Stagecoach is a past master at innovating and turning muck to brass and then to gold. Today’s launch of Stagecoach’s fifth Gold route features 13 brand new Scania/Enviro 400s for the impressively long Cross County X4 service, between Northampton & Peterborough (where you can head for the coast at Lowestoft on the X1). It will be no surprise to learn that the buses and the route are given the Gold treatment—free wi-fi, leather seats, and all the usual accouterments.
What passengers may find surprising is the Stagecoach claims that there will be “specifically-trained uniformed drivers”.
Now, I think Gold is an excellent concept. It takes routes that have shown considerable ridership increases in the recent past (muck to brass) and gives them even more of a profile, even more of a lift, to squeeze out even more growth that might not otherwise materialise with an “ordinary” change in vehicles (brass to gold).
But like First’s attempt at Gold, I struggle with “specially-trained uniformed drivers”. Is that something passenger might envisage on every route? They don’t always get them, of course, but the expectation’s there.
This implies a specific driver roster. Here’s something else with which I sometimes have difficulty. Drivers who are singled out for their customer care and or driving ability gravitate to a special roster rather than finding their way throughout the entire spread of duties. That’s great for the specific route but what does it do for the rest of the network?
i Pictures at Andy’s Bus Blog
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Midas Touch
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
31 comments:
The skills of spin!There would appear to be no change of timetable at all, just new vehicles.
The most desireable model in seeking a cultural shift iin customer service for the entire business is to split drivers into teams and gain experts for each route and each set of customers. You can train each set, route by route, on an ongoing basis until the desired level of quality is reached across the whole company. Create an elite set initially, but then get everyone to work up to that standard. The process will take years not months.
Oi FatBusBloke, the timetable for the X94 Cheltenham-Gloucester hardly changed when it went Gold but just look at the passengers now.
So what if the timetable hasn't changed? At half-hourly over its core destinations it's already very good for an inter-urban of this sort.
Gold is trying to attract people who might otherwise not travel and buses to Gold standard will do that.
I think they would have been better following the X5 model with coaches rather than buses. Too expensive, perhaps?
High standards do spread. In Harrogate as motorists started to use 'the 36', and started to realise that buses were a good way to travel, there was a knock on benefit to the network. Extra passengers means more investment.
Just because on route has elite drivers, this does not mean the rest are crap. Most companies are upgrading drivers skills both to cut fuel costs and to win over new passengers
I agree that coaches would have been a better idea and would encourage people to make longer journeys on the route.
The Scania E400's are impressive buses, but with all the leather in china, they are still duel purpose buses.
One would imagine that if this route was in Scotland, Stagecoach would have coaches provided for it.
The shame of it is, is that United Counties once had a large network of express coach routes, branded 'Coachlinks'. 90% of these routes that remain uses buses rather than coaches. Progress?
Anonymous said...
"The most desireable model in seeking a cultural shift iin customer service for the entire business is to split drivers into teams and gain experts for each route and each set of customers."
Interesting point. When I first worked in the industry (mid-1970s) almost all large depots had abandoned separate rotas for individual routes in favour of a single universal rota where everybody worked on every route (allowing for separation of crew and OPO at that time). It was supposedly more efficient, and, perhaps, more egalitarian. Now we seem to have recognised that the old methods were not such a bad idea after all!
Question for any drivers on here - is driving just one route better than driving a selection; does it not get boring?
The E400's are not coaches but they have higher seating capacity and also faster boarding times and unlike the X5 this route stops at most stops and so boarding time is key. Also to attract people just riding for the views a double decker makes sense. Also a gold double decker has much more visual impact than any branded coach which people first assume to be a tourist coach. The X94 has proven how successful Gold can be when done right and it certainly require a change in frequency just a change in perception.
even "it certainly does not require a change in frequency just a change in perception."
Some thoughts...
fatbusbloke: Spin indeed, but if spin puts more people on the bus, who's complaining?
