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NEW RAIL OPERATOR AXES 25 BUS ROUTES

23-06-2007

Guess who owns the bus firm which is axing 25 bus routes in the Black Country next month? The same dedicated public transport operator which has just won the franchise to run local trains in the West Midlands.

As The Stirrer revealed on Thursday, Diamond Buses are cancelling services to schools and colleges in Hagley, Halesowen and Sandwell. Passengers travelling to and from Merry Hill and Great Bridge are also affected by what we described as the “Black Country Bus Massacre” (see the story here)

It turns out that Diamond are part of the Go Ahead group, whose Go Via subsidiary will operate most of the local trains in the West Midlands from November - for which they will receive an annual subsidy in excess of £1 billion. Nice work if you can get it!

Interesting to note that their eight year rail franchise could be terminated two years early if a 90% punctuality rate isn’t met.

Getting 9 out of 10 trains to run on time doesn’t sound like an especially onerous task, but don’t bet on Go Via (or London Midland as they’ll be known locally) achieving it.

In Sussex, their Southern Trains franchise has managed just 87% over the last 12 months, while their Southeastern Trains Metro service scores just 86%.

Mind you, that’s rather better than the hapless performance of Central Trains who they’ll be replacing around here.

On virtually all their lines (Cross City, Solihull, Stourbridge, Walsall, Coventry and Wolverhampton) fewer than one in five trains has been punctual in the last year - a situation which many observers feel is bound to get worse as the franchise winds down over the coming months.

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