‘Save Our Buses’ plea as services face axe
York’s Liberal Democrat councillors have repeated their call for long-term Government support for bus services after news emerged of plans to axe a large number of morning and evening services across the city.
First York had planned to axe services from Sunday 2nd July which they claim are no longer economical to operate. But a last-minute decision by council officers allocated £36,400 to keep the services running for three months. This decision now needs to be approved by the ‘Enhanced Partnership Operational Delivery Group’ and if the proposed funding allocation is rejected, the affected journeys will be withdrawn at the earliest possible date.
The services which have been reprieved, for the time being, include:
- Number 1 – Chapelfields to city centre early morning Saturday services, Wigginton to city centre early morning weekday and weekend services, and weekend late evening services
- Number 2A – Weekday and Sunday late evening services to Rawcliffe
- Number 4 – Weekday morning services to and from Acomb before 6.30am and the 11pm weekday service from the city centre to Acomb
- Number 10 – All weekday evening services to and from Poppleton and Dunnington after 6.30pm, weekday early morning services from Poppleton and Dunnington
One service which is not being reprieved however is the number 11 evening service which connects Stonebow with Ashley Park via Heworth – there will be no weekday or Saturday services after 7.30pm.In the longer term, council officers have recommended that a further exercise is carried out to secure prices to operate the retained services until the end of March 2025. This may require the reallocation of around £250k of Bus Service Improvement funding that had been secured by the previous Lib Dem / Green administration and had been earmarked to provide fares support for young people’s travel.
Councillor Stephen Fenton, Lib Dem Transport Spokesperson, commented “The services under threat are vital for the many residents who rely on them to get to and from school, college and work and also to meet up with friends in the city centre. Not everyone has access to a car, and for those that do, the last thing we should be doing is forcing more private vehicles onto already congested roads. The proposed three-month reprieve is welcome news, but what is needed is Government action to provide long-term certainty for bus operators and for passengers. Without this, we are likely to be facing another cliff-edge situation in three months’ time. York’s Liberal Democrat councillors will continue to make the case for fair funding for our city’s transport needs.”
Commenting on the loss of the number 11 evening bus service, Heworth Without ward councillor and Lib Dem group leader Nigel Ayre commented “This is a severe blow for many residents who rely on this service. It’s very disappointing that whilst services in other parts of the city have been reprieved, residents in Heworth and Heworth Without have been treated differently and their service axed without warning. I’ll be making the case for this service to be kept running for at least another three months so that all options can be explored. The council have taken these decisions behind closed doors with no opportunity for residents or ward councillors to comment. It’s unclear how pushing residents of my ward into private car journeys sits with the promises made by the York Labour group in the election campaign.”