Bus cuts ‘could leave users stranded’
PASSENGERS across large swathes of the borough could be cut off in the New Year after it was announced unprofitable local bus services will be axed.
Rosso have terminated their operating contracts on the Lancashire County Council-controlled 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13 local routes from January 2020.
While some of the scrapped routes are expected to be re-tendered in some form by LCC - including statutory hometo-school transport provision - the cuts could leave villages without bus access.
Former Waterfoot councillor Tim Nuttall is worried about the impact on some communities.
He said: “None of our housing estates will have a service to link into the mainline routes, Weir and Helmshore will lose their buses and the Todmorden route, resurrected a couple of years ago as a reward after the Tories took control of County Hall, will disappear again.”
A spokesperson for Rosso, which was sold by Rossendale council to French-owned Transdev in January 2018, said: “We have requested that we terminate our contracts to operate the Rawtenstall local services (7, 8, 11, 12 and 13) from January. These routes all make a loss. We have made our best efforts to turn this situation around over the past two years and have improved reliability in the process, but the losses have continued. These routes are controlled by the county council and are not specified as such by Rosso, who simply run them under contract to them.”
Rosso say they will work with LCC to ensure “an effective transition” and insist the decision is unrelated to Rawtenstall’s new £3.5m bus station.
The spokesperson added: “The opening of the new bus station complements the huge investment we have already made in vehicles and we believe will add up to create a first class public transport offer in Rawtenstall and beyond.
“It will impact on our operational costs in the long term but, for now, current costs to us remain similar to what we paid to use the old facility.”
The 11, 12 and 13 local Rawtenstall circular buses serve Haslingden, Helmshore, Balladen and New Hall Hey with around 10 services per route per day.
Rosso operates the 7 and 8 seven times on weekdays, with LCC funding non-commercially viable sections. They serve New Line, Edgeside and Newchurch, with the 7 calling at Todmorden via Sharneyford, and the 8 at Burnley via Weir.
An LCC spokesman said: “Whilst the section of route between Bacup and Burnley is currently provided without subsidy, these services are also used by over 60 students who qualify for statutory home to school transport from Weir and Bacup to The Valley Leadership Academy. We are currently working with transport providers to explore the options to maintain a sustainable replacement service.”