Citylink Complete Acquisition of GoBus

devnull

According to well placed sources and a number of media outlets in Ireland and beyond, ComfortDelGro, the owners of Irish Citylink, have made a bid for Galway based GoBus, run by Jim Burke and Sons.

ComfortDelGro already have notified Competition and Consumer Protection Commission last week of the intended acquisition but it is not yet known as to whether the deal includes all or just part of it's Galway based rival.

Citylink Current routes.+
- Galway - Ballinasloe - Athlone - Dublin - Dublin Airport
- Galway - Dublin City - Dublin Airport Non Stop
- Galway - Dublin Airport Non Stop
- Limerick - Dublin Airport Non Stop
- Galway - Limerick - Cork - Cork Airport
- Galway - Clifden

GoBus current routes
- Galway - Dublin City - Dublin Airport Non Stop
- Galway - Ballina
- Cork - Dublin Non Stop

Obviously this is going to make Citylink pretty dominant in Galway when it comes to the bus transport, as well as filling in the missing link in their network between Cork and Dublin, if they could get a link to Limerick as well somehow then this would make them have a really significant network.

Since both of the licenses for Dublin to Galway express service would end up in the same company, it'll be interesting to see how the NTA handle this from a licensing point of view considering their two express licenses per corridor guideline that they tend to stick to because there is no doubt it will result in a lessening of competition if they hold both.

Will Citylink try and operate them as two different brands to try and stop someone else coming in, or will they be forced to transfer both lots of services to the same license to allow another operator to start up on Dublin to Galway non stop. You'd have to think that if a license did come avaliable, then Bus Eireann might look at this as a way into a market they previously could not partake in. Alternatively Dublin Coach, National Express or Aircoach might be interested, post pandemic.

I'm guessing they will be forced to bring in a third party who will take the Galway - Dublin route. No way they will be allowed to keep that to themselves. The only reason that route has such good service is the competition

devnull

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm guessing they will be forced to bring in a third party who will take the Galway - Dublin route. No way they will be allowed to keep that to themselves. The only reason that route has such good service is the competition

Be interesting how they'd do that and what operator would be willing to take on such a license against what would be a very strong incumbent. Bus Eireann would be the ones who are best placed as they already have a Galway to Dublin customer base to work from rather than starting from zilch.

You'd assume that if they have to do that, they'd try and do it in a way that would allow them to try and tempt the GoBus Galway customers to themselves by some clever marketing and contact with the GoBus customer base, even if they end up having to dispense with the GoBus license itself.

No doubt a lot of this is about the Dublin to Cork license. That's a missing link in their network really. With them having services terminating in both Dublin and Cork already, it's not going to be hugely inconvenient operationally and it shows that ComfortDelGro are here to stay.

The smaller and/or family run companies such as GoBus probably have come under increasing pressure financially due to the pandemic, whereas the bigger multinationals with their deeper pockets are going to be better placed to see it out. I wouldn't be surprised to see more deals of this like in Ireland and the UK.

bk

Wow, that is very big news!

I've mixed emotions on it. It is always sad to see an Irish family run business get swallowed up by the a big multinational.

I was pretty critical of GoBus's launch in Cork and the multiple mistakes they made during the first few years, but fair play to them over the latter few years they had corrected most of those mistakes and I had pretty much completely moved over from using Aircoach to using GoBus to Cork. That had become a pretty decent service.

But if anyone is going to buy GoBus, from the Cork perspective I'm delighted that it is Citylink. I've always felt that Citylink were by far the best intercity coach operator in Ireland, a big step up from all the others. Every time I'd go to Galway on the lovely Vanhool overdeckers it has been an absolute pleasure.

I'd assume they will continue to use the Volvo's to Cork, but in time I'd love to see some Vanhools on the route. They could be serious competition for Aircoach and Irish Rail. The Gobus service already felt like a slight step above Aircoach, but if Citylink eventually bring Vanhools to the table, it would be a big step up and serious competition.

At least I'm glad it isn't Dublin Coach or Aircoach (in terms of reduced options to Cork).

Of course that brings us to the downside of this deal, the big reduction in competition to Galway. I'd hope the competition authority would require them to give up one of the licenses for the Galway route then.

Who would go for that route? Devnull already mentioned BE and that makes sense given their existing presence on the route. On the other hand, it feels like BE aren't really interested in Expressway any more, it feels like they are largely shrinking it and refocusing on PSO services instead. I wouldn't be at all surprised if BE spilt Expressway off and sold it off to a private operator. But I could be totally wrong about that, just a gut feeling.

Aircoach might be interested. About 6 months ago the CEO of Aircoach had an interview in one of the papers. She said she expected mergers to happen and Aircoach were keen to jump on good deals and expand. Adding Galway to their network would greatly strengthen their network.

Then of course there is Dublin Coach, I hope not.

