IT’S been a turbulent year for the town’s bus provider with bosses left at the wheel of a service which failed to turn up, broke down with passengers on board, left students stranded or got lost at the hands of their drivers.
The fiasco started in September when residents fed up with the sloppy service formed a pressure group to press for change.
Abbeydale resident Donna Parry led calls for a shake-up after she was left waiting an hour and ten minutes by the Rotala-owned company.
Donna wasted no time in getting Redditch MP Karen Lumley involved and the pair received an apology from Diamond bosses three weeks later for the poor service.
In a meeting held on October 23 Mrs Lumley hosted discussions with managers and directors of Rotala and passengers who had complained about the level of service since a new timetable was introduced on September 1, 2015.
Rotala director David Squire and Redditch operations manager Andrew Fish apologised for their company’s poor service since the start of the school term but promised eight additional buses would be operating in Redditch from December 1, with more coming next year.
The group also heard a route trainer had been taken on to ensure drivers knew where they were going.
However, following a meeting with Diamond’s business development officer Paul McNamara on December 22, The Standard has learnt the provider has pushed back the date for the new buses – with some not arriving until January and the fleet will in service until February.
November saw another Diamond apology from Mr Squire, who has since left the company, at the county council’s Highways Forum at Redditch town hall on November 3.
A number of county councillors, members of the public and Mayor Councillor Pattie Hill heard how Mr Squire wanted to be in a position where Redditch residents could be proud of their bus provider and that customer care training is a priority.
He assured the assembled group the provider was not understaffed but would ‘prefer to have a lot more staff’ on its system.
The apology came after reports of a blade sticking up from a seat on the 57 service and a diesel spill which was an ‘accident waiting to happen’.
But things didn’t improve after Mr Squire’s assurances when a ten-year-old schoolgirl stranded in Winyates just one week after the meeting – and then a bus went up in flames outside Tudor Grange Academy on November 18.
Following calls for Diamond bosses to explain the dire service at County Hall by the deputy mayor of Redditch borough Councillor Joe Baker, Worcestershire County Council stepped in to negotiate an action plan on December 2 to establish a number of performance measures between now and early February 2016.
These focus on the bus provider, which is contracted to run non-commercial bus routes in the north of Worcestershire, improving the reliability of their services.
The service is also under fire from teaching staff at both St Augustine’s Catholic High School and Tudor Grange who have held two meetings to discuss the state of their school services following students turning up late for classes and being stranded in the town centre – forcing teachers to transport pupils home in their own vehicles.
County Councillor John Smith, cabinet member with responsibility for highways, is now asking for any concerns, comments or issues parents may have with Diamond to be sent to him so he can compile a complete information dossier on the matter.