Neil & Anon@0947: I don't agree that coaches would have been a better choice. I spent a big chunk of my childhood living on a Coachlinks route and exploring the network for fun, and the routes were really just normal bus routes joined end-to-end to create through journey possibilities. The coaches were nice but most journeys were local, and the biggest step forward was the introduction of DP-seated Olympians! Back to the future...
RC169 & Anon@1036: Some drivers prefer doing the same thing all the time (familiarity with regular customers etc), others need variety to keep them interested. The key to success in my view is to accommodate both, because success depends on having well motivated staff who enjoy their work and believe in what they are doing. At Velvet we have some drivers who do the same thing all the time, some who are on a rota covering everything and some who do a bit of a halfway house. It's geared to their desires and it works really well.
Big rotas appeal to unions (and grumpy drivers) because they are 'fair' (which usually means everyone gets equal amounts of rubbish) and to managers because they are easy to administer, neither of which has anything to do with providing better customer service which is what this should all be about.
It's all very good to have 'new buses' but if the attitude of the road staff isn't going to change then the investment is just a waste of time. I've seen an investment of £ms totally rendered pointless by the attitude of staff employed by this same group who simply don't care about the customers.
All the 'branding' in the world won't make a scrap of difference if you don't address the 'service' - one could say it is just a smokescreen to divert attention away from the failings.
Attempts to encourage new users might even be counterproductive when they meet disaffected staff who simply don't care or there is an issue with reliability on a service.
Nice these new E400s might look, but how will they look two years down the line? As with all buses built to a price, two years ahead will see the shine taken off these nice new buses - ADL build quality IME is quite poor when they build to price.
That said, hoping the investment does pay off and deliver the growth they want. No doubt the buses can be cascaded elsewhere in a few years time with a simple rebranding. 'Stagecoach old' perhaps?!
Stagecoach standards of presentation around here seem pretty good to me.
Anonymous @ 15:47 asked:
"Nice these new E400s might look, but how will they look two years down the line?"
Not a hard question to ask, given that there are two year old Stagecoach Gold E400s in operation. Here's an example from Oxford taken in August when 1 month short of its second birthday - looks fine to me
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34085730@N06/6032699704/
A couple more thoughts:-
Rotas - two further disadvantages of 'big' rotas (as Phil Stockley puts it) are the potential for delays to spread across a network, when the real cause of the delay only affects one route. A driver is held up by road works and may be late to take up duty on a different service. The travelling public may find that difficult to understand. The other issue is that drivers may only have to drive on an infrequent services very rarely, such that they may forget the route. I once met a conscientious driver who had a duty on the Southampton-Bournemouth X2 later in the day while I was on my way to Bournemouth on a Saturday morning. He spent his free morning riding the return trip to be sure he knew where to drive in the afternoon!
Regarding coaches, I am inclined to agree that they are not ideal where there is a frequent turnover of passengers. In addition to the high floors, the narrow gangways are also a hindrance to fast loading and unloading. As an enthusiast, I have sometimes used such long distance services for end-to-end journeys, and the grant coaches of the 1970s were pleasant, but I am aware that my use of such services was not typical, and the majority of passengers were making much shorter journeys.
Can't believe that nobody has picked up that the route is far longer than stated !. It's Peterborough to Milton Keynes, with extras from Corby to Northampton added in to make it every 30 mins over that section.
I've been on it today - most impressed. It received numerous complimentary comments from most people and turned heads virtually everywhere (the advance publicity has been very good).
A large number of youngsters on board were amazed that the advertised Wifi was actually working perfectly. They, in particular, will sell it to their peer group - a worthwhile source of hard cash if today was anything to go by.
Coaches would have been no use today as it was full, with standing loads, on many trips.
Once again the Brian Souter steamroller seems to have read the market perfectly.
Before the Tridents came onto the X4 route, it used to be served by coaches, so erm, going back to coaches would be a rather backwards step.
