Description
jannicke karlsen
The 306 bus from Tynemouth to Newcastle is astonishing in it's lateness! I have been late for work 12 times this year since taking the bus from April!! On one occasion, the 7:30am bus from tynemouth stopped outside of a deli called 'sunflowers' and ordered a sandwich and we had to wait while this was being made then off he went on his journey! This is completely unacceptable as surely your drivers aren't allowed to do this??? Also, last week, over 3 days, I had to resort to getting the metro as 2 buses didn't show up in the morning and on the other 2 days another bus didn't show which made me late for work over these days as well as costing me an extra £21 that week just to get into work! Today, the x40 bus from haymarket was due at 9:45am and didn't turn up until 9:57am which made me late, again! My manager then tells me this morning that because I have been late 12 times this year, I am now being taken to a disciplinary meeting which could result in me losing my job! This is completely unacceptable and needs to be addressed!
Problem History
- 1 jannicke karlsen reported the issue on FixMyTransport. close 11:07 14 Nov 2011 #
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jannicke karlsen wrote to Arriva Northumbria
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11:07 14 Nov 2011
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Here is the letter that jannicke karlsen wrote.
Delays
The 306 bus from Tynemouth to Newcastle is astonishing in it's lateness! I have been late for work 12 times this year since taking the bus from April!! On one occasion, the 7:30am bus from tynemouth stopped outside of a deli called 'sunflowers' and ordered a sandwich and we had to wait while this was being made then off he went on his journey! This is completely unacceptable as surely your drivers aren't allowed to do this??? Also, last week, over 3 days, I had to resort to getting the metro as 2 buses didn't show up in the morning and on the other 2 days another bus didn't show which made me late for work over these days as well as costing me an extra £21 that week just to get into work! Today, the x40 bus from haymarket was due at 9:45am and didn't turn up until 9:57am which made me late, again! My manager then tells me this morning that because I have been late 12 times this year, I am now being taken to a disciplinary meeting which could result in me losing my job! This is completely unacceptable and needs to be addressed!
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Dave H commented
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13:14 14 Nov 2011
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Arriva claims Bus Service Operators Grant (used to be called fuel duty rebate) for the costs of operating registered bus services. Your local buses will all be registered with the local Traffic Area Office, overseen by the Area Traffic Commissioner.
The Traffic Commissioner requires that registered bus services operate to the registered timetables, and that the services do not run early (1 minute tolerance) or late (5 minute tolerance). With Nexus they monitor the services but cannot cover every one. It sounds like a call or letter to the Traffic Commissioner (they have a centralised operation based in Leeds) would alert them to a service with particularly poor timekeeping, which they should take a closer look at, if your initial approach gets no improvement. You can obviously keep your own records on punctuality to provide an initial report, and may want to check the online details of the service registration with the TAO (Notices and Publications), but be warned it can be a bit technical to follow the detail.
Many service buses do not have the Tachograph in use (not required for local services) but if this is operating the journeys made will be recorded in sufficient detail to show late running. The other record comes from the ticket machine, which should record the fare stage and time of ticket issue or use of a bus pass.
Out of interest I'm wondering why, with a rail service, and the potential for traffic congestion to delay buses on the Coast Road, you choose to stick with the bus rather than go for the Metro (which potentially offers a choice of a train in either direction going to Newcastle from Tynemouth) for the peace of mind that better timekeeping offers?
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jannicke karlsen added an update
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17:12 14 Nov 2011
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thanks for all of that info, i'll certainly go down that path if it doesn't get resolved. Spoke to Arriva today to advise them of the occasions when all of this happened.. reason I didn't get the metro was convenience really, the bus stop is just outside my front door and the metro is a 10 minute walk..but judging by what's happened lately, and the fact that my work are wanting to take disciplinary action because of my lateness, I am looking into taking the metro in now rather than the bus as the reliability of the bus service is just a joke!
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Peter Dixon commented
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20:04 14 Nov 2011
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Hello Jannicke
My advice would be regardless of the mode of transport you use, is to keep a travel diary specifying times travelled and any delays. This should help you in any disciplinary case and claims against any public transport company's.
You should not be stuck on to trains because bus operators fail to run their service
Kind regards
anorakadmin -
Hi,
Thank you for your e-mail which we have forwarded to the
customer services team at Arriva North East, your local bus
operator.
You can also contact the customer services team direct at
[1][email address] .
Kind regards
Karen Thornton
Group Communications
Arriva plc
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Customer Services
487 Dunstable Road
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU4 8DS
Customer Services 0844 800 4411
Traveline 0871 200 2233
Our Ref:SH/11/50425 Fax +00 (0)1582 587 025
www.arrivabus.co.uk
24^th November 2011
Dear Mrs Karlsen
Thank you for your e-mail to this office on 15^th November 2011
concerning the problems you have been experiencing with the X40
bus service.
We endeavour to take into account, when scheduling our
timetables, general traffic conditions at various times of the
day. However, when unforeseen occurrences such as roadworks,
accidents and excessive traffic congestion occur, our services
will have difficulty in running to time.
The manager of Jesmond depot advised that unfortunately the
service X40 did operate late this was due to heavy traffic
causing a knock on effect in and out of Newcastle.
We can not comment on the 308 and the other incidents you have
mentioned as there are no times, dates and journey details to
investigate.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay to your
journey on this occasion and we look forward to providing you
with a better service in the future. In the meantime, do not
hesitate to contact the Customer Service team again if you
require any further assistance.
Yours sincerely
Steven Hill
Customer Service Advisor
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Problem Reporter
