9th
November 2005
Metroline driver
wins London Customer Service Champion of the Year at
the 2005 UK ‘bus Oscars
’ On Wednesday,
9th November, Mark Knowles, Bus Driver at Metroline’s
Edgware Garage, won the London Customer Service Champion
of the Year at the UK Bus Awards, held at the prestigious
London Hilton Hotel on Park Lane.
The award is given
to front line individual or team that has delivered
spectacular customer service in
the last year. Mark won his award for the courageous
act when one of his passengers faced a life threatening
situation.
Whilst driving and travelling
the N16 double-decker bus through Burnt Oak, Mark heard
a noise on the top
deck. He looked up at his screen and noticed some people
having an argument. At the next bus stop along the
Edgware Road he looked into his interior mirror and
noticed what he described as “a ball of flames” coming
towards him.
Without any hesitation,
Mark forced his way out of the cab and threw his coat
over the passenger,
laid
him down on the floor and douses the rest of the flames
with the fire extinguisher. Once he was certain that
the fire was completely out, he called for emergency
assistance via the code-red system in the bus.
The victim
has since undergone a number of skin grafts and is
improving all the time. The paramedics at the
scene said that without Mark's quick actions, the outcome
would have been far worse.
An investigation into
the attack revealed that a man was being provoked by
two
others on the top deck of
the bus. As the bus came to the stop, one of the intimidators
attacked the man by pouring lighter fluid onto him
and in a horrific display of assault, set him on fire.
The panic stricken man ran down the stairs and sought
the help of the driver, but in doing so he blocked
the driver’s door which Mark had to force open
to aid him.
Sean O’Shea, Acting
Managing Director of Metroline was at the UK Bus Awards
with Mark to
accept his award.
He said: “It is the demonstration of courageous
acts like Mark’s, where drivers go above and
beyond their call of duty that makes me very proud
to be part of Metroline. Mark’s selfless act
could have potentially saved the life of one of his
passengers and truly deserves this high commendation
of his excellent customer service. He’s a credit
to Metroline and the rest of the London Bus Industry.”
-
Ends -
Note to Editors:
- Photo: from left, Claire Kavanagh, Director of Performance,
London Buses, Mark Knowles, Bus Driver, Metroline
and Peter Hendy, Managing Director for Surface Transport,
Transport for London
- Metroline is one of the top five London-based bus
companies, currently running 13.5% of the capital’s bus
services under contract to Transport for London.
- Metroline carries 250 million passengers every year,
operates 96 routes, covers over 37.5 million journey
miles each year, employs almost 3700 people and runs
a fleet of over 1,200 buses in North, West and Central
London and South Hertfordshire.
- Metroline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Singapore
based ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited, which is
the world's second largest listed land transport company.
- The Bus Industry Awards (BIA) were established in 1996
succeeding the Bus Good Practice Awards, established
by the Association of Metropolitan Authorities in
1991. The new awards scheme, dubbed the Bus 'Oscars', is
now in its 10th year and its first year re-branded
as the UK Bus Awards. For more information see: http://www.ukbusawards.co.uk/ Enquiries:
Nicola Vincent, Head of Communications, Metroline 020
8218 8831
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