Agenda item

Tony Simmons, Stagecoach Northampton Operations Manager, attended the meeting to answer questions about the new North Gate Bus Station.  He stated that the bus station would have 14 bays, and 8 bays on the Drapery, unlike the 28 in the Greyfriars bus station.  This would reduce bus wait over times to five minutes and some minor timetable adjustments would be required, which were currently being tested.  Bus services would be prioritised, with the heaviest used services in the areas with most waiting room for passengers.  Some services would need to share bays and different services to the same areas would use the same bay or ones near together wherever possible.  There would be a maximum of six services per hour from any bay.  The bus station would be used by all bus operators with services into Northampton but would remain the responsibility of the Borough Council.  The site would be handed over to Stagecoach in January 2014 to make internal arrangements and to train staff, to open for services in early March 2014.

Mr Simmons stated that this was not the ideal site to build a bus station but was the best of the available sites within the town centre which the Council considered.

A Forum member expressed concern at the number of vehicle and pedestrian movement which would take place around the bus station and issues which might be caused in terms of the length of buses.  He asked to meet Mr Simmons outside the meeting to discuss these issues.  It was noted that the highway authority and police had not expressed concern over these issues and management, supervisors and bus drivers had been consulted on the proposals.  A mock up of the proposals had also been tested at Sixfields.

Some comments were made about the size and clarity of the map contained in the agenda.  A Forum member also referred to the plans of the bus station, which had been approved by the Council’s Planning Committee in July 2013.

Timetables for services would be made available once finalised and would be distributed.  Information on “where to board your bus” would be set up in the Drapery.  .

In answer to questions Mr Simmons stated that:

·         There had been some issues with the heating matrix on some buses causing them to be too cold.  Heating on buses were switched on by engineers and involved a judgment call regarding likely temperatures.  New buses were being checked as they arrived.  Any on-going issues should be reported to Mr Simmons.

·         Speed and acceleration patterns of buses were monitored on an on-going basis using GPS technology and any allegation of poos driving standards were fully investigated.  GPS data is also used being used checked as part of the route time trials.  CCTV is fitted to the majority of Stagecoach’s bus fleet and will be provided on all the 46 new vehicles arriving.

·         In bus stations, for safety reasons, drivers were not allowed to open the doors to admit passengers once reverse gear had been engaged.  At bus stops once the driver had started moving off procedures it was a judgment call for drivers to make if it was safe to abort the departure and allow additional passengers to board the vehicle.

It was agreed that Mr Simmons be asked to provide bus timetables to the next meeting of the Forum, on 6 February 2014.