Competition flares up again

Yes, it's been a few months since my last post. That's mainly because I've not had much to write about. Being the kind of person who's interested in such things, I keep up to date with GMPTE's bus service changes information. When I came back from holiday in August there was a vast number of bus service changes lined up including, interestingly, a new Manchester-Chorlton circular service 85C/86C from GM Buses running every 10 minutes in each direction during Mon-Sat daytimes and every 30 minutes during evenings and Sundays, plus evening and Sunday journeys on the 86 route to Hardy Lane in Chorlton every 30 minutes.

When I read this a few thoughts went through my mind. Firstly I thought "I wish I still lived in Chorlton with all those extra buses!", then I thought how strange it is that when other changes by Stagecoach are taken into consideration the poorly served Hardy Lane area now has a much better service in the evenings than during the day. I also thought "Oh dear, here comes another bus war".

The Manchester Evening News loves a bus war because they can run stories about the havoc they cause. This time things are a bit different. Headlines like this and this show that people are sick of bus wars causing more problems than they solve.

One problem that hasn't been reported, though, is that Stagecoach actually appear to be running more buses than they have in their official timetables. Chorlton Bus Station is apparently frequently jammed this week by overtime-earning Stagecoach drivers running extra journeys on the 85 and 86 to try to get rid of the competition. Surely this shouldn't be allowed? If anyone knows, let me know.

Things have reached a new peak today with the Traffic Commissioner imposing an official limit on bus departures from Piccadilly Gardens. This will undoubtedly cause problems at stops such as the 42 stop and the one for the 84/99/101/104/105/109/111 services. Expect hastily revised timetables in the next few weeks and maybe more buses running from places like Albert Square.

A heated debate ran in the comments section of this blog a few months ago about some form of re-regulation of buses in Manchester. Surely this weeks' events in Manchester will cause that argument to return to the forefront of public debate?