@ Anon 10:36
I would always prefer to keep drivers on their preferred route. Amongst the more obvious advantage to passengers, building rapport etc, the driver would also get used to the minutiae and idiosyncrasies, such as pot holes to avoid, changes in road camber, accident/incident hotspots, traffic light phasing patterns, etc.
Has anyone ever travelled on the X4? Admittedly few travel Peterborough to Milton Keynes as it is quicker to travel by train via London! However, the 'X' credential given always makes me roll my eyes.
Stagecoach United Counties that was have a nasty habit of putting 'X' on a route number not to mean express or limited stop, but to just mean 'long'. With the exception of the first stop (Peterborough - Warmington Services), the X4 has absolutely nothing in common with any sort of limited stop or express service, which, ironically, makes it more suitable for the Gold treatment.
A special Gold tie is issued I believe and white shirts rather than the Stagecoach blue. Drivers on the X4 have to conform to EC Drivers' Hours so they only work this service.
'Not a hard question to ask, given that there are two year old Stagecoach Gold E400s in operation. Here's an example from Oxford taken in August when 1 month short of its second birthday - looks fine to me
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34085730@N06/6032699704/'
Fair enough, but what do the interiors look like inside. I've travelled on a batch of Stagecoach E400s from new to two years old and they are growing old quite disgracefully - things that fall off, let in water will mean they look just as rough inside as the R-types they replaced when they get a few years older. SC are good at painting buses every few years but some companies neglect the interiors.
Interesting that X4 is on EU hours with a fixed set of drivers, that should make the investment work for the better. I've only travelled on the X5 (before the new coaches) and it was beset by delays - the new coaches have made no difference to timekeeping, but what can you do to maintain that given where it goes aside from increasing layover at each end?
It is worth mentioning that not all of Stagecoach is good, witness the comments about the NE operations. There are some op co's where investment would excacerbate the operational issues they face, one subsidiary is very good at marketing/branding their buses but terrible at operational management - the thing that matters the most to customers!
Anon at 23.07
Yes, I travel on the X4 quite a lot. It is a mix of urban work (but very limited stops) around the main towns served plus good, fast, running on the roads in between. In practice, it often runs non-stop between Wellingborough and Northampton and just one stop (Roade) between Northampton and Milton Keynes. Indeed, an enjoyable experience.
I just wish some other operators would 'up their game' and bring similar improvements to their dreary services!
Scotland has few issues using double deckers: with the Fife network, high winds can close of the bridges to DD, thus the reason for the 15m coaches. Double deckers do still appear alot of the times on there express network. A number already are used daily on a number of journeys to met with demand of the network.
and aswell as back upa, and to help out on High demanding times.
Ayrshire uses a mix of DD coaches mainly on the X77 which only really has few stops, then its about 45m run till the next stops.
WHY Has no one complained about Harrogate no36 no using coaches etc?
These drivers are almost certainly already on a seperate rota as it is a EU hours route so would likely be kept seperate from the other routes under domestic hours. Gold drivers do have a different uniform to other Stagecoach drivers (not necesarilly better but noticeably different). Bringing in Coaches isn't really an option as the passenger numbers on this service is already to high to be comfortably covered by coaches and in particular the central section (Corby to Northampton) this does act as a slightly more direct local bus service (though does divert round a housing estate on the way out of Corby) so has plenty of local travellers. The Gold vehicles age very well, the four year old single deckers at Aldershot still look almost new and have suffered less vandalism than might be expected given one of the areas they serve (just shows give most customers a decent vehicle and they will treat it with respect). Most routes where Gold has appeared has not had a great change in timetable, most have had some very impressive growth (12-15% at both Aldershot & Cheltenham over 3 years or so). The principle is to take a good service which is plateauing and to give it a jump in quality to help kick start further passenger growth which may (as has recently happened at Aldershot) lead to further timetable improvements.
