City bus scheme for home games - bus tracking (P91)

[Citizen of Legoland]

MC12 was 20 minutes late arriving at Ramsbottom.
The driver (good guy) managed to keep to the schedule between stops on the way to the ground so kudos for that.
Just made us a little anxious for a while.
Prefer using the bus to driving and I can write "Bruno is a twat" in the condensation on the window.

How busy was the MC12? I was thinking of using it on Thursday from Whitefield.

 

[Northerndave]

It's a great service on the whole and a welcome addition to other forms of travel to and from the game. People have to understand though that travelling by road can be fraught with problems and delays for a variety of reasons as frustrating as that can be.

Having said that yesterday I caught the Didsbury service number 5 as I was heading straight into Didsbury for a drink. I'd never caught it before and the buses were tightly parked so I couldn't quite make out if it was the number 5 service or not. The driver had his door closed and was on his phone. He reluctantly opened it and on boarding I asked if this was indeed the Didsbury service. His reply was, "I don't know you tell me." I answered that he was the driver so I'd expect him to know where he was going. For regular users of this service is the driver always as happy lol? I usually catch the Altrincham bus and the regular driver on there is a diamond, friendly and nothing is too much trouble.

Give the poor lad a break, before the game he was happily serving pints in his Rag top, got binned off by the management and then blagged a drivers job :)

 

[ysmsa]

It's a great service, even the miserable driver didn't detract from it. I banged on the window to say hello to you as you walked past if you remember lol.

We did the Timperley MC5 both ways yesterday.
Found the driver good to be fair, thanked him both times and he acknowledged.

The traffic once you get to Ardwick and onwards to the ground though is horrendous.

We normally walk from this area so you don't notice it.

What a pain, all those fooking Taxi's doing 3 point turns!

 

[paulchapo]

We did the Timperley MC5 both ways yesterday.
Found the driver good to be fair, thanked him both times and he acknowledged.

The traffic once you get to Ardwick and onwards to the ground though is horrendous.

We normally walk from this area so you don't notice it.

What a pain, all those fooking Taxi's doing 3 point turns!

Glad you had a better experience than me with the driver. I think he was annoyed that I interrupted whatever he was doing on his phone and had to open the doors to let me on as I was the first to arrive. I asked a simple question which as the driver he should know the answer to and didn't expect a sarcastic surly reply which didn't actually answer my question.
I normally get the Altrincham service and the driver on there is always top class, friendly and nothing is too much trouble. He even bought a large number of doughnuts after the Spurs game for anybody who wanted one lol.
I agree the taxi's are a nuisance.

 

[Rammymike]

MC12 was 20 minutes late arriving at Ramsbottom.
The driver (good guy) managed to keep to the schedule between stops on the way to the ground so kudos for that.
Just made us a little anxious for a while.
Prefer using the bus to driving and I can write "Bruno is a twat" in the condensation on the window.

Haha, nice one Dave!

 

[matchdaybus]

The A34 Kingsway is closed in both directions between Barcicroft Road - Green End Rd due to a police incident. We have diverted MC4 but would expect delays in the area of approx 20 minutes. I will keep you updated.

 

[matchdaybus]

Unfortunately the MC7 driver has become unwell whilst on his way to the stop and has had to abandon the trip. Therefore, the service wont run. The post match shuttle will still run.

 

[matchdaybus]

MC10 is running 20 minutes late due to traffic along the route. Driver is currently on his way to Ashton on Mersey

UPDATE: Driver has caught up lost time and is running to timetable again

 

[cyan]

My two attempts to use this service were amongst early teething problems - but I've continued to watch the thread as I really want this to be an option. Glad to hear than the 7 route has worked well as I've now spotted some new EV chargers near to New Mills station. That is one of my routes in and in an ideal world I leave the car to charge whilst I go to the match - could well be an option, especially for evening matches as train is not an option.

So yesterday was my first attempt at using the 7 from New Mills - Oh dear. At least I learnt that parking/charging there and taking the train is a good option. I was going to try and use the bus to get back to New Mills, but when it hadn't arrived by 10:15 decided train from Ashburys was the safer and probably quicker option.

So I guess that is three strikes and I'm out

 

[CC1]

MC8 on time again last night & driver was ace. Changed routes when traffic was bad; romped along the bus lanes & was pleasant throughout. Not full going but busy coming back. Great service

 

[matchdaybus]

So yesterday was my first attempt at using the 7 from New Mills - Oh dear. At least I learnt that parking/charging there and taking the train is a good option. I was going to try and use the bus to get back to New Mills, but when it hadn't arrived by 10:15 decided train from Ashburys was the safer and probably quicker option.

