£285,000 fine for First

Bus company pays the price for late buses
FIRST Manchester was fined £285,000 fine after failing to run reliable and punctual bus services.

Bus compliance officers from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) found that one in four buses was failing to turn up on time.

Monitoring exercises were carried out in 2011 on services operated throughout the county and the firm was found to generally have a compliance rate of 82-83 per cent.

Bus companies face fines if their services do not arrive up to a minute early or up to five minutes late.

At a public inquiry yesterday, North-West traffic commissioner Beverley Bell said the firm had been complacent and that it was unfortunate that the penalty she imposed would go to the treasury and not be used to ensure reliable services.

She ordered that the company should report to her in three and then six months, regarding monitoring of services at all bus depots and of remedial actions being taken.

Of 25 routes monitored, only six services managed to get above the 90 per cent compliance rate expected by Transport for Greater Manchester.

Ms Bell said: “Not a single one managed to reach 95 per cent and 19 fell below the standard of 90 per cent.”

The inquiry also heard that 40 per cent of the monitored services had not left the bus depots on time.

Bosses blamed roadworks, metrolink works and traffic congestion for some of the bus delays.

Ms Bell added: “If I am blunt, your figures aren’t good. You can’t blame roadworks for everything.

“If in March, 2011, you knew that a large number of registered services were failing in punctuality standards, why did you wait until September to put it right?”

Richard Soper, strategic development director north for First, said: “There were others things going on” but that he couldn’t remember what they were specifically.

In a previous hearing, the firm’s service-delivery director Kenneth Poole said he “hadn’t got round to it” when she asked him why a particular service hadn’t been improved.

Ms Bell said she had received a number of letters of complaint since reports of the adjourned hearing had appeared in the press in February.

She said: “Without imposing a penalty, First Manchester would not have focused its mind enough to meet the legislation. For the people who stand in the pouring rain waiting for these buses, I want there to be an improvement in these services.”

She also expressed concern that the company did not have figures for the number of bus services cancelled, saying: “This company is failing to comply with the traffic commission’s guidelines.

“It’s great the operator is reviewing its operations but that review has been carried out too late.

“In my view, it hasn’t taken enough proactive action to improve the services to its passengers.”

After the inquiry Ms Bell said she knew other bus operators would be watching the case with interest and that she wanted this penalty to be a lesson to others.



Half-hour trip can take 90 minutes
Douglas Howarth (41), from Wildmoor Avenue, Holts, said he has been affected late First buses.

The office worker, based at the Remploy offices, takes two buses to work and back every day during his four-day working week.

He said: “I leave my house at 6.30am and get two buses — the 425 and the 409 — to work, and the same in reverse on the way home at about 5pm. But the same half-hour journey has taken up to an hour and a half due to buses being late.

“My son has been late for school because of late buses, and my sister-in-law and her six-year-old son had a bus drive straight past her because the driver was speaking on a mobile phone.

“Drivers are blaming Metrolink works at Mumps bridge but the lateness has been happening for quite a while. Everyone knows there is construction work at Mumps, First should change their schedule accordingly.”

Mr Howarth made a formal complaint to the company which gave him a day-saver ticket for his inconvenience.

He said: “I’m reliant on the service as I don’t have a car but if I had a choice, I wouldn’t use First Bus. The whole service is terrible.”



I waited but bus never came
Ron Tench (78), of Jordan Avenue, Shaw, who represents Oldham at the Elderly People’s Forum for the North West, said he had waited for the 931 service from Wren’s Nest and it never came.

His 89-year-old friend, who also waited for the service to make a hospital appointment, was particularly worried.

Mr Tench said: “First should be held to account as it’s just not good enough. My wife and I get this bus a lot as she has eye clinic appointments in Manchester. I phoned First and I was on the line for 25 minutes and just got nowhere.

“I don’t have the Internet so I just rely on phones but I don’t think much of the customer service helpline. There was nobody there.”