News | Buses


downsmail.co.uk Get your tin hats out, Arriva


BUS boss Norman Kemp has spoken of his fears for the service levels Arriva customers will face in the light of its changes to timetables. Mr Kemp fears students across


the borough will be caught out as his own Nu-Venture company launched some new services de- signed to provide alternatives to the Arriva cuts. He told Downs Mail: "I know


they have had a big campaign going and had lots of press cover- age from the likes of Downs Mail and various other media outlets but, with the best will in the world, it won't get to everyone. Some peo- ple just will not have seen it or they think it won't apply to them. “To be fair to Arriva, they have


been putting out positivemessages but you have to be realistic. “People will be caught out and


we anticipate problems and a few sob stories about children missing buses and the like. “I should imagine it will time to


get the tin hats on over at Arriva and elsewhere in the industry, given the reaction so far.” Mr Kemp said he has deployed


the spare capacity in his fleet of buses to make a series of changes, some of which help to plug the gaps left by Arriva's changes. He added: "We are at the limit of


what we can do with what we have." Arriva has faced a volley of criti-


cism from users, parents of school- children, head teachers, MPs and other local representatives. Invicta Grammar School head teacher Julie Derrick - see story


below - has been one of the most outspoken critics of the new serv- ices.


The new Nu-Venture services are:


Nu-Venture Bus 1 – Gatland Lane/Fant/Maidstone – new hourly off-peak service 1 (Mondays to Fri- days) commences 3 April 2017. Bus 6 – Mascalls Academy/Wa- teringbury/Barming/Maidstone – Nu-Venture has an after-school journey at 1508. Buses 23, 26, 26A and 27 – a new timetable has started - some journeys are re- timed. New Buses 22 and 25 will serve Gallants Lane, East Farleigh. Nu-Venture Bus 77 – new, lim-


ited Mondays to Fridays service West Malling/Kings Hill/Mere- worth/Tonbridge (some journeys to/from Tunbridge Wells) and in- cluding school buses 148/148A be-


tween W Malling /Kings Hill/Ton- bridge. Nu-Venture Buses 79A and 79C serving Palace Wood/Allington – minor changes to bus times started on April 18. Bus 79A will be di- verted away from Grace Avenue but will still serve Tintern Road. Nu-Venture Bus 151 now runs on Saturdays and has been extended to operate beyond Kings Hill both to and from Mereworth. This timetable has been com- pletely revised but there are only very minor changes to the Mon- days to Fridays service. Mondays to Saturdays evenings


Bus 155 introduced serving Chatham – Borstal – Wouldham – Burham – Eccles – Aylesford – Maidstone. Nu-Venture Buses 277 282 283


285 - Tunbridge Wells area – have revised times.


Firm is ‘holding


pupils to ransom’ BUS giant Arriva is holding school- children “to ransom” by its timetable changes in Maidstone, according toMPHelen Whately. The Faversham and Mid Kent member said she will write to Kent County Council to see if an alterna- tive to Arriva can be found. There isgrowing anger across the


borough about the timetable changesamid claims Arriva did not conduct a meaningful consultation by prior to the announcement. Mrs Whately said: “We can’t be


held to ransom by Arriva in the sense that they have produced a new timetable - take it or leave it. What is needed is a timetable to meet the needs of schoolchildren. “Arriva’s response is unsatisfac-


tory andit certainly doesn’t feel like a meaningful consultation at all. Schools are now getting seriously worried about getting their stu- dents in on time, especially as the examseason will soon be here.” An Arriva spokesman said: “Fol-


lowing a...review and in the lead up to the implementation of the changes required,we met and con- sulted with a number of stakehold- ers including MPs, Kent County Council, Maidstone Borough Coun- cil, other councillors and schools, as well as hosting a number of public events. We are confident our net- work changes...will better serve the communities of Maidstoneandsur- rounding areas..”


Head’s aack Passengers urged to take notes


INVICTA Grammar School head teacher Julie Derrick launched a withering attack on bus company Arriva for cutting bus services. An “appalled”


Mrs Derrick (left) released a state- ment after a crunch meeting with Arriva, say- ing the cuts in services would mean more cars on


Maidstone’s congested roads. She said: “It is not only frustrating but extremely disappointing that stu- dents and parents of Maidstone and the surrounding villages are affected in thisway.As both a par- ent and teacher, I am appalled at the way in which Arriva have changed timetables and services mid-way through the year. “I hope...councillors, MPs and


(KCC leader) Paul Carter will help us to make Arriva see sense. It is nonsense to reduce services; it will just mean more cars, more traffic and yet more congestion.”


36 Maidstone May 2017


BUS user PeterWiles is asking pas- sengers of the new Number 9 bus to help hold Arriva to account. He has campaigned for improved reliability from Arriva – taking his case to the Office of the Traffic Commissioner – after passengers were left stranded repeatedly in the cold.


Now he wants those using the


new service – introduced onApril 2 – to record when buses turn up late or fail to show on forms available near close to bus stops en route at the Newsrack, Grove Green; Tay- lors at Bearsted Green and Vinters newsagents. Mr Wiles (pictured) says since


taking issue with Arriva he has been appalled by the company’s lack of customer care, reluctance to learn from feedback and its poor complaints procedure. Indeed, its customer service de- partment, based in Luton, was un- able to trace any of his complaints. He is also disappointed that bus


users have no voice on the county and borough councils Quality Bus Partnership or Joint Transportation Board (JTB). He attended the board’s March meeting, attended by Arriva South- ern’s Kevin Root, to present a 200- signature petition calling for a more reliable bus service for Bearsted. Mr Wiles said: “I was given five minutes to speak, but I was backed by six or seven councillors also dis-


satisfied with Arriva’s bus services and the difficulty in reaching any- one from customer services.” The former deputy head added:


“I am not anti-Arriva, but if a com- pany offers to run buses it can’t offer a service that is reliably unre- liable. “It also needs to listen to users,


like our schools, to ensure timetable changes don’t cause the uproar we are seeing.”


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