Freedom Festival bus service criticism

EYMS Ltd has come under criticism for its decision not to schedule extra bus services on the 75/76/77 routes on the day of the Freedom Festival and the Hull KR/Hull FC rugby derby on Saturday 11th September 2010.

Buses into Hull City Centre from Hedon and Withernsea on the afternoon of the festival were already experiencing massive demand. Buses caught in Hedon were already full of festival revellers and other travellers. Buses were full and, at least on one occasion, suspected of being overloaded with people sitting right up the stairway while those standing were squashed up right to the back of the lower saloon.

This early evidence should surely have alerted EYMS that the crowds heading into Hull from Holderness were unusual and that additional services were needed to successfully manage the extra demand?

Journeys home also experienced difficult conditions. This will have been exacerbated by the fact that EYMS does not run a 10:15pm service 75, leaving travellers with the choice of catching the earlier 9:15pm bus or waiting for the last one at 11pm. Mrs Karen Russell commented on the Hedon Blog:

"I think the decision not to put on any extra buses for Hedon – Withernsea was abysmal and resulted in us having to leave early to be sure of getting a bus home which when it arrived was clearly fuller than it should have been with people sat all the way up the stairs. I am sure a lot of people would have been stranded thinking they could get the last bus home, particularly teenagers. Needs to be better thought out next year."

The situation in the Hull bus station at 10:45pm at the 75 bus bay was already quite tense, and made worse, as more people arrived after seeing the Freedom Festival fireworks finale. There was obviously more people than a single bus could transport.

Staff from EYMS were present but there was no announcement that any extra buses were to be provided. People in the disorderly 'queue' were getting agitated. Some left to get taxis, other younger people began to push their way towards the centre and front of the queue. The police were in attendance and pulled at least one young person from the crowd.

One 75 bus arrived and pulled into the adjacent bay - not the scheduled bay - and there was a surge of people towards the new bay. At this point the bus pulled back away without taking on any passengers. This just added to the general confusion of the situation.

Another bus arrived just after 11pm and an announcement was made that an extra bus would be arriving and everybody would get home. The first bus pulled away and a second arrived just after 11:10pm.

Unfortunately, this experience in Hull bus station will have spoilt what was overwise a very enjoyable Freedom Festival. It could also have been easily avoided by a much earlier announcement that EYMS would provide additional services during the day and particularly during the evening.