Villagers angry at being left out of the loop by bus
Passengers face longer walk after service change
Bus-users are once again up in arms over Arriva’s proposed service changes due to come into play on Sunday, April 2.
Passengers of the No 12 in Langley find that they will be stranded when the bus ceases to visit the village from next month.
They will still be able to catch the service if they are able to walk down Horseshoes Lane to the main road, the A274, but the bus is staying on the main road on its journey from Maidstone to Tenterden, without looping through the village.
Wendy Arnold, of Turgiss Close, said: “It’s a long walk and a lot of older people use the bus.
“Once you get to the end, you have to cross that busy road, which is not easy, and then there’s no official stop, the drivers only stop if they want to.”
Mrs Arnold said that Arriva had given the reason for cutting the service as the difficulty that
‘It doesn’t make any sense, because they have not cut the No 13 service, which comes the same way’
buses encounter trying to get along the narrow Horseshoes Lane.
She said: “That doesn’t make any sense, because they have not cut the No 13 service, which comes the same way.”
Nu-Venture runs the infrequent No 13 to Maidstone, on Mondays to Fridays, Arriva runs it on Saturdays, but it doesn’t go the other way towards Tenterden, for people who like to shop in Headcorn.
Villagers who want the No 12 to continue to serve the village have organised a petition against the change and have already gained 100 signatures.
Arriva’s Craig Taylor said: “Horseshoes Lane is very narrow and the double decker buses we use on Service 12 find it extremely difficult to navigate.
“There have been a number of incidents at the site and we have had to take measures to avoid any future issues.
“We cannot use the smaller buses – which are used on Service 13 at the weekends – as they would not meet the capacity demand at peak times and unfortunately during the rest of the day they are being used on other routes.”