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Jordan Adam

Jordan Adam

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Yet another story in the EE, i told you it's that time of year where they milk this story to the death. Often with fabricated facts and poor arguments too...

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www.eveningexpress.co.uk www.eveningexpress.co.uk

Friends of the Earth back council plans to buy First Aberdeen

A leading environmental organisation has welcomed Aberdeen City Council’s plans to take over the First Bus fleet.

The Evening Express previously reported how city leaders were calling for talks over a potential buyout of the transport firm after the company’s share price dropped sharply as a result of Covid-19.

First Aberdeen was put up for sale in 2019 but was taken off the market earlier this year.

Now, Friends of the Earth Scotland has welcomed the possibility of a buyout.

Air pollution campaigner Gavin Thomson said public transport is an essential service and should not be ‘an opportunity for profit’.

He added: “It’s great to hear Aberdeen City Council’s bold and ambitious plan for taking over the First fleet.

“Our buses need to be run in the interests of passengers, not profit. A council-run bus service could genuinely serve everyone in the city, while investing profits back into improving the service rather than being paid out to corporate shareholders.

“Transport is the most polluting sector when it comes to climate change. To meet the climate targets set at local and national level, we need to change how we think about the way we move around.

“Public transport is an essential public service and should not be an opportunity for profit.

“An affordable, accessible, and reliable bus service means that people don’t need to drive private cars – it will improve air quality, reduce climate emissions, and make the city easier and safer to navigate for all road users.

“The scale of the financial support the Scottish Government is currently handing over to operators, with no conditions attached, coupled with the need to urgently change our transport system, should be pushing every council to consider this option.

“Hopefully, Aberdeen can lead the way in transforming the ownership of public transport.”

Aberdeen City Council co-leader Jenny Laing said: “We welcome Friends of the Earth Scotland’s endorsement of our proposal to purchase First Bus Aberdeen and run a not for profit municipal bus company.

“The council has been responsible for bringing hydrogen buses to the city and we have established hydrogen refuelling stations in order to meet the climate targets set locally and nationally and we are keen to build on these initiatives.

She added: “We have long recognised that affordable public transport is essential if we are to realise our ambitions and retain our place as the energy capital of Europe and we would be willing to work with Friends of the Earth Scotland and other like-minded organisations to try and establish a municipal bus company for the people of Aberdeen.”
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Deltic1961

Deltic1961

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Will probably get deleted by the mods yet again for being "off topic" but how can ACC complain about being millions in debt and still look to buy a company they have no money for?
 
Jordan Adam

Jordan Adam

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Deltic1961 said:
Will probably get deleted by the mods yet again for being "off topic" but how can ACC complain about being millions in debt and still look to buy a company they have no money for?
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Exactly, they act as if First Aberdeen make millions each year and pay huge dividends, when in reality that isn't the case. If First Aberdeen was independent it would be out of business by now, and if it was in public hands the tax payer would be bailing it out!
 
GusB

GusB

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Jordan Adam said:
Exactly, they act as if First Aberdeen make millions each year and pay huge dividends, when in reality that isn't the case. If First Aberdeen was independent it would be out of business by now, and if it was in public hands the tax payer would be bailing it out!
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I don't think you could say that it would have been out of business by now if it had been independent. An independent may have had an entirely different strategy, and may have been a bit more agile, without the need for HQ approval for this and that. Of course, it could also be the case that Stagecoach would have muscled in and run them out of town, but there really is no way of knowing.
 
TheGrandWazoo

TheGrandWazoo

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GusB said:
I don't think you could say that it would have been out of business by now if it had been independent. An independent may have had an entirely different strategy, and may have been a bit more agile, without the need for HQ approval for this and that. Of course, it could also be the case that Stagecoach would have muscled in and run them out of town, but there really is no way of knowing.
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Indeed, it may have been in ruder health under other management. Then again, even Bluebird made a loss in the last FY!

However, it is difficult accurately assess how it may have been in other ownership. Perhaps we'll get a clue in the performance of Go North West!
 
Jordan Adam

Jordan Adam

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GusB said:
I don't think you could say that it would have been out of business by now if it had been independent. An independent may have had an entirely different strategy, and may have been a bit more agile, without the need for HQ approval for this and that. Of course, it could also be the case that Stagecoach would have muscled in and run them out of town, but there really is no way of knowing.
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I think what i meant came across the wrong way. What i was meaning to say was that if it had been in other ownership with the same annual profitability it wouldn't have survived. Obviously in reality things would be different but that wasn't my point.

Any new owner (if there was to be a sale) is going to have a tough challenge, car usage in Aberdeen remains high and for any new operator to thrive they're going to have to take risks and and give the network a major revamp. One of First's weakest points at the moment is the network is poor. They've failed to adapt to changes in the city, then when they have made changes they've been short lived and half done.

