Arriva Bus (UK) Reviews 

Arrivas 55 service between Stevenage and letchworth is awful it's always late or they don't turn up how do they expect people to rely on the service if they can't turn up on time and they cut the service as no one is using it , why is no one using the service may you ask ? Because the buses turn up 20 minutes late on a half hourly service people give up waiting and walk or take the train or even go on other routes to there destination

Disgusting service, stood at finger post stop in St Helens for Haydock bus for nearly an hour, 7 buses to parr but nothing for haydock what an absolute disgrace of a service , why does that area get priority? It’s appalling.

Terrible adherence to their own timetable. How can a bus from derby station to oakwood be more than 30 mins late! The drivers are discourteous to the point of downright ignorant. Filthy vehicle interiors is another disappointing element of this bus company.

I didn't think arriva could get any worse...then the new app comes along, can't track busses, only shows when they're due to depart, which let's face it they never stick to a timetable, guess I'm only using central connect from now on where they stick to their timetable and you can track the buses live

Arrival have removed the option of downloading a timetable from the website to enforce people to get their app. I don't have a smartphone, nor want one so have no way to know bus times. They obviously don't care about elderly customers and prefer to be paid lots of money to follow gvnt control agendas. Disgusting company!

I was on bus 204 at 10:11 PM, Sudbury Town route, bus no. LV23 DHP, I paid and the driver didn't let me go, it's not fair, he takes money and doesn't let me use the transport.😌😌😌

THE WORST BUS COMPANY IN THE COUNTRY ONCE AGAIN STRANDED FOR 2 HOURS AS BUSES MISSED OUT AWFUL.
16/04/2026 X6 WINSLOW
16.20 TO 18:20 WAITED.
JUST TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY A BUSTED GO PAST WITHIN THE 2 HOURS BUT WAS NOT IN SERVICE WHAT'S ALL THAT ABOUT JOKE BUS SERVICE.
TOTAL USELESS AN INCOMPETENCE TO RUN A BUS SERVICE ON TIME.

At Liverpool Airport, we needed the bus back to the train station. The bus was parked with no indication it was on a break, unlike others nearby, so I approached the door. The driver, who was across the road smoking, then shouted at me aggressively and unprofessionally in front of others. His tone was unnecessarily hostile and embarrassing, making the situation feel very uncomfortable and inappropriate.

The LC16 bus service is honestly a joke at this point. The gaps between buses are already ridiculously long, and somehow it’s still getting worse with buses turning up late—or not when they’re supposed to at all.

After college, I’m stuck waiting up to two hours just to get home. Two hours. That’s completely unreasonable, especially when the bus still isn’t even reliable when it finally shows up. It means getting home way later than I should every single time, and it’s beyond frustrating.

Delays every now and then are one thing, but this is constant. When a service is already this infrequent, making it even more unreliable is just unacceptable. People actually depend on this bus, and right now it’s failing completely. Something seriously needs to change because this is not good enough.

​"I was shocked by the treatment I received on the 9:21 AM 5a bus to Syston today. I asked for a ticket politely, yet the driver forced me to repeat myself multiple times and looked at me with genuine contempt. To make matters worse, he ignored me entirely when I tried to speak again. A very unpleasant and unwelcoming experience."

Absolute joke, raising the prices just to never turn up and by chance they do eventually get here there half an hour + late, they don’t seem to have any plans on improving this any time soon, absolute worst service

They missed our stop completely by taking a different road, I was there early and watched it happen on the tracker page.
1 star is too kind.
I had to walk a mile with a 2 year old to a different stop, causing us an hours delay.

One star is too much for the service provided.
Today 8/04 at bus stop Leagrave Railway Station in Luton, bus no 28 going to Hockwell Ring. was supposed to be there at 10:37am, I waited until 11:00am but the bus NEVER came. Other buses like 27 and 23 were coming regularly but not our 28.
By the way the buses 27 and 23 have approximately the same route when they come from town. So no traffic excuses can be provided.

12 Bus (Rhyl) running late on several occasions! Some Drivers sarcastic when asked why or very stand off attitude given.

Dont feel when phoning head office to report these issues its looked into seriuosly enough. Depot always has excuse!!!! I have rang customers services several times but depot managers always have an excuse for head office...

I've had phone calls from the hospital with appointment dates for cancer treatment, but because the information on the bus pass card is confusing i tried ringing them to get up to date information i called 01513301000 now changed to 03001311881 but was left on hold on the system queue line for over 20minutes then the usual go on line tactic i gave up in the end has the nurse wanted me to get back to her in 10minutes, i just wanted to check the times being ok also being bank holiday holiday also but you can never get a answerer.

They don’t even deserve one star. The management is extremely poor and unprofessional. After waiting for a long time, it’s frustrating to see two or three buses with the same route number arriving and leaving together. This clearly shows a lack of proper planning and organisation.

We had the best bus driver today for the 135 Pontefract, my little boy is autistic and absolutely loves buses, the bus driver let him sit in the drivers seat which he did for all of 2seconds because he panicked, then when we walk away the bus driver waved at him and did his horn, honestly made mine and my little boys day, he didn't have to do it but I can't thank him enough x

I have the misfortune of taking the Number 7 to and from Durham city on a daily basis, and it is by far the most useless and disgusting public transport "services" I have ever used in my entire life. Both in the UK and overseas. It is utterly sickening how bad the North East branch of this company is. Seriously, it is comically bad.

-The price is extortionate. Ok, so it is £2.50 to travel 8 miles into Durham from my home which totally fair and acceptable. However, WHY do I have to pay the exact same price to travel 1 mile or so mile up the road? That is £5 just to run to the post office and back. Blatant thievery and banditry.

-Every couple of months there is a new excuse as to why they "need" to raise the price in order to deliver a good service to the customer. Yeah, sureeee, you're totally doing it as a public service.

-It is late every. single. day. without fail. Sometimes up to one hour! I don't think I have had a bus come on time in at least six months now.

-The drivers are generally extremely rude, condescending, and hostile for no good reason. I have been barked at to wait/move etc. and called disrespectful names by them on several occasions.

-The state of the busses is vile. The seats are absolutely filthy and usually reek of smoke, weed, or urine. People leave rubbish and food all over the place. Dogs do their business on the floor. The card and tap/on off readers don't work which is a joke. We are living in 2026 not the Soviet Union.

-It is unsafe. Feral, low IQ individuals who openly consume excessive amounts of alcohol on the bus. Often ending with them getting aggressive or abusive towards other passengers. I have witnessed several fights due to these mouth-breathers (while children were present!!) and no attempt is ever made to remove them from the bus or contact the police.

-Entitled people who play their awful music or vapid TikTok videos at the highest volume the entire journey with no earphones, and those who let their wet, dirty dogs climb all over the seats and other passengers.

-The app is functionally useless and looks like it was designed by an 8 year old.

-They do not listen to feedback or complaints. I have tried to contact them several times about being overcharged for my journey, and they deliberately ignore my calls and emails.

These are just a few of the main issues I have on a regular basis, and they do not fully capture the scope of how dire things are (not that I expect Arriva to lift a finger to do anything!) Particularly in the North East, it is beyond parody how simply inept, useless, and barbaric this "public service" is. Arriva are a prime example of why the privatisation of public transport is a disease on British society and needs a complete overhaul.

I had places to be and they kept swapping drivers would never use again