The Greyhound saga rolls on..... for now

Back in September, Greyhound Canada announced their intention to cut the number of buses they run between Vancouver and Nanaimo from six a day to just two, citing falling traffic and growing losses as the reason. To help contain costs, they agreed with the BC Passenger Transportation Board that they would run the remaining four buses as shuttles to the ferryport on either side, with passengers boarding the ferry as walk-ons.

Enter BC Ferries into the equation, and after some heated discussion, BC Ferries refused to allow Greyhound buses to park outside the terminals, forcing Greyhound to abandon the four shuttle buses and (despite being under an obligation to run them pending determination of their application) their service has only run 2 buses each way since early October.

Since then, the tables have turned - and now, Greyhound has seemingly reached agreement with BC Ferries for the use of the terminals - but the Passenger Transportation Board has determined that, under the terms of their intercity bus licence, the Greyhound bus must be taken on the ferry and make the complete journey from Vancouver to Nanaimo and back. For Greyhound, this not only means paying for the coach to travel on the ferry - but also means they have to continue paying their drivers for 2 hours or more of unproductive time on every journey.

Not surprisingly, this now makes the whole Greyhound service on the route unsustainable, and this week Greyhound have applied to the Board to withdraw the service altogether. For Greyhound, the fact that Translink and BC Transit serve the ferry terminals on either side with subsidised low-fare bus routes - and others, like the Island Link bus service on Vancouver Island, can run 'connector buses' to and from the ferry terminals with no route licence obligations at all, meant that they were at the very high end of a distinctly unlevel playing field. What choice did Greyhound have?

Well, they say if you can't beat'em, join'em. And Greyhound has now advised the Passenger Transport Board that, having apparently reached agreement with BC Ferries on parking arrangements, they intend to run 'connector buses' to and from the ferry terminals on either side "as many or as few times a day as market conditions dictate". Or, in other words, Greyhound will exploit a legal loophole that, quite legitimately, lets them run whatever service they want to - or none at all.

All of which may be good for passengers, or maybe not. Greyhound claims to have reinstated the six trips a day from November 15th, but look on their website and they still offer bookings on only two journeys each way - which doesn't instil much confidence for the future - and probably leaves their operating partners (like Tofino Bus, who run connecting services between Nanaimo and Tofino) as confused as the rest of us.

What does this sad tale convey? Well, the overriding impression is that the legislation under which inter-city bus operators are obliged to run defined levels of service (and, in return, get a degree of protection from competition) has lost most, if not all of its teeth and operators like Greyhound Canada can - and will - do whatever they want. Running inter-city buses is an expensive business, and no operator can afford to continue running near-empty buses - so is there a purpose to the licence system any more?  It's only a little over a year ago that another operator also withdrew their route from Vancouver Airport to Nanaimo - once again, without waiting for the Board's approval to do so.

It's time to accept that market conditions have changed dramatically since the Passenger Transport Act established the current legislative framework, leaving the dominant inter-city bus operators frustrated and out-of-pocket, yet preventing innovative alternatives being established to meet today's more discerning transport needs. The inter-city bus market in BC is decaying  - yet in other parts of the country new high quality, low-cost alternatives such as Megabus and Bolt Bus (ironically a re-invention by Greyhound) are flourishing. True, the markets are different - but with a little imagination and the right product, the market is there on Vancouver Island.

So come on, BC Government, take a long hard look at the rule book, and ask yourself whether the time is right to remove the regulations limiting entry to the inter-city bus market before the old dog retreats back to its kennel altogether.

BC Ferries eyes up route "efficiencies"

Last week, BC Ferries produced a document entitled Opportunities for Enhanced Efficiency in Performance Term Three to the BC Ferry Commissioner, as part of their Performance Term Three Submission, from which the Commissioner determines price caps for each of the route groups for a four-year period from 2010 until 2016.

