1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196 
Fox snaps at City Bus
Page 20
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Leicester City Bus's minibus operation in Loughborough is expected to be sold to neighbouring Midland Fox, less than two years after the operation took the town by storm.
City Bas's town network marketed as `Trippits' challenged the incumbent operator, Trent, in July 1987. By the end of the year, Trent was with drawing from the town in exchange for a 5% shareholding in City Bus.
Initial success turned sour, however, and the Loughborough Coach and Bus subsidiary is now a loss maker, having acquired heavy overheads, the Trent garage and additional services. With the current shake-up at Leicester, the subsidiary was singled out for diposal.
Subject to agreement by the Department of Transport, the Loughborough town services, the garage and 15 Optare City Pacers will he bought by Midland Fox for about £450,000. Fox has already expanded its operations in the town, following the purchase of the County Travel bus operation and is in vigorous competition with independent GK Kinch.
In the past two years, Midland Fox has acquired local independents Wreake Valley Travel, Fairtax, Astill &Jordan and the buswork of County Travel. It already competes on local services in Leicester with City Bus, and the purchase of LC&B will strengthen its position in the towns surrounding Leicester.
Leicester City Bus, on the other hand, is faced with a £0.5 million loss and is cutting back on vehicles and services in order to restore the company to viability.