'Ghost' buses cause bewilderment and frustration for Horsham travellers
‘Ghost’ buses which suddenly disappear after signalling their imminent arrival are causing puzzlement and frustration for Horsham travellers.
Many people say that electronic timetable boards at Horsham bus stops frequently show that buses are ‘due imminently’ – then disappear from the boards and no bus turns up.
The bewildered travellers say that buses on Metrobus routes 200 to Gatwick, 98 to Southwater and 23 to Crawley have all been affected.
Many have been sharing their views on social media. One said: “Just waited 40 minutes at Gatwick for the 200 bus to Horsham. Watched it get ever closer on the e-timetable, then with two minutes to go, it vanished and failed to arrive.” And, he queried: “Was it vaporised?”
Another traveller said: “I had this the other Monday in Horsham. Just disappeared from the board.” And another added: “It’s happening a lot now for most of the 200, they either turn up really late or they just terminate at their current location.”
Another traveller said she tracked the bus and could see on the electronic board how many minutes until it was expected to arrive. “I track it round. About two minutes before my stop, it disappears.”
Another said it was happening at Horsham bus station last week, adding: “Very frustrating.” Another agreed: “If the bus gets cancelled it still shows as ‘coming’ on the bus stop electronic board, and then it disappears a few minutes before its timetable’s arrival time.”
Another woman said: “It’s so annoying that the app and the bus stop keep saying ‘due’ and nothing appears.” A man added: “Had it happen with the 98 from Southwater late at night and the 23 from Crawley.”
A woman passenger agreed: “Quite often they enter the twilight zone! Their tracking is very hit and miss. Real time info it's not.”
Nick Hill, commercial director at Metrobus, said: “We are always striving not only to operate to our published timetables, but to continue to improve reliability and punctuality across our network.
"In August, and on routes 200, 98 and 23, we operated 99.42 per cent of the scheduled services. 86.9 per cent of these services operated on-time.”