(02 Mar 2024, 7:28 pm)itsadam wrote Hi guys, I don't usually post on this part of the forum but today was the tip of the iceberg for me. I was waiting ages for the 7 today and Thursday and I was tracking on bustimes as well as Arriva's app, as you do. They cancelled so many buses before a bus actually came and it always seems to be around 1/2 ish they get really bad. The security guard in the bus station got a driver to ring control or something to check and they said a bus would be 10 minutes but that bus got took out of service. Ended up getting a train - ironically it was a replacement bus. Does anyone know why the 7 is particularly horrendous and why Arriva is so bad at communication?
Looking at BusTimes for Saturday, it seems like at least 2 buses were missing for much of the day on consecutive boards, leaving to an hour's gap in service (assuming it's not just tracking issues).
Getting in and out of Darlington can be a mess on Saturdays and the fact the 7 runs on a 20 min frequency instead of 15 that's offered M-F probs doesn't help.
Have noticed more dropping out of service on Darlington services when services are running late, one occasion that left me steaming was a delay of less than 5 mins resulting in a 40 min wait for the next service 5 in Bishop Auckland to which Arriva's response to my complaint being "operational disruptions" which was a load of shit, especially when the driver ran early for much of the remainder of the journey and started at Shildon. When I was in Durham Bus Station during half term one afternoon, two buses in a row dropped out of service, one rushing light all the way back to Darlo and the other starting in Chilton on time.