Return to Dagenham Dock

Across at the London Bus eGroup (on Yahoo) they've been running a series of conversations about "The last place God made" - triggered by a visit to the new bus station at Dagenham Dock. So far places such as Thamesmead and Penge have been cited, together with, of course, many memories of Dagenham Dock which became the home to the EnsignBus LRT-contract fleet in 1989 and so passed to CNT Holdings Hong Kong as Capital Citybus in 1990.

In those days there was still a peak hour bus service on route 174 to 'The Dock' but the road was awful. It was a private road so not maintained by the local authority. The water table was very high and the drainage poor. At certain times of the year and in bad weather the road flooded and this caused the surface to get even worse with huge potholes.

Heavy lorries to the dock itself and the roadstone plant made it all worse. I was surprised LT continued to allow its own bus service to remain for as long as it did.

We had 24 identical Dennis Dominators, 12 at Dagenham and 12 at Northumberland Park. The Dagenham ones cost twice as much in suspension and steering units!

The level crossing was controlled by a local signal box and freight traffic in and out of Fords caused it to be closed for long periods. Truck drivers seeing the gates closing often used to 'run the gauntlet' and risk it rather than being stuck there. (I am sure our bus drivers never did that!).

It was like a third world country and amongst the worst areas for decay imaginable. On the good side hardly anyone ventured down there either!

But today it has been transformed. The road is now flat and made of something substantial, the area is being redeveloped and there is more industry. We have a brand new depot only half way down the old road (we used to be at the end!) and High Speed 1 dashes through where the level crossing used to be. (It's gone, now, of course!).

Who would have thought, when ELT was born in the early 1990s as an 'intermediate mode' light rapid transit with wires of some kind, it would end up as a more traditional double-decker bus service back to what used to be 'the end of the earth' but now a smart new bus station?

I am grateful to my old friend Bruce Swain for sending me not only some views of the old level crossing but showing withdrawn London trolleybuses headed for export by ship to Spain. Their last journey on British soil down the old road to Dagenham Dock!

Regret do not know who the photograph copyright belongs to. Happy to acknowledge it.

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The last word about the Bristol breastfeeding on bus story

In my last post I told you the story of a lady named Amy Wootten who accused our driver of throwing her off a bus in Bristol having been breastfeeding her baby on the journey.

Never before have so many people read my blog and so many made comments!

And yes, we did immediately make an apology and send flowers & high street vouchers - even before we had chance to interview the driver and view the CCTV.

Why? We know that for most people a speedy response and apology goes a long way. We could say "we're waiting to conduct an investigation" but that sounds awfully like "we're not sure whether to believe you". I am certain this is right - otherwise the 'balanced' press coverage isn't very balanced at all and we know for most people a prompt apology is better than a factually precise response some time later.

Only occasionally does the complaint turn out to be complete fiction - as in this case. On those odd occasions we have to do what we can to get the real facts published but since the media too has been hoodwinked by the deception they are normally only too glad to do so.

Well, the lady has issued her own public apology, and in recognition of this, I will say no more about it:

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/m-sorry-says-Bristol-mother-claimed-thrown-bus-breastfeeding/article-1888227-detail/article.html


Photo: following the introduction of new Volvo B7RLE single-deckers on busy routes 8 and 9 the outgoing Dennis Darts in their special version of our livery are seen much less often on the forecourt of Temple Meads Station, and in an attempt to simplify the services route 8A (and indeed 9A) are no more.

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A customer issue this week

Now then, you'll know that there is quite a lot of stuff I can't always write about because it is politically or commercially sensitive but if you've been following a story in Bristol this week you'll have seen the public side of something which has been going on and which I am going to make some comment about even though the case is not closed.

Earlier this week a young lady complained she had been ejected from a bus in Bristol for breastfeeding. According to her there was a complaint from another passenger, the driver threatened to call the police, and she was left humiliated by the roadside, in the rain, and forced to take a taxi, at some cost.

