GRS Travel

[Tony]

It will be sad to see them go, especially when they were a reliable operator when they were on the 246. I actually prefered to use them on there as they would run more to a timetable than NXWM was. I sure will miss them

So why did the public enquiry say completely the opposite?

[the trainbasher]

So why did the public enquiry say completely the opposite?

Here we go again...

I give up with this anti independent feeling on here. Just because they weren't NXWM doesn't mean that they automatically deserve a bashing on here for all the ills in the world.
I'm surprised the situation at Calais hasn't been blamed on them, or <insert world problem> as it seems some people one here are overly obsessed with NXWM and they can do no wrong - well if that's the case then surely if GRS can be up in front of the TC for a few little mistakes, which occasionally happen then surely NXWM should be up there for all the fires their Trident and Merc fleet have had over the last few years...oh, I forgot...NXWM do no ill!

Most of the locals round here would have agreed with me that GRS came at a more reliable time than NXWM...in fact reliability on the 246 has got worse during peak hours nowadays...oh I forgot...the lateness is a figment of my imagination!

[Trident 4194]

Here we go again...

I give up with this anti independent feeling on here. Just because they weren't NXWM doesn't mean that they automatically deserve a bashing on here for all the ills in the world.
I'm surprised the situation at Calais hasn't been blamed on them, or <insert world problem> as it seems some people one here are overly obsessed with NXWM and they can do no wrong - well if that's the case then surely if GRS can be up in front of the TC for a few little mistakes, which occasionally happen then surely NXWM should be up there for all the fires their Trident and Merc fleet have had over the last few years...oh, I forgot...NXWM do no ill!

Most of the locals round here would have agreed with me that GRS came at a more reliable time than NXWM...in fact reliability on the 246 has got worse during peak hours nowadays...oh I forgot...the lateness is a figment of my imagination!

I agree with you trainbasher they were reliable, good drivers always friendly and decent buses. I used them when they were on the 16.

I don't know why every sucks up to nxwm for, I find them rude, arrogant and idiots at driving. Nx can't stick to timetables, and it's appalling they are our main operator in the West Midlands. At least GRS drivers seemed to enjoy their jobs, in comparison with nx where a slight smile is an achievement! Nx get paid the most but they look like they get 10p a day!!

This is why I'm all diamond and hansons. Surprised no one has had a go at them for being an INDEPENDENT operator. OH wait... There more reliable than nx

[the trainbasher]

I agree with you trainbasher they were reliable, good drivers always friendly and decent buses. I used them when they were on the 16.

I don't know why every sucks up to nxwm for, I find them rude, arrogant and idiots at driving. Nx can't stick to timetables, and it's appalling they are our main operator in the West Midlands. At least GRS drivers seemed to enjoy their jobs, in comparison with nx where a slight smile is an achievement! Nx get paid the most but they look like they get 10p a day!!

This is why I'm all diamond and hansons. Surprised no one has had a go at them for being an INDEPENDENT operator. OH wait... There more reliable than nx

You've hit the nail on the head there :)

[karl724223]

So all the independent observers and centro bus station staff are liers that saw what grs were getting up to on the 246 pity a police car didn't see them jumping red lights

[the trainbasher]

@karl724223 and NXWM drivers obey the law and Centro regulations religiously? If that's true then I'm Obi Wan Kenobi!

I've seen some pretty dodgy driving from nxwm drivers especially when GRS were on the 246...plus the stand blocking NXWM buses do in merry hill and Stourbridge.

Case 1 - When Hansons did the X26 service, every X96 bus that was due off at the same time in merry hill deliberately blocked the stand so hansons couldn't get onto theirs.

Case 2 - 276's Dudley bound go onto stand in merry hill and wait for 5 minutes before departing, blocking the entire bus station

Case 3 - X96 at Stourbridge gets on stand at xx03 towards Wollaston...with a igo bus due at xx05....igo bus either has to wait for the X96 to go or use the 9 stand

Case 4 - merry hill bounds at Stourbridge X96 block the stand meaning that the 1735 228 isn't able to get on stand until the last second...

...oh I forgot NXWM can do no wrong!

Its getting painfully obvious that to be on here you have to have your head rammed up the corporate passage of NX otherwise you aren't entitled to an opinion, and for that reason it has given me strong cause to consider my position on this place as some people are becoming insufferable.

[Tony]

@karl724223 and NXWM drivers obey the law and Centro regulations religiously? If that's true then I'm Obi Wan Kenobi!

I've seen some pretty dodgy driving from nxwm drivers especially when GRS were on the 246...plus the stand blocking NXWM buses do in merry hill and Stourbridge.

Case 1 - When Hansons did the X26 service, every X96 bus that was due off at the same time in merry hill deliberately blocked the stand so hansons couldn't get onto theirs.

Case 2 - 276's Dudley bound go onto stand in merry hill and wait for 5 minutes before departing, blocking the entire bus station

Case 3 - X96 at Stourbridge gets on stand at xx03 towards Wollaston...with a igo bus due at xx05....igo bus either has to wait for the X96 to go or use the 9 stand

Case 4 - merry hill bounds at Stourbridge X96 block the stand meaning that the 1735 228 isn't able to get on stand until the last second...

...oh I forgot NXWM can do no wrong!

Its getting painfully obvious that to be on here you have to have your head rammed up the corporate passage of NX otherwise you aren't entitled to an opinion, and for that reason it has given me strong cause to consider my position on this place as some people are becoming insufferable.

