The news that Rotala has bought First’s Redditch and
Kidderminster operations isn't a particular surprise, but it will be
interesting to see if they develop the network in these two areas.
Almost certainly, Rotala will brand these as “Red Diamond”. They've been in Redditch for a number of years now, as First faced competition
initially from independent Pete’s Travel (who were born in the years following
deregulation, taking on West Midlands Travel in the Centro area initially),
which then became part of the Go Ahead Group when Pete’s sold out to the “Big
5” company. When Go Ahead gave up its West Midlands operation, it was Rotala
who took it on, branding it “Red Diamond” – partly doffing its cap to the
famous old Midland Red operation – and investing in some new vehicles for the
town.
Kidderminster is an interesting area also. In recent times,
First has seen competition from long-standing independent Whittles (more
recently part of Peter Shipp’s EYMS). The town itself isn’t big, but there are
several local estates which were prime minibus areas post-1986. I’ve always
thought that First made their Kidderminster area network difficult to
understand, with bits of one-way route and allsorts to make it not the most
attractive service. Maybe the locals understood it, but I’m always keen to see
networks as simple as can be, so that strangers like me – and indeed locals
who’ve never seriously considered trying the bus – can grasp it.
Kidderminster is just across the border from the mighty
Centro area, but it is surprising how little buses cross the invisible line.
First tried it a number of years ago with a service that linked the
carpet-making town with Stourbridge, the giant Merry Hill shopping centre and
Dudley. But this was more of a positioning operation than anything else, and
wasn’t pushed. Inevitably, it died a death. Whittles have been the most
innovative here, extending their Bridgnorth-Kidderminster operation, across
into Stourbridge on an hourly daytime frequency, and it seems to be working. The
other bit of cross-border action was the 192 – once part of the trunk Birmingham-Halesowen
–Kidderminster-Ludlow-Hereford Midland Red operation. This fell victim to
Council subsidy cuts and now is operated as Kidderminster-Halesowen only by
Whittle.
The train provides stiff opposition from both Redditch and
Kidderminster into Birmingham, and both are regarded as “travel to work” (i.e.
to Birmingham) areas. But whilst the train takes the strain, the bus isn’t that
much a realistic alternative. As mentioned, the 192 from Kidderminster now goes
only as far as Halesowen, where, admittedly, there are buses every 7/8 minutes
on National Express West Midlands’s 9 service – but the 192 is barely hourly
during the daytime, there are no “all operator passes” covering this (as it
crosses the border between Worcestershire and Centro land) and, ultimately,
people don’t like changing buses. The railway station in Kidderminster is up
the hill from the town centre, and parking charges are expensive. The result?
Anyone living in Kidderminster looking to use public transport into Birmingham
won’t find it easy or attractive. There is evidence that some of them actually
drive their car into Stourbridge to take advantage of free car parking at the
Centro station there, to take the onward trip into the City Centre!
Redditch does have buses to Birmingham. First’s hourly 146
and Johnson’s X50 (every hour and half) are the options here, but again, whilst
that might be only what is commercial achievable for the operators, is it
attractive to potential new users?
And for both areas, what about the Black Country’s giant
Merry Hill shopping centre? There are most certainly people who drive from
Worcestershire to this shopping Mecca – and it claims to attract people from
across the region. Currently, getting from Kidderminster or Redditch to Merry
Hill on the bus is often too complicated, time consuming, and ultimately
expensive. Ditto hospitals and health facilities. Some of the larger providers
now refer people to different centres for treatment, often as outpatients. But
although Redditch and Kidderminster are not exactly a million miles from
facilities in the Black Country and Birmingham, it realistically isn’t feasible
to suggest public transport. I provide public transport information for a
Hospital in the Black Country, and have been asked several times over the years
about how to get from parts of Worcestershire into the Hospital. When I explain
to them how difficult it is, they have been genuinely surprised. So there are
people who are considering alternatives to stressful motoring, or hunting for
elusive car park spaces at health or shopping facilities – but all too often,
the alternative isn’t really there.
I’m not asking Rotala to consider launching lots of new
commercial services here, with their newly-purchased operations in
Kidderminster and Redditch. These are hard times for bus operators so I know
I’m likely to be disappointed! But what is interesting is that Rotala – unlike
First before them – are not entrenched in Worcestershire. Their Black and Blue
Diamond operations in the Black Country and Birmingham respectively mean that
they span the invisible border between Shire County and urban area. We know
that there is a regular exchange of vehicles between some of these operations,
so is there scope for some new thinking on cross-border services?
And is the Competition Commission going to cast it’s beady
eye on Redditch in particular, now that Rotala is the main operator in the
town?
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