Public Enquiry

Subforum for Diamond Bus Limited of Tividale, Redditch and Kidderminster (formerly The Diamond Bus Company Limited, The Birmingham Omnibus Company Limited, Go West Midlands Limited, etc.
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AdamH
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Location: Worcester
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Re: Public Enquiry

Post by AdamH » 10:35 Saturday 11th August 2018

I’ve stopped taking photos of broken down Diamond buses... Not enough room on my hard drive!!

I was in Kidderminster depot last week and amazed how many of the vehicles parked up had bits missing.

Noggin1
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Joined: 13:58 Sunday 16th October 2016

Re: Public Enquiry

Post by Noggin1 » 13:11 Saturday 11th August 2018

This public enquiry was largely a waste of time with all the fuss about holding it actually in Kidderminster. The charges did not really stick because Diamond came up with reasons, which were accepted by the Commissioner, that much unpunctuality was due to matters beyond their control. Any 'prosecutor' would anticipate/investigate any possible excuses. Diamond may lack good buses, but they don't lack good lawyers. They won an appeal against the Commissioner's previous financial penalty, so they don't roll over. As for the Commissioner saying that Diamond should keep him informed of the company’s own investigations into an incident where a bus lost its wheel, an independent investigation would be seen to be more satisfactory.
I accept that legalities have to be gone through, but there is a worrying disconnect between public reputation and let us call it, regulatory reputation.
' I am not making any adverse findings about the repute of the company' was the Commissioner's verdict.

DD12
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Re: Public Enquiry

Post by DD12 » 16:11 Saturday 11th August 2018

AdamH wrote:
10:35 Saturday 11th August 2018
I was in Kidderminster depot last week...
Oooooo ….. that's suspicious Adam ! -- -- does that mean First are going to re-acquire Kiddy ?? :P

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AdamH
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Re: Public Enquiry

Post by AdamH » 18:37 Saturday 11th August 2018

DD12 wrote:
16:11 Saturday 11th August 2018
AdamH wrote:
10:35 Saturday 11th August 2018
I was in Kidderminster depot last week...
Oooooo ….. that's suspicious Adam ! -- -- does that mean First are going to re-acquire Kiddy ?? :P
Sorry to disappoint you all, it was in my own time.

MattW
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Joined: 20:42 Sunday 3rd July 2016
Location: Cornwall

Re: Public Enquiry

Post by MattW » 19:21 Saturday 11th August 2018

Noggin1 wrote:
13:11 Saturday 11th August 2018
' I am not making any adverse findings about the repute of the company' was the Commissioner's verdict.
What did they do, pay him off? :twisted:

bmmoboy
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Joined: 20:02 Tuesday 5th July 2016

Re: Public Enquiry

Post by bmmoboy » 17:01 Wednesday 15th August 2018

Article taken from Route One Magazine


Compensation for Diamond users ordered by TC

Poor timekeeping in Kidderminster leads to fine ‘to be most equitably returned’ to users in the town

Diamond Bus challenged the DVSA’s report of timetable non-compliance

Rotala-owned Diamond Bus has been fined £9,075 by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Nick Denton for poor punctuality. The sum will be returned to passengers in Kidderminster in the form of free or reduced-price travel.

In a written decision following a Public Inquiry (PI) held on 21 June, Mr Denton says that despite Diamond having attended PIs in 2014 and 2016 following complaints from passengers about timekeeping, it has made “little substantive progress.”

Diamond challenged Traffic Examiner Austin Jones’ report that 21% of 1,443 monitored services were outside the window of tolerance. Based on that, DVSA reduced its overall non-compliance figure to 11%, and to 15% in what Mr Denton calls “the problem Kidderminster area.”

The operator asserted that 98% of its services ran within the window of tolerance. That was not accepted by the TC, who disregarded some of the reasons that Diamond used as reasonable excuses.

However, he did accept reasonable excuse for 30 journeys, to give an overall compliance of 91.1%. That figure was worse in Kidderminster. There, around 15% of journeys were non-compliant, partially thanks to service 3 which is prone to timekeeping difficulties in Stourport.

The TC also addressed prohibitions received by Diamond and in particular a wheel loss incident on 13 June. Nevertheless, he found no major issues with the operator’s fleet, systems and processes. Nor did he make any adverse findings about the repute of the company or that of Transport Manager Robert Baker.

The fine is based on £33 for each of the 275 vehicles that Diamond Bus is authorised. It was levied by Mr Denton according to Section 155 of the Transport Act 2000, which also allows compensation for passengers in the form of free or reduced-price travel.

“I intend to make a specific direction along those lines, but before I do so, I will discuss with the operator how the £9,075 penalty may be best and most equitably returned to users of Kidderminster services and the users of route 3 in particular,” he says.

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AdamH
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Re: Public Enquiry

Post by AdamH » 19:44 Wednesday 15th August 2018

bmmoboy wrote:
17:01 Wednesday 15th August 2018
...Rotala-owned Diamond Bus has been fined £9,075 by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Nick Denton for poor punctuality. The sum will be returned to passengers in Kidderminster in the form of free or reduced-price travel...
Well that should help boost passenger numbers and put the competition out of business! :lol: Free travel on the 303 will see the end of the 37 in Worcester.

ANDREW
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Location: Bromsgrove.

Re: Public Enquiry

Post by ANDREW » 16:20 Monday 20th August 2018

Local radio say today that Diamond are to make an appeal in this case. :P ,

DD12
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Joined: 19:49 Monday 4th July 2016

Re: Public Enquiry

Post by DD12 » 16:58 Wednesday 22nd August 2018

ANDREW wrote:
16:20 Monday 20th August 2018
Local radio say today that Diamond are to make an appeal in this case. :P ,
That's confirmed on today's "Route One" -- --
I think that they are "sticking their neck out, a bit !!

Maybe they want to find-out just how much they can get away with !

I wonder now, if Rotala will try to sell-off the Kiddy operation, OR if small bus+coach operators will "move-in" on the best routes ?

If Rotala / Diamond allowed a "slow-death" here, maintenance could be done elsewhere, and drivers could leave via "natural-wastage" - - rather than paying them all redundancy money.
That could leave them with a valuable depot site to sell !

(Or, perhaps Adam is going to buy it now :lol: )

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AdamH
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Re: Public Enquiry

Post by AdamH » 17:03 Wednesday 22nd August 2018

DD12 wrote:
16:58 Wednesday 22nd August 2018
(Or, perhaps Adam is going to buy it now :lol: )
I offered them 85p but I think they are holding out for a whole £1.00 and I'm not willing to go that high.

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