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.
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.
devnull wrote: » There's also a rebrand of Aircoach set to be revealed very soon and the new logo is hideous.
More information has now been submitted by parties and the investigation has now been extended.
Wow, I nearly fell off my chair with that substantial update. Make sure you keep us updated.
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.
Galway Chamber of Commerce have released their submission to the CCPC investigation into the purchase of GoBus by CityLink.
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.
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.
Well the investigation has been going on since March, so we don't know at what point this was submitted.
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....
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
Now completed.
https://www.citylink.ie/useful-info/gobusacquistion
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.
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.
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.
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?
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:
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.
CityLink have now issued the following update in relation to what this means for customers
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.
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.
Yes, I think the CCPC is wrong about this. However I wonder if the reality of the Limerick route having only one operator set a precedence for them. I do think the NTA will need to do something to encourage competition. It would suck if every route ends up with just one direct operator. That feels like it goes against what you see in mainland Europe with most routes having multiple operators.
The comments from Citylink would suggest that they plan to continue to grow and become Ireland's largest coach operator. I wonder what their next move will be, will they look to continue to buy other companies? Perhaps Dublin Coach? They would have a pretty complete network if they bought DC.
Or perhaps start up a Belfast route, which wouldn't require a route license and which Dublin Coach still hasn't restarted their service, potentially leaving room on the route.
If Aircoach applied for a non-stop licence now, surely they'd get it?
A week after the takeover went through and still no mention of it from GoBus, their website still claims
Established in Galway in 2009, GoBus is locally owned and operated by Jim Burke and his family.
It seems that thus far as well, despite CityLink stating GoBus services would be bookable from 18th via their website, this has not happened.
Perhaps someone has lost the password to both websites!
CityLink is very much up to date.
GoBus was updated with their new Cork City stop a few weeks ago.
I've been noticing a lack of small service tweaks from GoBus for months now: suspect management has been wound down with the merger coming.
Gobus Galway services from Monday are moving to the CityLink stop in Zone 13 at Dublin Airport from their own stop at Zone 10, which will no longer be used. The services will continue o be operated under the GoBus name.
I assume that they will either then rent zone 10 out to someone else or find some way of no longer having to pay the fees to Dublin Airport to lease it?
To be honest I was just joking!
Though I’d point out that there is often different password/permissions/roles/process for posting a news item which would be part of the CMS (content management system) then updating the booking system. Usually they are two different systems, I can’t speak for Citylink, but for many companies it wouldn’t be unusual for office admin staff to have access to the CMS, while only management and IT staff have access to updating the booking system.
So throwing up some news items is often quick and easy, but updating booking systems can take longer and be much more involved. And of course there is the need to tie the to two booking systems together, merge them or replace the Gobus one. That would be a pretty major IT project.
Im sure it will eventually happen, I just wouldn’t be surprised if management underestimated what was involved and how long it would take.
I don’t know if this is normal or not, but looking at the Gobus booking system, it currently only has entries for up until the end of September. Perhaps an indication of when the booking systems will move over.
CityLink website is now showing GoBus services on the booking engine.
It's going to be very hard for anyone to be able to compete with them and even if another operator does end up taking a non stop license, it's going to be pretty hard to make any money when you look at how comprehensive schedule CityLink have now.
Just a taste of what I am talking about
We'll have to see how things on this corridor develop, but it's very much a market which is stacked in the favour of CityLink right now.
It’s ridiculous. Between them and Aircoach it’s technically a duopoly, but it’s effectively a monopoly. Can’t believe that the CCPC okayed it.
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