50 replies to this topic

[Conor]

I would but i know nothing about trains or buses

[n.x.w.m]

I call London....

[Zmapper]

Another idea I just had, what if I am the traffic engineer. I would review the proposals to see that they will not have an adverse affect on traffic flow. That way people could say, ask for bus lanes in congested areas and I could work out a way to add them.

What do you all think of that idea?

[BritAbroad]

Long distance coacches in britain are mainly privately booked and travel unscheduled routes, but then again there is stagecoach which is practically a long distance bus service, most public bus operations in the UK are operated by arriva.

Are you sure you aren't just referring to your local area, rather than the whole UK?
I'm pretty sure that Stagecoach and First are the largest operators of scheduled public bus services in the UK.
I've also lived in multiple areas where the reverse of what you suggest is true - Stagecoach (or First or Arriva or local independent) provides the local services, and Arriva (or First or Stagecoach or local independent) provides the longer distance (but still service bus - not coach) services in between towns.
It varies significantly region by region, depending on the strength of each company in the area, i.e: in areas where Arriva bought the post-privatisation local operator, they operate most local services in that area but you'll see the odd "longer" route from another area operated by a different company which is stronger in the originating town / region, which may be why you came to your conclusion.

Also, National Express is probably one of the biggest long distance coach operators, but many of its services are actually franchised out. For example, I know of many areas where the "National Express" scheduled coach to London (/airports/major cities, etc) is operated by the local operator (Stagecoach Yorkshire, Arriva Midlands etc) using a National Express liveried coach.




This raises some interesting points for you to think about in your roleplay - like the rail services, UK bus services can be franchised (for example, long distance coaches, and all local buses in London, even though all buses must be red and utilise London Transport's fare system). They can lose the franchise on individual routes. In my local area (a London borough), the Stagecoach monopoly on TfL franchised buses became detrimental to services and it was stripped it of certain routes, and they were passed over to another operator - introducing a degree of competition.

Also, you might want to note that in some cases, the local authority contract in companies to provide certain routes (presumably subsidising them) where it would not be profitable to run the route commercially. This may or may not be the same company that operates the main scheduled routes (where it is, thats great. Where its not - it presents problems with fares: I used to live in a town where the council contracted in a different company for its subsidised routes, meaning I had to buy day tickets from two companies when I went to work.... grr!)



Also, depending on the time I have over the next few days and how you decide to run this, I'd be interested in working London (I note somebody else already has this, so I'll leave it up to you how you want to play it) and a long distance coach service.

[BritAbroad]

I was mainly refering to cheshire and greater manchester, as i had said. Arriva operates the whole cheshire region, and stage coach operates national routes e.g. manchester-london, i travelled that once.

That makes sense. You said "most" and "in the UK", though, I just wanted to correct the point, because of my loyalty to a previous employer.
No worries though, just messing.



I also had the misfortune of travelling by coach between Manchester and London.
Did you use the Stagecoach megabus then? I used that and the National Express too. They were.... Lets just say I'm now a loyal customer of the railways instead!

[Zmapper]

I will try and be as non-biased as I can be. But, I may also add some twists.

Also, instead of just going with counties why not just pick the area you want on a map.

Here is the map.

[Zmapper]

Well, according to tintinfan's map, Lancashire has Liverpool and Manchester. Perhaps I could take Liverpool and you take Manchester?

[n.x.w.m]

I cannot access zmapper's map.... But I will still have London, and I would like to transfer operations from the Continental Virtual Transportation System to my company in this discussion.

[Zmapper]

Try the link below.

CLICK ME!

[Mr Tree]

Ideally, I'd like Surrey.

[Japantitan/MW744]

Can I have Birmingham please?

[Japantitan/MW744]

How!?!

[n.x.w.m]

OK, I marked London. I was wondering if Ireland was available....

[Zmapper]

Is your border area supposed to follow the M25? I can't tell.

[n.x.w.m]

I don't know, I just roughly drew it. Does it correctly border M25? It has the area inside it. Also, can anyone help me draw the area of Bristol and Cardiff for me? I would like to service the area.

[Zmapper]

Just thinking out loud... Maybe London should be split up into a few different regions? That way more people can have a go at the largest city. What do you all think?

[n.x.w.m]

No......

[n.x.w.m]

Just thinking out loud... Maybe London should be split up into a few different regions? That way more people can have a go at the largest city. What do you all think?

No.....

[Tintinfan]

*ding*dong*

Ladies and Gentleman,

We are sorry to annouce that due to unforseen reasons the launch of VituBus and VirtuTrans will be pushed back. For further details, please contact the station master, tintinfan.

Thank you very much for waiting with us.

*ding*dong*


Hmm...pretty bad isn't it?

[Zmapper]

What is the delay about? I never heard anything about a delay!