Tender has come to a end. Given their yard no longer being in Burton it is alot of dead millage so no even worth pursuing commercially,
Apparently they are looking at leasing some E200 MMCs
Ooh nice, I recon some of the small ones like Falcon have leased in Surrey would fit their profile nicely.
Definitely mate
Is that commercial or under tender? Makes more sense with bus links base behind Urban chef in the yard that Deluxe & South Derbyshire used to use.
I believe it under tender
The X1 is now on the Facebook page. It is a Saturday only service from Swad & Burton to Meadowhall! Departing at 0845 and returning at 1600.
www.facebook.com
Now revealing the long awaited X1.
Come join us on our new X1 service starting 04/10/2025 to Meadowhall Shopping Centre. Come make a start on your Christmas shopping or just a relaxed day out. For further information call the office on 01332 417427 or email us at office@evolvebus.com.
The X1 is now on the Facebook page. It is a Saturday only service from Swad & Burton to Meadowhall! Departing at 0845 and returning at 1600.
Evolve Bus & Coach | Derby
Evolve Bus & Coach, Derby. 298 likes · 10 were here. Luxury buses & coaches for hire, and operators of local bus services
Later in the month it looks like they are going to compete on the Uttoxeter circular 406 as well.
Thinking just supported rather than BSIP related.
Hmmm interesting I know the mp has been quite vocal about Uttoxeter bus services hopefully this will placate his and residents concerns.The X1 is now on the Facebook page. It is a Saturday only service from Swad & Burton to Meadowhall! Departing at 0845 and returning at 1600.
Evolve Bus & Coach | Derby
Evolve Bus & Coach, Derby. 298 likes · 10 were here. Luxury buses & coaches for hire, and operators of local bus services
Later in the month it looks like they are going to compete on the Uttoxeter circular 406 as well.
It is a tender for Select. Although given the rules that Tendered routes can't duplicate commercial ones I wonder if select will be let go. I do think running in tandem is a fallout from when Hulleys wanted to do their X1 that failed miserably only for Aimees and D&G to step back into the tendered fold.
On Bustimes, there is a joint 406 timetable suggesting that Evolve will be operating two infill journeys at 12.12 and 17.30.
Bustimes is a bit bugged with it because all other trips are the exact same as Select. Most strange thing in the world. But hopefully this service starts and Staffordshire pull the rug from under Select.On Bustimes, there is a joint 406 timetable suggesting that Evolve will be operating two infill journeys at 12.12 and 17.30.
Although given how we have got here, would Staffordshire be a bit wary of doing that only for the commercial service to be pulled by Evolve (or by another trip to the TC) in six months time?
does the name Hulleys ring a bell they propsed and ran for 1 day a ambitious X1 between Ashbourne & Manchester via Leek and Macclsfeild, this menat both D&G & Amiees withdrew tendered service, when Hulleys failed to deliver their comercial promise it made Staffordshire County & East Cheshire councils look like mugs. though a small town route like the 406 is nothing compared to that quagmire it will be something to be wary from the local autority. It does seem odd that Select have the 406 anyway tendering is a odd process lets not forget South Staffs (LA Travel) were gonna have Evolve's 1 on tender but now only have a partial school run.
FIrstly, no local authority it allowed to fund a bus service which directly competes with a commercial one. Not only is that mismanagement of public funds, but also how do you expect a commercial service to thrive when the council is funding a competing service?
I so agree with some of the skepticism with it. Hence I said hopefully this service starts and then the rug can be pulled from Select when it's discovered that this won't be another Hulleys. Though depending on time scales, any overlapping of the 2 services is likely to hinder the commercial success of Evolves route.
You say that, but it has happened more than once - if I remember correctly, in one of the cases I’m aware of, the local authority continued to fund the tendered service as they were skeptical that the commercial service was actually going to last given the extremely low passenger numbers carried - and they were proven right, as it didn’t last long at all. (In that case, they were entirely correct to be skeptical - it was never a commercially viable service, and it was a case of the incumbent operator being very miffed at losing the tender!)
also worth noting the MP Jacob has been on record not too happy with Uttoxeter's current bus provision albeit more related to Trent Barton's Swift it is still on the record including a argument from a rather unproffesional Reform councilor in the comments on Facebook.
It can be slightly more complicated, I have experienced more than one council respond to an intention to start an overlapping commercial service that their contract terms didn't allow them to withdraw the previous and parallel tendered service early - and that was with a company who had a good relationship with the authority in question, though I don't think we ran any contracts for them at the time we did later. I don't think this affects the 406 but it can also be affected by where the money comes from, if there is developer funding tied in that will be attached to a specific service provision which may not be able to be ended just because someone is providing a service of some form. In general you are correct but there always exceptions and caveats to any rule.
I belive the 403 is developer funded. it all depends as you say on the fine print, wonder if Select can do antyhting as their route is being duped or if it will be another case of overbussing.
I not herd about MP Jacob as I'm not from staffordshire (assuming he's a staffs MP) and understand he may not be happy woth the service, however my question is does the 406 need to be that frequent as the swift is hourly and is already part staffs funded and does a little bit of the 406 anyway and can easily be added on changing the timings slightly. Surely adding on 5 10 mins of a bus already in uttoxeter will not be anywhere as expensive as dedicating a bus to the route all day? And even if it had be half hourly I've not looked at other routes in out uttoxeter such as towards burton/cannock/stoke however surely if the swift goes around 1h then another 1h to get combines half1h would be better to residents who is currently changing again at uttoxeter bus station but cheaper for the council? Correct me if I'm wrong in saying that. And obviously depends on weather trent or anyone else wants that contract I guess but I assume it could work
The 406 is a 1 bus tender and to put another 10 minutes onto the Swift service would mean an additional bus would be needed. So in the end you would still need an extra bus, and you would have a service reduction.
Yep MP for Burton & Uttoxeter, very committed to his constituents as is his team. I did write a email asking about South Derbyshire's suspension and his team did some investigation on my behalf, turns out they found cover and now are Evolve growing their empire with their 2 new routes. Got chatting to the driver of the 1 the other morning apparently Staffordshire County Council are paying 80p per ENCT scan. Although he's also not convinced about the viability of their X1 shoppers service.
Also Evolve as they are now trading as, as well as their small stint as South Derbyshire.
I must say I'm not convinced about the viability of the X1 either. It's not cheap at £18 return and 0845 is a very early departure for a shopping trip.
Would thought people in burton would rather get train into Birmingham and go around bullring/grandcentral as there's more to do than medowhall plus it's closer
Literally what I'm doing tommorow. Although Evolve have one thing Cross Country struggle with, adequate drivers
I'd say demand is there for something different so I recon the X1 will be successful. Some very easy selling points for Evolve are the Bull Ring area involves a fair bit of outside walking, even though a lot of it is indoors where as all of Meadowhall is indoors. If you want the market for independent shops, you've got to go outside and it's a steep hill to get back up to the Bull Ring area where as Meadowhall has the Lanes on a level surface indoors. You've also got the Cinema aspect in Meadowhall too, where as Birmingham only has a small Odeon. As for eating, it took me a while to find somewhere in central Birmingham that wasn't rammed one Summer a couple of years ago, had to go down to the canal area so I'd guess that would be the same case in the run up to Christmas. Both Birmingham and Meadowhall are way too busy for comfort so shoppers have got to expect that anyway. A final selling point for Evolve is those blasted ramps that are scattered all over central Birmingham, very slippery to cross them when wet!
Yes it's the same as south Derbyshire i belive just rebranded.
Indeed Birmingham claimed victim to my wheelchair today.
