(14 May 2014, 6:13 am)Andreos Constantopolous wrote Kingsleys also had an A-line Dart out on scholars work the other day.
The contract is usually operated by a decker.

There may have been fines, but the kids got to school - just as the oap's were able to get their pension after Compass stuck an alternative on or commuters/people going on a break managed to travel on East Coast with the borrowed East Midlands HST set.
Fines, rental costs or whatever else incurred may make a dent in profits, but good will and customer satisfaction is maintained.

Aye, Compass is a charity.

Apart from when the bus runs late continuously!

I think it's Go North East's Q2 that I've heard drivers complaining about. As soon as you arrive into Haymarket, you're back out again trying to make up time... A never-ending cycle.

We've seen operators review punctuality issues by increasing layover time and interworking two services (recent example being GNE's X35/X36) and other changes which often mean that the PVR of a service goes up by one. Can't recall the last time I saw a Nexus contract change so that timings were made more manageable and the PVR increased by one? More expensive for Nexus, but would ensure customer satisfaction is maintained...

Unless you can come up with an example or two, it seems operators who agree to these contracts are seeing falling profit levels and trying to maintain customer satisfaction, but the parties behind the contracts aren't doing their bit...!