On 25 Oct, 11:33, "Chris Read" wrote:
National Express are looking to close their Dot2Dot airport transfer service
by the first quarter of next year, unless a buyer can be found. The service
has delivered a loss of £5m since inception - a worse than expected
performance for this 'start up' venture.

Dot2Dot runs a fleet of high-spec'd Mercedes and VW mini-buses, ferrying
tourists and business folk between Heathrow and central London hotels/Canary
Wharf, on a pre-booked basis. Fares were typically circa £20 one way (more
to Docklands), although I note there is now a £16 special offer on their web
site, advertised as under-cutting HEX.

This always struck me as being a (small) niche market. Those with generous
expense accounts ((prepare for backlash!)) no doubt continue to find black
cabs or HEX more convenient and flexible, whilst the pool of leisure
travellers willing to stump up £80 for a group of four must be somewhat
limited.


A small point about the detail - under the previous undiscounted price
scheme £20 would be the maximum price for a single journey, under the
current special offer that maximum has been reduced to £16.

NX made a big fuss about their new Dot2Dot service at the time of
their rebranding, they were trying to portray an image of being an
innovative and fresh thinking 'total transport' company. I have to say
I wasn't convinced by the Dot2Dot proposition, but maybe that just
shows I'm unimaginative and stuck in an old mindset.

For those not in the know, Dot2Dot is a sort of posh ride-sharing
arrangement - they say "Sharing your ride will barely slow you down:
We guarantee no more than three other pick-ups or drop-offs - all
within your area - before we take you to your destination." It
provides a service between Heathrow and central-ish London & Canary
Wharf - the service area map is below:
http://www.dot2.com/Pages/Popups/AreasWeServe.aspx

Here's an independent website's information page on the dot2dot
service (the prices shown are the old ones):
http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/...telink_bus.htm


On hearing about this new service I thought the market for dot2dot
would essentially be foreign travellers arriving at Heathrow and
returning their from their hotel, rather than people working or living
in central London (though I note the recent link up with the rail side
of NX, with dot2dot pick-ups/drop-offs offered at KX/St. P and
Liverpool Street stations). I'd think they just haven't managed to
corner this market - arriving business travellers are still travelling
into town by HEx, Tube, black cab or are being picked up by a
chauffeured car service, and arriving tourists just haven't taken to
it, whether because of the price or simply because the possibility
hasn't permeated their conciousness.

Plus I don't think dot2dot really compares that well with a taxi from
a central London hotel to Heathrow, especially when there's a small
group of travellers such as a family - both price-wise, obviously, but
also in terms in convenience, as the dot2dot service needs to be pre-
booked whilst the taxi will be out there on the street.


I suspect, in hindsight, NatEx are glad they got out of GatEx when they did,
with Southern already reporting that demand is softening. Indeed, the
enhanced Brighton main line service (from December) now looks somewhat
ill-timed.


Southern are reporting demand is softening on GatEx, or on all their
services?

If it's the former, then surely extending even-emptier GatEx services
to Brighton during the peaks is a better use of resources than running
the service as is. Of course if demand for London to Brighton journeys
is also going to drop, then perhaps the extra capacity wouldn't be
needed. We shall see what happens - perhaps there'll be more demand
for London commuting from the south coast as jobs in Brighton dry up
and people find alternative work in London instead.