Click on the Hull & East Riding.co.uk link and you'll be whisked away to a feature on planned service cuts for EYMS being saved by Hull City Council.
What we're most interested in are two comments left by 'JD, Sutton' at 1401 and subsequently as 'Jon, Sutton' at 1408. The chronologically first praises EYMS and informs other commenters to look at the bigger picture in Hull. At 1408, 'Jon, Sutton' goes onto say how Stagecoach are 'better' than EYMS because of their average vehicle age and that the 'good' service of Hull is 85% provided by Stagecoach.
Could the 'JD' be Jon Donnely, Hull-based Stagecoach East Midlands' Commercial Manager North? We have been tipped-off that this could be the case. Certainly he's ideally placed to know the percentage of urban operation Stagecoach/EYMS have in the city of Hull and is also likely to share the frustrations EYMS have regarding operational margins in the current climate and be frustrated at the negativity immediately thrown in bus operators' directions when alterations are announced.
If we are correct in our assertion, it's nice to see some cross-operator praise, especially when the two companies compete head-to-head in Hull and to a lesser extent in Manchester, with EYMS subsidiary Finglands competing with Stagecoach in Manchester.
This entry was amended at 17:18 on 12/8/08
