tjhyde.co.uk

So, after seeing that Stagecoach are running a Saturday service over 2 of the busiest days of the year, and suffering as a result, I decided to write ANOTHER letter of complaint. This time I’ll let you read it too!

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Dear Sir,

Once again I feel I must complain about the service your company provides to its paying customers.

Quite frankly I am disgusted with your decision to only provide a basic Saturday service on your routes on 22nd, 23rd and 2th December.

When I got to the bus stop at Piccadilly Gardens just after 5pm tonight I was greeted by the sight of a single 231 with a large group of people waiting to board. This was coupled with a large number of people waiting for a 216. Shortly after I arrived, the 231 was full and was forced to leave the stop with 15-20 people still waiting to board. Roughly 10 minutes later a 216 showed up and again there was a rush of bodies trying to board the bus, and again it was forced to leave the stand whilst there were people, who had been waiting for as long as 10 minutes, waiting to board.

I appreciate that your drivers may want a break over the Christmas period but for a great many people the first three days of this week represent a normal working week and I am appalled that you think it is reasonable for customers to suffer this lack of service. As I have said, I appreciate that your drivers may want a break, however this is the same in all lines of work and sacrifices must sometimes be made. If you cannot find enough drivers to cover the regular timetable then I suggest next year you do not authorise as many holidays. This is the only reason I can see, other than your own greed, that you would run such an abysmal timetable during a period where commuters must also share buses with the large number of shoppers.

It is quite clear that whoever came up with the idea of running a depleted timetable during such a busy period has no experience of using public transport every day.

It is with some interest that I note that your competitors, First Bus, are able to run to a full timetable on 22nd and 23rd of December and also run to an expanded Saturday service on 24th December. May I suggest you take note of this yourself when it comes to planning next year’s Christmas timetables?

However, I must commend you on one thing; you are providing a shining example of why public transport should be taken out of the hands of private enterprise and be put back in the hands of people with the public, and not shareholders, in mind.

I look forward to receiving your reply to this letter and hope it is of more use, and less contradictory, than your reply to my previous complaint. As before, a copy of this letter has also been sent to the GMPTE for their comment.

Yours Sincerely,

John Hyde

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Let’s see what kind of response I get this time!