Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[iMarkeh]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral

(23/12/2017 19:19)Turbostar19 Wrote:  Travelling back from work to Chester yesterday afternoon, it was notable just how wedged the buses were! Certainly on route 2, most services mid-afternoon were full & standing!

Good for the company bank balance on the run-up to Christmas, but I suspect a lot of the extra number were there due to the strike action on Merseyrail.

Does make me wonder why a couple more double deckers couldn't have been used? Was yesterday a normal school day, which would of course make the deckers unavailable?

It does make me wonder as well. I think part of it is staffing. The buses are there and can be used before, after and inbetween schools. The peak times would of course be most sensible and most school routes are finished by this time. I am of the understanding that Rock Ferry and Chester are both short on staff. A driver I know has been on Loan to Chester the past few days and was recently on loan to Rock Ferry. Whether this is due to holidays, illness, taking on more work (chester on C56), I don't know but if they are struggling to find staff to do the existing duties, throwing a few more into the mix would only make things worse. Admittedly you could ask the school drivers in Rock Ferry to do the dupes but I am told they are reluctant to do much more than the school routes. (The school drivers may be happy to do more but I am told otherwise. Of course the only way to know for certain is ask them all personally).
Gillmoss couldn't help either as I know they are pretty busy on existing routes and I don't think there are many school buses which have spare time. The Esteems used to do schools then it was part of the bus duty to run on 20s. If that is the case, GM has no proper spare buses (except a few which would be required for breakdowns etc).