Fury as bus leaves children stranded

Jan 31 2008 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

CHILDREN were left stranded at a bus stop when a Stagecoach service failed to show up at Upper Cumberworth.

The 84 from Denby Dale was supposed to be in the village at 8.12am, before arriving in Huddersfield at 8.50am.

Clr Jim Dodds, who represents the area on Kirklees Council, is angry that the bus didn’t turn up on Monday.

He said: “Residents were left fuming when their bus, which takes people to work and children to school, failed to show.

“I spoke with the Stagecoach depot to ask what had gone wrong.

“I was advised that the bus earmarked for this route had broken down, and they only had sufficient buses to cover their routes.

“So, effectively, until the bus is repaired there will be no service – and they couldn’t give a definitive time as to when the next bus will be.

“This couldn’t happen at a worse time. People couldn’t get to work, and kids couldn’t get to school.”

Clr Dodds is angry that no replacement bus was put on.

He said: “I find it astonishing that a national company like Stagecoach has no cover for an emergency such as a rush-hour breakdown.

“Not to have a spare bus in the depot is ridiculous.

“Services like this are vital to rural areas and people rely on the bus company to provide a service.

“Stagecoach receives funding to provide such services, and they should be committed to providing them.

That means they should have contingency plans in place to cover breakdowns so they did not leave people stranded.”

Sue Hayes, operations director of Stagecoach Yorkshire, said: “We take timing matters extremely seriously and place great emphasis on ensuring our networks run according to schedule.

“However, on this occasion, service 84 broke down before it was due to arrive at Upper Cumberworth at 8.12am.

“We sympathise with our customers and drivers as it is very frustrating when services do not run punctually.

“We looked for a replacement as a matter of urgency and the service re-started from the Black Bull, at Shepley at 8.20am so that we were able to operate the majority of the route as normal.

“Unfortunately, this meant missing out a short section of the route.

“We apologise to passengers for any disruption caused on this occasion.

“We are committed to providing our passengers with a reliable and punctual service and we will continue working hard to make sure we achieve this.”