(01 Jun 2024, 10:26 am)DaveFromUpNorth wrote Could Riverside become a "SuperDepot"
Aka you have riverside as the main hub to fix and repair etc ... but CPO part or even a third of the Metrocentre overflow car park to increase capacity and house say another depot with a possibility of Say overflow on an evening in Metrocentre bus station
It could potentially say house 350-400 buses within a mile radius.
Percy Main depot to sadly close and relocate to Walkergate some services and (Snowdon /Megabus) move.
If services aim to terminate at Newcastle Gateshead Metrocentre it is easier to run empty to the Metrocentre
Services can also run up and down the A1 effectively
It also means there is a possibility of making it into an electric hub
Some of if not all of Slatyford could be moved and a park and ride site be created
Blyth arriva services ( the services to Newcastle ) other blyth services move to Ashington and GCT could be also be moved over to the new site
A lot of interworking would be needed to reduce lost mileage but I don't see why say service 100 reintroduced and if a service terminates in newcastle they operate the 100 to Metrocentre then off to depot same as X66 at Gateshead
And when services leave the depot they operate X66 and 100
Personally don't agree with Riverside, the depot is just in the wrong place and always has been. Personally if we're going on a depot program I'd look at something like this with these routes moved around into them, anything not listed isn't moved rather than shoving everything in one place with delays caused because of dead running. The area badly needs more depots in certain areas as they're uncovered, Blyth badly needs to move and there's no need for 3 depots in close proxmidity in Sunderland with routes in bizarre triangle routes via South Tyneside or passing another depot (Belmont). All this is only 1 depot gained (or 0 if you want to count Darlington which is a problem).
NEW: Bishop Auckland
GNE: X21
Arriva: 1/5/6/8/8A/56/X75/X76
Other: Subsidised Local Routes
Belmont
ANE: X12 (All Boards)
GNE: 20/X20/65
GCT: All Durham Services
NEW: South Tyneside
GNE: 5/9/24/26/27/50
SNE: E1/E2/E6/X24/X34/All South Shields
NEW: Washington / CLS Area
GNE: X1/2/2A/4/8/78/21/25/28/29/34/Washington Locals
Other: CLS Locals
Wheatsheaf
GNE: 33/35/39/39A/39B/56/60/700/701
NEW: East Durham
GNE: 61/X6/Peterlee Locals
Arriva: 22/23/24/58/X22
SNE: 59
NEW: Sandy Lane Area
Arriva: 43/44/45/47/X7/X8/X9/X10/X11/X30/553
GNE: 352/353/354/355/Q3
GCT: 342/X46
SNE: 35/37/38/X63
Walkergate
GNE: 1 (Whitley Bay to Newcastle Only)
Percy Main
Arriva: 306/308
GNE: 41/41A/307/309/317/327
GCT: 19/335/351/359
Others: Whitley Locals
Riverside
GCT: 67/69
GNE: 1 (Newcastle to Metrocentre Only)
SNE: 6/7
Closed: Deptford, Chichester, Blyth and Washington
(01 Jun 2024, 5:26 pm)Adrian wrote Again, my question is why?
Any operator would have very limited say, not to mention control, if they only had a 20% share. It'd do nothing, other than entitle them to a share of profit or dividends, rather than that being reinvested back into the network. I'm also not sure why any operator would sell their business to the local authority for this purpose, knowing that it's in a position to win lucrative contracts for service delivery. If NECA went down the route of creating a municipal (and I think they should!), it will have to be from scratch.
There's another point, though. Normally you create a public-private partnership, when you feel that the private sector can deliver some value in what you're trying to achieve. This could be with technology projects, for example, where it requires a set of expertise that normally aren't found in great numbers in the bus companies. Whereas a private sector partner can utilise existing staff and knowledge. Similar to bus operators running buses for the local authority, given that it's their bread and butter.
I just don't see, from a strategic level, what bus operators can bring to the table outside of service delivery, to warrant a share of the business. We're in this position because nearly 40 years of deregulation, and a lack of creativity, has failed us. Leaving LAs/MCAs with a 'do nothing' and let it sink, or 'do something different' choice. Yes, there are some excellent people working for private operators, but there's more than enough opportunity to work within the public sector. I dare say they'd be better looked after too.
Honestly I don't disagree with your points and wouldn't be against a fully public municipal company, personally I just thought it would be easier to purchase it under those terms. 20% will be a greater value than the margin which they'd gain from the same contracts (which they're not guaranteed to win anyway).
You're probably right on the comments about whether they deserve it, to be honest, but I do think a good starting block would be to try and get most of the Stagecoach Busways management team as part of the municipal company, they're network is stable and there's no real issues from them hence the lack of threads about Stagecoach on here.