Derbyshire buses: Pensioner forced to wait in 30-degree heat and order taxi after bus fails to arrive at Chesterfield bus stop

The incident took place at New Beetwell Street in Chesterfield town centre on Monday, June 30, and saw Adrian Rimington, 68, waiting for the 39 Stagecoach bus service to Holme Hall which didn’t arrive.

The electric board on the bus stop initially showed that the bus was set to arrive at 6.57pm but it failed to show up and the board suddenly started showing 7.27pm as the new arrival time without any explanation for the delay.

Mr Rimington, chair of Chesterfield branch of the National Pensioners Convention, said: “I just came back from Skegness. I was tired and it was 30 degree heat so I had to get a taxi.

"As a pensioner you don’t have a fantastic income but if a bus doesn’t show up you have to pay for a taxi. It’s the money I shouldn’t be paying as a pensioner with a bus pass.”

It’s not the first time Mr Rimington was forced to pay for a taxi due to a bus failing to arrive this summer. On Friday, June 6, he was waiting for the 63 Stagecoach service in Wingerworth which was scheduled at 5.10pm – but did not arrive until after 6pm.

Mr Rimington, who is a pensioner and disability rights campaigner, said: “After 50 minutes of waiting I ordered a taxi for £7.60 only to see the bus through the taxi window. It was travelling to Chesterfield. It must have been over an hour late.

"The week before, the 63 was constantly late for at least 15 minutes. When I spoke to one of the drivers about it, he said that they had more older buses on the roads after Stagecoach took over some of the Hulleys of Baslow services and some of buses were not fit for purpose.

"It begs a question if Stagecoach have the fleet to operate the bus routes they took on.”

John Young, Commercial Director of Stagecoach Yorkshire, said: “Unfortunately that particular number 39 bus was unable to run because of a driver falling ill.

"Overall, Service 39 is performing very well. The improved frequency, introduced recently, has been welcomed by customers, along with the fleet of brand new zero-emission electric buses across the Chesterfield network.

“In the past four weeks, 93% of number 39 services have run on time. Over the same period, Chesterfield depot has run 99.41% of the miles that we are scheduled to run.

“There are many reasons why buses can run late - including some, such as local congestion, that are not within our control - but our teams work very hard to deliver the best service possible and take great pride in doing so.

“Service 63 is operated under contract to Derbyshire County Council - we took it on in March this year following the unfortunate collapse of Hulley's. A minor change has already been made to assist punctuality and further data is being collated to help us to improve the service still further. The buses used on the 63 are mid-life, full-size single-deckers as their capacity is needed at school times.”