We swung into action with an apology, vouchers, flowers and of course there was the inevitable stuff with the press. The story went national and was all over the internet, in mothers' rights columns as well as the daily newspapers.

Of course - we entirely respect the rights of mothers to breastfeed, apologised profusely but the whole thing was reputationally damaging.

In due course, having sat through hours of CCTV we conclude this report is complete fiction.  A young lady resembling the complainant does board the bus at the time and place she says but actually breastfeeds completely without hindrance, and far from being thrown off the bus, alights of her own free will at the terminus. The CCTV entirely corroborates the driver's version of events.

Of course we remain open to the possibilitity that she has the time and date wrong, although it is something of a co-incidence that a young lady of similar age and appearance was breastfeeding on the very bus her original complaint referred to. Although invited to view the CCTV footage, she prefers not to.

And why am I telling you this? Well firstly because it is fair to say that there was a natural assumption by many that the lady was being truthful and the driver was in the wrong. I sincerely regret that he was put in such a position. And secondly because whilst the media was quick to highlight the story, so far only the Bristol Evening Post has had the courage to run a new page 1 and page 2 story setting out the facts as they are now appear to be.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Breastfeeding-Bristol-mother-story-thrown-bus/article-1871417-detail/article.html

For everyone else in the UK we will be remembered as the miserable, narrow-minded bus company which ejected an innocent mother in winter.

But fortunately the internet spreads very quickly around the world. Even this blog can be read by ordinary people, encouraged and asssted by the power of search engines. So for this reason, and to set the record straight, I have no hesitation in referring to Amy Wootten of Stockwood, Bristol, England who, it appears, was never forced off a bus in the way described in her complaint to the media and to apologise to Rob Stone, our driver, for the brief period this week when in the Court of Public Opinion it was taken for granted that he had acted improperly.

This is a matter which is not yet concluded. Further representations and evidence may yet come to light. However this information is correct to the best of my knowledge at this time (Saturday night) and I publish it now to place it in the public domain whilst the issue remains topical in the minds of the public at large.

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Lucky dip

From time to time it is fun to dip into my collection of photos and recreate the story that led to the subject.

Shown right is Alexander-bodied Volvo Olympian 238 in the Capital Citybus fleet, one of a batch bought for route 91 - our first real foray into Central London.

I had long hoped we could find a way to restore good destination blind information having seen it depleted over the years since single-person operation was introduced. (Don't forget that this is in the days before comprehensive route information was provided at stops on an individual basis).

We did put complete KM and NN blind boxes in the back of DMSs in 1986 but these manual units were difficult to access and it was difficult for drivers to know whether fitted or not. We made 'lazy' blinds for them but they were not entirely successful. We did manage to keep manual side blinds with ultimate destinations reasonably well observed but when our fleet had fewer ex-London vehicles in it these became more difficult to provide.

What was really needed were electrically-driven, electronically-tracked, proper blinds and Alexanders made this for us on the last of the route 91 Olympians. This was the mid 1990s and this equipment was, in the UK at least, in its infancy. McKennas helped us enourmously and made these special blind sets which relied on bar codes to be set correctly.

Today electrically-driven blinds are standard equipment on London buses and the co-ordination of multiple units is commonplace, including side and one rear unit on artics. Of course the technnology has come along leaps and bounds - the electric units are more reliable for sure.

The concept of ensuring consisent and properly set information, as often provided overseas, had been proven.

Someone will want to re-open the debate about the value of 'via' points on bus blinds. It is debated almost continuously on the internet so I am not doing so here. What we did was prove the concept of electrically setting the appropriate information on three sides - ahem, 15 years ago!!

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Guide Dogs star at today's launch

Today we re-launched our initiative which allows those sighted people who train Guide Dog puppies to travel free on our buses when they are carrying out this training.

Guide Dogs have to know how to cope with transport, shops, shopping precincts and so on. They get this experience from dedicated puppy walkers - people who volunteer to train them.

