EasyCoach — an easyGroup licensed trading name of The Skiers Lodge Ltd — has issued a strongly worded statement explaining why it has handed back a contract to Shropshire Council at short notice.
The company had operated service 436 (Shrewsbury-Bridgnorth) since it took it over from Arriva Midlands in September. EasyCoach says that it had ‘repeatedly stated to the council that its current timetable for the 436 is not achievable and submitted a proposed revision to it. Shropshire Council has refused to accept any change of the timetable and is adamant that it is achievable’.
The hourly service has a scheduled running time of 55 or 56min, with a 2min turn round in Bridgnorth and 7min in Shrewsbury. EasyCoach says: ‘We are not in the business of running unreliable services’ and that ‘we inserted a third bus into the timetable at our own expense in order to try and improve the situation’.
EasyCoach was also critical of the council’s advice of roadworks, particularly a six-week closure due in Shrewbury in early 2018.
Shropshire Council says it had ‘received a substantial number of complaints relating to the performance of this service’, while a local councillor posted a list of issues raised with him, inclu…