But that brings up an interesting point, what about Dublin Coach? They most be an obvious target for take over too. They seemed to be struggling for cash before covid and the owners game plan normally seems to be sell out to a big multinational. So could DC be on the bidding block too?

DC's network would be a great fit for either Citylink or Aircoach.

Citylink, while they already have a service from Limerick to Dublin Airport, there is the obvious gap of no service to Dublin city, buying DC would fill that nicely and they would also gain a Belfast and Waterford service. Between Gobus and DC, Citylink would end up with a complete network to every city in Ireland!!

Likewise, Airchach would benefit buying DC by eliminating a competitor on the Belfast route and adding Limerick and Waterford to their network, giving them almost a complete network too.

Either of the above would leave them in a powerful spot. Of course there is always other possible players and maybe DC are fine.

Just some speculation on my part.

Oh and yes the Cork - Limerick - Galway service will be in a nice spot for Citylink when the M20 is done.

Articles here, but require subscription:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/citylink-plans-to-overtake-rival-operator-gobus-tqwlxgqz3

https://www.businesspost.ie/companies/citylink-bids-for-gobus-on-behalf-of-transport-giant-db2c426e

And confirmation that the CCPC is reviewing the deal here, looks pretty firm to me if approved:
https://www.ccpc.ie/business/mergers-acquisitions/merger-notifications/m-21-009-citylink-gobus/

@OP

@OP. Are you referring to the article in the reputable newspaper link below? your post reads like it’s a secret but pretty clear from the article below

https://www.businesspost.ie/companies/citylink-bids-for-gobus-on-behalf-of-transport-giant-db2c426e

Big news and to be honest sad to read. Gobus are a great service orientated company, it was them who forced citylink to up their game on the Dublin to Galway route (toilets, WiFi, coach standards). Not to mention they are locally owned in Galway by a very decent family.

Just on the discussion of Dublin coach picking up any pieces, I don’t see this happening, their cash cow quick park is I longer theirs (see below which explains the rocks blocking the entrance, assume landlord did this) and they look to be in real trouble cash wise.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/developer-gerry-gannon-entitled-to-2-18m-airport-car-park-rent-1.4467400

devnull

Mayo_fan wrote: »

@OP. Are you referring to the article in the reputable newspaper link below? your post reads like it’s a secret but pretty clear from the article below

https://www.businesspost.ie/companies/citylink-bids-for-gobus-on-behalf-of-transport-giant-db2c426e

Big news and to be honest sad to read. Gobus are a great service orientated company, it was them who forced citylink to up their game on the Dublin to Galway route (toilets, WiFi, coach standards). Not to mention they are locally owned in Galway by a very decent family.

It's been rumoured since the middle of last week that something was afoot. The newspapers are simply backing up what I had heard on the grapevine but didn't have enough to firm it up to a point where I was confident of posting it here.

Just on the discussion of Dublin coach picking up any pieces, I don’t see this happening, their cash cow quick park is I longer theirs (see below which explains the rocks blocking the entrance, assume landlord did this) and they look to be in real trouble cash wise.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/developer-gerry-gannon-entitled-to-2-18m-airport-car-park-rent-1.4467400

I wasn't aware of that. Certainly that means that they are likely to be more of a target to be taken over than taking over anyone themselves unless they get some financial backing from somewhere, which would certainly not be easy right now.

You would have to think that ComfortDelGro (who would then become by far the biggest private scheduled coach operator), First and National Express are the favourites should they go onto the market. The outside bets might be Go-Ahead (who traditionally don't do much coach work) or another group looking to enter the market.

Mrs OBumble

Would JJ Kavanagh be a potential operator to take a Galway/Dublin license? They only have a weekly student service from Birr over here at the moment (may not be running now).

Grandad99

A friend works for Aircoach, she tells me they have been given a Dublin - Galway licence. Service expected to start in July.

bk

Grandad99 wrote: »

A friend works for Aircoach, she tells me they have been given a Dublin - Galway licence. Service expected to start in July.

Wow, more big news. Glad it isn't DC anyway. This gives Aircoach a really nice network too now. Dublin to Cork, Galway and Belfast. Just missing Limerick.

It will be interesting, Aircoach will need to up the quality of the coaches they use. Galway is use to a higher standard then they currently operate to Cork.

I'd say it will be all to play to see if DC are up for sale too and if Aircoach or Citylink get it. I'd think Citylink are a slightly better fit, given it would give them a Belfast route and they already have a presence in Limerick.

Maybe Aircoach and Citylink would divide DC routes up between each other. Will be interesting to watch how this all plays out.

belfast stephen

would Aircoach have the fleet to start a Galway service or would they need extra services and i assume they would open a base in Galway

bk

belfast stephen wrote: »

would Aircoach have the fleet to start a Galway service or would they need extra services and i assume they would open a base in Galway

There are a couple of possibilities:
- They buy the existing GoBus coaches
- They sub-contract the continued use of the existing GoBus coaches
- They bring in spare coaches from the UK First group, like when they started the Cork route. I think they may also have some extra coaches spare due to getting new coaches for Cork etc.