On rotas it varies as to the culture of the depot, some drivers like to drive the same route all day every day (some even prefer to drive the same shift every day so they can get to know their passengers better), whilst some prefer the variety of covering lots of different routes. It will depend on the preferences and culture of the operation as to which is implemented at any company. It is often difficult to make a shift in culture for an entire company in one go, but often setting up dedicated teams for core routes will often be able to find a core of volunteers who want to work that type of rota to do so on a small scale, which can often be extended as drivers see the advantages and there are fewer routes not on dedicated rotas.
For the uninititated a rota is a summary of the work a driver will do each week and is different from a shift which is the work a driver does on a specific day. Thus mixing work on a rota has no reliability issues over importing late running but mixing work on a shift will (and as such needs to be managed carefully when scheduling duties).
Indeed they are impressive buses, and as a regular traveller on this and other Stagecoach services around Northampton I am very pleased with the step-change in service. Frequency is pretty much what is called for at the moment; back in 2006 the half-hourly frequency was extended through to MK, but that proved unsustainable, as did the doubling of the core Wellingborough-A45-Northampton frequency in conjunction with the X46. There is a long-term plan to create a sort of 'semi-busway' between the two towns (some roadworks to accommodate this already having taken place), and the 'Golding' of the X4 could be seen as another step towards this outcome.
However, there does seem to be a problem with quality delivery at Northampton since the transfer of the area from Stagecoach East to Midlands (although X4 is run mostly from Kettering depot, which seems to have dropped less far down the quality scale). Over the last 18 months buses have become dirtier and less reliable. Route-branding has become pretty much pointless as a shortage of vehicles has led to the first available vehicle, in any livery, being allocated to a service.
This morning de-branded (pre-Gold) X4 Scanias were much in evidence on several services, so hopefully this influx of vehicles will enable the company to concentrate on restoring the previous level of quality, which over the past few years has delivered improved services and passenger growth in Northampton. I hope so, as Northampton under Stagecoach East (and particularly when James Freeman was in charge) has benefitted from the service provided by Stagecoach, particularly in producing growth in routes abandoned by First as uneconomic.
Does that mean UCOC's legal address will move to ?Bedford? then? Or has the whole of UCOC moved to Midlands?
As for coaches, the quality aspect is clear compared with a bus. But it's a good point that they are slower to unload/load, e.g. on the bit east of Bedford where the X5 runs a stopping service. Perhaps a nearside centre exit door, European-style, would help?
Didn't occur to me about high winds in Scotland - good point.
Neil: the legal address is still Rothersthorpe Avenue, Northampton, but overall management is from Rugby (I think). I don't quite understand this myself, particularly as Bedford is still a part of East. Perhaps someone with more knowledge could explain. I just know that we have experienced the 'crumbling edge of quality' here in Northants. And nobody bothers to answer my emails any more.
Might explain the complete hotch-potch of vehicles on the 99 (ex-VT99) since it was de-Virgined.
They could really do with renumbering that one to an X9 and bringing it into the X5 "quality coach" stable - and putting some early morning and late evening journeys on it for airport users, as that's when the airport is at its busiest!
Neil; agree with you on the (VT)99. A good service generally (I used to commute on it regularly) but needs 'Golding-up' I feel.
I think for this route - a luxury bus is an excellent idea. As for addressing driver quality - promote drivers to this service by paying them DOUBLE the normal hourly rate (around £9) that bus drivers normally get! They would then have true elite status and not just a fancy bus to drive and uniform to wear!
"Neil; agree with you on the (VT)99. A good service generally (I used to commute on it regularly) but needs 'Golding-up' I feel."
Particularly reliable because of the 59 minute (or something like that) layover at MKC...
''Particularly reliable because of the 59 minute (or something like that) layover at MKC...''
Very true, Neil; but when the M1 is in one of its regular meltdowns all that layover is needed and more. Always thought it odd that the layover time isn't evened out between MK and LTN; only 10 minutes layover at the airport means late northbound departures if southbound coaches are delayed.
Post a Comment