made. All that stuff in any industry, let alone this one where there are long change periods for service registrations and huge lead times on costly vehicles; takes time!

Having mooched like a very dull person on the registration files it looks like the Flagfinders routes are all deregistered for July which suggests they may well be being combined into the Konectbuses operation as Halstead has appeared on that licence. Similiarly all the Simonds routes appear to be being cancelled too with new entries appearing on Central Connects original licence.

Personally I also disagree with your route comments. I really don't like operators who have 6-7 variations of route under one number. It can make it very confusing to work out which buses serve which bits of route at what time. I think simple lettering to denote those changes as long as its not excessive is fine. Remember you can't generally have a timetable thats identical on weekdays and Saturdays on all journeys. Commercially and contractually there's often need for variants, especially when schools are involved, and of course running times and demand vary quite a lot between the two. Aslong as the timetable information is easily available and understandable thats all most passengers would want. I personally find the Central Connect and Simonds timetables I've seen quite easy to read and understand.

Perhaps what you see as fundamental issues aren't actually as prevalent to the majority of the bus travelling public as you think?

 

[Russel]

Perhaps what you see as fundamental issues aren't actually as prevalent to the majority of the bus travelling public as you think?

As a semi-regular visitor the Clacton, the travelling public don't have a high opinion of TMS at all, and to be fair, I can see why, they offer an unreliable service using vehicles that are fit for the scrap yard and haven't had a proper clean in what looks like years, there hasn't been a consistent livery since the Frist Group days...

How many places still have 20+ year old ex-London B7TL Geminis still in faded London red in front line daily service?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

As a semi-regular visitor the Clacton, the travelling public don't have a high opinion of TMS at all, and to be fair, I can see why, they offer an unreliable service using vehicles that are fit for the scrap yard and haven't had a proper clean in what looks like years, there hasn't been a consistent livery since the Frist Group days...

How many places still have 20+ year old ex-London B7TL Geminis still in faded London red in front line daily service?

It does seem that some folk do like taking a pop at TMS though?

These issues of elderly and unkempt fleet are inherited. The reality is that the Go Ahead operations were not invested in. The Norfolk ops had 3 new vehicles in 10 years; the Suffolk/Essex ops had none at all. I too pop down to Essex and there's a lot to put right but I was saying that 18 months ago.

Perhaps there's a lot going on in the background - stuff that enthusiasts and the general public don't see? Stuff like payroll systems, IT/IS, finance systems, website, online ticket purchasing etc will all need to be migrated from Go Ahead to TMS and it's a much bigger acquisition than they done before. All things that need to be prioritised ahead of other stuff.

@ThatOneGuy is right to draw attention to the former Galleon Travel/Rustybus/Central Connect operations. Those were operated by a motley collection of ex London tat plus a few new vehicles. In the three years since they purchased that operation, they have renewed the fleet pretty extensively.

Now do I have the Roger French blinkers and believe that they are fantastically awesome because they print timetables? No. Do I question the business model? Yes, as it seems like alchemy. However, I'm prepared to cut them some slack because, quite frankly, they inherited a basket case of an operation that had been underinvested in with a lot to put right. Perhaps a funky cafe in Colchester isn't what I'd have on my priority list. Then again, I don't think the business should be worrying too much about establishing ticket interavailability between two separate (albeit co-owned) businesses on a single corridor between two small towns.

 

[nesw]

The Galleon purchase was considerably smaller than huge undertaking of Konect in Essex and Norfolk, something that must’ve doubled the fleet size. If TMS also purchased the freehold to the garages and land, then there’s potential savings to be made there.

So, yes there’s probably a lot of things to sort out, though it’s concerning to hear that bus interiors are not clean. Much of the fleet is ‘senior‘ however, that doesn’t preclude the use of soap and water.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The Galleon purchase was considerably smaller than huge undertaking of Konect in Essex and Norfolk, something that must’ve doubled the fleet size. If TMS also purchased the freehold to the garages and land, then there’s potential savings to be made there.

So, yes there’s probably a lot of things to sort out, though it’s concerning to hear that bus interiors are not clean. Much of the fleet is ‘senior‘ however, that doesn’t preclude the use of soap and water.

There has already been speculation/confirmation of a rationalisation of operations in Essex with Sible Hedingham depot being closed in favour of an expanded depot in Braintree? Again, these are things will be taking up some time.

Can't comment on whether things are worse or whatever in terms of fleet presentation but it was noticeable under GA ownership that Clacton's vehicles were markedly tattier than those at Sudbury. I also agree with another comment that the Chelmsford P&R debacle is something that TMS would be better served not pursuing further... It's a waste of time and money that could be better deployed elsewhere.