The first two would depend on the nature of the deal between Citylink, GoBus and Aircoach.

Did Citylink buy Jim Burkes entire company including coaches, or perhaps just the Cork route license, etc. Many possible variants here.

devnull

Grandad99 wrote: »

A friend works for Aircoach, she tells me they have been given a Dublin - Galway licence. Service expected to start in July.

The takeover of GoBus by Citylink is not complete at this stage and there are still submissions being made in relation to CCPC for a few more days yet and after that a decision will have to be made in relation to whether it can go ahead and what remedies might need to happen to allow it to happen.

The two express licenses for Dublin to Galway remain with ComfortDelgro Limited Irish CityLink (CityLink) and Evobus and Coach Ltd (GoBus). Whilst there have been discussions and rumours as who may pick up some licenses if the merged company was forced to relinquish them, no transfer of license has yet taken place.

Therefore it is hard to understand how Aircoach would have already been granted a license because it would go against all precedent to issue a third express license on that corridor and GoBus or CityLink are not going to sell a license before the takeover has gone through and if they had already sold one of them, they wouldn't still be operating as they'd no longer have a license to do so.

What I have heard is there may have been discussions about another operator (name was not mentioned) taking over one of the licenses should the takeover be rubber stamped and this measure be required to push it through. The two companies involved in this takeover/merger may have proactively suggested this as a remedy as they knew it would be a problem for the CCPC and may already have a buyer lined up.

I'm not saying that Aircoach are not going to get the license, but it's not a done deal yet.

Jamie2k9

Is there a particular reason why the NTA would prefer 2 private operators on the route. I don't buy the whole competition argument on a city pair like this. Just look at BE scrapping most express services.

bk

devnull wrote: »

Therefore it is hard to understand how Aircoach would have already been granted a license because it would go against all precedent to issue a third express license on that corridor and GoBus or CityLink are not going to sell a license before the takeover has gone through and if they had already sold one of them, they wouldn't still be operating as they'd no longer have a license to do so.

What I have heard is there may have been discussions about another operator (name was not mentioned) taking over one of the licenses should the takeover be rubber stamped and this measure be required to push it through. The two companies involved in this takeover/merger may have proactively suggested this as a remedy as they knew it would be a problem for the CCPC and may already have a buyer lined up.

During mergers where they are likely to be monopoly concerns it isn't unusual at all for the company doing the taking over to come to an agreement with a third company to take over the parts that would cause concern (for a price obviously) before the merger happens and to include that in the merger proposal. This way they can avoid any delays in the merger and ensure it gets quick approval.

It is very common and I can think of many examples.

Another possibility is that GoBus sold that two licenses separately. The Galway to Aircoach and the Cork one to Citylink.

Maybe Aircoach were actually the first movers here? Maybe they bought the Galway license and Citylink responded by buying GoBus to get the remaining Cork license to fight back?

Of course that isn't to say that any of this is true, I don't have any inside knowledge. Just that it wouldn't be surprising if true. Competition authority tend to take this sort of stuff seriously.

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Is there a particular reason why the NTA would prefer 2 private operators on the route. I don't buy the whole competition argument on a city pair like this. Just look at BE scrapping most express services.

The BE Expressway licenses were different, they were stopping licenses, rather then non stop direct and mostly they pre-dated the NTA forming.

Also BE has only scrapped a small number of Expressway routes, they still have many.

devnull

bk wrote: »

Another possibility is that GoBus sold that two licenses separately. The Galway to Aircoach and the Cork one to Citylink.

Maybe Aircoach were actually the first movers here? Maybe they bought the Galway license and Citylink responded by buying GoBus to get the remaining Cork license to fight back?

Evobus and Coach Ltd (GoBus) are still the legal owners of both the Dublin to Galway and Dublin to Cork licenses. They continue to operate services under their own name and under the previously awarded licenses. No licenses have changed hands from what I understand.

Realistically no licenses are going to change hands until the outcome of the CCPC investigation is concluded. There might well be potential deals that have been lined up to satisfy the CCPC, but these are not going to formally go through until the takeover itself goes through and it hasn't yet.

Jamie2k9

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Is there a particular reason why the NTA would prefer 2 private operators on the route. I don't buy the whole competition argument on a city pair like this. Just look at BE scrapping most express services.

Competition is good for the consumer. Just take a look at the quality of the buses on the Galway-Dublin route versus some others. They're miles apart because these companies have to maintain high standards to get and keep customers

bk

devnull wrote: »

Evobus and Coach Ltd (GoBus) are still the legal owners of both the Dublin to Galway and Dublin to Cork licenses. They continue to operate services under their own name and under the previously awarded licenses. No licenses have changed hands from what I understand.

