Press Release – 819 Service to The Friary School – Transport Team – Staffordshire County Council

The following press release has been provided by the School Transport Team at Staffordshire County Council:

Dear Parent/Carer

Further to our recent emails, regarding the earlier operation of Service 819, we can now confirm that the changes to the timetable will be made permanent.

From Monday 26^th September the morning journey will permanently operate 15 minutes earlier, to allow additional time for the service and enable children to get to school on time. The afternoon journey will remain unchanged. Please see times below:

 Staffordshire County Council apologise for the changes to the times so early in the term, but there have been several issues that have led to this decision. 

Last academic year, other than exceptional events on the network, the service generally operated at a good level of punctuality. Over summer, HS2 instigated a long-term closure of the A38 southbound off-slip at Streethay. During school holidays traffic levels are generally much lower so the full impact of any closure doesn’t manifest. Since the start of term, delays on the network have been far in excess of that which might have reasonably been expected. On top of this, we experienced emergency roadworks in locations such as Trent Valley Road that further exacerbated matters. 

We would like to assure you that both bus operators and the County Council have made every effort to respond to disruption and continue to do so. We all hold running punctual services as a high priority. 

There are ways that you can monitor the service. An App is available which can be downloaded from either Google Play or the Apple store called myTrip. This provides real time information and can be used to track the buses on route. Midland Classic also have a Facebook page at Midland Classic, which is updated with any major service issues or breakdowns.

Parents/carers and pupils are also invited to sign up to the Staffordshire County Council text alert service when issued with a bus pass. If you have not yet signed up to this service, it is quick and easy to register. You will receive free texts alerts from us to report any major problems we are aware of on the route. Just follow this link to register your details with our customer alerts service. Please remember to select the school your child attends.

We would again like to apologise for the disruption with the changes to the service, and reassure you that we are working closely with the operator to monitor the route to ensure children are in school on time.

If you need to contact us then please do so at student.transport@staffordshire.go.uk

Many Thanks

Kathryn Grattage
Student Transport Team

Matt Allman, Headteacher, added: “We are grateful that Staffordshire County Council have communicated in this way. They have brought some more clarity and options for both schools and families. I have been assured by senior officers that they anticipate road work changes will help remedy things further and that they will keep monitoring the bus services closely. We know we will be supported by our parents in picking up on any continuing problems but we now have a direction to direct them and a promise of improvement. We can see how Monday goes, and then give the new structure some time to bed in.”