GHA Group (Bryn Melyn, Vale Travel + Others)

[knutstransport]

RE: GHA Group (Bryn Melyn, Vale Travel + Others)

(23/03/2015 22:26)LJ51 DDA Wrote:  It actually really annoys me that GHA are buying all these new buses for Cheshire yet seem to be forgetting were the company originated which just gets aging buses
it quite annoys me in a way i suppose its better for all of us lot but not the passengers.

(24/03/2015 08:20)LJ51 DDA Wrote:  I see what your getting at but thats the point im making GHA has plenty of profitable routes in Wrexham the 5 being the main one yet that gets nothing? its just starting to look like they care more about Cheshire than Wrexham and a lot of their drivers say the same to.

GHA have been awarded certain Cheshire East contracts with a bid saying that they would introduce new buses. That's possibly what has resulted in operators like D&G Bus losing a number of contracts and GHA gaining them. I also get the impression GHA want to return the Cheshire East council owned buses which they are using, so they need to obtain replacements to be able to do that.

GHA have received a grant to fit wi-fi to 13 buses for use in the Cheshire East council area. Other authorities can apply to central government for wi-fi grants. There are a number of routes in North Wales with wi-fi even if the T3 is the only GHA route with wi-fi. I think at present only one non-GHA route in Cheshire East is operated by buses with wi-fi (the onelink operated by D&G Bus.)

The 88 route is a local route to me. I'm very pleased with the service improvement and the new buses. However, I'm so no sure on the marketing. The route is being marketed in the same way as other premium services like Burnley & Pendle's Witchway service which is almost exclusively operated by premium buses. Yet with the 88 route it's very common for an old bog standard bus to appear. In the past week on two different days I've seen R reg Wright Renowns operating on the 88 route. Now if I normally drove in to work and one day took the 'GHA Gold' bus instead and got one of those I think I'd be sticking with the car.

Also it's not all rosy in Cheshire East. The 27 Macclesfield-Knutsford route used to have a full hourly service including a limited Sunday service with a Tatton Park extension in the Summertime and while the service provision has improved since Vale Travel first took it on there's still less services than a few years ago. While if you travel on the 27 route you'll probably get a 12 year old Dart with no wi-fi, leather seats etc. that's been introduced on a limited number of buses in Cheshire East.