Passengers Left Stranded By Bus Cancellations
Written by HFM News on 31st October 2022
People are being left stranded at bus stops in Market Harborough because of short-notice cancellations.
A shortage of drivers has left Stagecoach unable to run some services on the number 33 town route, which also serves Little Bowden and Great Bowden.
Cllr Barbara Johnson, who represents Logan ward, told HFM is causing a lot of problems for people who rely on the bus, including to to get to GP appointments:
A Stagecoach bus in Market Harborough
Leicestershire County Council awarded Stagecoach the contract to run buses on the subsidised route from last month.
A spokesperson told HFM: “The issue of short notice cancellations to bus services is primarily as a result of a widespread national driver shortage which operators are currently dealing with, both here in Leicestershire and across the country.
“We recognise the impact this has on people’s ability to make their travel journeys and we will continue to talk to operators, including Stagecoach, about the issue.
“We are aware from those discussions that recruitment and training of new drivers remains a priority for the bus operators, so that they can ensure that services run as scheduled.”
A spokesman for Stagecoach told HFM: “We are sorry for anyone affected by cancellations on service 33. Unfortunately, we’ve had to cancel a number of journeys due to driver shortage.
“There’s currently a national shortage of drivers which is affecting all bus operators across the country. We’re working round the clock to recruit people into our team and seeing a strong uptake of applicants.
“This weekend we also introduced service changes across Northamptonshire which will help with the availability of staff to support the 33 service going forward.”
