JMB Travel

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

They put all the 41s on and leave 56s off. Most people in Shotts now get First. If you can’t run it take it off.

The 41 is their money maker, hence the more expensive newer buses that were purchased for it.

 

[lastbus]

The 41 is there money maker, hence the more expensive newer buses that were purchased for it.

I know that but they shouldn’t have zero 56s on but run the full compliment of 41s. Right now there are no 56s tracking. What message does that send to the people who normally use the 56?

 

[Observer]

This may be true but realism needs to be factored in here with timetables and it just isn't at the moment which is why I'm surprised the TC are so eased off at the moment.

Because it's happening everywhere with dropped services. JMB isn't the only one going missing.

It becomes a problem if they're dropping runs on SPT services, but the vast majority of those are evening / weekend jobs.

 

[PaulMc7]

Because it's happening everywhere with dropped services. JMB isn't the only one going missing.

It becomes a problem if they're dropping runs on SPT services, but the vast majority of those are evening / weekend jobs.

Full services going missing is something that should be punished though.

 

[Cesarcollie]

Full services going missing is something that should be punished though.

so what would be the consequences…… massive service reductions, in practice involving rural or other marginal routes ceasing to exist. Government doesn’t want this to happen…….!

 

[markymark2000]

so what would be the consequences…… massive service reductions, in practice involving rural or other marginal routes ceasing to exist. Government doesn’t want this to happen…….!

At best, force JMB to formally deregister the service. At worst (for JMB), it's a fine or compensation to passengers of up to £550 per vehicle on their Operator's Licence (which in this case equates to £35k) and possibly restrictions on their licence to reduce the amount of buses they are able to operate etc.


Irrespective of what the government wants for marginal routes, operators need to be held accountable for not providing a service that they are advertising else, where does that line get drawn? People have lives and people need to get to work. What's worse than having no bus is being told there is a bus, planning your life around that bus, to then find out it isn't running and has never run. If I got a job and needed to use the 56 for whatever reason, I would lose my job by now through no fault of my own but because the bus never turned up. Is that acceptable?

 

[DaveLondon]

At best, force JMB to formally deregister the service. At worst (for JMB), it's a fine or compensation to passengers of upto £550 per vehicle on their O Licence (which in this case equates to £35k) and possibly restrictions on their licence to reduce the amount of buses they are able to operate etc.


Irrespective of what the government wants for marginal routes, operators need to be held accountable for not providing a service that they are advertising else, where does that line get drawn? People have lives and people need to get to work. What's worse than having no bus is being told there is a bus, planning your life around that bus, to then find out it isn't running and has never ran. If I got a job and needed to use the 56 for whatever reason, I would lose my job by now through no fault of my own but because the bus never turned up. Is that acceptable?

Unfortunately, in several places routes are being put out to tender and there are no takers. In cases I am aware of the local authority has been pleading with operators to take routes in but a lack of drivers or other certainties means routes are being abandoned or left uncovered for several weeks. Be careful what you wish for!

 

[markymark2000]

Unfortunately in several places routes are being put out to tender and there are no takers. In cases I am aware of the local authority has been pleading with operatorsvto take routes in but a lack of drivers or other certainities means routes are being abandoned or left uncovered for several weeks. Be careful what you wish for!

As I say, at best, just make JMB deregister the 56 so then it's not misleading the public into thinking they have a bus when they don't. It's covered entirely by other routes so people can still get to work but least they will be planning to get on a bus which has half a chance of turning up.

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

At best, force JMB to formally deregister the service. At worst (for JMB), it's a fine or compensation to passengers of up to £550 per vehicle on their Operator's Licence (which in this case equates to £35k) and possibly restrictions on their licence to reduce the amount of buses they are able to operate etc.

So does the same apply to the big companies like First?

 

[markymark2000]

So does the same apply to the big companies like First?

Yes, everyone is under the same rules for operators licence, doesn't matter on the size of the operator.

 

[PaulMc7]

so what would be the consequences…… massive service reductions, in practice involving rural or other marginal routes ceasing to exist. Government doesn’t want this to happen…….!

The government are the ones that could make this whole situation better. Bus companies have got shockingly low amounts of funding compared to trains and the government should be helping bring in new staff by funding ways to get them in.

 

[Trnsprt4Sctlnd]

The government are the ones that could make this whole situation better. Bus companies have got shockingly low amounts of funding compared to trains and the government should be helping bring in new staff by funding ways to get them in.

