UNITE TO SAVE BUS SERVICES

WITH the opening of Rawtenstall’s new multi-million pound bus station just days away - or so we are told - news has filtered out that five essential all-day services, plus one early morning service, will not be using the bus station after January because they are to be axed (‘Bus cuts may leave villagers stranded’, November 15).

Bus companies need to make a profit and subsidies from council tax need to be justified, not just paid out to run empty buses on under-used routes, but these services are all essential to many residents of The Valley.

Looking at the map of Rosso services, removal of these routes will leave just the main valley-bottom routes of the 464 Accrington to Rochdale, The Irwell Line routes from Bury to Blackburn and Burnley and the X43 and X41.

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.

I’m writing this letter as a self-confessed car driver who rarely uses these routes myself, but despite it being over seven years since I was a councillor, I have been contacted this week by several people who depend on these services and are having to fight again to save them.

They are all at a loss as to what to do to save the buses they depend on to get home, up steep hills and in bad weather, from shopping trips, medical appointments and social outings visiting friends and family.

I can’t help wondering, in the run-up to the general election, what our politicians’ responses will be.

No doubt Labour will say that it’s all the fault of Tory-led Lancashire County Council, plus the usual mantra of government cuts, despite these routes being threatened under a Labour County Council.

And the Conservatives will blame the sale of Rosso to Transdev by Labour-led Rossendale.

But surely now is the time for them to work together to save these services?

Tim Nuttall Fern Street, Waterfoot