Realistically no licenses are going to change hands until the outcome of the CCPC investigation is concluded. There might well be potential deals that have been lined up to satisfy the CCPC, but these are not going to formally go through until the takeover itself goes through and it hasn't yet.

Of course any deals would be provisional, pending the go ahead of the CCPC, etc.

One thought just jumped to mind. What about Callinan Coaches?

Are Citylink taking over the whole of GoBus including their coaches? Would that mean they'd stop using Callinan Coaches? Or would the the GoBus coaches be separated out into a different company and remain under Jim Burke ownership?

Either scenarios would allow whichever company takes the old GoBus license to Galway if that happens, to use either Callinan or Jim Burkes coaches as a sub-contractor and depots, depending on the format of the deal.

Bumblebee2020

Aircoachs new licence has nothing to do with take overs or too many operators on the route, they applied a few months ago for a new route licences.
They have watched Dualway’s Airport hopper Maynooth route and watched what that took in.
The Galway route will have stops in Maynooth and Athlone with Dublin Airport/Galway as start finish point.
They are simply taking the time to do new licences as they hadn’t the time to do it before and while other companies are still off the road they willl try get a customer base in these areas along the way.
Good thinking!
I do think we will see new routes popping up now because this is the time for operators to apply for them, even if they are not used operators will apply for them and put the ground work in now.

devnull

Bumblebee2020 wrote: »

Aircoachs new licence has nothing to do with take overs or too many operators on the route, they applied a few months ago for a new route licences.
They have watched Dualway’s Airport hopper Maynooth route and watched what that took in.
The Galway route will have stops in Maynooth and Athlone with Dublin Airport/Galway as start finish point.
They are simply taking the time to do new licences as they hadn’t the time to do it before and while other companies are still off the road they willl try get a customer base in these areas along the way.
Good thinking!
I do think we will see new routes popping up now because this is the time for operators to apply for them, even if they are not used operators will apply for them and put the ground work in now.

No operator has the ability to just decide to do new licenses when they feel like it and get approval just like that because it has to go through an approval process with the National Transport Authority and whether a license is granted depends on if the application is acceptable under the NTA's published guidelines. This takes far more than a few weeks normally.

Part of that involves ensuring that there are not too many operators on a route. The NTA has been consistent in applying two operators per corridor (Express and Multistop are considered separate) and I've seen nothing to suggest that their opinion in that regard has changed whatsoever and no license was issued up to 21st February as publicly published NTA documents prove this.

Aircoach by their own admission have had a lot of downtime in the last year, the MD herself said in the press recently that they've been using the time to revamp their website, social media and booking engine among other things, so I simply don't buy the idea that they've only just got around to it. Even pre-pandemic Dervla McKay was saying they were actively looking at new routes.

Even if they have a license, the idea that they'll launch now to jump start anyone who isn't running is rather fanciful. The areas that you mention already have GoBus, Citylink (x2) and Bus Eireann serving them and whilst Airport Hopper isn't operating, that service ran a mini coach every hour that wasn't exactly heaving on a regular basis and only served people going to the airport, where demand is almost zero right now. Going into that corridor would be a tough battle at the best of times. Going into it when the demand has been slaughtered by COVID just seems illogical.

bk

devnull wrote: »

Part of that involves ensuring that there are not too many operators on a route. The NTA has been consistent in applying two operators per corridor (Express and Multistop are considered separate) and I've seen nothing to suggest that their opinion in that regard has changed whatsoever and no license was issued up to 21st February as publicly published NTA documents prove this.

It sounds like it could be a semi-express service, if truly just Galway - Athlone - Maynooth - Dublin, it could fall between both the existing Express and multi-stop services and might get a license on that basis?

And if it skips Dublin and goes straight to Dublin Airport, even more different, more like Eireagle.

Might explain partly why GoBus have decided to sell up.

Having said this, I'm surprised that Aircoach would start a service like this to Galway where there is so much competition already, rather then say Limerick which could do with more options.Though perhaps Athlone and Maynooth are the real draw here for Aircoach.

Of course all just speculation on my part.

Mrs OBumble

bk wrote: »

IHaving said this, I'm surprised that Aircoach would start a service like this to Galway where there is so much competition already, rather then say Limerick which could do with more options.Though perhaps Athlone and Maynooth are the real draw here for Aircoach.

Of course all just speculation on my part.

Limerick to Dublin has JJ Kavanagh, Dublin Coach and CityLink. And not so many tourists.

Personally I think a bus from Galway stopping in Maynooth could be handy, it's a difficult spot to get to unless you want to pay train fares.

Bumblebee2020

devnull wrote: »

No operator has the ability to just decide to do new licenses when they feel like it and get approval just like that because it has to go through an approval process with the National Transport Authority and whether a license is granted depends on if the application is acceptable under the NTA's published guidelines. This takes far more than a few weeks normally.

