Arriva in the UK

[Citybus]

An interesting punishment for an Arriva company for operating the services differently to those approved by the regulator. The reason for the change was to reduce the number of vehicles required. A familiar concept . . .

The services are commercially operated, so the revenue belongs to Arriva.


The bosses of Arriva's bus operations in Derby have been ordered to give passengers free travel for 12 months, following a public inquiry into the company's failure to run two local services properly.

North West Traffic Commissioner Beverley Bell made the ruling after hearing that the firm did not give the correct legal notice for changes to routes running between Alvaston and Derby.

The decision, issued this week in writing, means that Arriva Derby will be prevented from charging passengers who board the 44 and 45 services at any point, providing they are due to arrive in Derby after 7pm.

Directors from the firm were called to a regulatory hearing before the Traffic Commissioner on 14 December 2012, after acknowledging that the company had failed to tell Mrs Bell – and its passengers – that the stopping point of the services had changed.

They were registered and advertised as terminating at Derby bus station when in reality the buses were stopping on Albert Street, in order to connect with another service provided by the firm.

In evidence to the Traffic Commissioner, Arriva's regional engineering director said that an administrative error had led to the company's failure to apply to change the registration with the Traffic Commissioner. It was also noted that an earlier stopping point – outside the bus station – had also not been authorised by Mrs Bell.

Under regulations governing local bus services, operators are required to give legal notice to the Traffic Commissioner of their intention to begin operating, change or cancel routes.

After questioning the director further, Mrs Bell concluded that it was clear various individuals in the business had not dealt with the matter properly. She also found that by the time of the hearing, despite being notified of the Traffic Commissioner's concerns, the appropriate application to amend services had still not been made to her office.

In response to the evidence heard during the inquiry, the company's regional managing director admitted to the regulator that there had been a catalogue of errors and that it gave him no pleasure to sit and listen to Arriva's failings.

The Traffic Commissioner was told by the operator's solicitor that the 44 and 45 routes were important to Derby and for the company.

He advised the Traffic Commissioner that the company's failures had affected services after 7pm, which made up 11 out of 20 journeys on the routes.

In her written decision, Mrs Bell said the errors made by Arriva had been "wholly unacceptable" and was also critical of the company's response when it realised services were still not running properly by November 2012.

She added:

    "The company instructed all drivers to set down inside the bus station. Passengers were once again inconvenienced. Having become accustomed to being deposited at Albert Street, they were just then deposited at the bus station with no notice and no explanation."

Mrs Bell also used the written decision to remind the company that there were good reasons why regulations required them to give notice of any changes to services.

    "Passengers reliant on public transport have to fit their schedules into and plan their diaries around the bus services that they use and this can be made even more difficult when passengers are then reliant on other public services such as hospital visiting times.

    "They must therefore be given the proper notice to allow them to plan in the event of any alterations."

The Traffic Commissioner also noted that while the movement of a stopping point by a short distance might not inconvenience some passengers, there were those whose age or infirmity would make the task "difficult, lengthy and painful".

She concluded there was "no good reason" why Arriva dropped passengers 150 meters away from the advertised stopping point in Derby and highlighted that the company's decision to do so was based on financial considerations.

Bell added:

    "The revenues had been falling and Arriva took a commercial decision to feed the service into another route thereby reducing the number of buses that they had to put on the road."

The routes were lucrative – despite reduced passenger numbers – but the Traffic Commissioner ruled that Arriva had not given proper regard to those who continued to use the service.

As a consequence, she said that it was "entirely appropriate" for passengers using the 44 and 45 services – who would arrive in Derby after 7pm – to receive free travel by way of the inconvenience they had previously suffered by Arriva's actions. The firm is prevented from charging passengers a fare for those journeys as a result of the order.

The Traffic Commissioner concluded:

    "It sends a very clear message to the passengers that they will now benefit from action taken against the company, it sends a very clear message to the operator of the consequences of its failings and will have the necessary deterrent effect."

    "It will also send a very clear message to the wider bus industry of the consequences of failings such as these."

Mrs Bell's order against registered services 44 and 45 will take effect on 01 March 2013 and expire on 28 February 2014.

[Nico]

Ja, där kan man verkligen prata om ord och inga visor. I många fall är det inte fel om beslutshavarna är lite mera rakt på sak, men  i Sverige har vi nog i vissa fall även en viss konflikträdsla som är svår att komma ifrån och som då hindrar.

Annars skulle det vara intressant att få ta del av Arrivas interna företagsinstruktioner och rutiner. För min del får jag i alla fall en känsla av att det verkar finnas en viss systematik i det hela då mönstret känns igen från flera andra håll.