A Middle Class Thing?

[whole diary]

[Network SouthEast]

Well I would not expect the CEO^▸ (Chief Executive Officer) of basically a bus owning and operating company to say anything else the majority of their turnover is buses.

Stagecoach owns 49% of Virgin Rail

Doesn't make much of a difference because even with the Virgin Rail shareholding, Stagecoach still get the majority of their revenue and profit from bus operations. If you read the Stagecoach financial statement, then you'd be aware that Stagecoach's turnover is made up as follows (6 months to October 2012):

UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Bus outside of London - ^488.3m (of which ^87.2m profit)
UK Bus London operations - ^116.4m (of which ^9.6m profit)
North America - ^199.8m (of which ^13.7m profit)
UK rail - ^599.9m (of which ^22.7m profit)

Specifically, Stagecoach made ^6.1m profit from it's share of the Virgin Rail in the 6 months to October 2012 (although I can't find a separate figure for turnover).

Source: Stagecoach Group plc ^ Interim results for the six months ended 31 October 2012

[Red Squirrel]

UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Bus outside of London - ^488.3m (of which ^87.2m profit)
UK Bus London operations - ^116.4m (of which ^9.6m profit)
North America - ^199.8m (of which ^13.7m profit)
UK rail - ^599.9m (of which ^22.7m profit)

Specifically, Stagecoach made ^6.1m profit from it's share of the Virgin Rail in the 6 months to October 2012 (although I can't find a separate figure for turnover).

...so that's about 40% of turnover, but 10-15% of profit (according to the article, appying a little arithmetic). I'm surprised to see that operating buses is so much more profitable; though maybe I shouldn't be; bus fares in my part of the world (Bristol) make your eyes water.

[swrural]

In the original Telegraph interview the manager said they made 17% net return on buses, only 3% on rail.

In fact this thread may be started on a slight misunderstanding.  The manager I think was referring to the journalists' questions as always being about rail and never his bus operations.  In other words he identified the chattering classes with middle class values, I suspect. 

Given that Mr S Hammond thought it was a rich man's method of transport, (as a joke?), perhaps we have a John Cleese, Ronnie Barker but not Ronnie Corbett situation here (TWTWTW for younger listers' information)?

[grahame]

In the original Telegraph interview the manager said they made 17% net return on buses, only 3% on rail.

Rail operations are franchises / service provision contracts and if things go really badly different to what's envisaged, there's the sharing of the loss by the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) through cap and collar, so the risks taken are actually very low.  So it's only fair that the rate of return on a franchise that's running about right should be fairly low too.  You could argue (and there is evidence) that this arrangement stifles the desire to take any risks what so ever when seeing a good opportunity to improve services, but that's another story for another thread.

Bus operations are much more truely commercial ... a higher risk taken, and more chance to loose a shirt or two, or to make significant gain.

[swrural]

I only mentioned those figures, as they demonstrate why he was keener on doing business in buses.  Not surprising!

[inspector_blakey]

Bit of a tangent, but I have a funny feeling that the bus fare between Bristol and Bath may actually be more expensive than the train fare, especially for a return.

Can anyone confirm this or correct me? Given a choice of twelve minutes on an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) or a tedious slog down the traffic on A4 I know which option I'd tend to prefer, even if it were a little more expensive... I vaguely recall some time ago travelling to London with the family and someone (either my mother or my sister) was amazed at the speed with which we got to Bath; it made her realize that the places are actually very close together, it's just a nightmare getting between the two by road.

[Red Squirrel]

Bit of a tangent, but I have a funny feeling that the bus fare between Bristol and Bath may actually be more expensive than the train fare, especially for a return.

I was trying to confirm the bus fare from Cheltenham Rd Arches, Bristol to Temple Meads the other day (I'm fairly sure it's ^2.90 return, which compares rather unfavourably with ^2 for the equivalent journey on the Severn Beach line; singles compare even less favourably). Maybe we're spoilt by the openness of the train operators' websites, but I was taken aback by the lack of useful information about single and return fares on the First Bus website (http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/bristol_bath/). All I can tell for sure is that Bristol - Bath is covered by the Avon (where that?) Rider ticket at ^7.20/day, which compares unfavourably with the ^7.00 off-peak train fare unless you are travelling on from Bath or Bristol; however I see photos of buses on the X39 route with big '^4' labels on their sides - so maybe that's the fare?