‘Bus driver took pass and made friend get off’

Mar 19 2008 by Emma Davison, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A TEENAGER has slammed bus operator First after one of its drivers refused to let her boyfriend on his bus, although he had a valid bus pass.

Sinead Nield, 18, says the driver snatched the Student Plus pass off Damian Manning as he tried to board the 328 service from Bradley to Huddersfield and told him it was out of date.

The driver then shouted at Damian, also 18, to get off the 12.05 service – even though the teenager said the pass still had four days left on it before it expired – and refused to hand the pass back.

Damian – who relies on public transport and pays £60 a month for his pass – then had to walk back to his girlfriend’s home and ask her to lend him some money, so he could get to the job interview he was headed for.

He eventually arrived too late for it.

Sinead, of Bradley, said: “He was quite upset. He was late for his interview, so the driver could have cost him his job.

“Fortunately he did get the job, but he wouldn’t have been able to get there if I hadn’t found some money in my house in give him.

“He relies on public transport; he has no other way of getting around. The bus pass costs him £60 a month, so four days left on it adds up to quite a bit.

“He can’t afford to pay any extra or to buy a new one before the old one expires.”

After Damian’s experience with the bus driver Sinead’s grandmother, Lorraine Nield, went to the travel centre at Huddersfield bus station to complain.

She says she fobbed off with a First Kirklees and Calderdale customer care line number which no-one answered.

Sinead said she and Damian tried a number of times to get hold of the company.

When someone eventually answered the phone a customer care representative told them some one would ring them back.

So far no one has.

Trainee hairdresser Sinead said: “It’s appalling the way Damian’s been treated. He’s trying to do his best to get a job.

“Yet I see kids all the time trying to use out-of-date passes and tickets on the buses, passing them back to each other.

“All they get is a warning and no further action is taken.

“Damian has already been through a rough time with buses; he was involved in the X6 crash in September (the Fartown smash in 2006 lead to the death of a pensioner).

“After that it took him a while to start trusting public transport again.

“This latest experience has knocked his confidence in it again.”

A First spokesman said: “We are looking into allegations made by Mr Manning and will speak to the driver in the next few days to get his version of events.

"However, we are unhappy to hear that Mr Manning has had a bad level of service from the customer services agency that represents First.

“We are reviewing our customer services systems with a view to bringing it in house in the next couple of months.

“We would ask Mr Manning to get in touch with our operations manager for Huddersfield at the earliest opportunity and we will sort out his complaint with immediate effect.”