Part of that involves ensuring that there are not too many operators on a route. The NTA has been consistent in applying two operators per corridor (Express and Multistop are considered separate) and I've seen nothing to suggest that their opinion in that regard has changed whatsoever and no license was issued up to 21st February as publicly published NTA documents prove this.

Aircoach by their own admission have had a lot of downtime in the last year, the MD herself said in the press recently that they've been using the time to revamp their website, social media and booking engine among other things, so I simply don't buy the idea that they've only just got around to it. Even pre-pandemic Dervla McKay was saying they were actively looking at new routes.

Even if they have a license, the idea that they'll launch now to jump start anyone who isn't running is rather fanciful. The areas that you mention already have GoBus, Citylink (x2) and Bus Eireann serving them and whilst Airport Hopper isn't operating, that service ran a mini coach every hour that wasn't exactly heaving on a regular basis and only served people going to the airport, where demand is almost zero right now. Going into that corridor would be a tough battle at the best of times. Going into it when the demand has been slaughtered by COVID just seems illogical.

Thanks for updating me on how I apply for licences, I’ve only done a handful in my experience, the reason the document wasn’t updated with the NTA was because the NTA gave the smaller operators a chance with out of date license they where all given a few months grace, a licence normally takes 6months to get approved for a new licence and 3months for a amendment because of the pandemic it’s now 12weeks and 6weeks they hope to pass them for you.

Aircoach started training their drivers today in this new route and have hopes to start it up in July along with their 700 starting back up, they have the licence for Galway granted as a lot of ground work went into the Galway licence. The Airport Hopper maynooth was a big hit for the students and that’s what Aircoach have looked at how viable the student market is hence the link between Galway/Athlone/Maynooth like Wexford Buses new service toMaynooth (only ran for a few weeks in Nov/Dec) the student market is big and it’s a new day for operators as the Airport might not bounce back for a few years so where will the money come from?

Bumblebee2020

devnull wrote: »

No operator has the ability to just decide to do new licenses when they feel like it and get approval just like that because it has to go through an approval process with the National Transport Authority and whether a license is granted depends on if the application is acceptable under the NTA's published guidelines. This takes far more than a few weeks normally.

Part of that involves ensuring that there are not too many operators on a route. The NTA has been consistent in applying two operators per corridor (Express and Multistop are considered separate) and I've seen nothing to suggest that their opinion in that regard has changed whatsoever and no license was issued up to 21st February as publicly published NTA documents prove this.

Aircoach by their own admission have had a lot of downtime in the last year, the MD herself said in the press recently that they've been using the time to revamp their website, social media and booking engine among other things, so I simply don't buy the idea that they've only just got around to it. Even pre-pandemic Dervla McKay was saying they were actively looking at new routes.

Even if they have a license, the idea that they'll launch now to jump start anyone who isn't running is rather fanciful. The areas that you mention already have GoBus, Citylink (x2) and Bus Eireann serving them and whilst Airport Hopper isn't operating, that service ran a mini coach every hour that wasn't exactly heaving on a regular basis and only served people going to the airport, where demand is almost zero right now. Going into that corridor would be a tough battle at the best of times. Going into it when the demand has been slaughtered by COVID just seems illogical.

Thanks for updating me on how I apply for licences, I’ve only done a handful in my experience, the reason the document wasn’t updated with the NTA was because the NTA gave the smaller operators a chance with out of date license they where all given a few months grace, a licence normally takes 6months to get approved for a new licence and 3months for a amendment because of the pandemic it’s now 12weeks and 6weeks they hope to pass them for you.

Aircoach started training their drivers today in this new route and have hopes to start it up in July along with their 700 starting back up, they have the licence for Galway granted as a lot of ground work went into the Galway licence. The Airport Hopper maynooth was a big hit for the students and that’s what Aircoach have looked at how viable the student market is hence the link between Galway/Athlone/Maynooth like Wexford Buses new service toMaynooth (only ran for a few weeks in Nov/Dec) the student market is big and it’s a new day for operators as the Airport might not bounce back for a few years so where will the money come from?

bk

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Limerick to Dublin has JJ Kavanagh, Dublin Coach and CityLink. And not so many tourists.

Sure, but that is still less competition on either the Cork, Galway or Belfast route.

Dublin Coach is the only somewhat direct service on this corridor, while Cork has Aircoach/Gobus, Galway Citylink/Gobus, Belfast Dublin Coach/Aircoach

JJ Kavangh is a mutlistop service, Citylink is Eireagle and thus skips Dublin City and heads direct to the airport.

Even Dublin Coach isn't a true non-stop service like Galway/Cork have. It is a limited stop, semi-express service, stopping at Annacotty, Kildare Village and Red Cow.

I'd feel like there is a very obvious gap in this corridor for a true non-stop express service doing Limerick - Dublin City (and maybe Dublin Airport).

Seen how overcrowded DC coaches often seem to be. A direct non stop service (at least from UL) that took 15 or 20 minutes off DC could make a killing IMO.

