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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2019 10:49:13 GMT
I have some things to rant about here regarding my recent experience on my bus travels. So I was able to go home early from work but still had to call into a meeting from home later. I figured I'd have enough time to get the bus back home as I had an hour and a half spare time. It normally takes me just over an hour to and from the office. Anyway, I boarded a 172 from Aldwych just in the nick of time. We later arrived at New Cross Bus Garage where the driver was changing over. The driver got out the cab and off the bus but there was no driver to take over. Normally drivers here take a while to get to the bus stop to take over the bus, so I figured this was one of these cases. Thankfully a controller was at the bus stop and called in (to the control room I assume) to check what was going on. This was not good enough for me as I had to make my meeting so I got off the bus and went to the bus stop further ahead (for buses going towards Lewisham). There was already a 21 ready and waiting at the stop, but it was simply just doing that. Waiting for the driver to come and change over. I saw this and saw a 436 coming behind and thought 'okay, I'll jump on this'. I did just that, only to hear the 'The driver has been instructed...' announcement. It was just getting silly at this point. I had to constantly look behind to see if there was any other bus I could take. I saw a 171 arrive but looked like that was also about to change over too, so I didn't take my chances. I asked the 436 driver how long she'd be waiting for and I was told 4 mins. I saw the 21 driver had finally arrived and quickly jumped on to that bus and we left shortly after. Bare in mind that this 21 arrived at the stop a minute or two before my 172 did! The things that really annoyed me were: a) Why do the NX route drivers take so long to even get to their bus to change over? This is quite a regular thing here. I mean no disrespect to the people who work at the garage (they do a fantastic job), but this is pretty silly now. b) Why do drivers not announce how long they are waiting for? Ideally there should be a mandatory option for drivers to enter in the number of minutes they're waiting for so the time can be announced automatically. It's quite annoying having to sit there without knowing if it's worth jumping on another bus. Speaking as a NX driver its understandable that passengers do get annoyed at the changeovers that occur outside the garage for routes 21, 171, 172, 436, 453 & N171. We are given ample time to reach the changeover point however one big issue we face is crossing New Cross Road. Also as you can imagine there are several routes that changeover and all are high frequency routes with a lot of buses on them (i.e 453) so at times it is inevitable that a majority of buses are changing drivers at the same time so I fully understand your experience. What doesn't help is a few things, as it is the school holidays traffic is quieter so there is quite a bit of early running going on. The general rule is to not get to the changeover point more than 3 minutes early but of course you can’t expect the next driver to be there 3 minutes early as they aren't exactly expected to be there then but to be fair the majority of drivers do get there a couple of minutes before to changeover. Unfortunately some drivers as is the case elsewhere are a law into themselves, they always arrive to the changeover point early (I have personally had a 453 driver arrive to the point 8 minutes early than the changeover time which just takes the biscuit shall we say) and then you have the same drivers who always arrive late when taking over a bus. Its sad to hear of your experience as it puts our company and garage in a bad light and I apologise on their behalf for your bad experience. As for your comment regarding the lack of announcements, we are constantly being reminded by management for need to do PA announcements to engage with passengers regarding delays or diversions of any sort to the journey. I hope this helps to restore your faith in NX operations. Interesting explanation and I've noticed NX buses due to change drivers putting on the 'driver has been instructed to wait........' announcement a stop or two before getting there and I can appreciate buses getting there early are going to exacerbated the problem.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 24, 2019 8:28:14 GMT
For anyone who missed it on the CT Plus thread -
From Monday 19th August, use of the name CT Plus is being discontinued in London. All its London activities will be brought under the HCT Group banner with CT Plus becoming HCT Group Operations CIC (Community Interest Company). Legal lettering on vehicles has already been changed and new logos on vehicles and some new signage will appear over the next few weeks.
When CT Plus was established as a brand for HCT Group's operating arm back in the early 2000s, it was created to make a distinction between commercial work and social services. This can lead to confusion amongst stakeholders, as communications come from HCT Group but services are delivered by CT Plus. By bringing all the work all under one brand in London this confusion is eliminated. The need for a separate operating arm itself remains for regulatory reasons.