Amazing in the last few days we have had people saying the X96 is always late and needs changing, yet here someone is claiming they are always waiting time. Someone's lying!

[karl724223]

I've seen diamond driver driving in merry hill bus station using a phone centro saw him said nothing 
Hansons drivers drive round bus station with doors open centro say nothing
We have a 3 minute open door policy at merry hill other operators are regularly parked on stand 5 minutes centro say nothing
I've seen hansons and diamond double park and load up centro say nothing

[the trainbasher]

I've seen diamond driver driving in merry hill bus station using a phone centro saw him said nothing 
Hansons drivers drive round bus station with doors open centro say nothing
We have a 3 minute open door policy at merry hill other operators are regularly parked on stand 5 minutes centro say nothing
I've seen hansons and diamond double park and load up centro say nothing

Well the solution is to get the traffic commissioner to revoke their licences for these crimes and get the bosses strung up (!) Oh I forgot, they're too busy persecuting smaller operators for making a couple of mistakes which, lets face it, aren't as bad as the stuff NXWM have got up to!

[MW]

I just came off a trip on the 11A. All of you who defend GRS have no clue of what's going on. Independents in general I have no issue with. All of what I'm saying is in my personal experience, and as a 11 driver, I see them on a daily basis. Today, their T201 dart came and overtook me (I was around 4-5 mins late so their was a small gap in service). The dart kept slowing me down in terms of parking at stops without leaving enough room for other vehicles to overtake and in one case blocked part of the oncoming lane. Then at the stop just after Selly Oak Sainsburys, we both stopped at the stop, and he drove off with a passenger scanning their pass, with the door open, still indicating left almost causing a RTC with an overtaking car. I moved off behind him, when we came to the lights. He was at the front with me behind, as soon as the lights changed, he crawled at a constant 10mph until he saw passengers waiting at a stop, he then floored it knowing I'd have to stop. I caught up again on the Bournville Hill, to which I was doing 30mph and he was accerating away, probably doing 40. Come into Cotteridge, he went straight through the zebra crossing when somebody was crossing.

So whoever says were all sucking up to NXWM, you need to sit in a NX bus behind or near a GRS, and simply observe. I had had enough and waited a couple more minutes at Cotteridge, and suprise suprise he was waiting for me down the road, by Breedon Road/Pershore Road.

As a passenger, GRS might be quicker, but reliability wise and safety wise, they are crap. When I say reliability, I mean how can they be reliable and running to time when they accelerate through the whole route until they find a gap in NXWM 11's. Can their timetable predict the future?

[Stuharris 6360]

At the end of the day, the TC won't get involved with a company unless they feel something is badly wrong.

They investigated and found a catalogue of problems, not just with there running on the 246, but with the mechanical condition of there buses. Surely if what was found was untrue, GRS would have challenged the ruling itself in some way. Isn't the deafening silence an admisiion of guilt.

Trainbasher are you saying that unfit buses should be allowed to run around in passenger services not only endangering the safety of the driver and passengers, but also any other people or vehicles that that bus may come into contact with.

[Stuharris 6360]

I agree with you trainbasher they were reliable, good drivers always friendly and decent buses. I used them when they were on the 16.

I don't know why every sucks up to nxwm for, I find them rude, arrogant and idiots at driving. Nx can't stick to timetables, and it's appalling they are our main operator in the West Midlands. At least GRS drivers seemed to enjoy their jobs, in comparison with nx where a slight smile is an achievement! Nx get paid the most but they look like they get 10p a day!!

This is why I'm all diamond and hansons. Surprised no one has had a go at them for being an INDEPENDENT operator. OH wait... There more reliable than nx

[/b]

Sorry to say this @Trident 4194 , but some of what you are saying is rubbish.

Nobody is saying that NE are perfect, i doubt ANY bus company is perfect but you only have to look at the result of the PI to see what GRS were doing wrong.

They were ordered off the 16 for failing to have newer buses that met the requirements of the emissions zone in Birmingham. Yes there drivers may be pleasant and smile when you got on the 246, but they didn't show this same courtesy to other drivers in general let alone other bus drivers ( I Had a GRS bus pull out from a stop when i was already overtaking him on Brettell lane just because a NE 246 was right behind me). Remember when they checked up on there running on the 246, they would have also taken an interest in how NE were running to!

Your comment about decent buses seems to go against a professional engineer who when he inspected them, took them straight off the road, I for certain don't want to travel on death traps!!

[the trainbasher]

@Stuharris 6360 GRS have been given a worse punishment than what was allocated to VIP or Thandi.

How many times has Thandi been in front of the traffic commissioner and got a way with it?
Same with Heartlands? He was up for PI virtually every other week!
VIP had their licence reduced when it should have really been revoked. Yes they can't run bus services but they are still allowed to run coaches!

As I said before, NXWM had several fires and guess what...nothing done by the Traffic Commissioner!

@MW I can honestly say that whenever I've been out and about I've never seen any of the actions you have described

[Stuharris 6360]

@the trainbasher The problem is, we don't know what the punishment is yet, everybody is thinking that the TC has made GRS give up the 11, for all we know, GRS may have decided to give it up themselves. Only when the final report of the PI is published will we know exactly what has happened.

[MW]

@Stuharris 6360

@MW I can honestly say that whenever I've been out and about I've never seen any of the actions you have described

I think that's the problem then. As enthusiasts we don't see all this stuff, but when I became a driver, it opens your eyes more, and you obviously see more.