Bus Canceled Without Notice

Yesterday, I was out on a trip to Brampton (and ultimately Huntingdon), by bus. After exploring Notcutts Garden Centre, we starting to walk towards Huntingdon.

Once there, we went around the Town centre. Not that many shops were open by the time we got there (mostly laughed about how overpriced CEX was and went around Sainsbury’s).

When it was nearing time to catch the bus come, we made our-way to Huntingdon Bus Station. Once there, we read the live timetable and waited at bay 7 for bus 66…..

However, 5.45pm passed by and there was no sign of the bus. After around 15 minutes, I checked the website for Whippet (The bus company for that route). That led to the companies’ Twitter/X timeline, and it showed the bus before (4.30pm) being cancelled but no cancellation was listed for the 5.45pm service.

I suspect that has to do with Whippet office closing way before the end of their business day. But that does not change the fact that no notice was given to the bus being cancelled and any such cancellation was never acknowledged by Whippet.

And even worse, the next bus only goes to the next village from Huntingdon and that is the last bus of the night (British public transport sucks).

We could get picked up by car but everyone not fortunate enough (those who live in the villages served by trains or on super-low income JSA who already paid for a return ticket) would be stuck in Huntingdon overnight as many who use buses can’t afford the expensive taxi fares in the area (The poorest Brits are much poorer than the poorest Americans).

Your average person will not use a bus service that leaves them stranded without notice. That is why no one uses buses, as they actually want public transport to well….. Transport them to their destination.

Published: 1st September 2023