Driver shortages, the impact of Brexit and covid have been blamed for the increasing number of cancelled bus services in Thanet and further afield.
Dozens of Thanet routes have been cancelled today (December 9) and were cancelled yesterday but the issue has seen routes dropped over an extended period.
Today’s cancellations affect services including the Loop, 32,34 and number 8A among others. The issue is not isolated to Thanet, with services affected across the board.
#Thanet – Due to no driver available, the following journeys have been cancelled today, sorry for any inconvenience pic.twitter.com/OpuO2B3aak
— Stagecoach South East (@StagecoachSE) December 9, 2021
A spokesperson for Stagecoach said “Our local team is working incredibly hard to ensure we continue to run the majority of our timetabled services and we remain focused on prioritising the less frequent services and those that we know are most important for our customers.
“The lingering effects of the pandemic combined with record numbers of unfilled jobs in the economy and the emerging impact of Brexit, has resulted in recruitment challenges for organisations across the transport and logistics sectors. Nationally there is estimated to be a shortfall of 4,000 qualified bus drivers and added to this, there continue to be some delays in processing bus driver licences at the DVLA.
“We are working round the clock to recruit people into our team and train them, and we’re seeing a lot of interest in bus driver jobs.
“We apologise to our customers who have been affected by these short-term service changes, and we would like to thank them for their patience while we work to recruit and get new drivers on the road.
“There are still frequent buses on the Loop service, but we encourage customers to plan ahead and leave a little extra time for their journey. Where we do have to make day-to-day changes, we are providing live updates through our Twitter feed @StagecoachSE.”
Joel Mitchell, Managing Director at Stagecoach South East, says that over the past two years the company has experienced challenges never seen before, particularly with the onset of the pandemic last year.
He said a number of drivers are also opting for different careers, saying: “We have seen a number of our drivers choosing to leave the business for a wide variety of reasons. It is true that some of our colleagues are opting for other driving opportunities – such as HGV and van driving – but that is only a small part of the issue.
“The pandemic has influenced some people to make different choices about their futures. An example of this is that more of us are seeking to take early retirement – this has increased to around 55% and has contributed to short-term issues with delivering the services that our communities need. However, we do have some positive news to share as we work to recover our business and tackle the challenges we face.
“Bus driving remains an attractive profession, with flexible working, guaranteed hours and promotional opportunities; it can be a long-term stable career. We’re pleased to have seen that we have no shortage of people wanting to come and drive our buses and in recent months, we’ve received a promising number of applications for our driver and engineering roles and now have a strong pipeline of candidates ready to start new roles at Stagecoach South East.
“Whilst this is extremely positive news, it will take a little bit of time to get all of our new colleagues behind the wheel in in the workshop. Firstly, even before training can start, every new driver has to have a licence issued by the DVLA. Processing delays has seen new drivers waiting between 8 and 12 weeks to receive their licence. Thankfully, the situation is improving but there are still significant delays.
“Once our drivers have secured their new licence, they can enrol on our free industry-leading training programme – which covers everything from health and safety to route learning and customer service. Ultimately, the process of appointing a new driver and getting them ready for the road can take up to 12 weeks.”
Mr Mitchell said that, with circumstances outside of the bus firm’s control, it is impossible to predict how long the situation will last, but he “ expects it to improve as our new drivers complete the final stages of their training.”
Recruitment continues, find details at stagecoach.com/careers.
