Leeds trolley buses set to get the go ahead!

The Doggers · Post by **The Doggers** » Thu 06 Jan, 2011 2:10 pm

What exactly do new bus companies have to go through to be setup? How do they get the routes etc. Are they allowed to just run buses where they want, or do they have to get Metro's permission?It must be a hell of a task, and I'd imagine they have to get some very expensive vehicle insurance and public liability insurance etc.

Post by **tyke bhoy** » Thu 06 Jan, 2011 2:47 pm

The Doggers wrote: What exactly do new bus companies have to go through to be setup? How do they get the routes etc. Are they allowed to just run buses where they want, or do they have to get Metro's permission?It must be a hell of a task, and I'd imagine they have to get some very expensive vehicle insurance and public liability insurance etc. A new route or even a long term/permanent change to an existing route needs a "statutory instrument" which is an approval in Parliament although not in the actual house.Any public bus service run in West Yorkshire must also come under the remit of Metro.Yes I suspect the running costs of insurance will be an obstacle but not as much as the initial capital outlay on the vehicles themselves and their "garaging".Saw this too http://www.guardian.co.uk/leeds/2011/ja ... CMP=twt_gu Yes of course Worst are suggesting a voluntary partnership because they can ignore that too but if their is a quality bud contract then thy could be in legal breach of that (no wonder they don't want it).

buffaloskinner · Post by **buffaloskinner** » Thu 06 Jan, 2011 3:47 pm

After deregulation in October 1986 all of the small private operators got away with blue murder (the big ones were penalised if the small ones complained), none of the small operators that I am aware of were admonished or prosecuted by the Traffic Commissioners in this area.It was seen by the then Tory Minister Ridley that all aspects of competition were acceptable and good for the travelling public, so larger operators introduced more frequent services to offset the amount of passengers that the small cheap operators could carry.In Leeds the busworkers branch had a campaign called the R.A.T. Campaign, which was Ridley Against Transport, unfortunately even with marches and demos in London and outside parliament I think all that was gained in TV coverage was a few fleeting seconds, (maybe we should have done what the students have just done).Of course once the smaller operators found that the streets of Yorkshire were not paved with gold and went away then the bus frequencies were reduced and of course the travelling public were the losers.Very few routes are profitable and so Metro subsidise these routes so that operators will run them otherwise there would be no Sunday or evening services.Basically all that’s been said today by Metro and the operators is what was said in 1986, and never the twains shall meet.There is no way that private operators are going to allow public bodies to determine what they do, and there is no way the bus services will go back to the days of public ownership (LCT and Metro) whilst there is still a sun in the sky.

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Sat 05 Feb, 2011 5:50 pm

The end of the road for the trolley bus..?http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/n ... 986.jp"The £235m Leeds trolleybus scheme has suffered another major blow after it emerged government officials believe it represents poor value for money.Documents released yesterday by the Department for Transport (DfT) revealed how the trolleybus project has the second lowest "benefit cost ratio" out of a list of 22 schemes which have been competing for £630m of funding since October."Full story at the above link, but how can the scheme recover from such a dire financial assessment? However, I'm sure that Metro and the council will continue to throw more money at it until it is finally dead and buried.

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Sat 05 Feb, 2011 6:02 pm

raveydavey wrote: The end of the road for the trolley bus..?http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/n ... 986.jp"The £235m Leeds trolleybus scheme has suffered another major blow after it emerged government officials believe it represents poor value for money.Documents released yesterday by the Department for Transport (DfT) revealed how the trolleybus project has the second lowest "benefit cost ratio" out of a list of 22 schemes which have been competing for £630m of funding since October."Full story at the above link, but how can the scheme recover from such a dire financial assessment? However, I'm sure that Metro and the council will continue to throw more money at it until it is finally dead and buried. Meanwhile, while Leeds talks about useless schemes, then scraps them. Take a look at our near rivals Manchester Ravey.http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthrea ... ge=181It's enough to make you cry

pyramar · Post by **pyramar** » Wed 09 Feb, 2011 6:06 pm

My commiserations to the good people of Swansea. What did they do to deserve the purple slugs. Can they take ours?Incidentally, anyone ever noticed anything spooky about the ftr purple slugs in Leeds York and now Swansea. They are all on service 4. Can the destination indicators on these infernal machines not show any other number?

patter · Post by **patter** » Thu 10 Feb, 2011 11:26 am

They're "4"the future ... now what else are First for?

The Doggers · Post by **The Doggers** » Thu 10 Feb, 2011 6:31 pm

We need a tram in Leeds desperately. It's still by far and away the best scheme suggested in the last 20 years. Why can't they stick to their guns at the council and Metro and make a new tram plan, and not stop pestering the government until we get it?Surely there's loads of old rolling stock from Sheffield and Manchester we could use to get it started, buying new trams once the system can pay for itself?

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Thu 10 Feb, 2011 9:57 pm

The Doggers wrote: Surely there's loads of old rolling stock from Sheffield and Manchester we could use to get it started, buying new trams once the system can pay for itself? Sadly not Doggers as both the Sheffield and Manchester systems are far too recent in terms of tramway rolling stock to have any surplus vehicles.

Post by **cnosni** » Fri 11 Feb, 2011 10:15 am

The Doggers wrote: We need a tram in Leeds desperately. It's still by far and away the best scheme suggested in the last 20 years. Why can't they stick to their guns at the council and Metro and make a new tram plan, and not stop pestering the government until we get it?Surely there's loads of old rolling stock from Sheffield and Manchester we could use to get it started, buying new trams once the system can pay for itself? This may be unpalatable but perhaps,as we arent Manchester,we wil not get any funding then we may have to go down the unpalatable option of funding it ourselves through (gulp) a specific council tax rise levied over a couple of decades,similarly to the Shefield tram system,for which they are still paying.Not what i would like i can assure you,but,if we are going to have a quality system then we,as a city,will have to pay for it.The more i see that Whitehall is still continuing to be London centric (£1.5bn spent on just one station on the Cross Rail project) then perhaps we should start having our own local powers with an elected Mayor and budget,similar to that of London.We can either carry on getting short changed by the current system,or we can try something new.Never thought i'd hear myself saying that!