Arriva v Chesterbus

Arriva has lost no time after its legal victory 'gainst Chester city council in seeking the go-ahead from the North Western traffic commissioner to start its Chester competitive services.

They start on Monday, following approval by the traffic commissioner and a press launch two days ago. The registrations were held in abeyance owing to the court case.

Arriva originally planned an entirely duplicative network to commence at the end of January but instead opted for services to Blacon and Saughall only, as the best of Chester Bus' somewhat mediocre suite of services. The 10 PVR workings will see buses every 10 mins between Chester, Blacon & Saughall; and every 10 mins each on the Blacon circulars. The services are numbered the same as Chesterbus.

So, is this an old-fashioned bus war, or is Arriva offering anything new?

• At least for the north west of Chester, residents will for the first time enjoy a frequent service consistently operated by (in this case new) super-low floor buses. This remains a significant investment. A criticism of Chesterbus’ services is the unpredictability of the vehicles it uses, including life-expired double decks, step Darts and, yes, some SLFs.
  
  
• Passengers wishing to take advantage of Arriva’s regional services will be able to enjoy cheaper daily and weekly travel, without having to book once on Chesterbus and again with Arriva.
  
  
• And remember that Arriva will be offering half as many services again as currently does Chesterbus.
  
  
• Then there’s the possibility that Arriva will grow the market. Numbers travelling on Chesterbus to and from Blacon are said to be lower than you might expect, in spite of it being promising bus territory. Arriva’s investment in frequency and vehicles is designed to stimulate this demand.

But, understandably, soon-to-be sold to First Chesterbus is unconvinced. It argues that Arriva is creaming, by not operating during the evening or on Sundays. Chesterbus has already matched Arriva’s £1 single by reducing its fares next week by 30p. And Chesterbus offers a city network-wide day ticket of £3.

Meanwhile, some are predicting operating chaos in Chester bus exchange, in spite of what appears to be an agreement to mitigate the affects of an additional 18 departures per hour.

Arriva is further understood to have branded its Chester 1s/1As and 15As “Chester Citybus”, with the use of appropriate Chester imagery.

It is reported that First is understood to have registered new service 30 every ten minutes between New Brighton on the Wirral and Liverpool, competing head on not in the Chester arena but by using its Birkenhead depot resources on Arriva’s profitable 430/2/3 corridor to Liverpool, also every 10 minutes.

i Additional information by Omnibuses' Northern Correspondent