On The Yorkshire Buses

Summer Holidays cause chaos in Hull and a jackknifed lorry brings the seafront buses to a standstill.

Hull's bus drivers are facing the hottest summer for seven years and in the control room in East Yorkshire Motor Services the heat is on as they struggle to cope with a breakdown in the air-conditioning. An air-conditioning breakdown is not the only thing getting Hull's busmen hot under the collar - a forthcoming charity football match means company pride is at stake.

It's the start of the school term and every bus in East Yorkshire Motor Services fleet is needed on the road for the school runs. Meanwhile in Scarborough, they too have every bus out on the road for the start of school term but it's not long before the Fast Action Response Team of engineers, or F.A.R.T as the bus drivers affectionately call them, are called out to deal with a poorly bus.

After a difficult start to the new school term where East Yorkshire Motor Services faced a perfect storm of bus breakdowns and road closures. But at East Yorkshire's second biggest depot in the seaside resort of Scarborough, it's a different story.

Life in the bus lane starts early at East Yorkshire Motor Services and the drivers are never sure what lies around the corner. Camaraderie in the face of adversity is key to keeping the show on the road but the family run company isn't without it's squabbles and a disagreement over pay has reached crisis point.

In Hull, the local council is planning to close a major arterial road in and out of the city to carry out essential road works. Meanwhile in Scarborough, seafront supervisor, Paul Fryatt is having a quiet day on the open top bus tours and is worried takings are down.

It's the start of the new University term for Hull's students and East Yorkshire Motor Services are bracing themselves for the return of 20,000 more passengers. With students from all around the world - "how does Mongolia know about Hull?" - the staff lay on special services ferrying students from the University to the Halls of Residence and back and forth on their nights out.

The annual Route One Bus Awards is regarded as "the Oscars of the bus world" and an important date in any busman's calendar. It's also the time of year when one of Europe's biggest travelling fairs comes to Hull and with three quarters of a million visitors, it's big business for Hull's bus companies.