U-turn as Red Express saved
A POPULAR bus service has been rescued days before it was due to be scrapped.
The Red Express/X41 service, which is used by people living in Ramsbottom and east Lancashire travelling into Manchester, was set to end on Sunday after its operator claimed it was ‘no longer sustainable’.
Transdev said low passenger numbers meant the service, as well as the Red 4 service which links Ramsbottom to Bury, were making a combined annual loss of £300,000.
The decision incensed bus users, thousands of whom backed a campaign amid fears it would leave communities ‘cut off’.
But Transdev have now performed a U-turn, announcing yesterday that the service has been saved with a revised timetable, including faster buses at rush-hour.
It is understood that the government has stepped in to help fund the service following pressure from newly-elected MPs.
Bury North MP James Daly and his Hyndburn counterpart Sara Britcliffe had campaigned to save the Red Express, and met with Transdev chief executive Alex Hornby last week to discuss the decision.
The Red Express currently travels from Accrington via Haslingden, Helmshore, Edenfield and Ramsbottom before joining the M66 and heading towards the city centre via Prestwich.
Under the new changes, it will no longer stop between the M66 and the city centre.
After the decision to axe the service was announced last month, more than 4,500 people signed a petition calling for it to be saved.
The Red 4 service linking Bury and Ramsbottom will still be cut.
Speaking following the announcement, Mr Daly, who was only elected last month, said: “This is hugely important. This service is the only direct public transport link from Ramsbottom into the city centre.
“As part of our plan for Greater Manchester, we should be looking to get people out of cars and onto public transport. How is that going to happen if there is no public transport?”