Bus services provided by Stotts Coaches

[yorkie]

If that's the Huddersfield based outfit that operate on the NX network micky mouse isn't even close to a fair description from my experience (although admittedly that's on the NX side rather than local services).

I wouldn’t describe Stotts Coaches as a Mickey Mouse company, far from it. They are a high quality smart long established operation, both on the bus and on the coach side. Even the school deckers look smart compared to many school bus operators.

Yes I expect they don’t take card, but to be fair, on the local tenders they run, taking any sort of a monetary fare is probably quite rare

Well the bus, the driver, and the ride we had was anything but smart.

The driver was the least professional driver I've come across for at least a couple of years. The ride quality was awful, with harsh acceleration and braking. At one point we came within centimetres of colliding with a car; admittedly not our drivers' fault but he was happy to leave it until the last moment to brake.

Despite the majority of the journey being subjected to intolerable g-forces, the bus did not gain any time, therefore I conclude the timetable is inadequate, as it requires uncomfortable driving to keep to the timetable.

I don't expect a response of "we don't tack 'em!" when asking to buy a ticket; I've never known such unprofessionalism when boarding a bus.

Not accepting contactless really isn't acceptable in this day and age, especially in the current climate, but if they are going to stipulate cash only, they really ought to make this fact very clear.

Maybe their coach operation is decent and maybe we got unlucky with the bus and driver we had but based on our experience, I'd put them as the worst bus operator I have the misfortune of travelling with.

 

[Flange Squeal]

I guess it could be argued that at least some of your experience is down to an individual driver, and might not be representative of the company overall, as you point out. Indeed they do have valid CoachMarque accreditation, and year after year consistently win multiple awards from National Express in fields such as maintenance and sustained high achievement. It certainly seems to imply that they aren’t an out-and-out cowboy operation, but it would be interesting to see if a higher sample size of their bus services and drivers would single this journey out as not the norm. Perhaps it is a case of the coaching side is the main focus - it certainly seems to consist of a fair amount of modern well turned out vehicles.

The lack of contactless acceptance is a shame though. Their social media does make mention, amongst Covid ‘Ready to Go’ logos, of only accepting cash, however a more prominent message on the website would definitely be beneficial.

The timetable is potentially a case of a tendered route the council has specified, however if timings are regularly too tight then it would be in their interests to try and rectify that as any regularly complained about poor performance/dodgy driving would be for them to explain to the Traffic Comissioner if it got enough attention over time.

As someone not local, I’d be interested to read others’ views. Sounds on the surface that they don’t deserve cowboy status, but there are perhaps parts of the local bus operation that could do with a bit of attention.

 

[yorkie]

The impression given was very much of a Mickey mouse operation; when your only experience of an operator is a tatty bus, a tight timetable, lack of contactless, a rude & unprofessional driver from both a customer service and driving point of view, it's difficult to believe that the company is otherwise a decent operator.

So yes perhaps all their other buses, and all their other drivers, are great. But it's difficult for me to envisage that!

An unprofessional driver is indicative of potential poor recruitment techniques and/or a lack of adequate safeguards to ensure quality, in my opinion. Yes it can be a one-off, but if proper procedures were in place it would be identified.

I had plenty of witnesses to this event as other forum members were present, though whether they will want to comment on this thread, I don't know. But it wasn't just me who had a negative impression of the company.

If a company wants to be highly regarded they need to ensure robust procedures and safeguards are in place.

 

[awsnews]

Just for clarity which Stotts company is being discussed here?
This one, E Stott & Sons

E Stott's & Sons Optare Solo YJ55 BLZa

flic.kr

Or this one, Stotts of Oldham

STOTTS BUSES YJ57 EJX

Explore TRIUMPH 50042-LA's 6627 photos on Flickr!

flic.kr

Not my images

 

[Boo_]

E Stotts of Huddersfield as Scotts of Oldham don't run NX coaches. Both companies are linked as both bothers.
But they had a fallout so.went their own way. And I don't think they talk as I never seen them help each other out with work.

Taking card payments are not as easy as people think as you have to have ticket machines that can handle it. And not all bus companies own their machines or have the funds to replace for an all-dancing system. Many are updating as soon as they can due to new rules with tracking needed at end of year. So a ticket machine that has GPS and with a live uplink is needed at this point most will offer card payments.

 

[Bletchleyite]

With regard to over-tight timetabling are these tendered routes? Councils do seem to have a habit (e.g. MK Council) of publishing tenders which have seemingly been worked out by having the teenage office assistant rag round the route in his Citroen Saxo non-stop on the way to the pub.

