Passengers already facing mechanical breakdowns, service cancellations and issues with the bus app have now been presented with unreadable timetables.
In numerous bus shelters across the island, the operator, Stagecoach, has inserted paper timetables in frames too small to accommodate them, leaving departure times obscured and passengers confused and frustrated.
‘At the town terminus, only two of the eight stands did not have the problem,’ said Fergus Dunlop, co-ordinator of Bus Users Guernsey.
‘It is hard to credit that Stagecoach could print sheets which are too big for the information boxes which they themselves supplied.’
Mr Dunlop acknowledged that the mistake could appear to be a small problem on its own but said it was only one of a series of difficulties to have hit the service, particularly since changes made by Stagecoach earlier this month.
‘The problem in itself is small, but unfortunately it is one of many,’ he said.
‘The committee of Bus Users Guernsey identified eighteen such issues in the week after the new routes and timetable were introduced on 7 September.
‘They ranged from app failures to mechanical breakdowns.’
It is not the first time that signage erected by Stagecoach has led to complaints.
Some passengers expressed concern when the operator recently removed route numbers and placed blank signage at dozens of bus stops.
Two weeks ago, following questions submitted by Deputy Ross Le Brun, Stagecoach accepted it had been unable to complete a full timetable recently, largely blaming sickness among drivers, and insisted it was resolving problems with the service.
Since then, passengers have continued to report numerous disruptions, including buses not turning up or running significantly late.
Les Varendes High School was hit by the problem one afternoon late last week.
‘Unfortunately, the school bus 4b has not arrived this afternoon,’ said the school, in a note to parents.
‘We are trying to contact Stagecoach and will update as soon as we can.
‘If you are able to contact your son/daughter who may be waiting for this bus and would like to come and collect them or make other arrangements, please do so.’
The number of passengers using buses declined during the first six months of the year, and Deputy Le Brun said he was concerned that the public was starting to lose confidence in the service.
Deputy Adrian Gabriel, the president of the Environment & Infrastructure Committee, which is responsible for the bus service and spends more than £4.5m. a year of taxpayers’ money supporting it, has insisted that Stagecoach has brought expertise, additional resources and resilience since taking over as the operator in April 2025 and said there would be no review of its contract until a three-year break point in 2028.
Mr Dunlop was concerned about the effects of the ongoing problems on local passengers and visitors to the island.
‘Each problem individually will vary in negative impact on bus users in the island,’ he said.
‘But compounded they can infuriate high-frequency users, some of whom have no alternative travel option. Such users may include those least able to complain.
‘We will never know the reputational impact of negative word-of-mouth from visitors reporting back home, likewise ill-equipped to complain locally and even worse-placed to find a cheap workaround.’
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