Nottingham 'Bus War'

[richardderby]

YOURBUS info... should bring the fares back down again

NEWS
28th December 2012:
A new Citylink service will be launched on 18th February. The service will operate between Derby and Nottingham every 10 minutes Mon to Sat and every 30 minutes on Sundays. The service will be limited stop only calling at Derby bus station, Nottingham QMC, Upper Parliament St and Victoria bus station.

7 Citaros are due soon 3017-23. They will be branded for the new Citylink service, along with 3015/6.

 

[MCR247]

Do tell!

I've been hearing a lot of conversations recently with people commenting on their lack of originality and the fact that they literally clone the route and put a Y in front. I have never liked that idea, and I don't think many people do like it tbh.

 

[ARedFlyer]

YOURBUS info... should bring the fares back down again

NEWS
28th December 2012:
A new Citylink service will be launched on 18th February. The service will operate between Derby and Nottingham every 10 minutes Mon to Sat and every 30 minutes on Sundays. The service will be limited stop only calling at Derby bus station, Nottingham QMC, Upper Parliament St and Victoria bus station.

7 Citaros are due soon 3017-23. They will be branded for the new Citylink service, along with 3015/6.

Wow every 10 mins from the go TB are going to take a big hit there.

All these talk of people not liking YB is just coming from TB/NCT fanboys. They have strong passenger numbers and nice buses.

 

[MCR247]

Well I'm not saying there is a Nottingham-wide boycott of their buses, all I'm saying is that some regular passengers don't like their rather obvious tactics

 

[tbone]

Wow every 10 mins from the go TB are going to take a big hit there.

.

I don't think people will jump ship as easily as that. Alex Hornby said on twitter that it's taken years to build up Red Arrow to what it is, citylink could be too much too soon.

 

[bb21]

All these talk of people not liking YB is just coming from TB/NCT fanboys. They have strong passenger numbers and nice buses.

I think you need to stop using words such as fanboys simply because people disagree with you. This is not very nice and frankly quite provocative. If you have something to say, stick to the matter and leave out the emotions.

The price of a return during the morning peak on the Red Arrow is very steep so I for one welcome the challenge on their monopoly on this route, but a 10-minute headway? I think they are biting off much more than they can chew.

 

[richardderby]

the fares will HAVE to come down a bit, on the red arrow, eight pounds return is TOO much, when they do not offer any season tickets. The service is marketed for commuters, but the fares system is restrictive. Granted, you get a day pass, but the previous fare around £6 return was high enough.

Even on the train, its only £7 day return, with a season ticket, £33 a week or less if you buy for a longer period. Good look to Yourbus with the competiton (formerly Dunn line), lets hope they offer weekly passes...

 

[tbone]

Yourbus isn't Dunn Line, it's a seperate company set up by a relative of Bob Dunn

 

[Deerfold]

Yourbus isn't Dunn Line, it's a seperate company set up by a relative of Bob Dunn

Though Yourbus did take over Dunn Line's National express work after the bus operation was sold to our friends at Premier.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

the fares will HAVE to come down a bit, on the red arrow, eight pounds return is TOO much, when they do not offer any season tickets. The service is marketed for commuters, but the fares system is restrictive. Granted, you get a day pass, but the previous fare around £6 return was high enough.

Even on the train, its only £7 day return, with a season ticket, £33 a week or less if you buy for a longer period. Good look to Yourbus with the competiton (formerly Dunn line), lets hope they offer weekly passes...

Although presumably Red Arrow is attracting customers at that price as it's been running every 10 minutes for some time now. The train may be faster at 23-33 minutes 4 times an hour but unless you want to be near the station, Red arrow's 40 minute journey time (not withstanding roadworks) to the city centre isn't bad.

I remember the time taken getting by bus between Nottingham and Derby before the Red Arrow with the only express bus being the 2-hourly Transpeak - trying to time my connecting bus to not miss TP without spending ages waiting.

 

[tbone]

Although it doesn't happen much, Red Arrow journey time *should* be 30 minutes

 

[CallySleeper]

A Red Flyer is naturally quoting the highest prices. Nottingham - Derby (and indeed Chesterfield) two-trip is £8. A day return (zigzag) is £5 and a single fare is £3.60 with a mango. Not as steep then as is maybe being portrayed, especially for a luxury, fast, frequent end-to-end service, especially when you take into account car fuel costs, parking costs, finding a parking space,

Meanwhile, I am surprised that he is not raving about this

 

[WillPS]

A Red Flyer is naturally quoting the highest prices. Nottingham - Derby (and indeed Chesterfield) two-trip is £8. A day return (zigzag) is £5 and a single fare is £3.60 with a mango. Not as steep then as is maybe being portrayed, especially for a luxury, fast, frequent end-to-end service, especially when you take into account car fuel costs, parking costs, finding a parking space,

Meanwhile, I am surprised that he is not raving about this

£5 - zigzag
available after 9am for unlimited travel across trent barton land. MANGO card holders will never pay more than the zigzag price when travelling after 9am

So, no use to commuters, who'd need a zigzag Plus (£8), a 2 trip (£8), or 2 singles on a Mango (£7.20).

It's pretty expensive really; I expect this is where Yourbus will hit them.

 

[bb21]

A Red Flyer is naturally quoting the highest prices. Nottingham - Derby (and indeed Chesterfield) two-trip is £8. A day return (zigzag) is £5 and a single fare is £3.60 with a mango. Not as steep then as is maybe being portrayed, especially for a luxury, fast, frequent end-to-end service, especially when you take into account car fuel costs, parking costs, finding a parking space,

Yes and no.

