Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
Or they have diverted some buses already on order for fleet replacement, operating from an established depot site that needs less work to set up than a entirely new site and won the contracts off a big group operator, so likely with higher base costs than a lower cost operator like High Peak, operating equally remotely so without the benefit of reduced operating costs that geography may have given so there is no reason to assume a lower than normal bid would have been successful.
I'm not sure we are saying different things to be honest. I'm just pointing out that it's a decent financial risk of things working out over the longer term.
If these buses were for fleet replacement you still have the on-going costs to maintain the older vehicles and no income from resale / scrap / component recovery. The site is there, but you need to stock it and hire staff to run it, plus pay rent. All costs that Stagecoach (as the incumbent operator) didn't need to address. I very much doubt over those 12 months the lower overall costs of High Peak vs Stagecoach will come close to offsetting that.
If they get a foot in and win more contracts, or even start some commercial services in the area then it'll be beneficial long-term. If anything it shows how serious they are about the area as they could have just painted up the old buses and run them from Dove Holes. Would add around 100 dead miles a day, but that's probably not much compared to the costs of the extra depot.
I cant think of a time they cascaded buses but don't think they cascade buses from wellglade to highpeak however doesn't mean wellglade/Centrebus both don't ever help fund replacement if highpeak doesn't have enough to buy brand new as its own entity. I'm sure wellglade would be helping in someway in background that you don't see just how centrebus does such as a agreement for wellglade to fund the depot and centrebus to fund buses or other type of arrangments
Any idea where the buses for this venture will be sourced? There don't seem to be enough in the High Peak fleet to spare 4.
Do they cascade from both Centrebus and Wellglade? If the latter I believe some MMCs have been off for painting / refresh, but they don't seem to have a lot of spares themselves reading on here.
The only thing ive seen Wellglade (Trentbarton ) do to help out is to outstation 2 TransPeak buses in Derby. Bues etc are usually from the Centrebus group (Including D&G/Chaserider)
The only thing ive seen Wellglade (Trentbarton ) do to help out is to outstation 2 TransPeak buses in Derby. Bues etc are usually from the Centrebus group (Including D&G/Chaserider)
The only thing ive seen Wellglade (Trentbarton ) do to help out is to outstation 2 TransPeak buses in Derby. Bues etc are usually from the Centrebus group (Including D&G/Chaserider)
The Derby outstation arrangement is technically with Notts & Derby rather than TrentBarton, which is why you do see Notts & Derby vehicles occasionally borrowed when there is a vehicle issue at Derby as part of the arrangement.
There did seem to be a couple of batches of Solo SRs that seemed to coincide with Wellglade buying some similar vehicles, and at a period when Centrebus weren't buying them, but whether that was a coincidence or a result of Wellglade involvement to give economies of scale in a joint order I don't know.
The Derby outstation arrangement is technically with Notts & Derby rather than TrentBarton, which is why you do see Notts & Derby vehicles occasionally borrowed when there is a vehicle issue at Derby as part of the arrangement.
There did seem to be a couple of batches of Solo SRs that seemed to coincide with Wellglade buying some similar vehicles, and at a period when Centrebus weren't buying them, but whether that was a coincidence or a result of Wellglade involvement to give economies of scale in a joint order I don't know.
Out of interest if Wellglade didn't chose Citaroes for Skyline at Doveholes who did? I always thought High Peak was sort of part of the Wellglade/Centrebus operation.
To be honest correct me if I'm wrong but they seem to be quite reliable as they are in service virtually every day on 199s.
Out of interest if Wellglade didn't chose Citaroes for Skyline at Doveholes who did? I always thought High Peak was sort of part of the Wellglade/Centrebus operation.
To be honest correct me if I'm wrong but they seem to be quite reliable as they are in service virtually every day on 199s.
My impression was that nearly all vehicle allocations / acquisitions were handled by Centrebus.
I'm not saying they're not reliable - they've just never been favoured by Wellglade management, but I thoroughly used to enjoy driving them; they were different! The differences between the 09 then 64 then 67 plates were quite something.
Out of interest if Wellglade didn't chose Citaroes for Skyline at Doveholes who did? I always thought High Peak was sort of part of the Wellglade/Centrebus operation.
To be honest correct me if I'm wrong but they seem to be quite reliable as they are in service virtually every day on 199s.
In that case the Centrebus MD got a good deal on a couple and it went from there.
TrentBarton never seemed to quite be happy with theirs but after some teething issues, the ex-YourBus ones had been hanging around in a field for a few months before they were bought, High Peak seem to be quite content with theirs and they seem to have settled down quite nicely.
Day to Day management of High Peak is undertaken by Centrebus from Leicester (scheduling, marketing, fleet management, accounts etc), Wellglades involvement seems to be more financial (& possibly some experience/advice at board level) than practical though there are some interactions but I think these are more commercial arrangements that would happen with or without the dual ownership.
Centrebus generally managing things doesn't prevent the Wellglade directors turning round in the board meeting and saying "we are ordering some Solos, you need some new small buses, want some?" (and at that time 2013-2015 Centrebus were pretty much only buying E200s though they did go back to Optare in 2016) but generally speaking vehicle purchasing aligns with what the wider Centrebus group are buying rather than what Wellglade buy.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
I'm not sure we are saying different things to be honest. I'm just pointing out that it's a decent financial risk of things working out over the longer term.
