Green Bus

[Chantry_001]

I am looking for 506. Does green bus have fixed number of passes per route? Is it first come first serve basis? Any feedback will help me to book one quickly.

Hi, we have just renewed our son’s pass for the 506 and our daughter’s new one for Yr7 in Shottery.

There are a number of pupils near us who took it last year and have said they are doing so again, good news is that they do use a double decker. Last year the route was quieter but it did not go through the centre of Leamington at all, now that it does it probably will be busier as the other Leam bus only went from a small number of stops. So, I would probably suggest booking it, considering the saving in cost it seems better. Even at that higher price it will still cheaper than Stagecoach but we have had to pay throughout lockdown also...

Hope that helps a bit.

[Leamdad28]

Thanks all for the feedback. I have applied for a new pass for my DS in route 506.

[nervousmom]

Have bought 502 pass today. (DS cousin and their friend have also bought 502)

I’ve spent almost £1500 today on bus passes as had to buy DD1 for KEFW too!!!

[del]

Did anybody else have issues/concerns with the The Green Bus 506 route yesterday (Monday) from Leamington & Warwick to Stratford and Alcester schools?

My ds caught it for the first time yesterday (we drove her in on Friday as it was her first day at SGGS). The bus was late anyway, but the driver took a wrong turn off the M40 J15 roundabout and ended up in Wellesbourne! They doubled back to Stratford and fortunately was still on time for the start of school (just) but arrived over 30 minutes late. Good job Alcester schools hadn't started back yet as they would have definitely been late for their start. Then for the return journey it was 20 minutes late picking up from SGGS (4:40 instead of 4:20) which is 45 minutes after the end of school. So the girls were hanging around for all that time. Then the driver took ANOTHER wrong turn in Leamington adding more time on to the journey. By the time it arrived at our stop in Leamington it was 45 minutes late (5:45 instead of 5:00). According to my daughter the bus was half empty so it wasn't even the fault of it being busy. What it's going to be like when Alcester schools are back I can only imagine.

This morning we received a text message from Green Bus to say they were running 10 minutes late, which ended up being 20 minutes late, and then they said they will be reviewing the timings of this route today with a view to submitting a new time table from tomorrow. To compound the issue, the busses they are using don't even have tracking (yet) like advertised. My daughter has a tracking app on her phone so I could see the journey/delays anyway.

It's not a good start. Maybe, hopefully, it will settle down but so far not impressed. They haven't answered the e-mail I sent yesterday either.

Just wondered if anyone else is using this route and what their views are?

[LJandCJ]

I think the other girl that has gone to AGS from my ds’s primary school must’ve been on this bus this morning - they arrived 15 mins late at AGS. Either that or there are multiple green buses arriving late!!

Re the tracking, I did send them quite a stern email about what a disappointment this was as this was my main reason for choosing the bus over the public transport option that was available…particularly as this is most useful in the first couple of weeks when they’re getting used to using the bus. It will almost be irrelevant when it actually comes into use in mid-September!

[WarksMum]

We aren’t on the 506, but Green Bus aren’t great. We had quite a few issues last year.
They have a really old fleet, which means that they break down a lot.
The tracking rarely works.
Routes changed significantly (but you can’t complain, because it’s in their T&Cs that routes can change at any time).
Etc, etc.
Just waiting to see how the handing out of bus passes in person thing (rather than posting to students) works out. I have little confidence that it will run smoothly.

[Leamdad28]

Did anybody else have issues/concerns with the The Green Bus 506 route yesterday (Monday) from Leamington & Warwick to Stratford and Alcester schools?

My ds caught it for the first time yesterday (we drove her in on Friday as it was her first day at SGGS). The bus was late anyway, but the driver took a wrong turn off the M40 J15 roundabout and ended up in Wellesbourne! They doubled back to Stratford and fortunately was still on time for the start of school (just) but arrived over 30 minutes late. Good job Alcester schools hadn't started back yet as they would have definitely been late for their start. Then for the return journey it was 20 minutes late picking up from SGGS (4:40 instead of 4:20) which is 45 minutes after the end of school. So the girls were hanging around for all that time. Then the driver took ANOTHER wrong turn in Leamington adding more time on to the journey. By the time it arrived at our stop in Leamington it was 45 minutes late (5:45 instead of 5:00). According to my daughter the bus was half empty so it wasn't even the fault of it being busy. What it's going to be like when Alcester schools are back I can only imagine.

This morning we received a text message from Green Bus to say they were running 10 minutes late, which ended up being 20 minutes late, and then they said they will be reviewing the timings of this route today with a view to submitting a new time table from tomorrow. To compound the issue, the busses they are using don't even have tracking (yet) like advertised. My daughter has a tracking app on her phone so I could see the journey/delays anyway.

It's not a good start. Maybe, hopefully, it will settle down but so far not impressed. They haven't answered the e-mail I sent yesterday either.

Just wondered if anyone else is using this route and what their views are?

Hi My DS is also in Green bus 506 going to AGS it has been a nightmare since they started always late during the return journey and also technical faults couple of times in the first fw days. I called them to complaint about the long day the kids are having because fo this delay but the customer service person was not that great in providing any comfort rather than blaming the traffic during these times for the delay but advised they will look into it. I would also ask you to ring them and make a complaint if mor epeople ring them they will defenitely do something about it... Also not sure if they will allow us to cancel the contract now as I am now more inclined to move to Ridleys as they are very prompt and the reason I went with Green bus is the route is nearner to my home.

[del]

I did exactly the same. I went with Green Bus because the stop they use is nearest to our home. 2 minute walk in fact. They have just revised their timetable and the pick up in the morning is now 7 minutes earlier and drop off in the evening is now 20 minutes later. This makes for a really long day for my ds. She's at SGGS and the bus arrives at school at 8:05 which is 50 minutes before school starts and it doesn't collect them until 4:20 (but it's always late and not before 4:30) which is 25 or 35 minutes after school ends. It's not been so bad so far as it's still new, but I can see these long days in winter are going to take their toll, especially with homework to do.

I have complained, but I got the same unsympathetic reply from their customer service.

Wish I'd gone with Ridley's now. Their 526 service is a 10-15 minute walk to the nearest stop, but timing wise is 35 minutes later in the morning and 35 minutes earlier in the evening.

[Milvertonmama]

Also on green bus 506 and also incredibly annoyed at how long it takes. I have had some REALLY angry customer services people arguing with me. I just don’t want my poor 11yo sitting outside school for 35 minutes post end of the school day. I feel like it is very obvious that they have too many stops and diversions. If they had one Stratford service and one to Alcester it would be so much quicker and so much less likely to be lost (the first day on Friday 3rd when it was just Y7 was the worst- 90 minute journey as driver missed SGGS entirely and then did a tour of Alcester).