Mansfield bus company boss meets residents after months of disruptions and cancellations

After months of rescheduled and cancelled bus servivces in the Mansfield district – run by bus company, Stagecoach – many residents expressed concerns about the ‘unreliable’ bus service to Meden Vale, Warsop. The number 11 bus travels between Mansfield and Meden Vale, a village between Warsop and Budby.

A meeting between residents and the East Midlands managing director of Stagecoach was held at The Meden, a Methodist Chapel in the village, with Warsop councillor Derek Scaysbrook saying the meeting had been ‘constructive’.

He said: “With all the extra capacity in training school and using a third party training provider, the shortage of drivers should be resolved on the service 11 and 12 before Christmas. And the whole of the Mansfield depot should be fully staffed by February.

“We are working with Nottinghamshire County Council and Stagecoach to investigate if information boards on bus stops would be possible. We will continue to monitor the situation to ensure the service does improve.

“I would like to thank Matthew Cranwell, MD Stagecoach East Midlands and the members of the public for attending the meeting.”

In the meeting, Matthew Cranwell said the disruptions were a combination of an increased number of drivers leaving for better pay, retiring and increased sickness.

Mr Scaysbrook said he hoped Stagecoach now had a better understanding of how frustrating it is for service disruptions.

Matt Cranwell, managing director for Stagecoach East Midlands, said: “I attended the Meden Vale residents meeting to discuss Stagecoach’s commitment to improving service reliability for our customers. And the measures we are taking to achieve these improvements.

“These include responding to national employment shortages by investing in recruitment and training opportunities. In the meeting, I went into further detail about our activities in this area, such as the training school. It was great to meet local residents yesterday, answer their questions and hear their feedback.

“Our customers’ views are really important to us, and we are always looking for ways to enhance our services to meet the travel needs of local people. Meetings with community groups help us to better understand local concerns and respond directly to our customers.”