Warwick SU received over 200 complaints about Stagecoach buses in just three days

More than 200 frustrated Leamington residents sent complaints into the SU about the Stagecoach bus service in just three days.

Over the past week, complaints filed against the Stagecoach Company have been flooding in, according to The Coventry Telegraph – with many missing lectures and commitments because of buses arriving later than scheduled, or not at all.

One person even missed out on £12.67 (an hour’s pay) because their bus arrived late.

There won’t be room for all of us

As well as arriving late, disgruntled students have complained buses are sometimes too full to even stop because of an insufficient number of buses on the roads.

National Express buses from Coventry have also been unreliable, with long periods of waiting time.

Many are paying as much as £300 for a three-term bus pass and are understandably getting increasingly annoyed at the delays. Lucy Heming, a second year historian, said: “Buses are pretty much always late, especially during peak times. It takes ages getting onto campus.”

Jamie Wates, a German and International Studies student, said: “I was trying to get a bus for a lecture at one, but the buses due at 12:17 and 12:23 didn’t appear.

“One came at 12:31 but it was full. At 12:43 there were two empty buses which appeared at the stop, by which time it would have been too late to get to campus on time for the lecture.”

In case you’ve not seen one for a while, this is what a bus looks like

Warwick SU President, Isaac Leigh, has recently written an open letter to Stagecoach, highlighting his concern and anger. He wrote: “This is utterly unacceptable, particularly given the amount of time we have already spent liaising with Stagecoach representatives. The situation seems to have actually somehow gotten worse.”

When asked about the situation, Isaac said: “Awful bus services shouldn’t be something students just have to put up with. These problems are nothing new, and the excuses remain the same.

“We’re taking this to the highest level we can because as prices go up, capacity and reliability goes down – which tells you something is pretty badly wrong.”

Steve Burd, Managing Director of Stagecoach Midlands, responded to a particular complaint on the morning of 6th October, when buses failed to show up, by saying: “I would offer my apologies for the problems that were experienced on the morning of 6th October which were due to a disproportionate number of our double decks vehicles having defects that morning.”

In a further response to the SU President’s letter Burd said: “The vast majority of our services to the University of Warwick are operated with double deck buses but as previously advised, there are a few journeys which are run with single decks to increase total capacity, by making use of gaps in other vehicle workings”.

Stagecoach are yet to offer further comment. Any further complaints about bus services are welcomed here.