Plymouth: Bendy Citaros & Signatures

Today, petitioners opposed to the sale of Plymouth’s council-owned bus company Citybus get the opportunity to hand their 20,000-strong signatures to councillors. As the local paper put it in an editorial unavailable on the web, when most people seem apathetic about most things, this number is remarkable.

There’s a strong feeling within the city that Citybus should remain in local hands. But we still haven’t heard much from residents who support privatisation. Perhaps they’re on the back foot. It’s rumoured, for example, that there’s a rift in the party supporting the sale.

Public transport is important to Plymouth. 30 per cent of city households have no car (compared to 20 per cent in the wider south west). The question is, can a private company operate Citybus better than currently?

Ex-London Citaro artics to join Citybus' existing rigid Citaros? Read on...

Better to ask the question, can anyone win? If Citybus remains in public ownership, it may still need to make unpopular decisions as it faces recessionary challenges: by raising fares or reducing marginal mileage. If it joins the private sector, economies of scale may only offer a temporary respite and will no doubt see a loss of so-called social dividend routes. These will then fall to the council to provide, if it chooses. Among the argument and rhetoric, it still comes down to current bus services actually being quite fragile irrespective of whoever’s hands they’re in.

The business of grabbing signatures has suppressed speculation in Plymouth about who might eventually own Citybus. There’s believed to be a considerable queue forming. First Group was among those rated as most likely. A greater involvement in Plymouth might help stabilise this oft-troubled operator.

If you need evidence of difficult times within the bus industry, look at the far south west. Western Greyhound will at the end of September again benefit as First Devon & Cornwall relinquishes services. St Austell garage with its engineering facility and Callington outstation will close and jobs will reduce at Bude outstation. FDC has also lost some National Express diagrams including the Penzance-Nottingham, Penzance-Edinburgh, Westward Ho!-Grimsby and Ilfracombe-London.

"Following the successful launch of Ugobus 11 Plymouth-Honicknowle, some amendments to evening journeys will come into effect from Sunday 30 August". This translates as evening all services are withdrawn after 1835...

And there are First changes in Plymouth itself, resulting in at least PVR -2. Included is the withdrawal of competitive journeys after 1835 on its recent Ugobus 11 to Honicknowle, an area previously unserved by First.

Meanwhile, life goes on at Citybus, which is buying 19 second-hand ex-London General Volvo B7L double decks to replace its school fleet of aging D10Ms. Being accessible, these could even find their way onto frontline duties. Yet, school buses may be the first to go if Citybus is privatised. That’s not to say that in the future lower cost operators cannot provide such services just as well. Citybus also continues to consider options to replace its remaining Mercedes 709 minibuses, perhaps with second hand Optare Solos.

In an interesting move, expect imminently a redundant London General artic for trials. Presumably, a post WWII-reconstructed city offers plenty of roadspace for bendy operation though suggestions of unmanoeuvrability are, of course, exaggerated.

Nevertheless, could this be another controversy in a city seemingly beset by them?

When Plymouth City Transport imposed its initial Citybus network in 1983, there was some considerable opposition. The livery then adopted looks slightly uncomfortable on this 1969 Park Royal bodied Atlantean PDR2/1