Minutes:
Arriva
Arriva reported that passenger
numbers were continuing to slowly improve. The punctuality of many
services had been affected by roadworks, with two burst water mains
occurring within the space of a few days and causing particular
disruption to the 268 service.
Recruitment was noted as being
a challenge due to the national driver shortage, and it was felt
that this was being exacerbated by the Government’s focus on
the impact of this issue on the HGV industry rather than on the bus
services.
FirstBus
FirstBus were experiencing similar
issues to those reported by Arriva regarding recruitment, and
FirstBus, like other operators, were
working on recruitment and retention initiatives. Some service
frequency changes had been introduced recently to manage the
resource available, but it was stressed that these were temporary
changes to cope with the national driver shortages, and much work
was going into providing the best service possible despite these
shortages, particularly in the context of passengers beginning to
return to the bus network.
FirstBus highlighted that marketing and publicity efforts were being directed toward communicating service levels and promoting reasons to travel to the public to encourage users back to the bus service. This included a £1 evening fare initiative. Extra investment had also been made into front-line staff, with a full-time representative now in place at Bradford bus station.
It was also noted that there
had been some recent vandalism issues in Holme Wood, as had been
reported in local media. These events were generally isolated
incidents and had not been repeated in this instance. FirstBus would continue to work with partners such
as the police, Bradford Council and the Combined Authority on any
future issues of this kind.
Transdev
Transdev reported that due to the
impact of the national driver shortage, they were running a
temporary timetable for the Keighley to Bradford shuttle service,
and a small number of local services in Keighley were still running
reduced journeys. Passenger numbers were noted to be roughly 70-75%
of 2019 levels. Recruitment efforts for drivers were underway to
bring the service back to 100%, but there were some delays in
drivers getting through the training and licensing process on the
part of DVLA.
Transdev were also running
several marketing schemes to encourage people to return to the bus
service, including the £1 evening fare promotion that
FirstBus had discussed above, which was
hoped to assist with the recovery of evening journeys relating to
the hospitality sector. Free day tickets had also been issued over
the Transdev mobile app to serve as a thank you for those who had
been using the service as well as an encouragement for others to
try it. A great deal of feedback had been received from these free
journeys, with passengers reporting that the buses felt clean and
safe.
Members questioned what arrangements had been made to provide
alternative services for users whose journeys would be affected by
the Morten Lane and Granby Lane bridge closures which were planned
over the next year. The Transdev representative would provide
further information on this after the meeting.
Northern
As described above,
Northern’s performance measures
were currently generally strong. Passenger levels were at
approximately 75% of what would be expected at this time of year
pre-pandemic. However, it was noted that this recovery had
primarily been in leisure travel, such as to the coast or to retail
centres, with the traditional commute remaining low at close to 35%
of pre-pandemic levels due to the shift toward working at home.
Initiatives were in place to aim to raise patronage for the
commute, such as a new flexible season ticket, though take-up had
been limited. More general initiatives encouraging travel were also
being used, such as a recent £1 ticket flash sale.
It was noted that although the driver shortages described by bus
operators were not affecting the rail industry, pipeline issues had
been caused by a period where training was unable to take place due
to social distancing restrictions. However, work to ameliorate this
such as the implementation of training bubbles had lessened the
impact and these restrictions were now lifted, and it was expected
that the availability of trained drivers would have fully caught up
to standard levels by the end of Spring 2022.
A number of other points were raised:
· Neville Hill Depot was now being run solely by Northern, where it had previously been jointly managed with East Midlands Railway. This allowed strong opportunities in the management of services in the region, with benefits expected to be seen in the next few years.
· It was noted that mask use, though advised, was not compulsory on trains, and Northern staff could not enforce the wearing of masks.
· The December 2021 timetable for Bradford would soon come into use and would include increased frequency for the Halifax to Hull service, as well as an extra train from Leeds to Morecambe, bringing the timetable back to the pre-pandemic frequency of service.
· It was noted that Northern were working on a Community Rail Partnership on the Calder Valley Line, in conjunction with Calderdale Council and Rochdale Council.
Members thanked Northern for the installation of passenger toilets at Shipley station, and it was noted these were proving popular with rail users.
Members questioned all operators how the driver shortage was
expected to impact on journeys over the Christmas period and
whether contingency measures were in place to address this.
Operators generally did not expect a very significant impact and
noted that the closure of schools over Christmas would free up
additional drivers. It was also typically expected for services to
run at slightly reduced levels between Christmas and New Year.
Operators would continue to work closely with the Combined
Authority to flag up any arising issues and to best match available
resources to demand.
Resolved: That the operators be thanked for their updates.