Stagecoach warned: Meet the extra demand for

The city council has laid down a challenge to bus firm Stagecoach to meet the demand for travel to and from Mountfield Park – or throw services out to competition.

It is predicting that bus usage will increase by 33% in the next 15 years – even though Canterbury bus station is running at capacity at peak times.

Stagecoach says that some of its most popular routes are also at capacity and that it would have to calculate whether extra services make sense financially.

Canterbury City Council expects fast bus services using newly-created bus lanes to be the main form of transport between Mountfield Park and the city centre.

Spokesman Rob Davies said: “Bus services in the Canterbury district are thriving and we expect this to continue with the new housing developments.

“Our transport strategy sets out a predicted increase in passenger numbers of 33% by 2031 and it is entirely Stagecoach’s responsibility to run and man- age their bus station and their local services.

“Of course, since bus deregulation, the market is open for any operator to provide services and it doesn’t have to be Stagecoach that runs the fast bus service.

“We are aware that other cities with successful bus services manage to operate with much smaller centrally located bus stations than we have in Canterbury.”

Stagecoach says it understands that its number 25 service to and from the Kent and Canter- bury Hospital is being touted as the bus route which could be extended into Mountfield.

Commercial director Matthew Arnold said: “We recognise the Mountfield Park proposal will have significant implications.

“It’s right that we look ahead with a focus on the details of reliability and capacity. The existing city centre bus station operates at maximum capacity throughout most of the day, so we have to think very carefully about how additional services can be accommodated as part of

The city council has said Stagecoach has to meet the demand for bus travel or throw services out to competition