Scrapped bus routes raise questions over new station’s worth
THERE’S no denying the new bus station has changed how Rawtenstall town centre looks - but to what end?
Looking at the nearly-finished building on Saturday lunchtime, it was hard not to admire the way the development has opened up views across the town centre.
For example, seeing the old cinema across the town square on Bacup Road is nice - although a reminder of how special that building could be.
But what of the bus station itself?
It’s cost a lot of money to build, cost Haslingden its swimming pool - the money meant for a new pool was diverted by Rossendale Council to fund the purchase the land on which the bus station now stands - and damaged trust between the council and local conservation and heritage groups in the town who time and again said they felt overlooked and ignored.
The bus station has eight bays for buses - does that feel a bit over the top?
You rarely see more than two buses at the current bus station at any given moment.
Of more interest should be the impact Transdev, the French company which owns our old council bus company Rosso, could have on the scheme.
Transdev bought Rosso last year from the council. We don’t know for sure how much Transdev paid the council, nor do we know for sure what the money has been spent on.
What we do know is that prior to the purchase of Rosso, Transdev’s main bus route in Rossendale has the X43, the Witch Way.
The council felt it was essential for Transdev to use the new bus station – at the moment, they just use bus stops in the town centre – to help make the bus station a success.
So, according to council papers from a couple of years ago, the council offered Transdev discounted ‘ departure fees’ to use the bus station.
Bus operators pay to use bus stations across Lancashire.
They also offered to give users of the X43 their own exclusive park and ride in the town centre - essentially giving prime parking spaces in the town centre to people who would be leaving the town centre.
It’s not as if Rawtenstall was blessed with lots of parking for shoppers in the first place.
But if it helped make the bus station viable in the long term, maybe it was worth it.
But maybe news from Transdev in the last week or so changes that.
Rosso, under their new owners, are scrapping the numbers 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13 bus routes from next January.
The company cites the fact they are unprofitable, despite the fact they are underwritten by Lancashire County Council because they are, in most cases, the only public transport to those communities.
For some 60 students of the Leadership Academy in Bacup – Fearns as was – it means no bus to get to school.
Would Rosso, when run by the council, have been quite so cavalier with its approach to local communities and local students, as it appears to be now in private ownership?
One can only hope not. But if nothing else, it means 42 fewer buses calling in at Rawtenstall bus station when it finally opens - and presumably fewer people as a result.
The sale of Rosso has been shrouded in secrecy by the council.
It’s a big deal – many questions deserve to be asked in public, not least how Rossendale Council ended up selling its bus company to a firm which is now reducing the number of buses which will be using the new bus station, despite being given incentives to use the very same bus station.
All round, it feels like a raw deal for Rossendale. Couldn’t Rossendale Council have seen this coming?