Bus services are stuck in the slow lane as routes cut in ‘Beeching’ purge

THE UK has lost 134million miles of bus routes over the past decade, analy- sis shows, as campaigners warn of “Beeching-style” cuts to services.

Bus routes are so reduced that hundreds of thousands of people rely on volunteer-run services to drive them to hospital appointments and shops.

A series of cuts to local spending has led to the national network shrinking to levels last seen in the late Eighties, according to BBC analysis of Department for Transport data.

Fears are growing that bus provision could be reduced to the same degree as railways were in the Sixties, when thousands of miles of track were scrapped following a report by Dr Richard Beeching, the chairman of the British Railways Board.

Transport Focus, the travel watchdog, is concerned that today’s bus services are heading in a “similar” direction. A spokesman for the group said there was a growing danger of elderly and vulnerable people becoming isolated as a result of a shortage of buses, which he said play a “vital role” in connecting communities.

He said: “The removal of services will certainly have a large impact on vulnerable people. Local authorities are facing difficult decisions as cuts are unavoidable. Passengers should be the priority and local authorities should aim to make passengers involved, and have a good communication with them when making changes.”

In Wensleydale, North Yorks, route reductions have led to a charity called “The Little White Bus” transporting 65,000 people around the county last year. It was set up with one bus in 2011 when a single route was cancelled, but has expanded its fleet to 10 buses. Most of the users it helps are elderly or sick people who do not drive.

John Blackie, a county councillor from the upper Dales and the charity’s founder, said some people lived 15 to20 miles from a doctor, 40 miles from a hospital and 60miles from a hospital with certain cancer treatment facilities.

Similarly, in Cumbria a National Lottery-funded service called the Western Dales Bus company runs its routes with the help of 20 volunteer drivers.

The North West has been the worst hit and has lost 23 per cent of the miles from its network over the past 10 years.

London, the East of England and the South East were the only regions in England to see bus mileage increase.