City Sprinter ends

[robertclark125]

It appears that City Sprinter of Erskine, who ran a route 38 between Glasgow City Centre and Eastwood Toll have ceased trading. A Yahoo group on Scottish buses, and bus and coach forum both reporting this.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/...NDED_after_bus_company_stops_running_service/

COMMUTERS have been left stranded in Glasgow’s south side after a bus company unexpectedly stopped running a busy service today.

City Sprinter operates the 38 from Eastwood Toll in Giffnock to the city centre.

Hundreds of customers have paid up front for weekly and monthly tickets.

Several commuters contacted the Evening Times this morning to say the bus service appears to have stopped.

Drivers for rival firm First have told people waiting at stops on the route that they have not seen a single City Sprinter bus on the roads this morning.

One customer said: “City Sprinter buses don’t appear to be operating. A driver for First Bus said he hadn’t seen any and he didn’t know why.”

Another commuter said: “First drivers were trying to tell other people waiting on buses that the City Sprinters weren't coming. I’m extremely angry about it because City Sprinter have not even told their customers.”

City Sprinter’s website states that it is a “well-established transport company with over 20 years of experience to its name”.

It runs the service 38 from Eastwood Toll to Renfrew Street every 10 minutes, six days a week.



The firm’s website states that “City Sprinter is currently upgrading its fleet and passengers can look forward to larger buses with uniformed drivers and no fares increase for the foreseeable future”, but there is no information on the website about cancelled services today.

The firm was to be stripped of its operating licence in 2013 after failing to provide evidence to the Traffic Commissioner of “appropriate financial standing” but a successful appeal gave the company a last minute reprieve.

The request for details of company finances followed a public inquiry which heard that an inspection of the operator's premises in January by a traffic examiner led to concerns that drivers may have been routinely exceeding legal working hours.

On another occasion inspectors discovered that a City Sprinter bus operating in East Renfrewshire had its emergency exit cordoned off with clothing tied “between the seats to prevent passengers from using the seats, which had become soaked earlier that day after a heating pipe burst”.




Inspectors had also raised concerns about the number of Sprinter buses failing maintenance checks.

   

The Evening Times contacted City Sprinter this morning but there was no one available to comment.

 

[jamesontheroad]

City Sprinter were an odd part of my life in Glasgow 2008-12. They were the cheapest, fastest, most shambolic yet most reliable route from the Southside to Central Glasgow. Almost all of their vehicles were second or third hand Plaxton Beavers (?). Their drivers were some real characters, usually driving somewhat aggressively, and coming to a complete halt at stops only if an old lady wanted to board or alight. Generally you threw your change (much cheaper than First Bus) at the driver and held on for dear life, and arrived at your destination before you had a chance to get comfortable.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

They had 09 plated E200's on loan for a brief period then got a load of ex Abellio London Darts and subsequently 02 plated ex London United Darts...

Like you say, you had to cling on for dear life at times with their driving styles...

 

[Strathclyder]

They had 09 plated E200's on loan for a brief period then got a load of ex Abellio London Darts and subsequently 02 plated ex London United Darts...

Like you say, you had to cling on for dear life at times with their driving styles...

They also bought at least three ex-Bus Eireann Wright Renown-bodied Volvo B10BLEs in early 2014, although I only ever saw W809 OSS in service with them.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

They also bought at least three ex-Bus Eireann Wright Renown-bodied Volvo B10BLEs in early 2014, although I only ever saw W809 OSS in service with them.

Yeah the other two went to McNairn's of Coatbridge...

 

[smtglasgow]

I’m no fan of cowboys, but I always had a soft spot for City Sprinter. In their pomp they simply didn’t care. Ten years ago or more they had a policy of always having a bus on the main stop on Union Street – blocking it for the dozens of First/Stagecoach buses to the south side. As one CS bus departed, another would materialise, presumably summoned by radio. The resulting chaos would jam up Union Street throughout the late afternoon and evening peak, and eventually led to the traffic order that is now enforced through Glasgow City Council wardens.

I’m not sure what has changed in recent months to lead to the collapse. I had a sense that they were quieter than they were, but First haven’t done anything much to their 38 group of routes for some time and the price difference was still quite noticeable. I wonder if more people are using the train from Giffnock or Shawlands? With City Sprinter off the road and Coakley coming off the 240 and 291 in Lanarkshire, it’s been a good few weeks for First in Glasgow.

 

[enrag2000]

From the Herald several years ago:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/guest-commentary/in-praise-of-city-sprinter-1.1010279

R.I.P.