 

[WY Bus Spotter]

Their bus have always been smart and comfortable from my experience. I'm not sure which route you were on but, I can agree that a route like the 335 between Holmfirth and Slaithwaite can be pretty hair-raising, but that's all part of the fun. What's not to love about going round the backstreets of Netherthong at 100mph!

I'm 90% confident that the routes and timetable are set by Metro as (the Holmfirth routes at least) are tendered. I remember a while back some passengers having a natter about the changing times and a driver was explaining that the company had little to no input in the proposed changes.

The drivers are generally the same each weekday and more often than not know each passenger by name, and where to drop them off if there isn't a bus stop.

As for not taking contactless payments, I'm not entirely sure whether it would be worth upgrading machines (without any financial support from Metro) as a lot of passengers are concessionary pass holders or more than likely have MCards. I'm not too sure that there are many people using their buses who aren't local, I can't imagine it's like Transdev's 36 for example where lots of people ride spontaneously for a day out to Harrogate and Ripon. The current climate is cloudy with occasional sunny spells; reaching temperatures of 14 °C.

 

[Boo_]

If like some other areas councils and PTEs lease the ticket machines to smaller operators.and don't really care about card payments so long as there smartcards work.

 

[L401CJF]

I bought one of the old Step Darts off them a few years ago. Can probably tell by my username which one it is.Great nick for its age, well kept underneath, advertised with engine troubles but wasn't as bad as we thought so got a few years out of it before rebuilding it. It was well looked after and sailed through its 1st mot with me without any work. Still in the family 4 years later following an engine build and a few other bits its is a great little bus.

 

[cactustwirly]

Companies like this, is why I own a car and avoid traveling by bus.
This is exactly my experience with a lot of bus companies both big and small.
The buses are late, dirty and uncomfortable.
The bus drivers are rude and condescending, especially when they only take cash and they expect you to know that!
The fares are always expensive and are never publicised.

It's little wonder why many people don't use buses, the whole experience is miserable compared to taking the train, or using continental buses.

 

[Daniel740]

Companies like this, is why I own a car and avoid traveling by bus.
This is exactly my experience with a lot of bus companies both big and small.
The buses are late, dirty and uncomfortable.
The bus drivers are rude and condescending, especially when they only take cash and they expect you to know that!
The fares are always expensive and are never publicised.

It's little wonder why many people don't use buses, the whole experience is miserable compared to taking the train, or using continental buses.

Have you actually used their services? Perhaps you should before condemning them!

 

[NorthernSpirit]

The impression given was very much of a Mickey mouse operation; when your only experience of an operator is a tatty bus, a tight timetable, lack of contactless, a rude & unprofessional driver from both a customer service and driving point of view, it's difficult to believe that the company is otherwise a decent operator.

So yes perhaps all their other buses, and all their other drivers, are great. But it's difficult for me to envisage that!

An unprofessional driver is indicative of potential poor recruitment techniques and/or a lack of adequate safeguards to ensure quality, in my opinion. Yes it can be a one-off, but if proper procedures were in place it would be identified.

I had plenty of witnesses to this event as other forum members were present, though whether they will want to comment on this thread, I don't know. But it wasn't just me who had a negative impression of the company.

If a company wants to be highly regarded they need to ensure robust procedures and safeguards are in place.

What service was you using? Becuase the Holme Valley Minibus network, i.e. the H numbered routes are funded by both the Holme Valley Parish Council (HVPC) and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. I believe that HVPC also sets the timetable, hence why the timetable is quite tight and only allows up to 90 seconds between departures at Holmfirth bus station. If it was either the 335, 389, 393, 394, 395 or the 911, then the condition of the bus can be linked to the state of the roads that Kirklees MBC allows their highways to fall into - rough, rutted and in some cases lethal especially on some of the far more rural parts of the Metropolitan Borough where you can see huge craters of road missing.

The driver themselves could have been having a bad day or his wife had walked out on him or simply hated his job. All it takes it one driver to wreck it for the company. When I lived in Holmfirth for eight months, most of my travels was with Stotts simply becuase they are local, the buses were in better condition and that the state of the First fleet at the time was truly shocking.

 

[Andyh82]

Talking about Stotts, they’ve acquired this smart Darwen Olympus, for schools, but probably also for rail replacement usage now they have to be accessible

GN07WVA

www.flickr.com

Photo by Joshua Sharp

 

[WY Bus Spotter]

Companies like this, is why I own a car and avoid traveling by bus.
This is exactly my experience with a lot of bus companies both big and small.
The buses are late, dirty and uncomfortable.
The bus drivers are rude and condescending, especially when they only take cash and they expect you to know that!
The fares are always expensive and are never publicised.

