Rotala-owned Diamond Bus has issued a statement to passengers confirming that there could be major network changes to its Midlands operating area once post-covid funding ends
Diamond Bus has issued a statement to its passengers to inform them that a large number of services in its Midlands operating area, including those acquired from Johnson’s Excelbus are currently being reviewed, with most changes to occur in Warwickshire and Worcestershire. The operator confirmed that some of its services are currently under review with the risk of service cuts from 24 July and 28 August.
The operator said: “Vital Government funding that enabled essential bus services to continue operating during the coronavirus pandemic will end later this year. Government funding gave a life line to bus companies over the previous two years, however the long-reaching effects of the pandemic are still being felt by bus operators with passenger numbers still dramatically lower than pre-covid levels.
“Whilst we appreciate the news about proposed service cuts causes concern to passengers, we want to reassure you we are doing all we can to resolve this situation. As a company we do not want to cut services, but the current climate means that the majority of our services run but at a considerable loss. We have been in discussion with Local Authorities, MPs and councillors to make them aware of the situation and hope that by working together we can collectively improve this position.
“It is also important to state that this current dilemma is not only a Diamond Bus issue, it is an industry-wide problem created by accelerating operating costs and a reduction in the number of people using buses post-covid. Without the intervention of additional subsidy, bus services will need to be reviewed for either service reduction or withdrawal altogether.”
The statement continues: “To combat current financial pressures, we have been reviewing how we operate our services more effectively, which has included interworking services and reducing stand time as labour is 50% of our operating cost. In the short term, this has meant we have had some transitional operating issues which we are working hard to manage and reduce.
“In Warwickshire specifically, operational issues have occurred as a result of our need to quickly build knowledge around a complex set of routes and timetables following the Johnsons Excelbus acquisition. Over the last three weeks of operation reliability on our Stratford bus services has significantly improved.
“After identifying the latest issues we have now put resources in place to increase supervision and we are making peak-time adjustments to put additional running time in. We are continuing to review our changes to see what is workable, both for the company and passengers. Although unfortunately delays have been experienced on some services, over the whole Diamond network we can assure residents that we are not suffering high levels of lost mileage, and that our services are running.”
The vast majority of bus services acquired from Johnson’s Excelbus, and some existing services already operated in the Stratford-upon-Avon area are being withdrawn following the end of Warwickshire County Council contracts. The 1, 2, 3, 4, 15, 19, 27, 50, 75/75A, 76 group of services, 229 and X50 will all pass to Stagecoach Midlands on 25 July. Service 5 will be jointly operated by Stagecoach and A&M Flexibus. Service X20 from Stratford-upon-Avon to Solihull will continue to be operated by Diamond Bus until 13 August. No details have yet been given as to who will operate the Stratford-upon-Avon park & ride 222 service after 25 July.
Leamington Spa area services 77/77A will move to Stagecoach, with service 69 moving to A&M Flexibus. The firm said that 20 other bus services in the West Midlands operating area are also under review with some seeing frequency reductions, possible withdrawal or Transport for West Midlands contracts ending from 28 August 2022.
