First Manchester

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: First Manchester
Couple of statements released by First, this one on the 33:

‘The Monday to Saturday daytime service was reduced from 4 buses an hour to 3 buses due to the significant disruption caused by roadworks. Unfortunately passenger numbers have declined and in order to combat the congestion journey times have been increased meaning fewer journey can be operated with the same number of buses and drivers. The continued decline in passenger numbers means that even this reduced level of service is no longer sustainable and a further reduction has been registered for 28th January. In order to assist punctuality we are revising the outbound route from 9th December.'

And the 415:

To operate the current route, vehicles of a non-standard size are required. First Manchester have advised that despite significant investment in the pool of vehicles which are used on the 415 (and the 353/4), they are at the end of their life and this is impacting reliability of the service. It is accepted that a small number of customers will lose their service however the cost of replacement cannot be justified for the requirement.