WILTSHIRE Council has confirmed that they are still planning to go ahead with a bus service improvement scheme which was announced in September of last year, despite recent cuts to services.
Just this month, local people were upset at the news that the council was axing the First Bus D1 bus service from Warminster to Salisbury from 30th January, causing problems for Westbury residents who travel for work, college and leisure. Wiltshire Council said that an alternative company would be found and last week, it was announced that Beeline Coaches of Warminster will now operate the service from 31st January.
As part of this month’s changes, the additional peak hour service, the D1X, was also axed.
Wiltshire Council cabinet member for transport, cllr Dr Mark McClelland said, “We still plan to go ahead with the bus service improvements announced in September 2021, but it is difficult to give an indication of when this might be possible as it is dependent upon the driver shortage improving, as well as a degree of stability in the bus market.
“We have not heard back from the Department of Transport yet about the ‘Bus Service Improvement Plan’ we submitted last year and our bid for a further funding. We hope to hear if we have been successful in mid to late February.
“The current shortage of drivers continues to be a barrier to the introduction of enhanced bus services in Wiltshire. This is a picture repeated nationally. Many bus companies are considering the long-term viability of existing commercially run bus services as passenger numbers remain at around 70% – 75% of pre Covid-19 numbers.”
This month’s bus service changes sparked complaints from local bus passengers, with some contacting the town council to protest.
A resident said, “The service seems to be getting worse. When I moved here seven years ago, the buses were half an hour which is a pretty big gap already, and then all of a sudden it was every hour and then sometimes now every two hours! I just don’t think they consider pensioners and how they get about. It just seems purely a monetary thing.
“The other day there were four of us pensioners waiting for a bus at Station Road in the morning in the freezing cold – the Bath bus was supposed to get there for nine minutes past the hour – it was forty minutes late.
“There’s no explanation, we don’t know whether to wait or whether the bus isn’t running today. I said to the other ladies, ‘We’re going to end up with pneumonia! It was -1 degrees that day.
“When they turn up on time it’s a miracle! We’re also all a bit frightened to ask some of the bus drivers for an explanation as they can be quite curt. However late it is, we always get off and say thank you.”
Another user of the service added, “I’m really pleased that Beeline have stepped in, because at the time, I was very worried as I’m a pensioner and I don’t have a car. It’s the sort of cavalier attitude from the bus provider that gets me.”
Comments and suggestions about these services can be made by emailing buses@wiltshire.gov or writing to the Bus Network Manager, Passenger Transport Unit, Wiltshire Council, County Hall, Trowbridge, BA14 8JN.
To view the updated timetable, visit the FirstBus website at www.firstbus.co.uk/bristol-bath-and-west
