(05 Sep 2021, 9:38 pm)stagecoachbusdepot wrote Just been on the GNE twitter page and noticed the number of cancellations - it looks like there has been close to 90 journeys cancelled today. I realise GNE tend to report this kind of thing very well on social media and are to be commended for that. Can't help but think however that level of unreliability and consequent delay, especially on a Sunday where there is already a decent gap in some frequencies, has to be a major deterrent to bus travel for anyone who has a choice? No idea if today is just a particularly extreme example, or if this is fairly typical (and indeed if similar scale cancellations occur regularly with the other operators).
Yes, everything is reported for transparency. Today has been quite unusual - both for the company and in terms of what the wider industry is going through.
I recently heard there was one day fairly recently where 26% of Arriva Darlington’s mileage was lost due to no driver being available (far greater than your example of 90 journeys across the whole of Go North East today) - but you’d not know, as it wasn’t posted on social media.
The whole industry is going through incredibly tough times at the moment (as are many other sectors, but public transport gives the impression of being worse - a driver shortage results in journeys being cancelled, whereas a shortage of staff in a fast food restaurant or bakery for example just means there is longer waiting times for your food).
I’d say all three operators in our region should probably be considering reducing service levels so at least then the journeys cancelled are planned - alas, Arriva Durham’s situation is set to get a lot worse with Go North East and JH Coaches no longer operating services 6, 7 and 64 on their behalf.
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