Emphasising that these opportunities for enhanced efficiency are not, in fact BC Ferries' proposals, but are "matters of public policy for consideration", the report goes on to propose the scrapping of two southern routes and significant changes to several others. Among the changes suggested is the following:

• Elimination of Route 12 (Mill Bay - Brentwood Bay) - avoiding expenditure of $2.3 million on refurbishing MV Klitsa (to replace the 53 year old MV Mill Bay) and saving $2.8 million in terminal upgrades at Mill Bay and Brentwood Bay
• Changing the terminal for Route 19 (Nanaimo Harbour - Gabriola Island) to Duke Point, to reduce journey time, despite the recent rejection of this proposal by island residents.
• Elimination or restructuring of Route 9 (Tsawwassen - Southern Gulf Islands) and closure of the Long Harbour terminal - avoiding over $100 million in vessel replacement costs for MV Queen of Nanaimo and leading to closure of the Long Harbour terminal
• Inclusion of Route 3 (Horseshoe Bay - Langdale) as part of the major route network, releasing up to $5m of subsidy for the minor routes .... with "greater flexibility" of service levels on Route 3.
• Reductions in off-peak services on Route 30 (Tsawwassen - Duke Point) on Saturday evenings and Sundays, coupled with the early closure of the Departure Bay terminal on Saturdays and evening sailings on Route 2 to and from Horseshoe Bay diverted to Duke Point.

The full text of BC Ferries' submission can be read here.

Canadian pension funds pay $3bn+ for UK high speed rail line

New Transit :
5 November 2010

Two Canadian pension funds have clinched a £2bn deal to acquire the High Speed 1 rail route between London and the Channel Tunnel.

The government announced the sale of the line, which was completed in 2008, in June as part of efforts to reduce national debt. Transport secretary Philip Hammond this morning announced a consortium comprising Borealis Infrastructure and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan will pay the government a total concession value of £2.1bn to operate the line for the next 30 years.

The consortium will take on the management of the 68 mile line which links London to the Channel Tunnel following completion later this month. The consortium will be responsible for running the line as well as stations such as St Pancras International, and the international stations at Stratford, Ashford and Ebbsfleet.

Borealis Infrastructure is the infrastructure investment arm of the OMERS Worldwide group of companies, one of Canada’s largest pension plans. Meanwhile, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is the largest single-profession pension plan in Canada and already has a number of investments in the UK including airports in Bristol and Birmingham.

Commenting on the deal Hammond said: “This is great news for taxpayers and rail passengers alike. It is a big vote of confidence in UK plc and a big vote of market confidence in the future of high speed rail. It also shows that the decisive action this Government has taken to reduce the deficit is already paying dividends and that investors believe once again that Britain is open for business. “The £2.1bn receipt exceeds the highest expectations for the sale and will make a welcome contribution to reducing the deficit. "I look forward to working with the new concessionaire and to the benefits passengers will see as High Speed 1 seeks to attract new services to the line, allowing British passengers to travel by high speed train to even more destinations across Europe. “This is an exciting time for rail travel and an important step in our plans to develop a truly national and international high speed network for British travellers.”

The successful sale was managed for the government by London & Continental Railways.  Commenting on today’s announcement, L&CR chief executive Mark Bayley said: “High Speed 1 is a unique, high quality infrastructure asset which speeds tens of thousands of people between London, Kent and continental Europe every day. I am very proud to have been associated with the business and its excellent management, and believe that we have achieved an extremely good price for HS1 through a very competitive process.”

High Speed 1 is currently used by international Eurostar services between London and European destinations as well as domestic high speed services between London and Kent operated by Govia subsidiary Southeastern. Additional international services are likely to commence in the coming years. Last month German rail giant Deutsche Bahn confirmed that it is planning new high speed services between London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt from 2014. Meanwhile, the DfT has confirmed that the performance of the new operator of the line will be independently policed by the Office of Rail Regulation to ensure that "rail passengers' interests are effectively safeguarded".