It's little wonder why many people don't use buses, the whole experience is miserable compared to taking the train, or using continental buses.

I can only assume that you have never used their services?

 

[Brooke]

Surprised to see such a critical review of a normally very solid operator! Perhaps just a bad day for that driver...

I do agree with Northern Spirit that a combination of ambitious timetables and traffic in Holmfirth means the drivers seem to keep pushing on, so perhaps not always smooth with Kirklees awful road surfaces.

That said, I think folks are probably very grateful to have such a solid & reliable network around the valleys - it’s testament to the councils to keep funding it so long and to Stotts’ very reliable & consistent operation for so many years.

Is it maybe 30 years+ now that the setup has basically been unchanged?

 

[cactustwirly]

I can only assume that you have never used their services?

No, but the OP's experience is what I have also experienced with a lot of operators.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

Surprised to see such a critical review of a normally very solid operator! Perhaps just a bad day for that driver...

I do agree with Northern Spirit that a combination of ambitious timetables and traffic in Holmfirth means the drivers seem to keep pushing on, so perhaps not always smooth with Kirklees awful road surfaces.

That said, I think folks are probably very grateful to have such a solid & reliable network around the valleys - it’s testament to the councils to keep funding it so long and to Stotts’ very reliable & consistent operation for so many years.

Is it maybe 30 years+ now that the setup has basically been unchanged?

The Holme Valley minibus network has only ever seen a few changes since its conception, the most drastic was back in 2005 when the H6 (Magdale), H8/H9 (Scholes) and H10 (Fulstone) were culled. In 2017 the H7 was merged with the H5 and the H7 was rerouted to serve Hepworth twice a day with one journey extended to start from Hade Edge, the H6 was introduced to run an alternative route to Brockholes via Woodhead Road. This worked fine for a while then the H4 was axed since the H1 and H2 already served Wooldale, the H5 between St Mary's in Netherthong and Holmfirth was scrapped, it was replaced by the 335 and the H5 was cut to run from Holmfirth to Holmbridge instead, the H7 was revised to run up to three journeys a day with the Hade Edge extention being pulled. Leaving only the H1 & H2 (Scholes), H3 (Upperthong), H5 (Holmbridge), H6 (Brockholes) and H7 (Hepworth) being the remaining parts of the current Holme Valley minibus network.

I can see the network being revised again within the next five years with the H1, H2 and H7 being merged to create a new H1 & H2 Scholes and Hepworth circular, the H3 & H5 being merged to create a new H3 Upperthong and Holmbridge circular and the H4 being reintroduced to replace current H6 that'd see it run in a one way loop at the Brockholes end.

There is the H11 but that runs only one day a year from Scholes to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and is one of West Yorkshire's original Boxing Day bus services.

 

[Brooke]

The Holme Valley minibus network has only ever seen a few changes since its conception, the most drastic was back in 2005 when the H6 (Magdale), H8/H9 (Scholes) and H10 (Fulstone) were culled. In 2017 the H7 was merged with the H5 and the H7 was rerouted to serve Hepworth twice a day with one journey extended to start from Hade Edge, the H6 was introduced to run an alternative route to Brockholes via Woodhead Road. This worked fine for a while then the H4 was axed since the H1 and H2 already served Wooldale, the H5 between St Mary's in Netherthong and Holmfirth was scrapped, it was replaced by the 335 and the H5 was cut to run from Holmfirth to Holmbridge instead, the H7 was revised to run up to three journeys a day with the Hade Edge extention being pulled. Leaving only the H1 & H2 (Scholes), H3 (Upperthong), H5 (Holmbridge), H6 (Brockholes) and H7 (Hepworth) being the remaining parts of the current Holme Valley minibus network.

I can see the network being revised again within the next five years with the H1, H2 and H7 being merged to create a new H1 & H2 Scholes and Hepworth circular, the H3 & H5 being merged to create a new H3 Upperthong and Holmbridge circular and the H4 being reintroduced to replace current H6 that'd see it run in a one way loop at the Brockholes end.

There is the H11 but that runs only one day a year from Scholes to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and is one of West Yorkshire's original Boxing Day bus services.

So I got around to asking my folks (Upperthong) about the history of these buses. They said it had been with Stotts for years but there was a time early on when it was another operator. They said K-Line, but a quick google suggests it was SKJ, so perhaps it moved to Stotts when SKJ went out of business.

