Arriva to cut frequency of Shropshire bus journeys
Tuesday 22nd February 2011, 11:29AM GMT.
Shropshire bus provider Arriva Midlands is to reduce the number of journeys made by some services in the county in a bid to cut costs, it was announced today.
From Saturday, five buses servicing areas including Telford, Ironbridge, Wellington, Shifnal and Shrewsbury, are to have their timetables altered or reduced. They include the 81, 96, 891, 892 and the X5, which links Shrewsbury and Telford via the M54 and A5.
Arriva communications manager Keith Myatt today claimed after an £81 billion cut in public spending by the Government, councils in Shropshire had informed Arriva of a reduction in concessionary fare reimbursement to bus operators from April this year.
He said: “Following the announcement by local government, Arriva has undertaken a comprehensive review of its network and has announced changes to most local bus services in its operating area following discussions with local authorities.”
But Russell Griffin, Telford & Wrekin council spokesman, said: “At no point in our discussions has Arriva linked the changes to the bus services with the changes in concessionary fare reimbursement.
“The fact is that the method for reimbursement for concessionary travel has been changed following altered guidance received from the Department for Transport.
“The council has consulted Arriva on the change to the reimbursement for concessionary fares following guidance received from the Department for Transport and advised that we will be adhering to the statutory guidance. None of these are subsidised services – the X5 and 891 are commercial and the 81 /96 are Shropshire-funded.”
No one from Shropshire Council was available for comment.
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I was under the impression that the X5 wasn’t funded in any way by the Council – i wonder if the ‘cut-backs’ are just a convenient excuse.
When i started using the X5 two years ago it ran every 30 minutes… now its every two hours!
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I thought that the “X” in bus services was generally an abbreviation of “eXpress”. Although in this case, if you miss the X5, then rather than wait for the next one it would be quicker to take a (Sinclair) C5!
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As I understand it, the concessionary fare reimbursement is the amount that is refunded to bus operators for people who use ‘free’ bus passes. These passes have increased the number of people travelling but – because bus operators argue that the rate of reimbursement in England is actually quite a low one – there isn’t sufficient income to improve or expand (or even maintain) services, taking into account ever-increasing costs. This isn’t anything really to do with services which are subsidised by councils, it affects *any* bus services, including commercial ones.
The reimbursement rate is being cut further because of Government cutbacks. Perhaps it would have been better to introduce a basic charge per journey for people with a pass, I don’t know. The ‘free pass’ is one idea that the last Government introduced which was basically good but – as usual with any Government – very badly thought through, and badly implemented.
There’s more strife coming too. Bus companies can currently claim a Fuel Duty Rebate for service buses. The Government have cut this by 20% starting from April 2012. So expect further cutbacks in frequency, cancellations of services and – of course – fare increases.
There’s probably the usual argument about Arriva making squillions of pounds in profits every year, but the fact is that shareholders come first these days (like it or not, it seems) and from what I’ve seen, bus services all over the UK are being cut or will be cut because of these factors.
And that goes for all bus companies, not just Arriva.
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Arriva and other bus companies were eager to join in when the PUBLIC Service was privatised and they thought there was an easy buck to be made.
Greed beats the public’s needs.
Profit is the name of the game.
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what I don’t understand is Arriva have some idea of how many people use the service at certain times why not use a mini bus if only about a dozen people use it. This would save money be better for the enviroment as a mini bus uses less fuel than a 50 odd seater
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Where are these 50 seat buses in Shropshire? Generally most range from 29 to a maximum of 44 seats and that is only a small percentage. Have you heard of peak time demand where extra seats come in useful when in non peak times? Some journeys will only carry a ‘dozen’. So you saying put smaller buses out so people have to be rammed in at peak times. ARRIVA are a business and not a charity at the end of the day.
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‘Have you heard of peak time demand where extra seats come in useful when in non peak times?’
Of course my typo should read ‘come in useful at peak times’
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I stand by my prediction that by 2012 Shropshire will look and be like Bulgaria circa 1964….Welshpool, after today’s jaunt is already there due to Tesco murdering the High Street overnight..
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Give it 20 years and Tesco will be operating hospitals once the NHS has been privatised. Welshpool might be more welcoming to Tesco then.
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With regard to Tesco and the buses I have heard that Tesco pay either the council or Arriva a subsidy so that they can have priority over the residents of Bayston Hill when it comes to the running of the 25 service to the village. That is why buses that should come to the village from the bus station are sent to Tesco resulting in the many buses which are missed out leaving residents waiting at bus stops in the village and on the route. A three quarter of an hour wait is not unusual for what is supposed to be a fifteen mimute service. I thought that with Arriva being taken over by the German company things would become more efficient. The 24 bus service from the bus station also goes to Tesco-perhaps that service is subsidised by Tesco as well. When Sainsbury has been extended they ,apparently, are going to subsidise the 544 to Lyth Hill. So are supermarkets in league with the council. I wonder.
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i go on loads of buses i can’t believe it
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As I see it Arriva is a private company so does not rely on government handouts to run and operate. Their profits are due to the number of ticket sales etc etc and it is NOT a service run by the government.
As a student at Shrewsbury college, catching the bus is the only way I can get to my college. (I live in Telford.) Before this service was cut the X5 bus ran every hour, and these buses were nearly always full of passengers. I have know of students who have had to wait two and a half hours for a bus to get home from college because they are full and the bus driver drives straight past them.
In the morning, people get left behind and are late for work/college because the buses only have certain capacity. So its not like Arriva had a lack of passengers prior to the cuts.
When you pay £45 a month for a bus ticket, to travel on a service you must rely on to get to and from college, it is extremely annoying when you cannot get on the bus because it is filled with pensioners who use their free bus pass for a free day out.
As this service has been cut, I can only imagine this problem getting worse.
Telford council used to put on a service to the Radbrook and Shrewsbury colleges so students could get to college on time as the transport networks in shrewsbury arent great for getting to college in time! This service was axed a couple of years ago, so students are now having to rely on Arriva to get them to college. I do agree that Arriva is not a charity and does what it has to to remain an effectve business. But I do think it has a duty to its customers to provide an effective service. I know that some students from Shifnal and more rural areas are really struggling to get to college on time due to the recent cuts to the bus service, so if Arriva really cant afford the hourly service I believe the council should put their own service on so everybody can get to colloge. The students would not mind paying for a reliable service so the council cannot use the excuse of ‘cutbacks’ as the students themselves would be paying for it.
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