The change does not affect the CT Plus operations in Yorkshire, Guernsey or Jersey. Services in Bristol operated by CT Plus will see their legal lettering change, but they have been operating under the Bristol Community Transport banner for some time.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2019 20:41:09 GMT
It is often said how bad LT's are in the heat including myself in this BUT think I have a new winner! I used the 115 today and wow was it warm upstairs at one stage I nearly had to get off. I have noticed a lot of RR EH's cooling systems are leaking water and running very loud.
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Post by 15002 on Aug 24, 2019 20:51:02 GMT
It is often said how bad LT's are in the heat including myself in this BUT think I have a new winner! I used the 115 today and wow was it warm upstairs at one stage I nearly had to get off. I have noticed a lot of RR EH's cooling systems are leaking water and running very loud. Try some of the T’s at DX, those buses were boiling hot when I went on them!
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Post by richard on Aug 24, 2019 22:13:33 GMT
It is often said how bad LT's are in the heat including myself in this BUT think I have a new winner! I used the 115 today and wow was it warm upstairs at one stage I nearly had to get off. I have noticed a lot of RR EH's cooling systems are leaking water and running very loud. Try some of the T’s at DX, those buses were boiling hot when I went on them! Or the VLAs and what looks like the remaining TA at W
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Post by rif153 on Aug 24, 2019 22:57:48 GMT
It is often said how bad LT's are in the heat including myself in this BUT think I have a new winner! I used the 115 today and wow was it warm upstairs at one stage I nearly had to get off. I have noticed a lot of RR EH's cooling systems are leaking water and running very loud. ADH45009 is a similar story, the air conditioning unit is always leaking on it. Were all the windows open on your 115?
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Post by vjaska on Aug 24, 2019 23:42:23 GMT
It is often said how bad LT's are in the heat including myself in this BUT think I have a new winner! I used the 115 today and wow was it warm upstairs at one stage I nearly had to get off. I have noticed a lot of RR EH's cooling systems are leaking water and running very loud. Precisely why I plumped for a far cooler SE on the 322 when waiting at Crystal Palace on Friday
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Post by YY13VKP on Aug 24, 2019 23:59:40 GMT
Had quite an eventful journey on route 465 yesterday afternoon aboard OV30071. Firstly when we reached Leatherhead, we had a disabled passenger trying to board but the ramp wouldn't work. The driver tried everything, including opening and closing the doors again and moving the bus forward slightly but the ramp wouldn't deploy. After we tried everything, the driver got out of the cab to offer to help the passenger onboard but by that time he had got fed up of waiting and called for a taxi, so we continued on our way. As a result of this though the bus was subbed for OV30078 at the end of the journey at Cromwell Road Bus Station. Later on once we got to All Saints Church, two teenage girls boarded the bus, one of which became incredibly disruptive. She first started off by refusing to tap her Oyster card on the reader, and despite the driver telling her to do so she kept on saying "I get on this bus for free" and just went and sat down, so the driver couldn't really refuse her travel and decided it wasn't worth doing a code blue for a fare dispute. While the bus was still stationary she pressed the bell three times to seemingly grab the driver's attention, but the driver did her best to ignore the teenage girl. She pressed the bell several times more while the bus was moving even though she wasn't intending to get off. When we got to Rushett Lane however, she pressed the bell deliberately four times and the bus had to stop even though nobody was actually wanting to get off. This was when a fellow passenger said to the girl "You pressed the bell, why don't you get off then", to which the girl and her friend started mouthing off at him. He did his best to ignore them though and we continued while the girl was continuing to insult, and then telling someone on the phone to F off. The two girls finally got off at Chessington World of Adventures, however once the girl who was mainly causing the disruption stood up, the driver braked heavily once we arrived at the bus stop and she went flying towards the front! Now I'm not sure whether the driver did this deliberately or not given that she'd had enough of the girl's behaviour and she didnt fall over as a result of the heavy braking but either way, it certainly served her right . I have to say well done to the driver for remaining professional and doing her best to ignore the two girls despite them trying to attract the driver's attention several times, most commonly by pressing the bell. Whilst waiting for the 465 back to Dorking however, an old Irish man started being racist towards fellow passengers and then threatening them. I shall not repeat what he said on here but it was absolutely disgusting to witness. Sadly despite all the anti-racism campaigns, certain people still decide to be racist.
