Heads and Tails

Its heads you win, tails you win in Chester, later this month. Ahead of the Oxford partnership comes one between First and Arriva, on Chester’s killer route, the Blacon circulars.

After a false start, this is due to start on 30th August 2010. It ends a highly combative situation. Marketed as the Blacon Pointer, this does not refer to Pointer Darts on the service but is a play on words on Blacon Point Road, one of the thoroughfares at the heart of the suburb. The services involved are the Chester-Blacons (1/1A) and Chester-Saughalls via Blacon (15/15A). Blacon Point Road is at right angles to Morton Road, so named in after the MD of Arriva Buses Wales, the subsidiary running Arriva’s part of the partnership, in gratitude.

Successor Cheshire West & Chester council’s publicity for the Blacon Pointer. Note the larger silhouette of the dog looks similar to First’s Greyhound and that Blacon and Saughall are actually to the west of the city centre rather than to the east! The DB6 is an evening contract operated by GHA Coaches of Wrexham, Wales, with leather seated Solos usually operating rural daytime “Dee Bee” branded services

Currently, Arriva operates every 10 minutes on each of the 1 and1A and every 10 on the 15/15A. First operates at 10-minute intervals on each of its 1 and 1A but has withdrawn from the 15/15A. This current situation equates to 30 departures an hour, from Chester towards Blacon. Of these, 18 are Arriva and 12 First.

The new pattern sees a combined service at every 10 minutes on each of the 1 and 1As. The 15/15As reduces to four per hour. The total towards Blacon is therefore a more realistic 16 per hour. Because of return ticket interavailability and mutual season ticket recognition, Blacon passengers will notice no discernible difference, unless they benefit from free travel and currently catch the first bus that comes along. Everyone wins.

It may take drivers a little while to get used to the change of culture. Whereas, for three years, there’s been antipathy between them, they’ll soon be colleagues working for each other’s benefit.

The new pattern’s PVR is now 10, reduced from some 17. Again, everyone wins and both save face in a battle that in all honesty currently provides far more journeys than the Blacon market can bear. This is evident in loadings.

Flashback to June 2007

Here’s a summary of the Blacon high drama:

• In 2006, Chester council put its troubled arms length Chesterbus on the market.


• Arriva North Wales & Wales (as was) offered stability in running all services commercially, leaving the council with valuable depot land adjacent to the rail station.


• The council rejected Arriva’s offer.


• Arriva nevertheless over-registered the network but soon pulled back to key routes only.


• The council took Arriva to court. Arriva necessarily delayed implementation.


• In June 2007, the council lost though it wasn’t entirely painless for Arriva.


• The council immediately sold to First, officially from 2 July 2007.


• 11 days after the court case, in late June 2007, Arriva wasted no time in starting its services under the Chester Citybus sub-brand, to Blacon (1/1A) and Saughall via Blacon (15/15A). It used brand new SLF Cadets against First’s step Darts & Olympians.


• First gradually replaced its older stock with cascaded SLF single decks.


• Though in September 2007 Arriva flirted with a service to Piper’s Ash, First made a number of changes, upping and reducing frequency, before alighting on every 10 minutes on each of their 1s and 1As, and eventually withdrawing from Saughall.


• Arriva’s Blacon and Saughall journeys have offered remarkable stability.
  

Photo and additional information from Omnibuses Northern Correspondent