 

[Russel]

It does seem that some folk do like taking a pop at TMS though?

These issues of elderly and unkempt fleet are inherited. The reality is that the Go Ahead operations were not invested in. The Norfolk ops had 3 new vehicles in 10 years; the Suffolk/Essex ops had none at all. I too pop down to Essex and there's a lot to put right but I was saying that 18 months ago.

Perhaps there's a lot going on in the background - stuff that enthusiasts and the general public don't see? Stuff like payroll systems, IT/IS, finance systems, website, online ticket purchasing etc will all need to be migrated from Go Ahead to TMS and it's a much bigger acquisition than they done before. All things that need to be prioritised ahead of other stuff.

@ThatOneGuy is right to draw attention to the former Galleon Travel/Rustybus/Central Connect operations. Those were operated by a motley collection of ex London tat plus a few new vehicles. In the three years since they purchased that operation, they have renewed the fleet pretty extensively.

Now do I have the Roger French blinkers and believe that they are fantastically awesome because they print timetables? No. Do I question the business model? Yes, as it seems like alchemy. However, I'm prepared to cut them some slack because, quite frankly, they inherited a basket case of an operation that had been underinvested in with a lot to put right. Perhaps a funky cafe in Colchester isn't what I'd have on my priority list. Then again, I don't think the business should be worrying too much about establishing ticket interavailability between two separate (albeit co-owned) businesses on a single corridor between two small towns.

I understand the majority of the issues TMS face are inherited, but I don't see how they can even begin to start putting things right without investing substantial amounts of money, which just can't be there, if it made money, Go-Ahead would have probably held onto it...

Unless of course, the mark up on the cream cakes and cappuccinos in their café in Colchester are higher than Starbucks, in which case the entire fleet will be electric by this time next year!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I understand the majority of the issues TMS face are inherited, but I don't see how they can even begin to start putting things right without investing substantial amounts of money, which just can't be there, if it made money, Go-Ahead would have probably held onto it...

I've already mentioned that I question the business model. The investment may be limited (in that I think they are mainly leased vehicles) but the question persists in how they will meet those costs when they are currently using kit that is largely depreciated.

 

[Russel]

I've already mentioned that I question the business model. The investment may be limited (in that I think they are mainly leased vehicles) but the question persists in how they will meet those costs when they are currently using kit that is largely depreciated.

If we see anything more than a small influx of used E200s I'll be surprised, just dealing with the multiple different brands and fleet names would be a good start, when I was last in Clacton I boarded a Brighton and Hove liveried bus with Headingham fleet names with a driver in Go-Ahead uniform...

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

If we see anything more than a small influx of used E200s I'll be surprised, just dealing with the multiple different brands and fleet names would be a good start, when I was last in Clacton I boarded a Brighton and Hove liveried bus with Headingham fleet names with a driver in Go-Ahead uniform...

If you look at the Central Connect fleet on the other side of Essex, it would seem that leasing is the order of the day.

 

[Russel]

If you look at the Central Connect fleet on the other side of Essex, it would seem that leasing is the order of the day.

What are they actually trading as though, TMS, Flag Finder, Konect or Central Connect?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

What are they actually trading as though, TMS, Flag Finder, Konect or Central Connect?

TMS is the group though it is used as a strapline.

They trade as Central Connect in the main, having decided that they’ll adopt that for bus ops with Simonds and Flagfinders to be used for local coach ops.

 

[Russel]

TMS is the group though it is used as a strapline.

They trade as Central Connect in the main, having decided that they’ll adopt that for bus ops with Simonds and Flagfinders to be used for local coach ops.

Thanks.

Though it really isn't clear if you're not in the know, especially when you throw the many different liveries, redundant but still present Hedingham/Chambers fleet names still dotted around and drivers, as of April in a mix of Go-Ahead and other assorted uniforms...

I know re-liverying takes time, but it's been 12 months, they could have at least applied vinyl transfer Central Connect fleet names to all of their vehicles so there is at least an element of coherent branding?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Thanks.

Though it really isn't clear if you're not in the know, especially when you throw the many different liveries, redundant but still present Hedingham/Chambers fleet names still dotted around and drivers, as of April in a mix of Go-Ahead and other assorted uniforms...

I know re-liverying takes time, but it's been 12 months, they could have at least applied vinyl transfer Central Connect fleet names to all of their vehicles so there is at least an element of coherent branding?

