Network Warrington to put prices up AGAIN!!!

[Y961 XBU]

Network Warrington are putting their Prices up from Sunday, among the new prices Adult Day Savers will be £5.50 and a weekly ticket £24, A hell of a lot of anger is being posted on the companys Facebook Page, i cant blame them either.

http://www.networkwarrington.co.uk/news/fare-changes---sunday-17th-august

On Sunday 17th August 2014 we'll be changing most of our fares. The changes are as follows…

Touch & Go! Tickets

There will no longer be separate ‘Town’ and ‘Network’ tickets. There will be only one Touch & Go! ticket which permits travel across the whole of our network of bus services. The table below shows the new prices.

           [FONT=Courier New]Adult    Student*
Weekly     £24.00     £16.00
Monthly    £84.00     £56.00
Annual    £720.00    £432.00[/FONT]

*Available to those aged 11 to 19.

 

[fowler9]

Network Warrington are putting their Prices up from Sunday, among the new prices Adult Day Savers will be £5.50 and a weekly ticket £24, A hell of a lot of anger is being posted on the companys Facebook Page, i cant blame them either.

http://www.networkwarrington.co.uk/news/fare-changes---sunday-17th-august

If this is the buses as well I would certainly want them to put buses on of a Sunday evening for that money.

 

[Y961 XBU]

Flowler you will be lucky there, they in the process of cutting service frequency's and have stopped most the Sunday Service in the town, can see a lot of people moving to other Bus Companys and Trains as they are offering better value than Network Warrington

 

[fowler9]

Flowler you will be lucky there, they in the process of cutting service frequency's and have stopped most the Sunday Service in the town, can see a lot of people moving to other Bus Companys and Trains as they are offering better value than Network Warrington

Ah that is a shame. Love Warrington and have a right soft spot for it.

 

[Hardcastle]

£24 for a weekly ticket is a hell of a lot of money for the area covered. Here in Preston its £10.50 or £38 for 4 weeks a place of almost the same size.

 

[northwichcat]

among the new prices Adult Day Savers will be £5.50 and a weekly ticket £24

Unless they have a Warrington-Northwich Day Return which is lower than the Day Saver price then it looks like they've thrown in the towel on the 45 route which GHA Coaches will launch a rival service on next Monday. GHA have a Cheshire Day Rider for £5 and a £19 weekly ticket. GHA already have higher day and weekly ticket prices than D&G Bus who they compete with on many Cheshire East routes (D&G charge £4.50 for a day ticket and £14 for a weekly ticket.)

 

[robertclark125]

As an outsider, I have to say, adult fares rising between 50 and 80p, is a fairly steep hike. The recent fare alterations in Stagecoach East Scotland saw adult fares go up by 5 or 10p. The thing is though, in the last three years, how many times has Network Warrington increased fares?

 

[northwichcat]

As an outsider, I have to say, adult fares rising between 50 and 80p, is a fairly steep hike. The recent fare alterations in Stagecoach East Scotland saw adult fares go up by 5 or 10p. The thing is though, in the last three years, how many times has Network Warrington increased fares?

I've heard of a worse example. High Peak had a 5 year council contract to operate a Macclesfield-Knutsford bus and the contract stated the return fare between Macclesfield and Knutsford cannot exceed £3.50 return when it was agreed. However, when the end of the contract was approaching the council were trying to get operators to continue running existing services on a commercial basis. High Peak agreed to do that and increased the return fare to £4.80 overnight, they also reduced the frequency of buses and implemented a timetable that was impossible to keep to without late running. They then cancelled the service 6 months later saying patronage had dropped. :roll:

 

[neilmc]

The Stagecoach Manchester weekly Megarider is only £13 and that covers a huge area, £24 for somewhere the size of Warrington is ridiculous. I realise it also includes routes out to Altrincham and Leigh and suchlike but surely most regular travellers do so within the town. Woudn't suprise me if the predators return, this is a poor advert for municipal bus companies.