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Post by vjaska on Aug 25, 2019 1:37:35 GMT
Had quite an eventful journey on route 465 yesterday afternoon aboard OV30071. Firstly when we reached Leatherhead, we had a disabled passenger trying to board but the ramp wouldn't work. The driver tried everything, including opening and closing the doors again and moving the bus forward slightly but the ramp wouldn't deploy. After we tried everything, the driver got out of the cab to offer to help the passenger onboard but by that time he had got fed up of waiting and called for a taxi, so we continued on our way. As a result of this though the bus was subbed for OV30078 at the end of the journey at Cromwell Road Bus Station. Later on once we got to All Saints Church, two teenage girls boarded the bus, one of which became incredibly disruptive. She first started off by refusing to tap her Oyster card on the reader, and despite the driver telling her to do so she kept on saying "I get on this bus for free" and just went and sat down, so the driver couldn't really refuse her travel and decided it wasn't worth doing a code blue for a fare dispute. While the bus was still stationary she pressed the bell three times to seemingly grab the driver's attention, but the driver did her best to ignore the teenage girl. She pressed the bell several times more while the bus was moving even though she wasn't intending to get off. When we got to Rushett Lane however, she pressed the bell deliberately four times and the bus had to stop even though nobody was actually wanting to get off. This was when a fellow passenger said to the girl "You pressed the bell, why don't you get off then", to which the girl and her friend started mouthing off at him. He did his best to ignore them though and we continued while the girl was continuing to insult, and then telling someone on the phone to F off. The two girls finally got off at Chessington World of Adventures, however once the girl who was mainly causing the disruption stood up, the driver braked heavily once we arrived at the bus stop and she went flying towards the front! Now I'm not sure whether the driver did this deliberately or not given that she'd had enough of the girl's behaviour and she didnt fall over as a result of the heavy braking but either way, it certainly served her right . I have to say well done to the driver for remaining professional and doing her best to ignore the two girls despite them trying to attract the driver's attention several times, most commonly by pressing the bell. Whilst waiting for the 465 back to Dorking however, an old Irish man started being racist towards fellow passengers and then threatening them. I shall not repeat what he said on here but it was absolutely disgusting to witness. Sadly despite all the anti-racism campaigns, certain people still decide to be racist. Can't stand racists, absolute vile people. I remember one time we had one at work insulting a Moroccan member of staff and this idiot thought I was going to agree with him just because we were both white British, told him to do one instead the numpty. Usually, the Irish are very nice people as I know having tons of Irish family myself so clearly this one dropped out of tree at some point
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Post by george on Aug 25, 2019 8:24:47 GMT
Had quite an eventful journey on route 465 yesterday afternoon aboard OV30071. Firstly when we reached Leatherhead, we had a disabled passenger trying to board but the ramp wouldn't work. The driver tried everything, including opening and closing the doors again and moving the bus forward slightly but the ramp wouldn't deploy. After we tried everything, the driver got out of the cab to offer to help the passenger onboard but by that time he had got fed up of waiting and called for a taxi, so we continued on our way. As a result of this though the bus was subbed for OV30078 at the end of the journey at Cromwell Road Bus Station. Later on once we got to All Saints Church, two teenage girls boarded the bus, one of which became incredibly disruptive. She first started off by refusing to tap her Oyster card on the reader, and despite the driver telling her to do so she kept on saying "I get on this bus for free" and just went and sat down, so the driver couldn't really refuse her travel and decided it wasn't worth doing a code blue for a fare dispute. While the bus was still stationary she pressed the bell three times to seemingly grab the driver's attention, but the driver did her best to ignore the teenage girl. She pressed the bell several times more while the bus was moving even though she wasn't intending to get off. When we got to Rushett Lane however, she