But I take your point on Galway having a lot more tourists. But wouldn't tourists heading to Galway, just take the faster direct Citylink/GoBus services versus this possible new Aircoach stopping service?

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Personally I think a bus from Galway stopping in Maynooth could be handy, it's a difficult spot to get to unless you want to pay train fares.

Very true.

devnull

CCPC have now completed their initial investigation.

They've now asked for the parties to supply more information before the matter can be considered further.

devnull

Just an update that this investigation is still going on.

However it appears that the Galway to Ballina route is now operated by Cummer Coaches Ltd (also owned by Jim Burke) as opposed to the Evobus and Coach Ltd t/a GoBus which it was previously, that the Galway to Dublin and the Cork to Dublin routes remain under.

In addition it's widely believed that Cummer Coaches Ltd have got a license application in for a route from Castlebar to Dublin Airport which they are considering launching later this year to tie in with the local Ballina route that also serves Castlebar.

The fact they're split the routes under two separate entities would suggest to me that any deal for GoBus by CityLink would involve Jim Burke in keeping hold of the Castlebar to Dublin Airport and Ballina to Galway route.

Mrs OBumble

FWIW, Aircoach now have a Galway page on their website, with a Book Tickets link at the bottom. No listed routes (yet).

https://www.aircoach.ie/galway

devnull

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

FWIW, Aircoach now have a Galway page on their website, with a Book Tickets link at the bottom. No listed routes (yet).

https://www.aircoach.ie/galway

There's a timetable placeholder page as well:
https://www.aircoach.ie/plan-journey/timetables/706

Nothing to suggest the route or the times or prices yet though.

bk

Looks like Aircoach has the license too, from the NTA license spreadsheet:

Last Passive Ltd - Aircoach - 21009 - 706/706X - Regular - 22/04/2024 - Galway - Dublin Airport

And from the timetable page, they say:
"Travel to Galway with Aircoach on our 706 bus route which runs 10 express services daily from Dublin City Centre or from Dublin Airport to Galway Coach Station in Galway City Centre"

So looks like Aircoach will be going to Galway too now. I'd note that GoBus's schedule is also 10 services daily on most days (with two extra Friday/Sunday). So maybe just taking over GoBus service.

Sounds like we may end up with both Galway and Cork having both Citylink and Aircoach operating the routes.

devnull

I would be confident that Athlone, Ballinasloe and Maynooth are going to be involved in the standard 706 based on what I've heard today.

I'm not sure on what the Dublin based terminus will be but the Galway one will certainly be the coach station.

The 706X is a bit of an unknown still, but I assume it is missing some of them out.

devnull

Stops of the 706 are believed to include:

- Athlone Arcadia Centre
- Athlone Institute of Technology
- Ballinasloe, Dunlo Street (and potentially one more)
- Galway Coach Station
- Galway Mayo Institute of Technology.

Maynooth stop is not yet set in stone apparently but they're looking at an area that would tie in with other methods of transport, so near train station or bus terminus in Maynooth might be good bets.

devnull

devnull wrote: »

Stops of the 706 are believed to include:

- Athlone Arcadia Centre
- Athlone Institute of Technology
- Ballinasloe, Dunlo Street (and potentially one more)
- Galway Coach Station
- Galway Mayo Institute of Technology.

Maynooth stop is not yet set in stone apparently but they're looking at an area that would tie in with other methods of transport, so near train station or bus terminus in Maynooth might be good bets.

From a contact in Galway, apparently this 706/706X Aircoach service is not directly linked to the goings on with GoBus and CityLink, which is still is under investigation by the CCPC.

Further Ballinasloe stop at Portiuncula Hospital and the Maynooth stop is set to be close to the Dublin Bus terminus. It is believed these are the final stops on the jigsaw, aside from the terminus in Dublin City Centre, which I've not had definitive info on.

There's also a rebrand of Aircoach set to be revealed very soon and the new logo is hideous.

L1011

The Maynooth bus terminus was hideously overloaded at certain times of day in normal times; with one or two DB 67s, a Dualway Airport Hopper bus, a 115 and a 2something BE service potentially piling up at once.

Now, it won't be a DB terminus after BusConnects so that layover will be gone but its a potentially very busy bus stop with basically no facilities beyond two shelters and a bin! You can just about have two buses stopped with another able to pass; but the 115 occasionally has to stop at the island already.

devnull

L1011 wrote: »

The Maynooth bus terminus was hideously overloaded at certain times of day in normal times; with one or two DB 67s, a Dualway Airport Hopper bus, a 115 and a 2something BE service potentially piling up at once.

Now, it won't be a DB terminus after BusConnects so that layover will be gone but its a potentially very busy bus stop with basically no facilities beyond two shelters and a bin! You can just about have two buses stopped with another able to pass; but the 115 occasionally has to stop at the island already.