Sorry bout this, but thats naivety speaking, throwing money at this won’t sort the issue.

Friends of mine who did drive buses have left the industry whilst taking a pay cut, only a few weeks ago I had asked them if you had the chance of a £40k salary for example, would you go back or even reconsider it? The answer was a resounding no.

 

[PaulMc7]

Sorry bout this, but thats naivety speaking, throwing money at this won’t sort the issue.

Friends of mine who did drive buses have left the industry whilst taking a pay cut, only a few weeks ago I had asked them if you had the chance of a £40k salary for example, would you go back or even reconsider it? The answer was a resounding no.

I think it depends on the person to be honest but in a cost of living crisis, wage rises absolutely will tempt some people into it.

 

[RomeoCharlie71]

This might be a stupid question, but do we definitely know the 56 isn't running, or is it just not tracking on their website?

AFAIK operators which use myTrip/Passenger, like JMB do, have to select the routes which they want to track on their website/app in a backend system; might it be the 56 simply isn't selected and so doesn't track?

 

[computerSaysNo]

This might be a stupid question, but do we definitely know the 56 isn't running, or is it just not tracking on their website?

AFAIK operators which use myTrip/Passenger, like JMB do, have to select the routes which they want to track on their website/app in a backend system; might it be the 56 simply isn't selected and so doesn't track?

On the day I was waiting there were no 56s tracking, and of the three scheduled one turned up.

 

[mb88]

On the day I was waiting there were no 56s tracking, and of the three scheduled one turned up.

Were you by any chance waiting for a 56 around either morning or afternoon school run times? JMB when I was there for a mercifully short spell were notorious for pulling drivers off the 56 to cover a school. One particular afternoon I was the only bus still out on the 56 as every other driver had been pulled for a school.

 

[computerSaysNo]

Were you by any chance waiting for a 56 around either morning or afternoon school run times? JMB when I was there for a mercifully short spell were notorious for pulling drivers off the 56 to cover a school. One particular afternoon I was the only bus still out on the 56 as every other driver had been pulled for a school.

No, it was around the time of the last X22 to Edinburgh so half 6 to half 7pm.

 

[christopherrfc]

Service 56 in operating every 30 minutes from today

Service 56 - Revised Timetable from Monday 24th October - JMB Travel

www.jmbtravel.co.uk

Service 56 - Revised Timetable from Monday 24th October​

Yesterday Sun 23rd Oct 2022

The last few years have been incredibly challenging for our business and, like so many other bus operators across the country, recruitment has become a big challenge.
We know we’ve fallen short on delivering you the service you’ve come to rely on, and we are truly sorry if you are one of our customers we have let down in the last few months.
To improve reliability, from Monday 24th October, we will be introducing the below revised timetable on the 56 route, providing a regular, more dependable service with buses running
every 30 minutes, Mondays to Saturdays.

 

[lastbus]

Service 56 in operating every 30 minutes from today

Service 56 - Revised Timetable from Monday 24th October - JMB Travel

www.jmbtravel.co.uk

Yip and still many cancelled journeys.

 

[PaulMc7]

Yip and still many cancelled journeys.

Has anyone adjusted their timetables to avoid cancellations in all honesty? First, Stagecoach etc seem to be the same after timetable changes. I don't think many people have any confidence in any operator running timetables that they have the drivers for.

I've never really used JMB ever to be honest so I'm not too familiar with everything but when I've seen the 56 it's never been remotely busy.

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

Has anyone adjusted their timetables to avoid cancellations in all honesty? First, Stagecoach etc seem to be the same after timetable changes. I don't think many people have any confidence in any operator running timetables that they have the drivers for.

I've never really used JMB ever to be honest so I'm not too familiar with everything but when I've seen the 56 it's never been remotely busy.

At least JMB have sort of held their hands up apologized. Everyone else is just trotting out the driver shortage excuse.

 

[route101]

Has anyone adjusted their timetables to avoid cancellations in all honesty? First, Stagecoach etc seem to be the same after timetable changes. I don't think many people have any confidence in any operator running timetables that they have the drivers for.

I've never really used JMB ever to be honest so I'm not too familiar with everything but when I've seen the 56 it's never been remotely busy.

I heard First Yorkshire in Sheffield have.

 

[PaulMc7]

At least JMB have sort of held their hands up apologized. Everyone else is just trotting out the driver shortage excuse.

The problem is it's not an excuse it's the truth in the industry. Everyone is short of drivers and it shows no sign of improving. JMB were one of the ones in the media not so long ago highlighting how bad it was too.

