Rival bus companies will meet to discuss 'unsustainable' situation

[Groningen]

Two new bus routes face an uncertain future due to competition between Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach. The head of Oxford Bus Company (OBC) said its newly extended 500 service from Oxford to Woodstock could be unsustainable after Stagecoach launched a similar service just a month later. Stagecoach’s managing director agreed the number of buses running to Woodstock is unworkable in the long term, and the two companies will come together to discuss potential solutions. OBC managing director Phil Southall said: "We were very surprised to see Stagecoach introduce its new service so soon after we began our extended service 500 between Oxford Parkway and Woodstock in December.

"We had been advised by several important stakeholders in the area that this link had been high on their on their wish list ever since the new rail station at Oxford Parkway opened back in October 2015, but no operator had stepped forward to begin a service. "Once the railway line from Oxford Parkway to Oxford station opened in December, we knew the demand profile for the park and ride element of our 500 service would change and so we decided to give this new link a try in the hope that, over time, it would prove commercially viable. "Unfortunately the response from Stagecoach has made this unlikely and the current situation doesn't appear to be sustainable in the long term. "We have meetings planned with Oxfordshire County Council and Stagecoach in the coming weeks to see if a way forward can be found to preserve this new link and ensure it is operated in a more efficient way." OBC extended its 500 service to run from Oxford train station to Woodstock last December. It formerly ran from Oxford train station to Oxford Parkway station. Then, a month later, Stagecoach introduced its Gold 7 service, which runs from Oxford city centre to Woodstock, stopping at Oxford Parkway. A single journey from Oxford Parkway to Woodstock costs £2.60 on both services.

The Oxford Mail counted the number of passengers on two buses leaving Oxford Parkway on Wednesday, February 1. On OBC’s 65-seat 500 service leaving Oxford Parkway at 8.53am there were three passengers downstairs. Upstairs was mostly empty. On Stagecoach’s 76-seat Gold 7 service leaving Oxford Parkway at 9.13am there were five passengers on board. Stagecoach in Oxfordshire managing director Martin Sutton said: "We have been planning a far reaching review of our Stagecoach Gold services for some while to provide new links, including improved links to Headington and hospitals. "A route between Oxford Parkway with Woodstock was one of these proposed links. "The new service 7 between Woodstock, Oxford Parkway and Oxford is an interim measure and although the service has only been running for five weeks we are very pleased with the support and feedback from passengers so far. “We are aware that the number of buses to Woodstock at present is not sustainable and we welcome the opportunity for discussions with Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford Bus Company." Chairman of Bus Users Oxford Hugh Jaeger said: “What it’s about is competition between the two operators and I would like to see the two companies react sensibly to each other. "With current passenger numbers they can't both be making a profit. “I would like to see one of them, and I don’t care which, change their route.

Source: Oxford Mail

 

[Clip]

Is this a stagecoach rouse to duplicate another service for the same price and maybe a better bus then when the other pulls out remove the better bus and whack the prices up on the route?

 

[Teflon Lettuce]

Is this a stagecoach rouse to duplicate another service for the same price and maybe a better bus then when the other pulls out remove the better bus and whack the prices up on the route?

I think the clue is in the fact that the 2 services started within a month of each other... most likely scenario is that BOTH companies looked at what improvements could be made to their services, and what new links could have a demand. Is it really that surprising that 2 companies with good reputations for high quality services and a good commercial sense would come up with the same or similar ideas?

 

[Busaholic]

Oxford could be said to be the most perfect example available of two major bus companies being able to serve the area well for many years without unnecessary duplication or, on the other hand, seen to be carving up the area purely for their own ends. A situation like this was bound to occur sooner or later, though, and I hope commonsense will prevail. The 'free marketeers' will hate the fact that discussions are taking place, of course, but they should be ignored.

 

[higthomas]

Oxford could be said to be the most perfect example available of two major bus companies being able to serve the area well for many years without unnecessary duplication or, on the other hand, seen to be carving up the area purely for their own ends. A situation like this was bound to occur sooner or later, though, and I hope commonsense will prevail. The 'free marketeers' will hate the fact that discussions are taking place, of course, but they should be ignored.

What do you mean by unnecessary duplication? On the main radial arteries they duplicate each other almost exactly and pre 2011 or whenever the smartzone started they both very much overbused routes to try and win passengers.

 

[radamfi]

There is of course (in case some people here aren't aware) already a partnership between the operators meaning that the main services in the city are co-ordinated with joint ticketing, so there is no longer competition.

 

[Hophead]

Oxford could be said to be the most perfect example available of two major bus companies being able to serve the area well for many years without unnecessary duplication or, on the other hand, seen to be carving up the area purely for their own ends. A situation like this was bound to occur sooner or later, though, and I hope commonsense will prevail. The 'free marketeers' will hate the fact that discussions are taking place, of course, but they should be ignored.

Don't agree completely. Prior to the agreement a few years ago to co-operate on routes, the companies duplicated each other almost completely on the routes to Blackbird Leys and to Kidlington, although other city & longer distance routes did tend to be the preserve of one company or other.

Woodstock has been Stagecoach territory until now, so I don't suppose they were best pleased to find Oxford Bus in town.

 

[Busaholic]

What do you mean by unnecessary duplication? On the main radial arteries they duplicate each other almost exactly .

It could be said then that the duplication is merely competition that has not resulted in one or other being 'driven off the road'. I'm speaking entirely as someone who follows these things from afar, but who does so fairly assiduously and over a long period of time. The last time I was up the Cowley Road, Morris Motors were still there AFAIK. Neither Go-Ahead nor Stagecoach has assumed a dominant position, which situation I can't see quite duplicated anywhere else of that size or status. Newcastle perhaps, in a way, but with Arriva in the mix too and over a much larger area: Brighton and Hove slightly. My conclusion is that these two bus groups manage to co-exist better nationally than, say, Stagecoach and First.

 

[W-on-Sea]

The issue seems really to be about how viable the pre-existing Stagecoach route (S3) that continues beyond Woodstock - to Charlbury and Chipping Norton - will be, if passengers are abstracted from it onto the OBC route. (I mean, yes, there is now clearly overbussing between Woodstock and Oxford now, which can't be expected to continue - although the actual routes taken by the Stagecoach S3, new Stagecoach 7 and new OBC 500 are not identical.)