Derbyshire buses: Calls for improvements after mother forced to pay for taxi to pick up daughter from schools as bus fails to arrive in Chesterfield
A bus operator has responded after residents were left disappointed by buses failing to turn up.
Residents reported issues with busses failing to arrive in Chesterfield over recent weeks – with the 39 and X17 services, operated by Stagecoach, particularly affected.
Adrian Rimington, a Holme Hall resident and Chair of Chesterfield Pensioner’s Convention said: “The bus problem has been going on for at least a month.
“Last week I was speaking to a mother, who had to get a taxi to school in time to pick her daughter up because the 39 bus did not arrive.
"Currently they are missing either two or three a day on the 39 services and the X17 has been affected as well.
"I was informed that there were around 50 people waiting for an X17 bus last week which didn’t show up.
"I was told by a bus driver, and then by a staff member at the coach station that Stagecoach that they are 27 drivers short and they also have drivers phoning in sick. They are getting drivers from different divisions to help, but the buses are still not showing up.”
It has also been reported that the last X17 service of the day failed to arrive at Sheffield Road in Chesterfield on Friday, September 12, leaving people stranded at the bus stop.
The service runs between Wirksworth and Barnsley, stopping at Matlock, Chesterfield, Cromford and Sheffield, with many passengers relying on the X17 to travel between towns and villages.
A spokesperson Stagecoach Yorkshire, a bus operator running both X17 and 39 service, said: “Our latest reliability figures, for the past four weeks, show that we now operate over 97.5% of the miles we are scheduled to operate across Derbyshire.
“We routinely record the actual number of miles that we run, and where we cannot run them because of factors such as congestion, diversions, or driver illness. Our latest available figures show that we are now running 97.6% of the miles we are timetabled to run across the county.
“Delivering buses is a team effort, with internal teams of Drivers, Supervisors, Cleaners and Engineers working together every day to deliver the best possible service for local customers.
"So, these figures are a huge credit to every one of our colleagues, who put in a tremendous effort, day in day out, to make sure that we offer a reliable service.
“In a busy and sometimes crowded region, like ours, there will always be issues around congestion and road use, so it is particularly important that we do our bit to provide a reliable service.”
A spokesperson for Stagecoach Yorkshire did not wish to comment on the bus shortage or specific complaints in regards to the 39 or X17 service.