Comments on: Are Stagecoach and Finglands up to their old tricks again?

By: steve

steve — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:40:07 +0000

well i can tell you safety was all for passengers drivers we had hard seats no heating the management at stagecoach are very rude to drivers we get no respect at all we are bums on seats making them money

By: Oggy

Oggy — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:10:40 +0000

OMG I cannot believe some people saying they felt safer on UK North than Stagecoach/Magic Bus. As a matter of fact all Stagecoach vehicles are inspected every 21 days to much higher standards than the MOT Standards, VOSA require all PCV Vehicle to be inspected every 28 days. So it goes like this Stagecoach/Magic=Inspected every 21 days
UK North=Were they ever Inspected??

By: mark durbridge

mark durbridge — Sun, 27 May 2007 20:56:58 +0000

The best news i have heard for a long time that Uk North were off the road. i worked as a driver for them some time ago when i lived in Manchester, we were told to get to bus stops before the likes of Finglands, Magic, Bullocks and Stagecoach in order to get the students, and the money. Many of us drivers would do this, not for the sake of the company but for us, we drivers were ripping off the company each making at least Â£60 / Â£70 a day, Safety was last on the list for UK NOrth, i am so happy they have gone,prehaps these so called bus companies should come to London and see how to do it.

By: el Tom

el Tom — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:08:41 +0000

And now, surprise surprise, the fares all go up to 70p, and you still have to wait for 3 days outside Owen’s Park to get to town.

These bastards need re-regulating. Thus, vote Labour. ;o)

By: chris

chris — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 00:41:05 +0000

I noticed that your UK North Buses have all th cast off’s from old london buses companies… you must realise that stagecoach sold out of london becuase unlike manchester they are not operating there own routes they run them on behalf of london transport…. until people get a petition up and get a change in legislation so that its not a deregulated service and or at least the fares are regulated then you are basically stuff… by the member of public must be made aware that at anytime if you get on a bus and this is smoking excessively or you hear loud knocking noises etc.. you can report this to VOSA who will take up your complaint and they have the power to take these vehicles off the road.. you guys get a petition up against your local traffic commissioner.. or lobby your MP#s they are the people to change this shambles you are suffering with what i see on tv you have what 5 ,6,7, or even more companies operating the same route a farce….

By: Owen

Owen — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:01:57 +0000

It is a tragic thing but when that poor chap was run over in Rusholme I was less than surprised. In fact I would even go as far as to say I was expecting something like that to happen. Nowadays I drive into the city every day and experience a different breed of insane road user but nothing will let me forget some of the white knuckle rides I have experienced courtesy of UK North. Their practices of sitting at the stops for ages stacked up – especially at Picadilly Gardens at night was outrageous. More than once I missed the Finglands I was waiting for due to the 10 UK North Buses filling the bus stand.
Further to that is the fares.. for the working amongst us they charge as much as Stagecoach do. Every day ordinary people in Manchester are held up by the Stagecoach ..Dick Turpin would be appalled.

By: Corin

Corin — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 20:47:35 +0000

I am a student, and the (strong) consensus from many students was that the UK north drivers were (on the whole), polish, and had a poor command of the english language. This was found mostly on the 41/42/43 routes. Sure, while the fares were cheap, the buses themselves were grubby, often had broken seats, and generally didn’t look that well maintained. I have been on board a UK north bus which ran a red light, due to (what I believe) was the driver failing to notice that the light had changed – despite having plenty of time to notice the change, and stop the bus safely.

By: johnh

johnh — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 13:55:09 +0000

I’m sorry but I have to disagree

UKNorth have a record in being incredibly badly behaved when it comes to their activities at some stops. Blocking stops for other buses and taking a cavlier attitude to the right of way of other road users

Magic buses are the worst of stagecoach’s fleet but at least they’re being phased out as the company modernise and bring in many more low floor, low emission buses.

UKNorth’s buses are generally cast offs from other companies which have outlived their usefulness, are not accessible and would fail emissions tests if the traffic commissioner actually had any useful inspection powers.

As for driver training, they’re incredibly weak and the death caused by one of their drivers was an accident waiting to happen. Stagecoach don’t make profits significantly out of proportion to that of UKNorth – they are more expensive because they’re modernising their fleet in readiness for implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act, they pay better wages than UKNorth and have much higher standards of operation

stagecoach are no saints, do cause problems and have contributed to the decline of the bus network but the answer to them will certainly not be found with UKNorth

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 18:35:55 +0000

Personally I feel far safer on a UK North than I do a Magic Bus or a Finglands. I have no idea how many of their buses I’ve caught, but I would have thought I’d notice that 75% of drivers were polish considering my boyfriend is…and I’ve seen perhaps six poles in total. Considering I get on a UK north about 4 times a day and have done since 14th September this seems totally wrong. Most of the drivers seem to be British Asian.
I don’t think many people believe this junk, hopefully UK North will be back tomorrow!