So I guess that is three strikes and I'm out

Hello, I am so sorry for the experience faced by you and others last night. To be completely honest and transparent with you, I received notification at 17:35 that the driver was unwell and had to abandon the route, I tried to get the operator to get a replacement driver but due to the late notice it wouldn't have got to the stop in time, so we had to cancel the service. I was back and forth with the operator all night and was promised there would be a driver there post match. The driver then got stuck in road closures on the way to the stadium making him arrive late to collect passengers. I am taking issues on this service very seriously and internal conversations are taking place to rectify this moving forward as it really just is not good enough. I can only apologise again, but please know something will be done.

 

[matchdaybus]

MC8 on time again last night & driver was ace. Changed routes when traffic was bad; romped along the bus lanes & was pleasant throughout. Not full going but busy coming back. Great service

Really glad to hear you had another positive experience last night!

 

[Marvin.]

Hello, I am so sorry for the experience faced by you and others last night. To be completely honest and transparent with you, I received notification at 17:35 that the driver was unwell and had to abandon the route, I tried to get the operator to get a replacement driver but due to the late notice it wouldn't have got to the stop in time, so we had to cancel the service. I was back and forth with the operator all night and was promised there would be a driver there post match. The driver then got stuck in road closures on the way to the stadium making him arrive late to collect passengers. I am taking issues on this service very seriously and internal conversations are taking place to rectify this moving forward as it really just is not good enough. I can only apologise again, but please know something will be done.

Thanks for the update. I saw MC07 driving up Ashton New Rd last night as I was walking home.

I will try it again next weekend.

 

[CityWest]

MC10 is running 20 minutes late due to traffic along the route. Driver is currently on his way to Ashton on Mersey

UPDATE: Driver has caught up lost time and is running to timetable again

Was only 5 mins or so late picking up at Sale West. Traffic near the retail park can be a joke on the A56 at the moment. If I had one suggestion it would be going forward for the midweek night games to maybe bring the schedule forward by 15 mins. Also I don't think 15 mins is realistic between Altrincham and Sale West around the busy evenings. No complaints whatsoever though. New driver is sound. Keep up the good work. I know you put in alot of effort and working in road transport I appreciate what an absolute minefield it is.

 

[matchdaybus]

Was only 5 mins or so late picking up at Sale West. Traffic near the retail park can be a joke on the A56 at the moment. If I had one suggestion it would be going forward for the midweek night games to maybe bring the schedule forward by 15 mins. Also I don't think 15 mins is realistic between Altrincham and Sale West around the busy evenings. No complaints whatsoever though. New driver is sound. Keep up the good work. I know you put in alot of effort and working in road transport I appreciate what an absolute minefield it is.

Yes he picked up his time really quickly, I was tracking him and thought he did that well!! Thanks for your suggestion, it does get busy on that stretch your right. We will look at journey times and make adjustments where required. I think we were all a bit sad losing Mark off the 10 but the new driver has been great with passengers, which makes me happy! Thanks for your kind words too, its appreciated!

 

[CityWest]

Yes he picked up his time really quickly, I was tracking him and thought he did that well!! Thanks for your suggestion, it does get busy on that stretch your right. We will look at journey times and make adjustments where required. I think we were all a bit sad losing Mark off the 10 but the new driver has been great with passengers, which makes me happy! Thanks for your kind words too, its appreciated!

Yeah was a shame losing Mark , never seen a double decker driven like an F1 car before lol.The new guy is great though. Thanks again

 

[paulchapo]

Yes he picked up his time really quickly, I was tracking him and thought he did that well!! Thanks for your suggestion, it does get busy on that stretch your right. We will look at journey times and make adjustments where required. I think we were all a bit sad losing Mark off the 10 but the new driver has been great with passengers, which makes me happy! Thanks for your kind words too, its appreciated!

Mark was ace, sorry he won't be on any longer.

 

[Scaring Europe to Death]

Thanks for the update. I saw MC07 driving up Ashton New Rd last night as I was walking home.

I will try it again next weekend.

I was at Hazel Grove and only saw the message on Bluemoon around 6:25 when it was obvious that something was wrong.
Thankfully, I had just about enough time to catch the 192 to Piccadilly and then a Taxi to the ETIHAD

However if you're living in New Mills/Disley/High Lane then you've got less options, and this is the big problem.

If it was just this time then you can accept it. However, there were also huge issues last Sunday, and it's just going to put people off.

 

[paulchapo]

Keep an eye on the bus strikes news as this may affect the match day bus?

 

[matchdaybus]

Keep an eye on the bus strikes news as this may affect the match day bus?

The planned strikes are for this weekend 19th-22nd and further planned dates are 30/09-2/10. Luckily this doesn't clash with any home fixtures. If any further dates do get announced that will impact the matchday buses, I will let you all know.