THE Arriva bus service are once again failing to provide a reliable bus service to their customers, many of them elderly or infirm.

It is nothing short of cruel to leave people in their 70s and 80s, or in wheelchairs, waiting hours on end for a bus. It will get worse as winter approaches.

I’m not accepting the excuse that some of their drivers are in isolation because of Covid, because it has happened before.

To be perfectly honest, they should not be allowed to operate in County Durham.

If a bus does turn up it shakes like a WWI tank or breaks down.

A fortnight ago I couldn’t believe it when the X1 bus to Tow Law arrived on time at Tubwell Row in Darlington. It broke down at Cockerton library.

Do the people who run this company realise people use the bus for doctor and hospital appointments, where they need to be on time. Most people would lose sleep if they were leaving the elderly stranded alone on a bus stop in foul weather. Not Arriva.

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