Preston's Zippys may go
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• Speculation is mounting that Ribble Motor Services of Preston is preparing to abandon its Zippy minibus network in the city, following initial deregistrations and redundancies.
Ribble is announcing over 40 job losses on the minibus driving side. Two routes — to Ingle and Brookfield — have already been deregistered and it is believed that further reductions are on their way.
The Zippy company was set up as a minibus subsidiary of BET in mid-1987. It grew to 75 vehicles and contested most of the urban routes of Preston Buses. Having failed to make the anticipated impact, the company was passed over to Ribble at the time of Ribble's privatisation in March last year. Its new owner slimmed the company down to less than 40 vehicles, but continued to run most of the commercial services in Preston.
Preston Buses responded by increasing its minibus fleet to over 50 vehicles and competing with Ribble's routes, south of town. It is believed that neither company was profiting from the competition, and this month's withdrawal is seen as a prelude to the elimination of uneconomic mileage.