All gone to pot

The electronic displays on the Centrebus buses, which follow the new 190 route, indicated that the vehicles were travelling to Biggleswade via ‘Pottern’ and Sandy.

The mistake was discussed at a Potton Town Council meeting on Tuesday, where it was confirmed that Central Bedfordshire Council had contacted Centrebus about the misspelling.

The 190 route, which came into service at the end of last month with the new 188 line, has also come in for criticism from passengers.

Regular passenger Charles Belcher, who lives in Potton and often travels to and from Biggleswade on the bus, said the new services take too long and have not been timetabled with convenience in mind.

He said: “The service between Biggleswade and Potton used to take no more than around 14 minutes, as it was fairly direct, but the new one stops off at Gamlingay, Wrestlingworth and other towns and villages – it’s more like 25 minutes these days. The services are also rarely convenient for train users – very often the bus will arrive at Biggleswade with only a few minutes to spare until the next train to London.”

Dave Shelley, commercial director at Centrebus, said: “The bus blind was programmed centrally by our IT team who did not have local knowledge (these things are quite technical) and was quickly spotted and an update produced.

“We are getting a lot of positive feedback about the 188 and 190 changes, including the improved connections at Sandy station, where the route has been designed so passengers are picked up and dropped off right outside. Our view is it provides a more efficient service designed to be simpler for passengers.”

Mr Shelley added that the direct 190 service follows a direct route from Potton to Biggleswade and takes around 16 minutes.

For the full story see the Biggleswade Chronicle of Friday, April 8.