Dad, 56, says his bus to and from work has been cancelled ’70 times’ this year

A commuter has been left raging after he said his daily bus to and from work was cancelled over 70 times, both ways, in the last six months.

Gary Glover, 56, said the 63 Bus across Carlisle does not show up at ‘at least three times a week’ – a claim disputed by the bus company.

The IT administrator says these cancellations have left him stranded in the rain and needing two hours to travel just five miles home.

Gary told Metro: ‘It is just atrocious. I keep getting the same response from Stagecoach is that it is unavoidable, buses break down.

‘Hang on, 76 times, the same bus – they’re not even trying to make excuses.’

Every day, Gary hopes to take bus from Margaret Creighton Gardens towards Durranhill Terminus after dropping his son Ethan, 6, off at school.

He then tries to ride the 4.24pm bus from Montgomery Court back to Sandsfield Park after work.

But despite paying £114 a month for Ethan and his bus passes, he claims the 63, which is run by Stagecoach, has been blighted by cancellations.

He has scores of screenshots of his Stagecoach App where both services come up as cancelled.

Or, as happened on Wednesday this week, the scheduled bus time is marked neither as ‘cancelled’ or coming, but never appears.

The 56-year-old added: ‘It’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s quite often you don’t get notice that it’s going to be cancelled. It’s literally cancelled at the last second.’

‘When it’s continuous like this, and it’s the same buses, the same times, there’s obviously got to be a reason.’

‘When it is raining in the morning, you can stand there getting drenched because you don’t know whether it’s going to turn up or not. So it’s very inconvenient.’

Stagecoach says Gary’s claims about the number of cancellations ‘are not reflective of the true picture’.

They declined to tell Metro how many cancellations they have recorded for the once-every-20-minute service, but the bus did turn up when we visited Gary on Monday this week.

Metro has seen an email from the bus company to Gary, which says the service taking him home was cancelled 10 times across May and the first half of June.

Gary claims this number is only the tip of the iceberg, as Stagecoach has been hit by driver shortages, roadworks and breakdowns.

In communications to Gary, Stagecoach have blamed cancellations in Carlisle on ‘breakdowns with our current fleet’, ‘mechanical issues, staff availability, or traffic’ as well as ‘road works’.

A spokesperson for Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire told Metro: ‘We’re sorry to learn Mr. Glover is unhappy with the level of service offered by our 63 service; however, his claims about the number of cancellations are not reflective of the true picture.

‘Our Carlisle team work incredibly hard to deliver the level of service our customers expect, however there are several factors which can impact on services.

‘For example, there is currently an unprecedented level of roadworks taking place across the city, and have been for a number of months.

‘This directly impacts the afternoon journey, which Mr. Glover refers to, a period which sees the normal level of congestion increase in the city.

Stagecoach says it is working with Cumberland Council to minimise the impact of these works, and the situation has improved over recent weeks.

Gary has complained to his Labour MP, Julie Minn,s about these cancellations, and she has had meetings with senior Stagecoach representatives.

Minns told Metro: ‘I’ve heard from many frustrated residents about these ongoing cancellations and I’m taking every possible step to address them. 

‘I’ve repeatedly raised this with Stagecoach, including directly with the Managing Director for Cumbria and North Lancashire earlier this month, who has promised a full explanation.

‘In addition, my team is setting up a public meeting with Stagecoach and Cumberland Council in July to give residents the opportunity to raise concerns directly.

‘I’ll be sharing details of that event shortly and encouraging as many people as possible to attend.

‘It’s essential that local bus services are reliable and meet the needs of our communities. I will continue working closely with Stagecoach and local residents to push for real improvements, to not only help Mr Glover, but for everyone across Carlisle and North Cumbria.’

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