Bus firm facesprobe over punctuality of service
9:15am Monday 6th February 2012 in Your Town
ABUS firm will be probed by the industry watchdog over the punctuality of its service at a hearing today.
Bosses from First, which provides routes through Bolton, will appear before the region’s traffic commissioner, Beverley Bell, in Wigan.
First could face a fine if it is found to have missed the punctuality target.
Bus firms must ensure 95per cent of their services are on time — which, for services of fewer than five buses an hour, is between one minute early and five minutes late.
Frequent services are measured by excess waiting times, which happens if buses do not run as often as expected.
Officers from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, which works to ensure bus operators, and their drivers, comply with the rules, monitored bus services in town centres across Greater Manchester last year.
Westhoughton councillor David Chadwick, who is on the Transport for Greater Manchester committee, said: “If it is not providing the service it should be, it needs to be taken to task over it.
“We periodically get reports and I know there has been some criticism of First.
“It points to traffic conditions, but that is not acceptable.”
Evidence will be given at the hearing, and Ms Bell will decide whether the company should be fined.
A spokesman for First said: “We are attending the Traffic Commissioner’s office and will discuss factors affecting the punctuality of some of our buses in Manchester some 12 months ago.”
In December, the operator admitted that it could not honour its timetable to customers.
Customers complained the service linking Bolton and Manchester was failing to arrive, or was very late.
First blamed roadworks in Salford for the delays and cancellations.
The company was criticised by users for not changing the timetables before the roadworks started.
Customers were further annoyed when the prices were increased last month.
A daily ticket was increased by 30p to £4.50, a 7per cent rise.
However, under-16s now pay £2 for a day ticket, 10p less than before, and £7 for a weekly ticket – £1.50 lower.