The prime example is the mess they made with the 1 and 18. In April 2017 the the 18 was rerouted via Danestone halving journey times for passengers there from 40 minutes to 20 minutes when compared with the 1, however it made the already slow journey to Dyce even slower, as such many people in Dyce switched to Scotrail and the 35 leading to capacity issues on the latter this was also poorly timed not long after the 35A was halved in frequency before being axed entirely.

The frequency of the 18 (20 minutes) also lead to a inconsistent frequency with the 19 which was 12 minutes (reduced to 15 mins in Aug 2017) and the 8/9 which were every 30 minutes. As such often the 8/9, 18 and 19 would all arrive at Tillydrone in convoy quite literally.

The other mistake they made here was keeping the 1 as it was, following the changes most residents within walking distance of Laurel Drive switched to using the 18 instead of the 1, as such most 1s to Danestone were carrying 5-10 passengers even during peak times at best while the 18 overloaded with Dyce, Mugiemoss, Danestone & Tillydrone passengers would run full. This was also at the same time they launched the pointless 16 to Craibstone.

What they should've done in April 2017 is...
  • Split the 1 so every second bus goes to Ashwood via Whitestripes as per the old 3 rather than Danestone.
  • Extend the 1A (Castle Street - RGU) half hourly to Dubford as a replacement to the X40.*
  • Reinstate the 4 (ARI - Dubford)*
  • Increase the 8 to half hourly and axe the existing 9.
  • New service 9 operating half hourly ARI - Holburn Junction - City Centre - Tillydrone - Danestone - Mugiemoss - Bankhead - Dyce.
  • Keep the 17/18 as they were.
  • Reduce the 19 to 15 Minute frequency.*
  • Reduce the 23 to 10 Minute frequency.*
  • Withdraw the X40 (Replaced by 1A & 9).
*Ideas marked are things that First later done (or somewhat done) between the August 2017 - January 2019 changes...

Those changes would've likely been cost neutral and solved much of the issues on the network now and at the time.

The latest big set of changes in October 2019 were also a mess especially for Cove but we can get on to those another time :lol:.
 
Deltic1961

Deltic1961

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Not to mention the complete mess of the night services due to needless changes literally every few months.

They made good money at one point .... I know town isn't as busy late at night any more but people need consistency to be able to understand a service and use it. The mess of running the first three N17 services through King Street and Tillydrone but leaving the last bus to go the normal way whilst running empty buses to Bankhead just beggars belief.
 
Jordan Adam

Jordan Adam

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Deltic1961 said:
Not to mention the complete mess of the night services due to needless changes literally every few months.

They made good money at one point .... I know town isn't as busy late at night any more but people need consistency to be able to understand a service and use it. The mess of running the first three N17 services through King Street and Tillydrone but leaving the last bus to go the normal way whilst running empty buses to Bankhead just beggars belief.
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The night services don't change much, the last route changes were in October 2018 and before that it was September 2016.

No N17s serve King Street or Tillydrone. All of them operate via Gt Northern Road to Dyce, outbound buses serve Newhills/Bankhead while inbound buses serve Mugiemoss. Tillydrone is served by the N1.
 
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SouthEastBuses

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Aberdeen is going into lockdown as of today. Does that mean First (and other Aberdeen bus operators like Stagecoach) will reduce their services again due to people now being legally required to stay at home?
 
Jordan Adam

Jordan Adam

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SouthEastBuses said:
Aberdeen is going into lockdown as of today. Does that mean First (and other Aberdeen bus operators like Stagecoach) will reduce their services again due to people now being legally required to stay at home?
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Read my post directly above yours...

SouthEastBuses said:
Pretty sure it is? As I've just been reading another thread that specifically talks about the local lockdown at Aberdeen.
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It's not a lockdown, just restrictions.
 
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Deltic1961

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Obviously whoever is in the Social Networking team never got the memo that Aberdeen is shut down until at least next Thursday :)

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PaulMc7

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First's social media is probably one of the worst I've seen tbh. Doubt anyone does anything about the social media team when they make mistakes either going by the fact they make a lot of them. No excuse for poor social media use when you serve the public either really especially in 2020
 
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lastbus

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First York’s 11109 currently in First Glasgow’s Blantyre depot. Is this one of the ones for Aberdeen?
 
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JumpinTrainz

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Jordan Adam said:
Yes, 11106 was also dropped off there the other day, they're there for repaint and refurb.
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Do we know what level of refurb they’ll be receiving? Are we talking Glasgow’s B9TLs style?

Also will these buses replace the remaining 05 plate artics?
 
V

Volvodart

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Refurbs go to outside contractors. If in house, the best we can hope for is new seat covers.
 
Jordan Adam

Jordan Adam

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Volvodart said:
Refurbs go to outside contractors. If in house, the best we can hope for is new seat covers.
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JumpinTrainz said:
Do we know what level of refurb they’ll be receiving? Are we talking Glasgow’s B9TLs style?

Also will these buses replace the remaining 05 plate artics?
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They seem to be getting done by an external contractor in the Glasgow area hence them being delivered to Blantyre Depot rather than Caledonia, i think they may be getting Euro 6 conversion too. Although don't quote me on that...
 
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