If these buses were for fleet replacement you still have the on-going costs to maintain the older vehicles and no income from resale / scrap / component recovery. The site is there, but you need to stock it and hire staff to run it, plus pay rent. All costs that Stagecoach (as the incumbent operator) didn't need to address. I very much doubt over those 12 months the lower overall costs of High Peak vs Stagecoach will come close to offsetting that.
If they get a foot in and win more contracts, or even start some commercial services in the area then it'll be beneficial long-term. If anything it shows how serious they are about the area as they could have just painted up the old buses and run them from Dove Holes. Would add around 100 dead miles a day, but that's probably not much compared to the costs of the extra depot.
Not necessarily, you are suggesting that all this is indicative of a loss making plan but I am trying to suggest these are all a logical part of a profitable operation.
1. New Depot - Dove Holes is a long way off, running from there would definitely add at least one, possibly 2 extra driving duties. On top of this due to the size of the network and the distance from Dove Holes you would probably need an extra break down engineer (trying to cover an area with sizeable numbers of buses in Glossop, Ashbourne, Ripley/Alfreton & Macclesfield is a tough ask) to ensure you have a better chance of being able to get to an issue down south. That probably covers the site staffing (Supervisor & engineer) costs, particularly if you factor in the extra fuel etc as well, and you need to factor in when running a sizeable contract at distance that if you lose more mileage due to remoteness making it harder to support then the fines will be higher depressing the income more.
2. New Buses - New buses are normally more reliable so you need less engineering resource in the depot, at least in the short term, again keeping set-up costs down. Old Buses are less reliable, High Peak don't have any spares so they would have to come from somewhere else and there is always the issue when transferring a bus that its foibles are known by its old depot and so it stays reliable but a new depot doesn't know it as well so breakdowns are more common.
3. Price Comparison - I don't know what Stagecoach themselves are charging I have seen a quote from one of the big groups of what hourly rate they look for and that is around 15% more than a figure I have had suggested from a more medium sized operator and when you start adding that up you can get a sizeable price differential at the base which means some of the costs suggested can still be covered and come out competitive. Particularly if the big operator doesn't see the work as core and haven't "sharpened their pencil" massively.
Covid is doing the rounds again, the kids have been back at school a few weeks and spreading their germy love too, it’s no wonder sickness levels are on the rise. I won’t be so cynical about illnesses.
2. New Buses - New buses are normally more reliable so you need less engineering resource in the depot, at least in the short term, again keeping set-up costs down.
People also often forget how buses are accounted for in these conversations. My understanding is that there's usually a linear depreciation over about 13-15 years so, from an accounting point of view, there's often not much difference financially between using a brand new bus and using a 10-year-old bus. The difference only kicks in once a bus is fully depreciated.
The issue for new buses is usually the initial capital investment, but if the new MMC200s are leased that wouldn't apply.
In that case the Centrebus MD got a good deal on a couple and it went from there.
TrentBarton never seemed to quite be happy with theirs but after some teething issues, the ex-YourBus ones had been hanging around in a field for a few months before they were bought, High Peak seem to be quite content with theirs and they seem to have settled down quite nicely.
Out of interest if Wellglade didn't chose Citaroes for Skyline at Doveholes who did? I always thought High Peak was sort of part of the Wellglade/Centrebus operation.
To be honest correct me if I'm wrong but they seem to be quite reliable as they are in service virtually every day on 199s.
I've always liked them, loved driving the 09 plates and latterly the 64/67 plates when given the chance.
They were different and the air con always worked really well! But I do appreciate how temperamental they were; I always said that Calverton should've had the Tempos it was (and then B7s it was intended in 09) and pronto should've had the Citaros, with one as a spare to see how it coped elsewhere.
At the roundabout on Bakewell Road in Matlock (a the end of the bypass) there is a recruitment ad for Hulleys featuring a diagram of an MMC in the new livery. I'm sorry I haven't taken a picture, but it said something along the lines of 'Steer your career in a new direction' and it was standard Centrebus livery with Cream and Blue with an orange band separating them.
At the roundabout on Bakewell Road in Matlock (a the end of the bypass) there is a recruitment ad for Hulleys featuring a diagram of an MMC in the new livery. I'm sorry I haven't taken a picture, but it said something along the lines of 'Steer your career in a new direction' and it was standard Centrebus livery with Cream and Blue with an orange band separating them.
Derbyshire County Council have put out a press release. The Hulleys name is coming back.
If you live in and around Crich and use local bus services, then we've some news for you. From next Monday, 6 October, bus numbers 140, 141, 142, 143, 143a and the 319, will be run by a different company - High Peak Buses, trading as Hulleys by High Peak Buses.
Unless the initial reports were wrong, the contract for these services is only for a year, to tide them over until the East Midlands authority takes over. At least the extensions DCC were offering were for a year, maybe they had to offer longer for a new tender?
Unless the initial reports were wrong, the contract for these services is only for a year, to tide them over until the East Midlands authority takes over. At least the extensions DCC were offering were for a year, maybe they had to offer longer for a new tender?
We are aware of an issue with emails from the Forum to Microsoft-based email accounts (hotmail/outlook/live.com email addresses). This is being looked into currently, thanks for your patience meanwhile.