pressed the bell deliberately four times and the bus had to stop even though nobody was actually wanting to get off. This was when a fellow passenger said to the girl "You pressed the bell, why don't you get off then", to which the girl and her friend started mouthing off at him. He did his best to ignore them though and we continued while the girl was continuing to insult, and then telling someone on the phone to F off. The two girls finally got off at Chessington World of Adventures, however once the girl who was mainly causing the disruption stood up, the driver braked heavily once we arrived at the bus stop and she went flying towards the front! Now I'm not sure whether the driver did this deliberately or not given that she'd had enough of the girl's behaviour and she didnt fall over as a result of the heavy braking but either way, it certainly served her right . I have to say well done to the driver for remaining professional and doing her best to ignore the two girls despite them trying to attract the driver's attention several times, most commonly by pressing the bell. Whilst waiting for the 465 back to Dorking however, an old Irish man started being racist towards fellow passengers and then threatening them. I shall not repeat what he said on here but it was absolutely disgusting to witness. Sadly despite all the anti-racism campaigns, certain people still decide to be racist. 2019 and yet still we have people making racist remarks 😡
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Post by rif153 on Aug 25, 2019 8:32:58 GMT
Had quite an eventful journey on route 465 yesterday afternoon aboard OV30071. Firstly when we reached Leatherhead, we had a disabled passenger trying to board but the ramp wouldn't work. The driver tried everything, including opening and closing the doors again and moving the bus forward slightly but the ramp wouldn't deploy. After we tried everything, the driver got out of the cab to offer to help the passenger onboard but by that time he had got fed up of waiting and called for a taxi, so we continued on our way. As a result of this though the bus was subbed for OV30078 at the end of the journey at Cromwell Road Bus Station. Later on once we got to All Saints Church, two teenage girls boarded the bus, one of which became incredibly disruptive. She first started off by refusing to tap her Oyster card on the reader, and despite the driver telling her to do so she kept on saying "I get on this bus for free" and just went and sat down, so the driver couldn't really refuse her travel and decided it wasn't worth doing a code blue for a fare dispute. While the bus was still stationary she pressed the bell three times to seemingly grab the driver's attention, but the driver did her best to ignore the teenage girl. She pressed the bell several times more while the bus was moving even though she wasn't intending to get off. When we got to Rushett Lane however, she pressed the bell deliberately four times and the bus had to stop even though nobody was actually wanting to get off. This was when a fellow passenger said to the girl "You pressed the bell, why don't you get off then", to which the girl and her friend started mouthing off at him. He did his best to ignore them though and we continued while the girl was continuing to insult, and then telling someone on the phone to F off. The two girls finally got off at Chessington World of Adventures, however once the girl who was mainly causing the disruption stood up, the driver braked heavily once we arrived at the bus stop and she went flying towards the front! Now I'm not sure whether the driver did this deliberately or not given that she'd had enough of the girl's behaviour and she didnt fall over as a result of the heavy braking but either way, it certainly served her right . I have to say well done to the driver for remaining professional and doing her best to ignore the two girls despite them trying to attract the driver's attention several times, most commonly by pressing the bell. Whilst waiting for the 465 back to Dorking however, an old Irish man started being racist towards fellow passengers and then threatening them. I shall not repeat what he said on here but it was absolutely disgusting to witness. Sadly despite all the anti-racism campaigns, certain people still decide to be racist. Your driver must be a saint for tolerating those girls! As you said, he did very well to remain proffessional, and not lose his temper and them. The 71/465 must be swamped with annoying kids going to Chessington World of Adventures now its the Summer Holidays. On a sadder note, its saddening to learn that a passenger was making racist remarks to others. Racism has no place in modern society.
