Relief as bus routes saved

15/07/2015 @ 07:50

Campaigners will be celebrating after Powys County Council confirmed our earlier story that cuts to bus services will hardly touch Montgomeryshire.

While the No 84 (Monday to Friday) Llanfair Caereinion to Newtown service will be axed, others that were under pressure have been saved, following large scale public support.

Powys said it needs to shave £500,000 off its annual £5m public transport cost, and put two options to public consultation that would hit places like Llanfair Caereinion and Llanfyllin hardest.

But it said after “further scrutiny of all routes and discussions with some bus operators” a third option was approved by the cabinet on Tuesday.

Councillor John Brunt, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport said last night: “Bus users in Powys gave us some excellent insights into what bus routes they needed and used, what could be reduced and what key concerns they had about losing a bus route.

“Their views helped us to reconsider the two options we’d originally put forward. As a result we’ve worked hard to take on board as many views as possible and came up with a third option which will still allow us to make the necessary savings but protect most of current bus routes.

“The option supported today (Tuesday) will see 22 bus service protected, that’s more than 900,000 passenger journeys and 2.4m bus kilometres delivered by the county council. The move will deliver the £500,000 needed in the next financial year.

“There will be some reductions but I hope that the vast majority of Powys people can accept that we have done all we can to protect as many bus routes as possible within the constraints of a reducing budget.”

Earlier this week Assembly Member Russell George arranged for campaigners to hand over a 1000-signature petition to save one of the routes under threat.

The option will mean that the services listed below will end in late October 2015.