Arriva Pulls Plug On Services In Year Long ‘Guildford Bus War’

Published on: 14 Dec, 2019
Updated on: 14 Dec, 2019

Arriva bus company is to cease running its Route B from Guildford town centre to Park Barn via Woodbridge Hill from this Sunday (December 15).

End of the road: Arrive will cease to runs its Route B from December 15, 2019. Bus seen here in Park Barn Drive, when the so-called ‘bus wars’ began in November 2018.

It has also announced that from Monday, December 16, it will be discontinuing operation of Route 3 from Guildford town centre to Bellfields on weekdays and Saturdays. It will, however, operate the service on Sundays, under contract to Surrey County Council.

Confirming the withdrawal of its Route B service, Arriva states on its website: “Due to insufficient use being made of Service B we are unable to continue providing it and from 15th December it will no longer run. We introduced the Guildford ABC Tickets earlier this year for a trial period and this trial is now ending.”

It also cites insufficient use of Route 3 being the reason why the service is being reduced.

Lots of buses on the way soon: Passengers have had an unprecedented service in the Park Barn and closely surrounding areas as rival bus firms fought for business.

Since November 4, 2018, bus users travelling to and from Guildford and Park Barn have had a unprecedented level of service, with buses arriving in their droves, as Arriva, along with established route operator Safeguard, as well as Stagecoach, all plying for trade.

Dubbed ‘bus wars’, it resembled something along the lines of the way fledgling rival bus firms ruthlessly sought customers back in the 1920s.

This past year has been good news for bus users as fares tumbled as each firm hoped to win over passengers.

A Stagecoach double-decker in Park Barn Drive, November 2018.

The saga began, as reported by The Guildford Dragon NEWS in July 2018 when it was announced that Arriva has lost its contract with the University of Surrey to operate a service through the Stag Hill campus, the university awarding the contract to Stagecoach instead, it calling it Routes 1 and 2.

Arriva decided to operate the same service throughout the rest of the circular route area, naming it Route C, (that takes in Stoughton where there are a good deal of student accommodation and lets) while not passing directly through university land, with its buses using the Chase instead.

A Safeguard bus enters Southway from Egerton Road, November 2018. It appears its customers have stayed loyal to the local bus and coach firm.

As the ‘bus wars’ hotted up through the Park Barn, Bellfields and Stoughton areas, privately owned Safeguard counteracted by launching its own route from Guildford to Bellfields, calling it Route 3s.

The Guildford Dragon News’ story from November 2018 noted the sheer amount of choice passengers had to board buses passing through specific parts of Park Barn, and that Safeguard was feeling the pinch: “It means there are now up to 12 buses an hour each way along The Chase, direct to and from the Royal Surrey County Hospital. That is: Safeguard’s existing six buses, plus six additional Arriva buses, plus four each way on the park and ride Route 400 buses. And there are now up to 16 buses an hour – an average of one every three or four minutes – Safeguard’s existing 10, plus six additional Arriva buses – travelling around Park Barn.”

Arriva’s origins go back to 1938 in Sunderland with the founding of T. Cowie, a second-hand motorcycle dealership. Today, Arriva is a successful multinational public transport business. It was taken over in 2010 by the equally successful Deutsche Bahn, the German state-owned rail and transport company.

Safeguard will continue to run its Routes 4 and 5 – Guildford town centre to Park Barn via the Royal Surrey County Hospital, and it 3s to and from Guildford to Bellfields. Its managing director, Andrew Halliday, said: “Safeguard will continue to serve its valued customers – both old and new – as we have always striven to do and thank them for their loyalty through what has been a very challenging year.”

Responses to Arriva Pulls Plug On Services In Year Long ‘Guildford Bus War’

Julian Cranwell Reply

December 16, 2019 at 10:04 am

So much for GBC’s much-vaunted ‘modal shift’ which they claim will get people out of cars, and onto buses and bicycles.

So we can be pretty sure the 20,000 new homes destined for the borough will result in up to 50,000 new cars on the already gridlocked roads.

As for people cycling from the villages, eg Wisley, this is risible. I have cycled the very narrow roads there and you’d have to have a death wish to use them for commuter cycling during rush hours.
C Nicholls Reply

December 16, 2019 at 12:17 pm

Don’t be fooled by the digital displays at bus stops. A substantial amount of the advertised buses never actually arrive even when the minutes tick down to “due”. All of the companies involved when challenged claim the digital displays “are nothing to do with us and are operated by the council.”

Stagecoach service is poor, with quite often three consecutive buses cut out in the mornings leading to a wait of over an hour. I was unable to get home on Friday evening with around 10 buses approaching the university from Guildford but none of the scheduled buses to Stoughton arriving, all returning back to Guildford or being cut out completely.

Yesterday I was left stranded in Godalming after having waited two hours for the next bus to Guildford only for it to leave early and as it was the last bus of the day, at 5.17pm, I had no option but to pay again to return by train with the further anxieties of the train strike and being with my elderly mother.

There may be loads of buses on the timetables but the service is appalling and cannot be relied upon.
Brian Holt Reply

December 16, 2019 at 8:43 pm

The Stagecoach route 1 bus through Stoughton to the Hospital is advertised as an every 15 minutes service, but many afternoons when I have been waiting for this bus there was no bus for an hour, then two of them come together and travelled together each other to the hospital. What is the point of this?

The one running late should have run empty to get back on time and left the other one to pick up the waiting passengers.

I have also been a passenger on this bus when the driver asked, “Is there anyone wanting the hospital stop?” I said “Yes”, as he was going to miss out this part of the route, without knowing if there were any passengers waiting for his bus at the Royal Surrey.

This is not the way to operate the service, and so unreliable that public will not use the bus.

It is easy to say get the cars off the road and use buses, but where are the extra bus drivers coming from? Every bus company in the country are permanently very short of drivers.
Dee Bruce Reply

December 17, 2019 at 12:30 pm

I believe the most important thing for bus users is correct, up to date information. The bus stop “live” timetables have never worked properly, so cannot be relied upon. I would prefer them to run fewer buses which are guaranteed to turn up on time, rather than what we have now, which is complete uncertainty and confusion.

I appreciate that rush hour traffic can delay them, but that is where the “live” timetable would be invaluable, if only they could fix it. Put simply, they are losing revenue when too many travellers, myself included, give up waiting and find alternative ways to get to work or school.
Cllr Caroline Reeves (leader of Guildford Borough Council) Reply

December 18, 2019 at 8:45 am

Many bus users, including myself, have been frustrated by the inaccurate information displayed at bus stops.

I have been asking numerous officers at Surrey County Council for many months when Real Time system would be installed at all bus stops to ensure the information was accurate and not just wishful thinking.

I asked the question again at the Guildford Joint Committee and received an answer by email on December 17.

Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) is part of the scheme proposed for bus stops in Guildford but, as ever, there has to be a process followed which will entail a report to committee in March 2020 to agree bus stop improvements. The process of installation should then begin.

It is essential that we have reliable information if we are to get people onto buses and this is just a step in the right direction.

A wider bus service across the county has to be the long-term project.

Real Time information is a small step in the right direction, but there’s much more to be done and it needs joined up thinking across the county, boroughs can’t do this in isolation.