 

[northwichcat]

The Stagecoach Manchester weekly Megarider is only £13

In Greater Manchester any operator specific day tickets which cost £5.20 or more would be pointless after 09:30 due to the System One Daysaver ticket available for all buses in Greater Manchester, so Stagecoach offer a £4 day ticket and a £13 weekly ticket.

Warrington isn't covered by such a scheme and there's limited competition so the operator can charge what they want.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

. Woudn't suprise me if the predators return, this is a poor advert for municipal bus companies.

Prelude to a sell-off ?

..........and then there were 10

 

[Polarbear]

It does sound like WBT may be heading towards a possible sell off? Ever more frequent price hikes coupled with rationalisation of routes/frequencies suggest that the pips may be squeaking in the organisation.

Arriva tried & failed some years back as customer loyalty won the day. Given the current circumstances, I doubt WBT would survive another onslaught from one of the larger operators in the area (Stagecoach and/or Arriva).

 

[Y961 XBU]

It does sound like WBT may be heading towards a possible sell off? Ever more frequent price hikes coupled with rationalisation of routes/frequencies suggest that the pips may be squeaking in the organisation.

Arriva tried & failed some years back as customer loyalty won the day. Given the current circumstances, I doubt WBT would survive another onslaught from one of the larger operators in the area (Stagecoach and/or Arriva).

Arriva and Network Warrington came to a deal Arriva withdrew their services and bought a 49 Percent Share of Network Warrington, I Cant see Arriva now going back into Warrington any more than they are as it would be like competing with themselves, theres only Fairbrothers who could attack Network Warrington as they are the only independants in the area these days, I do feel sorry for the people of Warrington who have no other Bus Company/Train Station to move onto tho

 

[fowler9]

Arriva and Network Warrington came to a deal Arriva withdrew their services and bought a 49 Percent Share of Network Warrington, I Cant see Arriva now going back into Warrington any more than they are as it would be like competing with themselves, theres only Fairbrothers who could attack Network Warrington as they are the only independants in the area these days, I do feel sorry for the people of Warrington who have no other Bus Company/Train Station to move onto tho

Yeah it is a bit of a rubbish service of a Sunday evening for starters. The rest of the time it is pretty good for a town of its size though.

 

[Sandy Drew]

Arriva and Network Warrington came to a deal Arriva withdrew their services and bought a 49 Percent Share of Network Warrington, I Cant see Arriva now going back into Warrington any more than they are as it would be like competing with themselves, theres only Fairbrothers who could attack Network Warrington as they are the only independants in the area these days, I do feel sorry for the people of Warrington who have no other Bus Company/Train Station to move onto tho

Network Warrington is 100% (less 1 share) owned by Warrington Council at the last published financial accounts.

 

[mbonwick]

Looks like money may be becoming a problem at WBT again....remember they were bailed out by the council to the tune of several hundred thousand pounds in April last year.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

Network aren't the only ones to hike up prices by a considerable amount. When McGill's took over Arriva Scotland West back in 2012, they assured the CC that they wouldn't put any prices up for at least a year.

But within a few months, a £2.50 all day ticket was increased to £3.30, and then within a few months with was increased again to £3.60.

A weekly ticket with Arriva used to cost £14.00 but yet again McGill's upped this to £16.50 within a few months of them buying out Arriva.

4 Weekly tickets with McGill's are even more expensive than a First Glasgow 4 Weekly.

It's not as bad as Warrington, but we have experienced similar hikes like that up here as well...

 

[Deerfold]

Network aren't the only ones to hike up prices by a considerable amount. When McGill's took over Arriva Scotland West back in 2012, they assured the CC that they wouldn't put any prices up for at least a year.

But within a few months, a £2.50 all day ticket was increased to £3.30, and then within a few months with was increased again to £3.60.

A weekly ticket with Arriva used to cost £14.00 but yet again McGill's upped this to £16.50 within a few months of them buying out Arriva.

