Timetable increases commencing 31st May 2020

[WyreForestShuttle]

And here is a quote from our staff bulletin today

The Minister also asked Sir Peter Hendy, a former London Transport Commissioner, to review the readiness of the bus industry across England. He sampled several operators' plans including NXWM. Peter's report was glowing in its praise for our preparedness in terms of safety, customer information, vehicle maintenance and people's attitude, which is a credit to everyone's hard work.

I have passed your comments to Sir Peter ; also a former First man and a man without equal; who will like myself I am sure be delighted to receive them as a lot of work was undertaken for the report in question & you are quite correct most operators at the time the report was compiled for Mr Shapps have been very well prepared for the emergency which has been very much appreciated by all parties concerned, however despite my unfortunate illness I doubt very much any DfT conference call has been undertaken I am not aware of but I will check for you both rest assured.

[WyreForestShuttle]

@Tony you may also be interested in the following guidance which has also just been published by the DfT on Drivers Hours.

1. As part of the Government's effort to keep supply chains moving throughout the coronavirus outbreak, the Government announced a temporary measure to relax the enforcement of both the EU and GB drivers' hours rules until 31 May 2020.

2. Following a review, the Department for Transport has confirmed that the temporary relaxation to the EU drivers' hours rules will not be extended and will end at 23:59 on 31 May 2020.

3. The relaxation to domestic GB drivers' hours rules will continue until 23:59 on 14 June 2020, but will be kept under review.

4. The Department for Transport has issued guidance for employers and drivers on how being furloughed will affect the working time rules that apply to mobile workers.

5. The guidance will help you understand how you should record activities on your tachograph, or by manual record, when furloughed, including when undertaking other work

6. Drivers are legally entitled to easy and safe access to toilets and hand washing facilities while carrying out their work.

[Tony]

@Tony you may also be interested in the following guidance which has also just been published by the DfT on Drivers Hours.

1. As part of the Government's effort to keep supply chains moving throughout the coronavirus outbreak, the Government announced a temporary measure to relax the enforcement of both the EU and GB drivers' hours rules until 31 May 2020.

2. Following a review, the Department for Transport has confirmed that the temporary relaxation to the EU drivers' hours rules will not be extended and will end at 23:59 on 31 May 2020.

3. The relaxation to domestic GB drivers' hours rules will continue until 23:59 on 14 June 2020, but will be kept under review.

4. The Department for Transport has issued guidance for employers and drivers on how being furloughed will affect the working time rules that apply to mobile workers.

5. The guidance will help you understand how you should record activities on your tachograph, or by manual record, when furloughed, including when undertaking other work

6. Drivers are legally entitled to easy and safe access to toilets and hand washing facilities while carrying out their work.

No I am not interested at all as the company I work for has safety as its number one priority and has not used these extended hours that are available

[WyreForestShuttle]

No I am not interested at all as the company I work for has safety as its number one priority and has not used these extended hours that are available

Great to hear @Tony National Express West Midlands have a first class safety record I agree sadly I have to keep up to date with legislation used by all operators some of which are not as meticulous.

[karl724223]

Great to hear @Tony National Express West Midlands have a first class safety record I agree sadly I have to keep up to date with legislation used by all operators some of which are not as meticulous.

why do you are you somebody important ?

[Steveminor]

The relaxing of drivers hours was for the carriage of goods by road & was intended to keep the food supply chain going. It was not intended for bus operators to work their over stressed under pressure drivers harder & I dont believe any bus operator in the uk would do or even think of that at this time. Their job is stressful enough at the moment & their safety & that of the passengers is always paramount.

[WyreForestShuttle]

The relaxing of drivers hours was for the carriage of goods by road & was intended to keep the food supply chain going. It was not intended for bus operators to work their over stressed under pressure drivers harder & I dont believe any bus operator in the uk would do or even think of that at this time. Their job is stressful enough at the moment & their safety & that of the passengers is always paramount.

I am only aware currently of a number of small operators who have sought to undertake emergency legislation provision however it would not be professional to name them on a public forum when they operating within emergency government legislation recently extended which is why I posted it as soon as it was published.

[markcf83]

Correct Steve.

[ellspurs]

I am only aware currently of a number of small operators who have sought to undertake this however it would not be professional to name them on a public forum when they operating within emergency government legislation recently extended which is why I posted it as soon as it was published.

