Aldi employee says late Stagecoach buses cost him his job

Anslam Tichiwangani was at the mercy of the morning's first number 10 to get from Freshbrook to work at the distribution centre in South Marston on time.

But he says the Stagecoach service was so regularly late - or simply did not turn up - that his managers eventually lost patience and fired him.

He said: “There’s no traffic at 4.53am - the driver should be on time. When it is late by 10 minutes it means I am late to get another bus (the 7) to Aldi.

“If it is late, I am going to be late to work.”

As a result, he “wasted money” on expensive taxis to work because “you can’t say to your boss it is because of the bus I am late every day”.The 55 bus is operated by Stagecoach between Chippenham and Swindon (Image: Stagecoach West)

Anslam’s boss suggested he buy a bike or a car, but he could not cycle the 45 minutes every day or afford a vehicle, meaning his packing job was eventually terminated last year.

While Anslam says the number 10 has caused him problems in the morning, he has also struggled with the number 55 in the evening.

On two consecutive days in September, he says the last 55 did not arrive, leaving him and other passengers stranded and forced to hire a taxi on top of the DayRider ticket he had already bought.

He said: “The first and the last buses and the ones that should not fail anyone because you're really lost if they don't turn up.

“At 11.30pm I’m at the bus stop looking forward to getting home and safe - and then the bus doesn’t turn up.”

A Stagecoach West spokesperson said their bus tracking technology showed the last 55 ran “successfully” on the days Anslam referred to - however, they said it arrived at Anslam’s stop, Catherine Street, around 15 minutes earlier, at 11.17am, than he quoted.

A Stagecoach West spokesperson said the 55 had a reliability rate of over 99.2% in 2024. They said the same was true of the 10 and could find no evidence of the 10 not arriving this year.

The number 10 had its timetable recently changed in September to introduce more services following a campaign of complaints against its regularity.Anslam Tichiwangani says late Stagecoach buses cost him his job (Image: Dave Cox)

They said: “Customer safety and satisfaction are central to all we do, and we recognise the importance of providing bus services which can be relied upon. This includes ensuring that we operate both the first and last journeys of each day. 

“This includes ensuring that we operate both the first and last journeys of each day. Our depot teams work diligently to uphold our customer promise, and we are proud to have maintained a reliability rate of over 99.2% on service 55 (Swindon – Royal Wootton Bassett - Chippenham) in 2024.

“The bus tracking technology we utilise enables us to accurately monitor the location of our vehicles and the specific arrival and departure timings for each bus stop across the network. Consequently, we can confirm that the last scheduled journey of the day on service 55, operated successfully on both the 21st and 22nd of September 2024. 

“On each day, our bus departed Swindon bus station at 23:15, subsequently stopping at Catherine Street (bus stop M) at 23:17 on the 21st and at 23:20 on the 22nd.

“As always, we continuously monitor the reliability and punctuality of our entire network and are committed to listening to and responding promptly to customer feedback. 

“We encourage our customers to reach out to Stagecoach so that we can address any review any individual concerns.”