We are pleased to carry these volunteers free of charge on our buses when they are carrying out this training and today we held a photocall in central Bristol with John Welsman from the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and Philip Brown the Senior Traffic Commissioner, who is also partially-sighted.

The story was covered on TV and radio plus also the local press.

Photo shows me with John Welsman (and his dog Sorrell), Senior TC Philip Brown plus three puppy walkers and their trainees.

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Not the story you're expecting today

I know you will all be looking here but I have to send you to the official words which are on our Group website for all the news: www.firstgroup.com/corporate/latest_news/?id=005071


Here's a different story - if you tie these end to end you will get my book without paying for it!

On 28th July 1981 there was a firework party in Hyde Park on the eve of the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana.

We took one of our (Obsolete Fleet) open top former Midland Red D9s to Tyburn Way in the centre of Marble Arch and parked it there amongst all the other red buses. We had the most amazing grandstand view of the pre-wedding party and fireworks. Food and drink flowed, we made lots of new friends, and by the time anyone started to ask if we could be there at all the traffic had ground to a halt and there was nowhere to go.

But even better news followed. Stopped alongside us in Tyburn Way was a Routemaster from Norwood. When he had to restart his engine, it wouldn't, and the Police were frantic to move the obstruction.

One of our guests was a rather prominent London Transport engineer. With a broom handle he hit the flywheel ring gear and it fired up.

We sent an invoice - "Bus non-start, diagnosed jammed ring gear, freed off and started. Severe traffic congestion prevented normal recovery." I can't remember the amount - several hundred pounds I think. It certainly paid our wages, drink and food bill.

Ha - they sent a cheque! It came with a compliments slip from a senior London Transport Board member. I can't recall precisely the words but is said something like "I don't call using one of my own people to hit the flywheel with a broom handle a proper repair so you owe me one!"

Wonderful days - he knew that this was a small price to pay for what should have cost them a lot of money and delay and that our goodwill was retained for another time. In other words, in order to pull a rabbit out of a hat, you sometimes have to invest in a rabbit.

A good lesson for all our budding managers and directors, I think.

Here is OM6 at that very spot - happy memories! And tomorrow a nice story with animals in it !!

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Customer Service

We've just been 'through the mill' on customer service from a couple of unlikely sources - John Lewis and Sainsbury's - both organisations I have previously championed as being good at this.

Sainsbury's was simple enough - something I bought from their local store and which stopped working a week later - declined to consider replacing it on the grounds I did not have the receipt. (I had disposed of it a few days earlier). The item concerned is not exclusively sold by Sainsburys but a quick check of their records will show my family spends several hundred pounds a month there and (unless we are running a hotel) probably do 95% of our food shopping there anyway. A different response might have made me feel a better!

But John Lewis takes the trophy this week. We ordered something (over £100) by phone and by credit card and due for delivery by Friday. When it didn't arrive we called and were told the order "had been cancelled due to suspicious circumstances". When we enquired what these were they said it was because we had quoted a mobile phone number, but no landline or email address. Actually no one had asked - we just answered the questions given. When we asked why they had cancelled the order without asking further, they had no answer at all! Nothing wrong with the credit card and nothing different with the delivery address (also the billing address) from several thousands of pounds of goods over the years.

Oh well, two of my customer service champions spoiling their performance and here I am telling the world.

One of the London bus eGroups has been debating the value of 'via points' on destination blinds. The usual arguments have been run (they become progressively misleading as the route progresses vs they demonstrate relative geography which is reassuring to passengers). It is fair to say that the information provided at stops, and electronically is now far better than at any time in our history and it is increasingly easier to get to the right stop on the right side of the road in London. The trade off is much larger route numbers and destinations on buses themselves.

I am going to commend the latest TfL on-line mapping service which will show you every route on a Google Map with every stop. Give it a try at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/. It is really good.

Better personal electronic information is the right way to go - and we must do better than the photograph above which joins my two favoured retailers in this week's bargain basement!

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