I would be extremely concerned of those operators that are contravening the emergency relaxation of the driving time regulations, and I would urge you to report them to the relevant authorities at the earliest opportunity.

Going back on topic to the thread, your complaints earlier in the thread about the West Midlands operators not communicating effectively the recent delayed timetable changes, First Worcester announced their changes on Thursday 28 May for implementation on Monday 1 June. In the situation you were describing (someone needing to make a weekly trip to a hospital appointment, isolating for the rest of the week), how are they supposed to know of next week's changes if they've only announced them with 96 hours notice? The West Midland operators were trying to give as much notice as they could of the impending changes to allow people to plan their journeys effectively.

All the operators are doing their best to deal with this unique situation.

Coincidentally, I was chasing a First Worcester 417 down the country lanes to Ledbury yesterday in my truck, the lil' blighter was too quick for me.

[WyreForestShuttle]

I would be extremely concerned of those operators that are contravening the emergency relaxation of the driving time regulations, and I would urge you to report them to the relevant authorities at the earliest opportunity.

Going back on topic to the thread, your complaints earlier in the thread about the West Midlands operators not communicating effectively the recent delayed timetable changes, First Worcester announced their changes on Thursday 28 May for implementation on Monday 1 June. In the situation you were describing (someone needing to make a weekly trip to a hospital appointment, isolating for the rest of the week), how are they supposed to know of next week's changes if they've only announced them with 96 hours notice? The West Midland operators were trying to give as much notice as they could of the impending changes to allow people to plan their journeys effectively.

All the operators are doing their best to deal with this unique situation.

Coincidentally, I was chasing a First Worcester 417 down the country lanes to Ledbury yesterday in my truck, the lil' blighter was too quick for me.

I am not aware of any operator in breach of emergency legislation whilst First 144 is hourly within the West Midlands County currently and continues to operate as such what has this to do with other operators who posted enhanced timetables from the 31st May 2020 serving QEHB only to withdraw them?

[2206]

NX Bus site says a full normal frequency is returning from the 5th July on most services. PB 28, 65 and 67 are exceptions remaining at every 15 minutes.
https://nxbus.co.uk/west-midlands/information/service-changes/more-timetable-increases-from-5th-july-2020


Will those Tridents/Gemini on loan be returning from WA/WB to PB/BC for this date? Or do PB/BC already have enough buses for this increase?

[WyreForestShuttle]

NX Bus site says a full normal frequency is returning from the 5th July on most services. PB 28 is one exception remaining at every 15 minutes.
https://nxbus.co.uk/west-midlands/information/service-changes/more-timetable-increases-from-5th-july-2020

Will those Tridents/Gemini on loan be returning from WA/WB to PB/BC for this date?

We were quite surprised at the 4H timetable revision that is an interesting development as it is no longer on a clockwise frequency operated by NX but more coordinated with the Rotala service operating perhaps in this time of crisis a welcome development with The West Midlands Bus Alliance.

[monkeyjoe]

NX Bus site says a full normal frequency is returning from the 5th July on most services. PB 28, 65 and 67 are exceptions remaining at every 15 minutes.
https://nxbus.co.uk/west-midlands/information/service-changes/more-timetable-increases-from-5th-july-2020


Will those Tridents/Gemini on loan be returning from WA/WB to PB/BC for this date? Or do PB/BC already have enough buses for this increase?

Notice the Bristol Rd and Pershore Rd buses are not back to pre lockdown levels assuming must be a mix of what would of been summer holiday type timetables.

[Steve3229vp]

Notice the Bristol Rd and Pershore Rd buses are not back to pre lockdown levels assuming must be a mix of what would of been summer holiday type timetables.

The Bristol Road routes will be at pre-lockdown levels at every 12 minutes each on Monday to Friday (combined frequency of every 6 minutes), but there seems to be a mistake with the Saturday timetable which states 'every 10 mins' but doesn't say if it's a combined frequency which is unlikely as Sunday is a combined frequency of every 7-8 mins
https://nxbus.co.uk/files/NX-West-Midlands/2020-Files/Current-timetables/5thJuly/Birmingham/B061%20_%2063%20Timetable%2005Jul20.pdf