Arriva ‘sorry’ but Watford bus turmoil set to continue

Cancellations have been crippling Watford and nearby areas for months, with problems seemingly worsening recently with regular reports of rush-hour misery.

The operator, which has long blamed industry-wide staff shortages, insists its “highly targeted” recruitment drive is “welcoming new drivers into Watford regularly”.

“To further boost our ‘on the road’ capacity, we’ve utilised agency drivers in recent weeks, helping to bridge the gap whilst some of our newly recruited Arriva drivers undergo their training,” a spokesperson added.

But hopes of rapid improvement were dashed after Arriva told the Watford Observer additional changes will not happen until early next year.

“We’ve reviewed our current timetables and a number of small, yet efficient service changes will come into effect in early January 2023,” the spokesperson said.

Among them will be cutting the 357 service covering Harpenden to Borehamwood and relocating drivers to specific Watford buses.

Asked whether customers should expect the same level of service until then, Arriva said the measures will not immediately solve the issues but “we do hope in January we’ll start to see the benefit of improvement plans”.

Reports of Arriva bus cancellations have recently increased amid staff shortages. (Image: Watford Borough Council)

The news will come as a blow for many – particularly those with kids facing long walks in the dark without reliable services.

Harriet Mitchell, whose daughter gets the 10 and 20 to school, told Arriva on social media: “You’re destroying lives with your terrible route planning.

“I’ve spent hundreds on Ubers and TaxiClick to get her to school since September. No heating for us over Christmas.”

Another local mum, Anna Luna, said the 10 and 20 buses alone had “at least 15 cancellations a week” since the start of September. Her daughter’s “study spirit is just gone” because of lateness detentions, she added.

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Arriva insists the core problem is industry-wide staff shortages, which is understood to have several underlying causes.

Among them are employees leaving for incentivised HGV driver roles, generally quitting for better-paid jobs, and leaving the industry post-Covid. Training new staff and the DVLA licensing process can also take several months.

The Arriva spokesperson said: "This has resulted in serious challenges on the delivery of our timetabled services on a daily basis. We want to assure you, our customers, we’re exploring every avenue possible to rectify this situation.

"We’re mindful of how negatively we are affecting some of our customers and our communities every day, and for this are we genuinely sorry."

The shortages follow strikes this summer after Arriva attempted to give staff 4-6% pay rises, before eventually giving Hertfordshire workers 11.1%.

In the last full financial year (2021/22), the county council paid Arriva £948k to run some Herts services, compared to £746k, £583k and £274k respectively for the previous years.

It is one of several operators in the county alongside Uno, Sullivan Buses and Centrebus.