(24 Jan 2025, 8:49 pm)PH - BQA wrote "Defects are reported and we are told to just clear fault codes and send them on their way. They'd rather hide the faults than fix them."
What a mental quote, and probably sums up the state of the company. If they can't see the problem, there is no problem, seems to be the mentality. As much as Featham and his lackey Maxfield are ultimately to blame for this, and Nigel has form for running fleets into the ground, depot level management are equally responsible.
My interpretation of the article, the various things I've seen first hand, and the stories posted on here, is that GNE passengers, drivers, and the general public can probably count themselves lucky that they've not yet been involved in an accident due to GNE's poor maintenance/engineering incompetence.
It's an insane way to run a business. Clearly someone who is only interested in the very short term, but never looking at the bigger picture. If only you allowed a bit of time to be invested in fault finding and repair on the bus, rather than insisting it's straight back out on the road, you may have fixed it first time; not the 5th or 6th time it's off the road. For a management with a productivity fetish, it doesn't sound like very productive leadership, does it?
You're right though, this stinks of Arriva Durham when I used to live through that way. Buses in a mess, breakdowns without replacements or communication, and newer buses being pushed out, only to be replaced by utter heaps. The 09 plate E200 rattleboxes and the ill-fated Tempos spring to mind.