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Post by Frenzie on Aug 25, 2019 8:47:01 GMT
Had quite an eventful journey on route 465 yesterday afternoon aboard OV30071. Firstly when we reached Leatherhead, we had a disabled passenger trying to board but the ramp wouldn't work. The driver tried everything, including opening and closing the doors again and moving the bus forward slightly but the ramp wouldn't deploy. After we tried everything, the driver got out of the cab to offer to help the passenger onboard but by that time he had got fed up of waiting and called for a taxi, so we continued on our way. As a result of this though the bus was subbed for OV30078 at the end of the journey at Cromwell Road Bus Station. Later on once we got to All Saints Church, two teenage girls boarded the bus, one of which became incredibly disruptive. She first started off by refusing to tap her Oyster card on the reader, and despite the driver telling her to do so she kept on saying "I get on this bus for free" and just went and sat down, so the driver couldn't really refuse her travel and decided it wasn't worth doing a code blue for a fare dispute. While the bus was still stationary she pressed the bell three times to seemingly grab the driver's attention, but the driver did her best to ignore the teenage girl. She pressed the bell several times more while the bus was moving even though she wasn't intending to get off. When we got to Rushett Lane however, she pressed the bell deliberately four times and the bus had to stop even though nobody was actually wanting to get off. This was when a fellow passenger said to the girl "You pressed the bell, why don't you get off then", to which the girl and her friend started mouthing off at him. He did his best to ignore them though and we continued while the girl was continuing to insult, and then telling someone on the phone to F off. The two girls finally got off at Chessington World of Adventures, however once the girl who was mainly causing the disruption stood up, the driver braked heavily once we arrived at the bus stop and she went flying towards the front! Now I'm not sure whether the driver did this deliberately or not given that she'd had enough of the girl's behaviour and she didnt fall over as a result of the heavy braking but either way, it certainly served her right . I have to say well done to the driver for remaining professional and doing her best to ignore the two girls despite them trying to attract the driver's attention several times, most commonly by pressing the bell. Whilst waiting for the 465 back to Dorking however, an old Irish man started being racist towards fellow passengers and then threatening them. I shall not repeat what he said on here but it was absolutely disgusting to witness. Sadly despite all the anti-racism campaigns, certain people still decide to be racist. Your driver must be a saint for tolerating those girls! As you said, he did very well to remain proffessional, and not lose his temper and them. The 71/465 must be swamped with annoying kids going to Chessington World of Adventures now its the Summer Holidays. On a sadder note, its saddening to learn that a passenger was making racist remarks to others. Racism has no place in modern society. I do have friends who have been racially abused but they have told me they just get used to it (though some like to argue back). A lot of things in society at the moment has resulted in people feeling comfortable with expressing their views more openly, then once they get a whack in the face (or a milkshake thrown at them) they go crying to the police.
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Post by Nathan on Aug 25, 2019 12:55:40 GMT
I have some things to rant about here regarding my recent experience on my bus travels. So I was able to go home early from work but still had to call into a meeting from home later. I figured I'd have enough time to get the bus back home as I had an hour and a half spare time. It normally takes me just over an hour to and from the office. Anyway, I boarded a 172 from Aldwych just in the nick of time. We later arrived at New Cross Bus Garage where the driver was changing over. The driver got out the cab and off the bus but there was no driver to take over. Normally drivers here take a while to get to the bus stop to take over the bus, so I figured this was one of these cases. Thankfully a controller was at the bus stop and called in (to the control room I assume) to check what was going on. This was not good enough for me as I had to make my meeting so I got off the bus and went to the bus stop further ahead (for buses going towards Lewisham). There was already a 21 ready and waiting at the stop, but it was simply just doing that. Waiting for the driver to come and change over. I saw this and saw a 436 coming behind and thought 'okay, I'll jump on this'. I did just that, only to hear the 'The driver has been instructed...' announcement. It was just getting silly at this point. I had to constantly look behind to see if there was any other bus I could take. I saw a 171 arrive but looked like that was also about to change over too, so I didn't take my chances. I asked the 436 driver how long she'd be waiting for and I was told 4 mins. I saw the 21 driver had finally arrived and quickly jumped on to that bus and we left shortly after. Bare in mind that this 21 arrived at