Manchester bus franchising

[Barney]

RE: Manchester bus franchising

(24/06/2023 11:44)Y458 KNF Wrote:  Arriva don’t want to bid for anything they are focusing on Merseyside

No decision has been made yet as to whether the LCR (Merseyside) will follow Manchester's lead and adopt franchising but a decision is expected before the end of this year. If, as seems likely, the LCR does go with a franchising model that could become very problematic for Arriva.

Arriva has the lion's share of commercial services within Merseyside and, if what has happened in the first two tranches within Manchester is any indicator, Arriva could find itself losing several depots and dozens of routes in the bidding process to operators not currently serving the LCR.

Further, Arriva's German parent company Deutsche Bahn has again announced that it wishes to divest its UK assets.