Three students, who attend Callaghan College Wallsend Campus, were waiting for the route 23 bus at Bellinger Close on Monday, but it didn’t show on time. 

The issue comes a week after a Keolis Downer bus failed to pick up students from Callaghan College for an afternoon trip home. As the Herald reported, the incident led to Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery calling for Transport Minister Andrew Constance to be axed. 

Monday’s usual 8.22am pick-up time of the route 23 bus at Bellinger Close came and went, so the students hitched a ride with one of their parents, who luckily, was still around to take them. 

Once they arrived at school, they were informed by another parent that the route 23 bus had come “15 minutes early”, according to one of the student’s grandparents. 

However, in a response to the Herald, Keolis Downer said heavy traffic had prevented the bus from arriving at its scheduled time of 8.22am, indicating the bus was in fact late and had not come early.

“The route 23 to Callaghan College, Wallsend Campus arrived at the stop closest to Bellinger Close at 8.30am, eight minutes later than scheduled, due to traffic congestion,” a spokesperson said. 

“We believe this was an isolated incident. We will continue to monitor this service to see if changes to the timetable need to be made.” 

Keolis Downer, Newcastle’s private transport operator, have faced a variety of complaints since they launched the city’s new bus timetable on January 14.