Oakwood Travel (Classic Bus North West)

[M113 YKC]

RE: Classic Bus North West
I sampled the RedRocket service today. One thing to mention first was the "booking process". I was mislead by signs in Blackpool Central Coach Station that tickets had to be pre-booked in the ticket office before boarding when people were boarding the bus and paying with ease! This led to the woman in the ticket office being ran off of her feet whilst people were rushing around to purchase tickets at the last minute... Also, people who had pre-booked seats in advance to guarantee the space were worrying about actually getting a seat on-board.

Firstly, I rode on the 10:30 Blackpool to Manchester journey - operated by Volvo B10M/Alexander PS R899 XVM (899). This journey seemed to be very popular, with a huge crowd of awaiting passengers. The bus initially arrived a few minutes before its departure time, but then left nearly 10 minutes late due to the huge demand. It left Blackpool fully-seated having unfortunately left a few passengers (a group with a pram) behind (they had to travel on the next journey). 899 itself was nothing short of hell - cramped legroom and seat height, horrific suspension, sweltering heat (very, very uncomfortable on a full bus) and an alarm buzzing on the motorway of all places (I was later told by another driver that the bus was probably overheating and has done so on the service in the past). Passengers didn't seem to enjoy the experience. Eventually, after a good handful of passengers alighted at The Trafford Centre Bus Station, we arrived in Manchester (at the wrong alighting point, where the driver said to board for the return journey) a few minutes down.

I only planned a short visit to Manchester as I thought that the service was operated by just two buses (thus catching the next one to sample both vehicles). Unfortunately, there were three buses on the service. I expected my return journey (13:30) to be operated by a bendi-bus, but Crusader W611 CWX arrived (at the correct boarding point after spending the majority of my "visit" looking for it!). This was really nice (smart interior, although I don't like the way that its previous operator's decals and external livery have remained without proper ClassicBus decals) in comparison to 899 and was empty (apart from me and a friend) for the whole journey.

The RedRocket leaflet that I was given upon acquiring my tickets stated the following:
- Bendy bus (didn't have one on both occasions - apparently, one of the two that was missing is undergoing a service and the other has developed a fault after having a service!)
- Free wifi (non-existent on my journeys)
- Temp control (not sure what this means but 899 was very warm and uncomfortable if it relates to temperature)
- Chauffeur driven (generally, this did happen)
- Electric windows (none on my journeys!)
- Buggy friendly (not in 899's case)
- Wheelchair friendly (again, not in 899's case!)
- Luggage friendly (there was little room for luggage on-board packed 899, so I dread to think of the crowds being on that bus on their return journey with shopping [there was on W611 CWX due to it being empty])
- CCTV fitted (on both journeys, this was true)
Most of these advertisements, as you can see, were not what the actual service provided. So, overall, I'm not entirely pleased with the level of service that I received and am not planning to use the service again in the foreseeable future (what could have been an enjoyable experience turned out to be a living hell in some parts). However, the drivers of both buses were extremely helpful and a credit to the industry. Apparently, the level of demand was not expected today as numbers have been relatively low since the start. I really do hope that lessons have been learned and that the company will be prepared to take their customers in better conditions and as advertised in the future.