The way the stop was described to me was 'the old 67A terminus' although that route hasn't been around for a little while and I can't quite remember whether that was the same as the current terminus for the 67 or not.

Aircoach appeared to have now updated their branding on their website with stylised A. It looks better in digital form than it does on one of their coaches, so it may well be that there will be a launch tomorrow.

L1011

Same terminus. The 67 was changed so all departures were A and then dropped the suffix

p_haugh

devnull wrote: »

There's also a rebrand of Aircoach set to be revealed very soon and the new logo is hideous.

The rebrand is already visible on their site by the way
https://www.aircoach.ie/

Edit: just saw your more recent post stating the same

devnull

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/116912732#Comment_116912732

More information has now been submitted by parties and the investigation has now been extended.

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117615271#Comment_117615271

Wow, I nearly fell off my chair with that substantial update. Make sure you keep us updated.

devnull

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has today cleared the deal. https://www.ccpc.ie/business/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/03/M.21.009-Merger-Announcement.pdf

Competition and Consumer Protection Commission clears proposed acquisition by ComfortDelGro Irish Citylink Limited of sole control of certain assets and business of Cummer Bus Group Limited.

On 20 August 2021, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission cleared the proposed transaction, whereby ComfortDelGro Irish Citylink Limited, a wholly owned, indirectly held subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited, would acquire sole control of the GoBus business currently operated by the Cummer Bus Group Limited and its subsidiaries. The proposed transaction was notified under the Competition Act 2002, as amended, on 03 March 2021.

The Commission has formed the view that the proposed transaction will not substantially lessen competition in any market for goods or services in the State. The Commission will publish the reasons for its determination on its website no later than 60 working days after the date of the determination and after allowing the parties the opportunity to request that confidential information be removed from the published version. 

It's not yet known what, if any undertakings or reassurances etc have been given as part of the approval of this takeover or exacly what assets formed part of the deal and what did not.

devnull

Galway Chamber of Commerce have released their submission to the CCPC investigation into the purchase of GoBus by CityLink.

Galway-Chamber-CPCC-Submission-M-21-009-City-Link-GoBus.pdf

In Summary they recommended the issuing of licenses to another operator on routes where the two operators compete and also wanted safeguards in relation to services not being reduced and avoiding monopolies, especially as Expressway has pulled out of the corridor recently.

bk

I agree with the sentiment, but I'm a little confused about the above submission. Haven't Aircoach basically taking over the x20 route from BE, so it is still there now? And wasn't the x20 always a semi-stopping service, not a non-stop direct service like GoBus/Citylink?

I agree though that ideally there should be two competing, direct non-stop services.

devnull

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117798924#Comment_117798924

Well the investigation has been going on since March, so we don't know at what point this was submitted.

devnull

Does anyone know if this deal is still going ahead?

There's talk going around that it might not be. There is also talk that ComfortDelGro (Citylink) were not the only ones sniffing around and another multi-national made a bid at one point....

devnull

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission have now published their determination for allowing the deal in full.

M-21-009-Citylink-GoBus-Determination-Public.pdf (ccpc.ie)

Essentially the fact Aircoach entered the Galway to Dublin market, has meant that the CCPC permitted the deal.

Note that the deal has not yet gone through and there are unconfirmed rumours that it might now be off

Glaceon

Now completed.

https://www.citylink.ie/useful-info/gobusacquistion

devnull

I think on the basis of the above, if they are not foregoing any route licenses, the NTA needs to look at the Dublin to Galway market and whether the current situation is in the interests of consumers.

You should not have a situation where one operator owns both of the licenses for the Galway to Dublin non stop route as well as being the leader in the multi-stop route in my view.

The NTA should force them to dispense with one of the non stop licenses to another party, but I suspect what CityLink will do is run GoBus and CityLink as separate brands to give the impression of competition of the two when there really is none.

flazio

Aircoach only have multistop don't they? Perhaps they could launch a non stop.

One good thing to come out of this, now that Citylink have fixed their beef with the Coach station, none of the companies will collect or drop off on the street anymore.

TranslatorPS

Technically it's multistop, but in reality the 706/X kind of float around the "semi-express" label: all services stop in Athlone twice, and the plain 706 calls in Ballinasloe and Maynooth, thus realistically they're still fast but not pure non-stop. A minor improvement over the old X20 which served Loughrea as well, so despite bypassing Maynooth the X20 was still overall slower than the 706 I believe, and that's disregarding the fact that the running time between Athlone and Dublin Airport was calculated for a 120 km/h car, not a 100 km/h coach. The 706 running times are pretty much on the spot on the other hand.

devnull

Realistically this deal today is the first time that the NTA is going to face a situation where one operator has managed to gain a lot of control over the coach services between two cities in the country.

This situation has been allowed to happen as whilst the NTA sees non stop and mutli-stop services as being different markets, the CCPC in it's determination considered the Aircoach limited stop route as the same market as the non stop routes offered by GoBus and CityLink even though the NTA wouldn't have seen it like that when granting the license. I have to say that I disagree with the CCPC on this.