the stop a minute or two before my 172 did! The things that really annoyed me were: a) Why do the NX route drivers take so long to even get to their bus to change over? This is quite a regular thing here. I mean no disrespect to the people who work at the garage (they do a fantastic job), but this is pretty silly now. b) Why do drivers not announce how long they are waiting for? Ideally there should be a mandatory option for drivers to enter in the number of minutes they're waiting for so the time can be announced automatically. It's quite annoying having to sit there without knowing if it's worth jumping on another bus. I usually tell them how long I’m waiting for over the PA, there really is no need to select how many minutes. In fact it isn’t an option to choose how many minutes. Those who don’t listen then thats there problem because there is always one. The 160 has lots of running time during the peaks that isn’t needed in the school holidays, I always explain over the PA that I must run the bus on time and that there is less traffic on the road during school holidays and no one comes up asking questions because I’ve told them what’s going on. In addition for the last few weeks the 160 towards Sidcup has not been serving Middle Park or Kingsground, instead following the 321, B15 & B16 via Eltham Hill. Have to loose 8-10 minutes, so what I do is park at the first stop on Eltham Hill and advise people how long the bus will wait and that they can get as many buses in an hour for £1.50 if the bus is delaying them. The ones who get the message immediately start looking for the 321, but still after announcing that I get stupid questions after turning the engine off after explaining what’s happening. Overall of it was on normal route they wouldn’t be getting anywhere any faster! -Is this the last stop? -Are you going to Eltham? “Yes I did just announce I’m waiting for 10 mins”, this was after 8 people had already got off and got the 321! This person got off and waited for the next 321 which arrived a minute before I left that stop! -Is the bus brokendown? -Why are we not going anywhere? “I just announced twice I’m waiting for 10 mins” “I can hear my own voice loud on the PA as well” When will it be going back to normal route? It's good that you announce how long you wait for. Not every driver does this, which is why I think it should be mandatory. Announcing the fact that the bus will be held is great, but if I end up waiting for so long that two or three other buses that I could have taken have gone by then it's kind of useless information. I have some things to rant about here regarding my recent experience on my bus travels. So I was able to go home early from work but still had to call into a meeting from home later. I figured I'd have enough time to get the bus back home as I had an hour and a half spare time. It normally takes me just over an hour to and from the office. Anyway, I boarded a 172 from Aldwych just in the nick of time. We later arrived at New Cross Bus Garage where the driver was changing over. The driver got out the cab and off the bus but there was no driver to take over. Normally drivers here take a while to get to the bus stop to take over the bus, so I figured this was one of these cases. Thankfully a controller was at the bus stop and called in (to the control room I assume) to check what was going on. This was not good enough for me as I had to make my meeting so I got off the bus and went to the bus stop further ahead (for buses going towards Lewisham). There was already a 21 ready and waiting at the stop, but it was simply just doing that. Waiting for the driver to come and change over. I saw this and saw a 436 coming behind and thought 'okay, I'll jump on this'. I did just that, only to hear the 'The driver has been instructed...' announcement. It was just getting silly at this point. I had to constantly look behind to see if there was any other bus I could take. I saw a 171 arrive but looked like that was also about to change over too, so I didn't take my chances. I asked the 436 driver how long she'd be waiting for and I was told 4 mins. I saw the 21 driver had finally arrived and quickly jumped on to that bus and we left shortly after. Bare in mind that this 21 arrived at the stop a minute or two before my 172 did! The things that really annoyed me were: a) Why do the NX route drivers take so long to even get to their bus to change over? This is quite a regular thing here. I mean no disrespect to the people who work at the garage (they do a fantastic job), but this is pretty silly now. b) Why do drivers not announce how long they are waiting for? Ideally there should be a mandatory option for drivers to enter in the number of minutes they're waiting for so the time can be announced automatically. It's quite annoying having to sit there without knowing if it's worth jumping on another bus. Speaking as a NX driver its understandable that passengers do get annoyed at the changeovers that occur outside the garage for routes 21, 171, 172, 436, 453 & N171. We are given ample time to reach the changeover point however one big issue we face is crossing New Cross Road. Also as you can imagine there are several routes that changeover and all are high frequency routes with a lot of buses on them (i.e 453) so at times it is inevitable that a majority of buses are changing drivers at the same time so I fully