Citylink Complete Acquisition of GoBus

devnull · 29-06-2021 9:43pm

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 · 29-06-2021 10:39pm

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 · 29-06-2021 11:06pm

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 · 30-06-2021 7:50am

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

p_haugh · 30-06-2021 9:59am

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 · 15-07-2021 4:15pm

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

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

15-07-2021 4:42pm

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 · 20-08-2021 6:54pm

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 · 24-08-2021 6:55pm

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 · 24-08-2021 7:58pm

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 · 24-08-2021 9:40pm

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 · 19-10-2021 6:08pm

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 · 10-11-2021 1:57pm

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 · 15-07-2022 11:56am

Now completed.

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

devnull · 15-07-2022 12:50pm

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 · 15-07-2022 3:44pm

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 · 15-07-2022 6:44pm

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 · 15-07-2022 7:41pm

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 · 16-07-2022 11:23am

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 · 16-07-2022 11:32am

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.

bk · 18-07-2022 12:24pm

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.

Mrs OBumble · 18-07-2022 6:47pm

If Aircoach applied for a non-stop licence now, surely they'd get it?

devnull · 21-07-2022 4:08pm

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.

bk · 21-07-2022 5:45pm

Perhaps someone has lost the password to both websites!

Mrs OBumble · 21-07-2022 6:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119369214#Comment_119369214

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.

devnull · 23-07-2022 11:43pm

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?

bk · 24-07-2022 5:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119369411#Comment_119369411

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.

bk · 24-07-2022 6:54pm

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.

devnull · 26-07-2022 6:53pm

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

11:15 Galway to Dublin Express (CityLink)
11:30 Galway to Dublin Airport Express (Eireagle)
11:45 Galway to Dublin Express (GoBus)
12:00 Galway to Dublin Commuter (CityLink)
12:15 Galway to Dublin Express (CityLink)
12:30 Galway to Dublin Airport Express (Eireagle)
12:45 Galway to Dublin Express (GoBus)

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.

serfboard · 26-07-2022 8:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390767#Comment_119390767

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.

Citylink Complete Acquisition of GoBus

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