4 Weekly tickets with McGill's are even more expensive than a First Glasgow 4 Weekly.

It's not as bad as Warrington, but we have experienced similar hikes like that up here as well...

Did anyone complain to the CC about that?

 

[GaryMcEwan]

Did anyone complain to the CC about that?

Nah I don't think anyone did, remember this is the bus company ran by a convicted fraudster and supposed 'gangsters'...

 

[Deerfold]

Nah I don't think anyone did, remember this is the bus company ran by a convicted fraudster and supposed 'gangsters'...

I wasn't aware of this. I'm still surprised that no-one would mention to the CC that promises had not been kept, even if made anonymously.

 

[northwichcat]

I wasn't aware of this. I'm still surprised that no-one would mention to the CC that promises had not been kept, even if made anonymously.

As long as they didn't breach any fare restrictions that the council wrote in to contracts for tendered services I don't think the council could have taken any action as it would just have been a gentlemen's agreement.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

As long as they didn't breach any fare restrictions that the council wrote in to contracts for tendered services I don't think the council could have taken any action as it would just have been a gentlemen's agreement.

We don't have council tendered services here in Glasgow. All tendered services are done by SPT (Strathclyde Partnership for Transport) who are in effect pretty useless.

 

[Deerfold]

We don't have council tendered services here in Glasgow. All tendered services are done by SPT (Strathclyde Partnership for Transport) who are in effect pretty useless.

That'd be SPT, acting on behalf of the local councils?

http://www.spt.co.uk/corporate/about/history-background

As long as they didn't breach any fare restrictions that the council wrote in to contracts for tendered services I don't think the council could have taken any action as it would just have been a gentlemen's agreement.

I doubt the CC would count any promises made to it as "gentlemen's agreements" if they had any influence on its decision to allow the takeover.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

That'd be SPT, acting on behalf of the local councils?

http://www.spt.co.uk/corporate/about/history-background



I doubt the CC would count any promises made to it as "gentlemen's agreements" if they had any influence on its decision to allow the takeover.

Yeah that's basically it, but it's SPT who ultimately decides on which operator gets the tendered route. Don't think the councils have much say really.

 

[northwichcat]

I doubt the CC would count any promises made to it as "gentlemen's agreements" if they had any influence on its decision to allow the takeover.

Why would a council have any influence in whether a takeover went ahead unless they owned part of the company or had contracts with the company?

 

[Deerfold]

Why would a council have any influence in whether a takeover went ahead unless they owned part of the company or had contracts with the company?

I'd assumed the CC we've been talking about was the Competition Commission, not a council.

 

[northwichcat]

I'd assumed the CC we've been talking about was the Competition Commission, not a council.

Oh right. CC frequently gets used after a council name to mean County Council so I thought that was what it meant.

 

[Deerfold]

Oh right. CC frequently gets used after a council name to mean County Council so I thought that was what it meant.

There haven't been any county councils in Scotland since 1975.

 

[robertclark125]

It was actualy 1974 when the county councils were abolished in Scotland. However, what hasn't been mentioned is whether or not there was a specified time during which Mcgills would not increase fares on the ex ASW routes.

Also, it's worth noting that Network Warrington does not have shareholders to satisfy, or have to meet margins of double figures that stock markets like. This is acouncil owned firm, operated at arms length. It therefore could be worrying developments, as Mbonwick has indicated.

Would Arriva re-enter Warrington to do a bus war? I think that's only if the public tells Arriva to do so, or if the management at Arriva feel there would be demand.

 

[Deerfold]

It was actualy 1974 when the county councils were abolished in Scotland. However, what hasn't been mentioned is whether or not there was a specified time during which Mcgills would not increase fares on the ex ASW routes.

Although elections for the new regional bodies were held in 1974, they didn't take over the powers from the county councils until 1975.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regions_and_districts_of_Scotland

English reform of County Councils was in 1974.