Why?

• A long established operator, Bus Eireann, no longer operates stopping services on the corridor
• All three of the other long established routes licenses are now owned by CityLink.
• CityLink now effectively has a monopoly on the Dublin to Galway non stop market, even if they try and portray it as two separate brands.
• Whilst there is Aircoach, they are a recent entrant and are not doing that well from everything I have seen.

It is easy to see why CityLink would certainly like the above scenario as basically it means they have the vast majority of the market sewn up, and whilst their is a competitor on the multi-stop and semi-stopping routes, it's not a really strong one.

That's why we need to make sure that the NTA ensures that todays deal does not result in a worse deal for consumers. They can do that by the following actions:

• Ensuring Aircoach, or another operator can, if desired, commence non stop services between Dublin/Dublin Airport and Galway to restore the competition that has now been lost.
• Until the above, ensure as much as possible that any kind of behaviour on the multi-stop route of CityLink that could be deemed as trying to force Aircoach out the market is prevented. They should be able to expand services, but only when there is clearly a benefit to the traveling public to do so.
• Not allow CityLink to effectively argue that CityLink and GoBus are separate brands on the corridor and use this as an excuse as to prevent another provider on the non stop network because there are already two operators.

There's a real danger if CityLink throw their weight around enough now they could have the whole corridor to themselves on both multi-stop and non stop services. This will not serve anyone well and the NTA need to ensure that consumers interests are protected first and foremost.

Edited to make clearer.

devnull

CityLink have now issued the following update in relation to what this means for customers

https://www.citylink.ie/useful-info/gobusacquisitioninfo

What changes for the customer?

For now, mostly things will remains the same. Irish Citylink and GoBus will continue to operate under their own brands in the short term. Tickets for travel on Irish Citylink can be purchased from Irish Citylink and tickets for travel on GoBus can be purchased from GoBus. From Monday July 18th, certain GoBus services will be available to book via the Citylink booking engine to provide a greater range of services for passengers.

Customers can use their tickets interchangeably between Citylink and GoBus services on routes 660, 760, 761 & 720. For example, if you arrive at Dublin Airport with a Citylink ticket, and the next departure is a GoBus service, you are welcome to travel on the GoBus service providing there is available capacity. When you are ready to board, you will see the familiar Irish Citylink and GoBus coaches at your stop.

Does this affect trips I have booked with Irish Citylink or GoBus?

No, current bookings are not affected by Irish Citylink’s acquisition of GoBus. The only immediate change is that Irish Citylink and GoBus’ tickets are interchangeable on routes 660, 760, 761 & 720 i.e. tickets for Irish Citylink services are valid on GoBus and vice versa.

How do I reach customer service?

Passengers who have booked a trip with Irish Citylink can reach our Customer Service Team via email at info@citylink.ie or call us at 091 564 164. Passengers who booked a trip with GoBus can continue to reach Customer Service via email at info@gobus.ie or call us at 091 564 600.

Where can I book a ticket and where can I get information on bus schedules, timetables and bus stops?

Irish Citylink and GoBus will continue to operate under their own brands in the short term and very soon, we will increase frequencies across our networks. Passengers can get information and book their ticket for travel on Irish Citylink via the Citylink website at citylink.ie. Passengers can get information and book their ticket for travel on GoBus via the GoBus website at gobus.ie. As stated above, from Monday July 18th, certain GoBus services will be available to book via the Irish Citylink booking engine.

Can I use myCitylink ticket for travel on GoBus (or vice versa?)

Yes, tickets are interchangeable on Citylink and GoBus services for routes 660, 760, 761 & 720. We will provide plenty of advance notice via email, web, socials and mobile related to any further changes.

devnull

It's interesting in the above that they are now talking about increasing frequencies across their network since in the report into the merger by the CCPC seemed to suggest that the opposite may happen.

The Parties would note that the Proposed Transaction would permit certain efficiencies in the timetabling of express services on the Galway – Dublin route. The Parties’ respective timetables currently involve a degree of duplication around the most popular departure times.

We will have to see where this service expansion falls and on what routes it is on and whether this is a defensive move against any possible other company entering the non stop market to remove the merged companies monopoly or it's focused on the stopping route route between Dublin and Galway to try and make life difficult for the only other bus operator between Galway and Dublin in the hope that they can further increase their market share there. Then again it might not be focused on Dublin to Galway at all, time will tell.

As far as I'm concerned, CityLink have no case other than in the short term to claim that they are operating both companies as separate brands and should keep both Galway to Dublin non stop licenses. They can't in my opinion say they are separate brands for licensing reasons but then allow tickets to be transferred between the two freely and all booked in the same place like they are one integrated company. That is literally them having their cake and eating it.

It'll be interesting to see what the NTA's view on this is.