The Bus Appeals Body

Step by Step - Making a Complaint

If you have a complaint about any bus, or regular coach service you should first write to the bus company about it. Tell them exactly when you were travelling (date and time), where you were travelling from and to and the route number of the bus. Any other detail (like the registration number of the bus or driver's name or description) will make it easier for the bus company to investigate your complaint, but is not essential. If possible, enclose your ticket. Give the company time to write back to you.

If you don't get a reply or you are not happy with the reply you get, you can take the matter further.

Useful links

Statutory Public Transport Consumer Bodies

If you live in London contact London Travelwatch, in Scotland contact Passengers' View Scotland and in Northern Ireland the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (GCCNI). Further details, see below. Otherwise, the bus industry’s non-statutory Bus Appeals Body (BAB) may be able to help. If your journey was in England, write to:

The Bus Appeals Body
c/o BUS USERS UK,
PO Box 2950,
Stoke-on-Trent
ST4 9EW

If your journey was in Wales, write to:

Bus Users UK,
Po Box 1045,
Cardiff
CF11 1JE

Tel: 029 2022 1370

Please note, the Bus Appeals Body can deal with complaints about operational issues, such as poor reliability (eg bus running early, always running late or making you miss an important appointment or connection to another bus or train), the bus not turning up at all, drivers or other staff being rude, driving badly, bus refusing to stop to let you on or off, etc. It can’t deal with commercial issues, like fares and service levels, ticketing and timetabling, routings, nor can it help if the issue has involved the Police or other legal authority. If you think you are entitled to compensation for an injury on a bus, contact a solicitor: Bus Appeals Body cannot get involved with legal matters. You must always have written to the company first to give them a chance to sort out the issue.

The Bus Appeals Body will let you know if they are taking up your case. They will then go back to the bus company to get their side of the story, before members of the body and the chairman decide on what course of action should be taken. You and the bus company will then get a letter telling you what has been decided.

If a company is unwilling to provide or continue to run a service because of insufficient passenger use, while Bus Appeals Body cannot help, local authorities and Passenger Transport Executives (Centro [West Midlands], Nexus [Tyne & Wear], Metro [West Yorkshire], Merseyside, Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire) can invite bus companies to tell them how much they would charge to put on the service and, if they consider it justified, contract them to run it. So it could be worthwhile approaching the local council or PTE. See our Links page for the web addresses for the PTEs.

Bus companies must register timetables with the statutory local Traffic Commissioner, who also licenses the operators. The Commissioners are also responsible, through the Government's Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), for monitoring bus fitness and safety and adherence to drivers' hours regulations. Commissioners can - and do - bring operators to book (by fines, restriction of services or even putting them off the road altogether in extreme cases) for regular infringement of these aspects of bus operations, including timekeeping. Traffic Commissioners are located in Eastbourne, Birmingham, Leeds, Cambridge, Bristol and Edinburgh. There is a website for the Traffic Commissioner network giving full contact details which can be found listed on our Links page.

In London, London Travelwatch is the official passenger watchdog for all bus issues. Their address is 6 Middle Street, London EC1A 7JA.

In Scotland, Passengers' View Scotland (PVS) will represent public transport users. Part of their remit is to review and monitor delivery of agreed policy; to ensure that it continues to work in the best interest of passengers.

The function of the PVS is primarily that of an Advisory body to Scottish Ministers.  It has incorporated the Bus Passengers' Platform (BPP) which now deals with certain bus complaints.

The address is:

PVS Secretariat
2-D north
Victoria Quay
Edinburgh
EH6 6QQ

Telephone for bus complaints 0131 244 1709

See our Links page for the website details.

In Northern Ireland, The General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland (GCCNI) looks after the interests of bus and rail users.  The address is Elizabeth House, 116, Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 1NY.

Bus stops, bus shelters and bus stations are usually the responsibility of the District or Borough Council.  But contact the PTE or Transport Section of the County Council first for advice if you have a complaint about waiting facilities and/or interchanges.

NOTE

1) Passenger Focus is the passenger consumer watchdog covering mainland Britain for all rail matters and is in the process of becoming the Bus Passenger Champion for England (excluding London). Its offices are based in London and Manchester but with locally based Passenger Link Managers.
In its new role as Bus Passenger Champion, Passenger Focus is currently operating in ‘shadow’ form, but takes on its full responsibility in April 2010. Although its final form is not yet fixed, it seems unlikely that Passenger Focus will take on a role to handle complaints and it is expected that the Bus Appeals Body will continue to fulfil this function after April 2010.

2) Local bus travel information in Britain can be obtained from Traveline on 0871 200 22 33, or via the Traveline website.

3) Rail travel information in Britain can be obtained on 08457 484950, or via the National Rail Enquiries website.

What is the Bus Appeals Body (BAB) ?

The BAB is a non statutory committee offering independent review of complaints arising from the operation of local bus and scheduled coach services.  It was set up in 1998 as the result of a joint initiative by the Confederation of Passenger Transport (UK) – the industry’s trade association - and the Bus Users UK predecessor - National Federation of Bus Users (NFBU).   Its remit is restricted to complaints about operational issues such as staff behaviour, reliability or information.  Commercial issues such as complaints about service levels and fares are not covered by the BAB.    An information booklet about the BAB and how it works can be obtained from the BUS USERS UK. Further information can also be found on the Bus Appeals Body website see http://www.busappealsbody.co.uk

Click here for our BAB page.

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