'Appalling' bus network gets worse

BUS TIMES between Gandia and Pego via Oliva have changed again from this week – and are even thinner on the ground than before.

Until Tuesday, to get from Oliva to Gandia – 30 to 40 minutes for an eight-kilometre (five-mile) trip – buses left at 08.05, 09.30, 11.15, noon, 14.05, 15.15, 16.45, 19.05 and 19.30, Monday to Friday only.

Now – and still only on weekdays – they only leave Oliva at 08.20, 10.25, 13.20, 16.05, 17.40 and 18.40.

Although all connections now run via the hospital, the earliest bus does not get to Gandia until 08.55 – which is too late to go for blood tests.

And the four buses a day to Pego from Oliva, with a threeto five-hour wait between them, have now dropped to just two: leaving Oliva at 08.00, and at 15.45.

The only return connections are five minutes later – at 08.05 and 15.50 – meaning anyone who catches the 08.00 to Pego has to wait almost eight hours to get back to Oliva, and anyone who misses the first Oliva-Pego link of the day needs to wait seven hours and 45 minutes for the next.

Oliva-Gandia and GandiaOliva buses run between two and three hours apart, with connections from the district capital to La Safor's southernmost town operating at 07.15, 09.55, 12.50, 14.50, 17.10 and 18.00.

Those travelling between towns have an even longer wait en route. After the 10.25 from Oliva to Bellreguard, the next bus covering the same journey is at 16.05, and for the 10-minute ride from Oliva to Piles, the first bus of the day is at 13.20 and, if you miss it, the next one is not until 17.40.

Mayors across La Safor have long complained about the 'appalling' service – asrguing that it is impossible to use the bus for work, school or hospital appointments – but to no avail.

No train line exists between Dénia (Marina Alta) and Gandia, meaning that without a suitable bus network, the only way of moving around this 30-kilometre radius is by private car, which entails putting up with the regular traffic jams, air pollution and parking problems.