understand your experience. What doesn't help is a few things, as it is the school holidays traffic is quieter so there is quite a bit of early running going on. The general rule is to not get to the changeover point more than 3 minutes early but of course you can’t expect the next driver to be there 3 minutes early as they aren't exactly expected to be there then but to be fair the majority of drivers do get there a couple of minutes before to changeover. Unfortunately some drivers as is the case elsewhere are a law into themselves, they always arrive to the changeover point early (I have personally had a 453 driver arrive to the point 8 minutes early than the changeover time which just takes the biscuit shall we say) and then you have the same drivers who always arrive late when taking over a bus. Its sad to hear of your experience as it puts our company and garage in a bad light and I apologise on their behalf for your bad experience. As for your comment regarding the lack of announcements, we are constantly being reminded by management for need to do PA announcements to engage with passengers regarding delays or diversions of any sort to the journey. I hope this helps to restore your faith in NX operations. Thanks for your comments. I appreciate the efforts made by you and your colleagues and I understand that it can be difficult at times. Overall NX drivers have done pretty well making announcements over the last year or two. My average experience is never normally as bad as the one I described above, but fairly often buses will have to wait a long while until the driver arrives to take over the bus even during school term time. And I also understand that crossing New Cross Road is a nightmare, but surely drivers should be at the bus stop a few mins before the scheduled time anyway? E.g. if scheduled to take over a bus at 13:50, arrive at 13:45. I think that would annoy passengers a little less, except for cases like your 453 service arriving 8 mins early.
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Post by busaholic on Aug 25, 2019 13:54:41 GMT
Had quite an eventful journey on route 465 yesterday afternoon aboard OV30071. Firstly when we reached Leatherhead, we had a disabled passenger trying to board but the ramp wouldn't work. The driver tried everything, including opening and closing the doors again and moving the bus forward slightly but the ramp wouldn't deploy. After we tried everything, the driver got out of the cab to offer to help the passenger onboard but by that time he had got fed up of waiting and called for a taxi, so we continued on our way. As a result of this though the bus was subbed for OV30078 at the end of the journey at Cromwell Road Bus Station. Later on once we got to All Saints Church, two teenage girls boarded the bus, one of which became incredibly disruptive. She first started off by refusing to tap her Oyster card on the reader, and despite the driver telling her to do so she kept on saying "I get on this bus for free" and just went and sat down, so the driver couldn't really refuse her travel and decided it wasn't worth doing a code blue for a fare dispute. While the bus was still stationary she pressed the bell three times to seemingly grab the driver's attention, but the driver did her best to ignore the teenage girl. She pressed the bell several times more while the bus was moving even though she wasn't intending to get off. When we got to Rushett Lane however, she pressed the bell deliberately four times and the bus had to stop even though nobody was actually wanting to get off. This was when a fellow passenger said to the girl "You pressed the bell, why don't you get off then", to which the girl and her friend started mouthing off at him. He did his best to ignore them though and we continued while the girl was continuing to insult, and then telling someone on the phone to F off. The two girls finally got off at Chessington World of Adventures, however once the girl who was mainly causing the disruption stood up, the driver braked heavily once we arrived at the bus stop and she went flying towards the front! Now I'm not sure whether the driver did this deliberately or not given that she'd had enough of the girl's behaviour and she didnt fall over as a result of the heavy braking but either way, it certainly served her right . I have to say well done to the driver for remaining professional and doing her best to ignore the two girls despite them trying to attract the driver's attention several times, most commonly by pressing the bell. Whilst waiting for the 465 back to Dorking however, an old Irish man started being racist towards fellow passengers and then threatening them. I shall not repeat what he said on here but it was absolutely disgusting to witness. Sadly despite all the anti-racism campaigns, certain people still decide to be racist. What a horrible journey! As you say, the driver remained calm and professional and, if it was deliberate, then most of us could sympathise with the hard braking BUT what if the disruptive passenger had been injured or, even worse, some other innocent passenger had suffered from having that person catapault into them? These things are not merely theoretical, as my late father-in-law, then in his late 80s but very fit and mobile for his age, could attest to having had his last few years blighted by being thrown out of his seat when the bus he was on had to brake sharply to avoid a selfish white van man. Years later, after hip replacement, stairlift installment etc etc he finally got a payout which by no means compensated him for what he lost i.e. his independence. On the racist harangue, despite being an old man myself now, I might well intervene verbally with him and give him a piece of my mind. I have done this in the past and, despite looks-to-kill and muttering, the person (usually a moronic coward) has backed down.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2019 14:56:03 GMT
