Stagecoach East Midlands is the region s largest bus operator and runs local bus services in Kingston upon Hull, throughout Lincolnshire, North Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire. Every day our staff work hard to provide safe reliable, punctual, clean and comfortable services at an affordable price for our customers. This annual report covers the year from May 2013 to April 2014
Our customers During the year we carried a total of 51 million passengers, which is broadly similar to patronage in the previous year. We received 2,548 comments and complaints from our customers, which equates to around one for every 20,000 passengers carried. Every complaint is investigated with action taken to try to avoid a repetition of the problem. Suggestions or comments put forward for possible service improvements are always considered and during this year we have made a number of changes to our services based directly on customer feedback. Our staff We are a major local employer with 1,048 drivers, 221 engineers and 73 supervisory and administration staff. Our drivers have participated in continuous training to ensure the highest standards of safety and professionalism are maintained. All of our drivers hold the statutory Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) requirement set by the Department for Transport. Our engineers are all skilled workers. We employ 9 apprentices to provide skills for the future. During the year we employed 3 new apprentices with 2 apprentices entering their final year before qualification. Our supervisors and managers have all completed relevant training courses for their various professions and many have membership of professional bodies to further develop their skills and knowledge. Our services In Mansfield we have worked closely with Nottinghamshire County Council to introduce further quality improvements to our bus services to complement the 9 million investment in Mansfield Bus Station. A further 8 brand new buses were introduced to our Mansfield fleet to add to the 14 delivered in 2012/13. A similar partnership enhanced the Sherwood Arrow bus service, which links Retford, Worksop and Nottingham with Rufford Park, Clumber Park and Sherwood Forest Visitors Centre and has seen patronage increase by 40%. Five brand new minibuses were introduced to our town services in Newark. In Hull we gave a new look to our X62 express coach service into Leeds. Four refurbished luxury coaches fitted with wifi are running the route under Love Your X branding. Seats can be booked online through the MegaBus website and passenger numbers have increased by 14.7%. Four brand new buses were added to the Hull fleet for bus services in the west of the city. In Grimsby we have worked closely with North East Lincolnshire Council to keep bus service running reliably during major road works in the town centre, which have seen the construction of new bus stops, shelters and an Interchange building. Sunny summer weather meant that passenger numbers were up by 5% In Skegness over the summer season compared to the previous year. Working closely with Lincolnshire County Council we carefully planned our bus services and introduced additional buses and drivers to our schedules to mitigate the traffic delays caused by major roadworks on Boultham Park Road, Newark Road and Whisby Road. Our fares We increased our bus fares by an average of just over 3% during the year to cover increased costs of pay, fuel and insurance and to provide for further investment in new vehicles and equipment. Our range of weekly Megarider tickets offers excellent value for our regular customers when compared to the cost of other transport modes.
Our performance We carried our customers 22 million miles on our services with the size of our overall bus network increasing by 4.4% compared to last year. Punctuality and reliability are key measures of our performance. 93% of our bus services ran within 5 minutes of their scheduled time, which is an improvement of 2% compared to the previous year despite major road works in Lincoln and Grimsby. The main reason for delays continues to be traffic congestion. Over the year we operated 99.4% of our scheduled bus services with 0.4% failure due to internal reasons and 0.2% due to traffic congestion, diversions etc. Our partners We have strong Quality Bus Partnerships with local authorities in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, Hull, South Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Working together we are improving the quality and accessibility of bus services for local people. Our environment We used 13 million litres of diesel last year at an average of 7.7 miles per gallon. Use of the Ecodriver telematics system fitted to all of our buses along with continuous training for our staff in safe, skilled and fuel efficient driving styles is helping to minimise fuel consumption, which helps our operating costs and benefits the environment. 71% of the Stagecoach East Midlands fleet reaches the Euro 3 requirements for exhaust emissions with our newer buses meeting increasingly higher standards. We recycle most of our waste including litter, used oils, filters, batteries, parts etc. We also save energy in our buildings by ensuring equipment and lights are not used unnecessarily. The majority of our workshops have been installed with intelligent lighting systems. We continue to take steps to help reduce our customer s carbon footprint by offering affordable, value for money, convenient bus travel and online timetables and information. Our fleet We operate a fleet of 508 buses and we replaced 18 buses over the past year representing an investment of 2.1 million. Almost 95% of our fleet is low floor providing easy access for parents with buggies, people with disabilities, and our older customers. All our vehicles are inspected by our engineers at least every 3 weeks, and maintained to higher standards than the legal minimum to ensure safety and comfort. Every vehicle is cleaned daily.
Facts 2013-2014 51 million passengers 22 million miles 1,342 staff 508 vehicles 99.4% service reliability 93% service punctuality
local Stagecoach info 0345 605 0 605 Monday to Thursday, 0830 until 1700 Friday, 0830 until 1600 eastmidlands.enquiries@stagecoachbus.com www.stagecoachbus.com disability helpdesk 01522 580 515 Monday to Thursday, 0830 until 1700 Friday, 0830 until 1600 eastmidlands.disabilityhelpdesk@stagecoachbus.com what to do if things go wrong We do our best to meet your expectations, but occasionally things go wrong. If you feel we have failed you in some way please tell us about it using the contact details below. customer services Stagecoach East Midlands PO Box 15, Deacon Road Lincoln LN2 4JB If you are unhappy with our response, this is the independent body that will review complaints: The Bus Appeals Body Terminal House, Shepperton TW17 8AS nationwide bus times Calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras Daily 0700 to 2200 recycle This leaflet is printed on recycled paper Please look after your environment and recycle again