It may seem longer but it’s only been 8 months.

I don’t know why they haven’t but might just be that they don’t want to put their name on some shabby ex Brighton machine.

 

[Wawanesa]

It may seem longer but it’s only been 8 months.

I don’t know why they haven’t but might just be that they don’t want to put their name on some shabby ex Brighton machine.

Braintree District Council have today refused the planning application to redevelop the Sible Hedingham depot for residential usage. Presumably TMS had hoped to raise some money by its sale. While I have a very soft spot for the depot having known it well for over fifty years, it has to be admitted that the access and layout aren't ideal for modern bus operation.

 

[Russel]

Braintree District Council have today refused the planning application to redevelop the Sible Hedingham depot for residential usage. Presumably TMS had hoped to raise some money by its sale. While I have a very soft spot for the depot having known it well for over fifty years, it has to be admitted that the access and layout aren't ideal for modern bus operation.

What was the reason for rejecting the planning app?

Just looking on Google Maps, the depot looks a bit of an eyesore in what otherwise looks like a nice little village.

 

[gingerheid]

There's a consultation regarding the Tiger routes around Cambridge (spoiler: the orbital services will still be doomed and flawed)

https://cpca-yourvoice.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Cambridge-City-Proposal.pdf

Cambridge City Area Proposed Changes

Services Before:
• T2: Madingley Road Park & Ride to Newmarket Road Park & Ride
• T3: Grantchester to Fulbourn
• T4: Addenbrookes Hospital to Newmarket
• T5: Cambridge to Soham
• 17: Cambridge to Guilden Morden
• 26: Cambridge to Royston
• 75: Cambridge to Wrestlingworth
• 114: Chesterton to Addenbrookes Hospital

Services After:
• Cambridge Revised Service A: Milton Park & Ride to Trumpington Park & Ride
• Cambridge Revised Service B: Trumpington Park & Ride to Newmarket
• Cambridge Revised Service C: Cambridge to Soham
• Cambridge Revised Service D: Cambridge to Haslingfield, Barrington & Orwell
• Cambridge Revised Service E: Cambridge to Royston & Guilden Morden
• Cambridge Revised Service F: Chesterton & Cambridge to
Addenbrooke’s, Fowlmere & Royston

What these changes mean:
Cambridge Revised Service A will replace service T2 and part of the T3 between Milton Park
and Ride and Trumpington Park and Ride. The section between Newmarket Park and Ride and
Milton Park and Ride is withdrawn due to low passenger numbers and alternative service 100
available.

Cambridge Revised Service B will replace service T3 between Addenbrookes and
Trumpington Park and Ride and the T4 between Newmarket and
Addenbrookes. The new service will still run about once an hour during the day, Monday to
Saturday, with roughly the same first and last bus times as now...

 

[ThatOneGuy]

It may seem longer but it’s only been 8 months.

I don’t know why they haven’t but might just be that they don’t want to put their name on some shabby ex Brighton machine.

To be fair it may be with the news of the big investment in buses that they're still working out what can be retained and what is to be withdrawn. Changes to networks might influence that too. I know from other work that vinyl can be suprisingly expensive!

I have seen on a few enthusiast facebook pages that some second hand enviros are being painted and prepped, all under the Central Connect name so that looks like some progress for Konect. I think somebody estimated 40 new buses from that £10m? I've seen a few from the existing Central Connect go in too, and then there's those enviros being painted. That would be about half the Konect fleet in what will be under 2 years I think, thats actually not bad going given the relevant sizes of the operations.

 

[Camb]

There's a consultation regarding the Tiger routes around Cambridge (spoiler: the orbital services will still be doomed and flawed)

https://cpca-yourvoice.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Cambridge-City-Proposal.pdf

Thoughtful of them to number (letter) the service from Trumpington P&R to Milton P&R as A, totally won’t be confusing for passengers with the Busway A from Trumpington P&R to St Ives lol

For those interested in the wider Cambridgeshire consultation covering all areas, you can find it here: https://cpca-yourvoice.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Bus-Network-Review-compressed-1.pdf

 

[Man of Kent]

Thoughtful of them to number (letter) the service from Trumpington P&R to Milton P&R as A, totally won’t be confusing for passengers with the Busway A from Trumpington P&R to St Ives lol

For those interested in the wider Cambridgeshire consultation covering all areas, you can find it here: https://cpca-yourvoice.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Bus-Network-Review-compressed-1.pdf

They've also managed to create a route B from St Ives to Cambridge, which also crosses Busway route B at Swavesey and Longstanton...