Disruptions and driver shortages
(17 Mar 2022, 8:34 am)Adrian wrote Was hit with an extended stay at Heworth the other night, after opting for Metro/Bus instead of the X1. Whilst waiting for one of the xx.53 short runs on the 4, I had noticed it wasn't tracking nor listed on the website as a cancellation. Someone else who was waiting had mentioned these short runs are cancelled 'almost every night' recently.
Looking at bustimes.org journey history, it certainly backs up what he said. Since the start of last week, the 19.53, 20.53, 21.53 and 22.53 runs (they're all done by the same bus) failed to run on 07/03, 08/03, 12/03, 14/03, 15/03, 16/03. They're also listed as cancelled this evening.
Just waiting for those shorts to be cancelled in the next round of cuts due to low use now...!
They’re the journeys which have only just recently been reinstated (having been cancelled so that customers would be able to plan to avoid buses at this time, rather than hope they run and find out the night before that they aren’t going to run).
Of all the work at Washington to cancel on an evening, these journeys are the least disruptive to customers. It involves no secured mileage, isn’t the last bus of the evening, and there are other buses available (with a bit of a wait), which can’t be said for other low frequency services.
The loss of work in North Tyneside paired with recruitment efforts should minimise any lost mileage at Washington by the end of this month - but I’d still imagine if any late work has to be cancelled, these journeys will be affected.
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