 

[markymark2000]

The problem is it's not an excuse it's the truth in the industry. Everyone is short of drivers and it shows no sign of improving. JMB were one of the ones in the media not so long ago highlighting how bad it was too.

Truth or not, if you can't provide the service that you are advertising, either you should hand back contracts or the service should be reduced until such time that it can return to full service. As for the improvement, I think that depends on how good the employer is and what they are willing to do to get staff.

 

[PaulMc7]

Truth or not, if you can't provide the service that you are advertising, either you should hand back contracts or the service should be reduced until such time that it can return to full service. As for the improvement, I think that depends on how good the employer is and what they are willing to do to get staff.

I fully agree with that. I've been annoyed with operators not adjusting timetables to levels they can provide for months now. I think that's a factor but after working in recruitment for almost a year, I don't think many people realise just how much damage Brexit and Covid actually did to every industry. I still think it'll be 12-18 months before we see even slight improvement personally.

 

[overthewater]

Truth or not, if you can't provide the service that you are advertising, either you should hand back contracts or the service should be reduced until such time that it can return to full service. As for the improvement, I think that depends on how good the employer is and what they are willing to do to get staff.

Look at First they tried to hand back its contracts to Edinburgh city council and ended up keeping them. You have to wonder if JMB tried to hand back some SPT tenders and were asked please don't go.

 

[markymark2000]

Look at First they tried to hand back its contracts to Edinburgh city council and ended up keeping them. You have to wonder if JMB tried to hand back some SPT tenders and were asked please don't go.

What discussions went on behind the scenes though for reduced services or something?

 

[Stan Drews]

Look at First they tried to hand back its contracts to Edinburgh city council and ended up keeping them. You have to wonder if JMB tried to hand back some SPT tenders and were asked please don't go.

If you hand back SPT contracts you are liable for the difference between your current tender price and the price of the replacement operator. Therefore, it becomes a high risk option, as you can end up paying some of the costs of the replacement.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Oct 2022 ==

Look at First they tried to hand back its contracts to Edinburgh city council and ended up keeping them. You have to wonder if JMB tried to hand back some SPT tenders and were asked please don't go.

They didn’t hand them back. They chose not to accept an extension.

 

[overthewater]

They didn’t hand them back. They chose not to accept an extension.

At least we got to the bottom of that, there was muddle talk that they handed them back, or up for tender etc etc etc Dogs dinner of rumours.

 

[christopherrfc]

The 56 is being cancelled from march

https://www.vehicle-operator-licensing.service.gov.uk/search/find-registered-local-bus-services/details/606625/

Bus registration details​

• Registration numberPM1087164/2
• Licence NumberPM1087164
• Variation number21
• StatusCancelled
• Service number.56
• Service typeNormal Stopping
• Start pointShotts Hillhouseridge Terminus
• Finish pointNorth Motherwell Watling Street
• Via
• Date received27 Jan 2023
• Effective date10 Mar 2023
• End date
• Supported by subsidies?No
• Local authorities covered by routeStrathclyde Partnership for Transport
• TAOs covered by routeScotland

Registration history

Reg No.	Var No.	Status	Application type	Date received	Date effective	End date	Action
PM1087164/2	21	Cancelled	Manual	27 Jan 2023	10 Mar 2023
PM1087164/2	20	Registered	Manual	20 Oct 2022	24 Oct 2022
PM1087164/2	19	Registered	Manual	15 Jul 2022	29 Aug 2022
PM1087164/2	18	Registered	Manual	14 Dec 2021	21 Dec 2021
PM1087164/2	17	Registered	Manual	08 Dec 2021	24 Dec 2021
PM1087164/2	8	Registered	Manual	28 Jun 2019	12 Aug 2019
PM1087164/2	7	Registered	Manual	21 Dec 2018	04 Feb 2019
PM1087164/2	6	Registered	Manual	13 Aug 2018	25 Sep 2018
PM1087164/2	5	Registered	Manual	06 Jul 2017	17 Aug 2017
PM1087164/2	4	Registered	Manual	16 Sep 2016	19 Sep 2016
PM1087164/2	3	Registered	Manual	01 Oct 2015	01 Dec 2015
PM1087164/2	2	Registered	Manual	29 Dec 2014	23 Feb 2015
PM1087164/2	1	Registered	Manual	18 Jul 2014	15 Sep 2014
PM1087164/2	0	Registered	Manual	03 Oct 2011	09 Dec 2011