Standard of bus services leaves a lot to be desired

The bus shelters are tatty, they are grubby, the paper timetables are often absent or impossible to read because of dirt, while electronic information – which might give you a clue as to how long you will have to wait for your bus – is basically non-existent.

If you try to pick up a timetable from the bus station, they have often run out and there is no information about buses at the train station. People arriving by train might well wish to continue their journey by bus, but they receive no guidance and the two services are simply not integrated in any way.

And it is anyway only possible to get on a bus at all at certain times of the day. Bus services tail off from early evening, and there seem to be no late buses.

This means that if you are elderly, disabled or too young to drive you cannot go out in the evening, unless you are willing and able to pay for a taxi.

Shrewsbury is also a town with an air pollution problem. Walking in the street in the area around the train station, for instance, can often make you feel quite ill and I, for one, am very worried about the long-term effects.

This problem will not go away unless people switch from car to public transport, but we are not going to persuade car drivers to use the bus while the whole process of bus travel is so awkward, and while standing at a grotty bus stop, not knowing how long you might have to wait for your bus, can quite easily make you feel like a second class citizen.

Judith Jefferson, Shrewsbury

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