RECENTLY we praised the North West Traffic Commission for taking action against a Bolton bus operator for poor service.

Stagecoach Ribble was fined for operating unreliable timetables and banned from operating additional services. Another company, Stagecoach Manchester, was given a warning.

Now we note that a third company, First Manchester bus, says it has also learned its lessons after being admonished by the traffic regulator.

And it has promised to take on board all the critical comments made of its services. We are pleased that the operators seem to have woken up to the fact that customers expect a reliable and professionally managed bus service.

We applaud the Commission once again. It's about time that the public were able to complain - comforted by the knowledge that someone is now listening and prepared to act.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.