Concerns raised over “consistently poor” bus routes in Sheffield

In an anonymous email sent to The Star, one resident highlighted a ‘poor service’ running across various routes operated by First South Yorkshire which they said had been an ongoing issue for months.

The concerns relate to the 51 bus route, running between Lodge Moor and Charnock; the 52a, running between Woodhouse and Loxley; the 95, between Walkley and Meadowhall; and the 97 and 98, between Totley and Hillsborough.

The sender said they had been told the operator had changed parts supplier and this was impacting services.

The email read: “If you have a look through Travel South Yorkshire Alerts on Twitter, there have been multiple service cancellations recently. Passengers are left waiting and sometimes having to abandon their journey. Services badly affected by this are the 51 /52a/ 95 and 97/98.

“I often wait for a 52a at Hillsborough Interchange to travel to Broomhill at 7:55am and one bus is frequently missing and the next one full. It's a very busy route used by several primary and secondary schools, University and Hospital staff and students. It's the only bus that goes up Walkley Lane.”

According to Travel South Yorkshire Alerts on Twitter, 37 of the scheduled First bus services in question were cancelled at various times throughout the day in the week between December 11 and 18,

Earlier this year, data obtained using the Freedom of Information Act revealed that the number 51 bus route between Lodge Moor and Charnock was the subject of the most complaints during 2018, at 147.

However, the figures do not include complaints made directly to the bus companies, so the true numbers may be much higher.

Allan Riggall, Commercial Director at First South Yorkshire, said: “I’m sorry to read the concerns being raised by our customers. Cancelling any service is a last resort and I apologise to our customers who have been left waiting.

“Our service delivery has been significantly impacted by our vehicle availability as well as congestion from seasonal traffic levels and city centre road-works.

“We’re managing the situation as best we can so no one service is more affected than others and we are implementing a number of actions including the introduction of additional vehicles.

“The team is focussed on improving the punctuality and reliability of services and I can assure customers we are doing everything we can to recover our current vehicle availability issues.”