Bus company worthy winner!

AN independent survey of bus users in Warrington has shown the town’s bus company was a “worthy winner” on a national award.
Bus Users UK’s, the independent bus passenger representation organisation, carried out a bus users’ surgery at Warrington Interchange recently.
The feedback confirmed that Network Warrington was a worthy winner of the Bus Company of the Year award in last year’s UK Bus Awards.
Bus surgeries are organised around the country giving bus users the chance to tell the people responsible for running their services what they think.
A spokesperson for Bus Users UK said: “It’s not unusual for some people to give compliments, but as our surgeries are seen as a chance to air grievances we hardly expected that more than 30% of the comments would be compliments: which was indeed the case at Warrington!
“In particular people commented on the efforts made to ensure bus interiors are kept clean, and many thought drivers were polite and helpful too. One disabled lady described the easy access buses now on virtually all Network Warrington services as a ‘lifeline’ and one couple who had always gone everywhere by car until they got their free bus passes recently were delighted with the bus service.”
By far the largest thing most people wanted to see changed was the level of service in the evenings. While services on most main routes are frequent during the day, they drop down to much lower frequencies from about 6pm onwards, which people felt limited their opportunities to go out in the evening. This change to the pattern of services is not perculiar to Warrington, and is something that affects bus users throughout the country.
Around 100 local people came by to give their views and there were no issues to give any overriding concern about the bus service in Warrington. They were able to talk to managers from Network Warrington, Halton Transport, Arriva and Warrington Borough Council.
Charlie Shannon, Operations Director for Network Warrington, said: “Network Warrington enjoys participating in Bus Users UK surgeries.
“They provide an impartial opportunity for our customers to let us know what they think of our services. It is their feedback which drives our business forward.”
Picture shows Charlie Shannon (right) with Warrington Borough Transport Chairman Les Hoyle.