The day return is just a zigzag and is not valid before 0900 so useless for commuters, although there is a special return fare of £7 available including transfer to/from local suburbs.

That is still £35 a week.

 

[CallySleeper]

Forgot to mention, RA also has a weekly ticket, can't remember how much exactly it is just now but I believe roughly £25-30.

 

[tbone]

I believe the weekly ticket is £25

 

[Deerfold]

The weekly ticket details seem to be oddly hard to find given how esy most fares are to find on Trentbarton's website (certainly compared to most bus companies).

I was suprised that TB don't seem to do tickets like cashsaver round the Derby area - I know they inherited those tickets from Barton and took long enough to extend them to Trent routes but they seemed a good idea back when I used to use them (even when Trent routes weren't included).

 

[MCR247]

Does anyone know which route will be receiving the 10 enviro 300s?

 

[richardderby]

just found the weekly ticket on their face book page (they certainly keep it very quiet!!) its £30 from 2nd Jan 2013...

Normal timetables resume on 2 Jan on red arrow. If you're a regular traveller, why not get a 7 day ticket for £30 from your red arrow driver? It's valid anytime, day or night on red arrow all week long.

 

[BuhSnarf]

What is a week ticket for the train, given they take roughly similar times and are of similar comfort?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Deerfold]

What is a week ticket for the train, given they take roughly similar times and are of similar comfort?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

That would be £33.20 - but of course there's fewer trains overnight at weekends.

 

[BuhSnarf]

That would be £33.20 - but of course there's fewer trains overnight at weekends.

And is that a five or seven day one?

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[bb21]

And is that a five or seven day one?

A 7-day season ticket.

 

[WillPS]

Red Arrow gets significantly further in to Derby than the train too, and if you live on the North side of Nottingham it gets you closer to your home or bus stop (which is, I suspect, why it serves Victoria rather than Broadmarsh).

 

[richardderby]

just goes to show, Beeching should never of been allowed to close Nottingham Victoria Station...

 

[WillPS]

But then the same problem would exist with the South of the city, unless you mean the two should have been connected somehow?

 

[Jordeh]

But then the same problem would exist with the South of the city, unless you mean the two should have been connected somehow?

The South of the city only seems to have grown since the importance of Nottingham Midland though (The Courts, Nightlife, Broadmarsh, Business Parks etc), which was of course preceded with the closure of Nottingham Victoria.

 

[ARedFlyer]

They hide their weekly/Cash saver tickets because they want to push Mango, the card for mugs. They give discounted prices on their extortionate base prices giving the impression Mango is oh so great. You can buy a £20 weekly ticket from any driver that will let you travel via all zones (A, B, C) unlimited travel. I bet most people didn't know that. Mango not so attractive now eh?

Most people have caught Trent Barton because there has been no other option, now other operators have noticed and are cherry picking their network. They've had their day I'm afraid. All TB are going to be left with is a bill for lots of expensive buses.

 

[Deerfold]

They hide their weekly/Cash saver tickets because they want to push Mango, the card for mugs. They give discounted prices on their extortionate base prices given the impression Mango is oh so great. You can buy a £20 weekly ticket from any driver that will let you travel via all zones (A, B, C) unlimited travel. I bet most people didn't know that. Mango not so attractive now eh?

Most people have caught Trent Barton because there has been no other option, now other operators have noticed and are cherry picking their network. They've had their day I'm afraid. All TB are going to be left with is a bill for lots of expensive buses.

You really do have a bee in your bonnet about Trentbarton don't you?

I wouldn't describe the saver tickets as "hidden" - they're two clicks from their home page (the first click being on "fares and ticket deals"). As I said, it's a shame they don't have them for more of their network though.
The Red Arrow ticket is harder to find.

There are other options (not for everyone, I realise). There's cars, for Derby - Nottingham there's plenty of trains.

I have friends who catch trentbarton despite having cars. No-one's forcing them to use the bus, but the product is a high enough quality to persuade them.

 

[CallySleeper]

They hide their weekly/Cash saver tickets

This seems pretty easy to find.

Also, you forget that not all routes have weekly tickets (which may be why it is not as widely advertised except on buses) nor accept cash savers (anywhere in Derby).

They want to push Mango

Proven to attract new customers off the road, unlike PTs dirt brown buses

the card for mugs. They give discounted prices on their extortionate base prices giving the impression Mango is oh so great.

25% off the single cash fare, no need for change and I arrive sooner and in a better shape than if I'd travelled with an alternative bus company? Think I know who to pick when I travel to Bingham next!

You can buy a £20 weekly ticket from any driver that will let you travel via all zones (A, B, C) unlimited travel. I bet most people didn't know that. Mango not so attractive now eh?

Understand you're talking about a small area. Mango makes a lot more sense if I'm travelling outside the area, or only using one bus, or not a regular customer (and you forget all who fall into these brackets).

now other operators have noticed and are cherry picking their network.

I'd refrain from using this derogatory term until the unlikely event of TB actually loosing mass revenue. You would not hear this term in the professional bus industry (maybe PT then)

They've had their day I'm afraid.

Are they struggling?

All TB are going to be left with is a bill for lots of expensive buses.

Investment which helping keeping the bus industry and, ultimately the economy and business. Pity PT hasn't the money to invest it appears in even a bus-wash let alone new buses! Many many customers choose TB and will continue to do so as they present the most attractive travel option.

 

[tbone]

Interesting to note that Patrick Mcloughlin, the transport secretary, picked Trent Barton as an example of good marketing by a bus company in the House of Commons on Thursday