More Buses for Wallsend under Revamped Timetable

BY JESSICA ROUSE

From January next year, there will be double the number of bus services operating out of Wallsend.

Keolis Downer has announced a more frequent route will operate between Wallsend and the city with better connections to Broadmeadow Station and Merewether Beach.

"We've certainly sought to maintain the geographic coverage and we have a number of frequent services with an extension attached to them so, for example, the frequent service that goes to Wallsend every 15 minutes throughout the day, every second service will go on to Maryland," said Keolis Downer CEO Campbell Mason.

In addition, the frequent service that goes to Charlestown every 15 minutes, every second one will go down to Belmont.

The core route will operate until midnight on weeknights and night owl services will run every hour on Friday and Saturday nights until 3am.

The new timetables come into effect on January 14, 2018.

Bus route map: http://newcastletransport.info/uploads/files/NT-NetworkMap-20171130a.pdf

Newcastle Transport Operator Starting 2018 With a Fresh Timetable

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Newcastle's private transport operator will certainly be starting the new year fresh when it comes to its transport network.

Keolis Downer announced their new Newcastle Transport network today which will be introduced from January 14, 2018 running across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.

More than 1200 bus and ferry services, or 25 per cent more services, will be added to the timetable and the whole network is aimed to improve connections between suburbs and town centres. Services will run every 15 minutes during the day.

Keolis Downer CEO Campbell Mason said they've used a lot of community consultation from both people who use public transport and those who don't, to create the new timetable.

Keolis Downer CEO Campbell Mason.

"We really need to get them out of cars and onto buses and ferries so we've had a very extensive program of community engagement and programs to get input via our website, social pinpoint interactive site, direct representations and of course hearing from our staff."

The transport operator says they'll be carrying out a lot of communication to the public about the changes between now and January 14 including through advertising, the newcastletransport.info website which has an interactive map allowing you to drop a pin into the area you want to go and get details on the services which will be going through that particular point. 

Keolis Downer also plans to have an online travel concierge, customer service operators throughout the city and pop up sessions. 

Campbell says they've designed a network to better connect with train services as well.

"Obviously we have connections running into Cardiff, Broadmeadow Station and the Newcastle Interchange itself. One of the key things as I mentioned we've been hearing from the Lake Macquarie area, Swansea and Belmont in particular, is the need for better connection through to Cardiff."

The revamp of the system will also see the route numbers change from being three digits to just double digits.

"One of the things that we've been keen to do is to make sure we have a new network and have new and revised routes we need new numbers. Our experience has shown that people will be confused if you try and keep the old route numbers and change the route," said Campbell.

Newcastle Transport Operator Confident It Can Handle Public Transport Demand For Supercars

BY IAN CROUCH

Newcastle's public transport operator, Keolis Downer says it's confident it can handle the influx of commuters for the Supercars weekend.

It comes after the announcement of a further 300 bus services being scheduled for the event.

Keolis Downer is also altering the bus routes from Monday week to cater for the closure of Watt Street.

CEO, Campbell Mason says the revised services will continue to run before and after the race.

"Those services will continue to operate through until the event service timetable starts on the 24th to the 26th and then it will resume again after the event and continue through to the 30th until the track awnings etc and grandstands are taken away," he said.

Keolis Downer CEO Campbell Mason

Keolis Downer Confident it Will Bring Newcastle World-Class Transport

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Newcastle's private transport operator Keolis Downer has responded to claims they are still underpaying drivers and cancelling services.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) says there are still problems occurring two months after dozens of bus drivers were underpaid hundreds of dollars.

Keolis Downer admits there were problems with the payroll system, but the incidence of workers being underpaid are much less than they were three months ago when they first took over Newcastle's transport system.

"The pay roll that was run Wednesday last week for a total workforce of around 350 people we had only nine errors within that payroll run, some of those were overpayments, some of those were underpayments. Where we had underpayments the corrective payment has been made within days of the error being identified,"

"So this issue has certainly reduced down to a point where we have only a handful of errors on the most recent payroll run," said Keolis Downer Chief Executive Campbell Mason.

Several of the Hunter's Labor MPs met with the RTBU and workers yesterday, calling for action from Transport Minister Andrew Constance on the operator. The call for action comes after he promised Newcastle and the Hunter a world-class transport system, but MPs are all in agreeance that Keolis Downer is failing to provide it.

Another problem is services being cancelled, often without notice.

"The worst month that we had for cancelled services was August when the flu spike was at its worst and certainly the cancellations have stabilised since then. So its nothing like the problem that it was in August, and we have also recruited additional drivers into our workforce so that we are more resilient and more able to deal with those sorts of shocks should they happen again," said Campbell Mason.

Despite all of the criticism, Campbell Mason is confident Keolis Downer will be a world-class transport operator in Newcastle and bring the people what they want.

"I've used teething problems to describe the system issues that we've been addressing, there are some broader based issues within the business where we need to driver longer-term improvement and change so I don't see us putting a time frame on turning the business around as such. Some of the things can be readily fixed, other things will take time to fix."

Blame game for Newcastle's bus drivers

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Newcastle's transport operator are facing blame from all sides for workers being underpaid and mismanaged.

Transport Minister, Andrew Constance has put operator Keolis Downer on notice after bus drivers were again underpaid this week. They've reportedly failed to pay more than a dozen drivers their correct pay and entitlements.

It comes after more than 70 workers were underpaid last month.

But the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RBTU) are today putting the blame on Andrew Constance saying it's another example of his incompetence. The union is labeling the situation as disgusting and claim from day one workers haven't been paid correctly.

"The Transport Minister is the one who came out and announced privatisation and what a wonderful beast it was going to be and how things would improve and he's obviously given the tender to a company who can't put in place a payroll system that can correctly pay their employees," said President of the Tram and Bus union division of the RTBU David Woollams.

The RBTU have taken the issue to the Fair Work Commission to have a system put in place whereby the workers, once they realise they've been underpaid, can go to Keolis Downer and get the pay rectified.

"Workers shouldn't have to be doing that in the first instance, You can accept you know a couple of dollars here and so forth - but not when we're talking about $500 dollars. Most of us just live from pay to pay," said David Woollmans.

Keolis Downer's CEo Campbell Mason is hitting back at the union, saying they're working to fix the problem before the end of business today.

"It is our highest priority to correct those underpayments, there will be an off-cycle payroll made today to correct those payments but we are very apologetic to our staff and we appreciate how frustrating it is. And it is our highest priority to get the system fixed so we don't have a recurrence of these types of problems," said Campbell Mason.

He isn't passing any blame onto the Transport Minister.

"The Minister has made clear it is for us, Keolis Downer, to fix this problem and he's right it is our payroll and its up to us to get it fixed and its our highest priority to get it fixed."

Newcastle Bus Drivers Underpaid Again!

BY IAN CROUCH

Transport Minister, Andrew Constance has put Newcastle's private transport operator on notice after bus drivers were again underpaid this week.

The Herald reports Keolis Downer failed to pay more than a dozen drivers their correct pay and entitlements .

It comes after more than 70 workers were underpaid last month.

Andrew Constance has demanded the company rectify the problem, saying "Keolis Downer needs to fix this, and fix it quick".

Keolis Downer chief executive, Campbell Mason said there have been problems with the migration of data between rostering and payroll systems and an eight-person taskforce has been working to address the issues which have caused these problems.

It's the latest in a series of problems for the private transport operator, with several bus services cancelled in recent weeks due to drivers being off on sick leave.