Where Next for Chester?

Figures and details have emerged in the Chester newspaper and ‘on the street’ (so to speak) regarding First’s purchase of Chesterbus.

It's understood that the city council was looking for £1.8mil from First for Chesterbus. We're as yet unsure what they received. Assuming £1.8mil though, deduct £500K for pensions liabilities and an estimated £2mil Arriva court case costs, and the sale process appears to have cost the city council £700K. In round figures.

This might seem shocking. Whether the city council should’ve sought a 50:50 private:public partnership; taken the offered Arriva deal in the autumn that provoked the court case; or hung on for a buyer remains to be seen.

It’s fair to say in the council’s defence, though, that the £700K loss is probably nothing compared to the winding-up and redundancy costs had Arriva’s competitive actions forced the business to close. That's estimated at £2.5mil. The First deal therefore ‘avoided’ further costs of £1.8mil.

Against the 700K loss, there’s the sale for redevelopment of Chesterbus’ City Road premises, retained by the city council. It’s likely to realise between £2mil and £3mil. If you take the £700K loss from the more prudent sale figure, the sale process will net a minimum of £1.3mil income. It could be £2.3mil, though.

What are the prospects after First officially took over at 2100 hrs on 2 July?

First’s logo began appearing on Chesterbus’ vehicle windows from Wednesday, together with the ubiquitous First drivers’ hi-vis jackets. It’s reported that a First-liveried vehicle appeared on a Chesterbus route as early as Friday.

In a press advert the week before last, First was trumpeting the possibility of new, exciting initiatives. We’ll need to wait and see. Expect a clear out of stock at Chesterbus, in the next two weeks. In its place, First is likely to bring in second hand low floors. Of the native Chesterbus fleet, First is thought only to be interested in the Scania and Dart SLFs. It's believed that it isn’t looking to take on the relatively new BMC Falcon SLF park & ride vehicles. Could the remainder of the fleet be destined for a one-way trip to scrap? In fact, it’s believed that First will give up all or part of Chester’s large park & ride operation. First apparently isn’t keen on the city sightseeing open top operation, either.

Expect, also, routes like the indirect semi-orbital 3/3A Chester-Hospital-Blacon to see change.

i Additional information from and image by Omnibuses’ Northern Correspondent.