Yes, the Bus Station is a mess – but that is the fault of the council rather than Arriva surely; after all it is owned by the council. Looking around the country, it is rare for any bus company to be responsible for the upkeep on the bus station.

Secondly, if by ‘booking desk’ this lady means the people in the travel shop – why should they know anything about the bus services? The travel shop has absolutely nothing to do with Arriva.

Agreed – the electronic displays are virtually useless, and not just because they can be illegible. But again, thats the fault of the council, not the bus operators.

There is no doubt that in some areas Arriva need to improve – there should definitely be a supervisor or inspector in the bus station who is able to answer operational queries and to regulate the buses (there might be one already; if so he/she is virtually invisible). But to write a letter like this, to moan about EVERYTHING and then blame it all on Arriva – is just absolute nonsense.

And not really fair either.

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I did read the letter correctly Jennifer. She said ‘Booking Desk’ rather than ‘Information Desk’. The only ‘Booking Desk’ I know of is the one inside Traveltime (the shop). And its nothing to do with Arriva.

And the state of the bus stops in town is ALSO nothing to do with Arriva.

And yes, clearly she *did* moan about ‘everything’ when it comes to buses. As for the siting of the bus station, when *you* say that *you* believe its quite well placed, I assume that you mean it’s quite well placed…for *you*.

:-)

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Shirley Reynolds ends her letter by saying “Arriva need to pull up their socks” and yet nothing she is complaining about is the responsibility of Arriva.
The market has declined, not because of Arriva, but because 90% of people now prefer to shop places like Tescos.
The bus station is the responsibility of the council not Arriva. Arriva pay a rental fee to the council for the priveledge of parking busses there, as do the other bus companies.
The bus stops in St. Mary’s are the responsibility of the council.
The electronic information displays don’t work because the council withdrew the funding.
The bus station is in a disgusting state but perhaps if the council spent less money subsidising the theatre and projects such as Quantum Leap they could improve the first view many people have of the town.
It’s easy to point fingers at Arriva and blame them for all the woes in town, but it doesn’t help in bringing to task those really responsible.

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the bus station is a haven for under-age people smoking and drinking every-time i walk into it i feel intimidated by the crowd of people, the buses are never on time and there needs to be more low floor ones for people with pushchairs, you have loads of shopping and you are expected to get your child out fold the pushchair and carry your bags on with no help of the driver what so ever who just look at you struggling , the bus station needs sorting out desperately .

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