They thought the buses around Holmfirth now were pretty good - solid local network with Stotts, reliable links to Hudds, plus they’ve enjoyed a few days out in the last couple of years on the other minibuses over Isle of Skye, Holme Moss etc

They couldn’t remember what (if anything) there was before the Holme Valley network - they mentioned Yorkshire Traction and Baddeley Bros but as being more “long distance” operators if you go back to the 70s, with routes from Holmfirth to Sheffield, Manchester, Wakefield etc.

Though this bit of history might be of interest.

 

[Andyh82]

Yorkshire Traction ran the holme valley minibuses around the late 80s/early to mid 90s. I recall 'Townlink' livery MCW Metroriders

 

[Brooke]

Yorkshire Traction ran the holme valley minibuses around the late 80s/early to mid 90s. I recall 'Townlink' livery MCW Metroriders

So perhaps it was SKJ > Tracky > Stotts then?

So perhaps it was SKJ > Tracky > Stotts then?

Answering my own question: a quick search of Flickr provides this image of a YT minibus in 1989 so you’re spot on: https://flic.kr/p/agzbTy

There’s also this nice shot below the Ford Inn, which I guess is the “long distance” routes my folks had in mind: https://flic.kr/p/7SpoB6

 

[Deerfold]

The Holme Valley minibus network has only ever seen a few changes since its conception, the most drastic was back in 2005 when the H6 (Magdale), H8/H9 (Scholes) and H10 (Fulstone) were culled. In 2017 the H7 was merged with the H5 and the H7 was rerouted to serve Hepworth twice a day with one journey extended to start from Hade Edge, the H6 was introduced to run an alternative route to Brockholes via Woodhead Road. This worked fine for a while then the H4 was axed since the H1 and H2 already served Wooldale, the H5 between St Mary's in Netherthong and Holmfirth was scrapped, it was replaced by the 335 and the H5 was cut to run from Holmfirth to Holmbridge instead, the H7 was revised to run up to three journeys a day with the Hade Edge extention being pulled. Leaving only the H1 & H2 (Scholes), H3 (Upperthong), H5 (Holmbridge), H6 (Brockholes) and H7 (Hepworth) being the remaining parts of the current Holme Valley minibus network.

I can see the network being revised again within the next five years with the H1, H2 and H7 being merged to create a new H1 & H2 Scholes and Hepworth circular, the H3 & H5 being merged to create a new H3 Upperthong and Holmbridge circular and the H4 being reintroduced to replace current H6 that'd see it run in a one way loop at the Brockholes end.

There is the H11 but that runs only one day a year from Scholes to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and is one of West Yorkshire's original Boxing Day bus services.

There used to be some additional routes that only ran on a Thursday (market day) - I think they were the A, B, C and D.

 

[David Verity]

So perhaps it was SKJ > Tracky > Stotts then?


Answering my own question: a quick search of Flickr provides this image of a YT minibus in 1989 so you’re spot on: https://flic.kr/p/agzbTy

There’s also this nice shot below the Ford Inn, which I guess is the “long distance” routes my folks had in mind: https://flic.kr/p/7SpoB6

When SKJ went bust WYPTE took over the management of the contract from Holme Valley Parish Council and awarded an emergency tender to Yorkshire Rider with Sherpa breadvans. Tracky took it on and revived the County Motors livery when a full tender was let. Tracky lost it to Stotts.

So I got around to asking my folks (Upperthong) about the history of these buses. They said it had been with Stotts for years but there was a time early on when it was another operator. They said K-Line, but a quick google suggests it was SKJ, so perhaps it moved to Stotts when SKJ went out of business.

They thought the buses around Holmfirth now were pretty good - solid local network with Stotts, reliable links to Hudds, plus they’ve enjoyed a few days out in the last couple of years on the other minibuses over Isle of Skye, Holme Moss etc

They couldn’t remember what (if anything) there was before the Holme Valley network - they mentioned Yorkshire Traction and Baddeley Bros but as being more “long distance” operators if you go back to the 70s, with routes from Holmfirth to Sheffield, Manchester, Wakefield etc.

Though this bit of history might be of interest.

When Tracky gave up on the X19 to Manchester G B Hirst (as Baddeleys) took it on and then for a while Maynes of Manchester had a go. Shame when there's so much car traffic over the tops to Manchester and the nearest rail journey entails a trip into Huddersfield that there isn't a viable case for a daily bus service.