I usually tell them how long I’m waiting for over the PA, there really is no need to select how many minutes. In fact it isn’t an option to choose how many minutes. Those who don’t listen then thats there problem because there is always one. The 160 has lots of running time during the peaks that isn’t needed in the school holidays, I always explain over the PA that I must run the bus on time and that there is less traffic on the road during school holidays and no one comes up asking questions because I’ve told them what’s going on. In addition for the last few weeks the 160 towards Sidcup has not been serving Middle Park or Kingsground, instead following the 321, B15 & B16 via Eltham Hill. Have to loose 8-10 minutes, so what I do is park at the first stop on Eltham Hill and advise people how long the bus will wait and that they can get as many buses in an hour for £1.50 if the bus is delaying them. The ones who get the message immediately start looking for the 321, but still after announcing that I get stupid questions after turning the engine off after explaining what’s happening. Overall of it was on normal route they wouldn’t be getting anywhere any faster! -Is this the last stop? -Are you going to Eltham? “Yes I did just announce I’m waiting for 10 mins”, this was after 8 people had already got off and got the 321! This person got off and waited for the next 321 which arrived a minute before I left that stop! -Is the bus brokendown? -Why are we not going anywhere? “I just announced twice I’m waiting for 10 mins” “I can hear my own voice loud on the PA as well” When will it be going back to normal route? It's good that you announce how long you wait for. Not every driver does this, which is why I think it should be mandatory. Announcing the fact that the bus will be held is great, but if I end up waiting for so long that two or three other buses that I could have taken have gone by then it's kind of useless information. Speaking as a NX driver its understandable that passengers do get annoyed at the changeovers that occur outside the garage for routes 21, 171, 172, 436, 453 & N171. We are given ample time to reach the changeover point however one big issue we face is crossing New Cross Road. Also as you can imagine there are several routes that changeover and all are high frequency routes with a lot of buses on them (i.e 453) so at times it is inevitable that a majority of buses are changing drivers at the same time so I fully understand your experience. What doesn't help is a few things, as it is the school holidays traffic is quieter so there is quite a bit of early running going on. The general rule is to not get to the changeover point more than 3 minutes early but of course you can’t expect the next driver to be there 3 minutes early as they aren't exactly expected to be there then but to be fair the majority of drivers do get there a couple of minutes before to changeover. Unfortunately some drivers as is the case elsewhere are a law into themselves, they always arrive to the changeover point early (I have personally had a 453 driver arrive to the point 8 minutes early than the changeover time which just takes the biscuit shall we say) and then you have the same drivers who always arrive late when taking over a bus. Its sad to hear of your experience as it puts our company and garage in a bad light and I apologise on their behalf for your bad experience. As for your comment regarding the lack of announcements, we are constantly being reminded by management for need to do PA announcements to engage with passengers regarding delays or diversions of any sort to the journey. I hope this helps to restore your faith in NX operations. Thanks for your comments. I appreciate the efforts made by you and your colleagues and I understand that it can be difficult at times. Overall NX drivers have done pretty well making announcements over the last year or two. My average experience is never normally as bad as the one I described above, but fairly often buses will have to wait a long while until the driver arrives to take over the bus even during school term time. And I also understand that crossing New Cross Road is a nightmare, but surely drivers should be at the bus stop a few mins before the scheduled time anyway? E.g. if scheduled to take over a bus at 13:50, arrive at 13:45. I think that would annoy passengers a little less, except for cases like your 453 service arriving 8 mins early. Drivers are not paid to be at the changeover earlier than their scheduled time, so if a driver does turn up early he is doing so of his own accord. I try and arrive about 3 early to take over as a matter of courtesy when I can (obviously not always possible when you are arriving in a ferry) but we as drivers are not paid to be there early.
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