Funding plea to keep bus service for Moors
A GREATLY extended bus service run by volunteers is seeking financial support from local authorities to secure the future of the key transport links to one of Yorkshire’s national parks.
The service in the North York Moors run by the Moorsbus Community Interest Company and the Friends of Moorsbus has been increased for the new tourist season, from 14 days of total travel in 2016 to 73 days between May 1 and September 30 this year.
Whereas last year buses ran on Sundays and bank holidays between July and September, the new timetable includes services on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, and buses are operating for an additional two months.
An extra service is running to Rosedale and Dalby Forest on Sundays and bank holidays, including an early-morning bus for walkers who stay in Pickering, while another extra bus is also running from York on Mondays and Saturdays.
So far, Kirkbymoorside and Pickering town councils have each agreed to donate £400 towards the running costs but dozens of other councils in and around the National Park have also been asked to contribute.
Eden Blyth, a director at the Moorsbus Community Interest Company, said: “The growth in our network is entirely due to more passengers, organisations and businesses ‘chipping in’. It costs around £400 a day to operate the service. Buses have been covering between 40-50 per cent of their costs from fares.”
The service has also been boosted by a £29,000 grant awarded to Moorsbus and the Esk Valley Community Rail Partnership from rail operator TransPennine Express. The grant will lead to a new ‘MoorsPlus’ service to create seamless journeys into the countryside by public transport –from TransPennine trains via the Esk Valley Railway, which runs between Whitby and Middlesbrough, and on to the bus services.
The Esk Valley Community Rail Partnership’s development manager Piers Elias said: “The partnership will help reduce the burden of cars in the countryside, increase rail travel and give greater access to our part of the Moors for anyone without a car. We’re all winners be that socially, economically or environmentally.”
Mr Blyth added: “It means lots of people can effectively come to the Moors for a long weekend which is something we’ve never been able to help achieve before.”
Moorsbus is also working with TransPennine Express to offer tickets to cover both rail and then onwards Moorsbus connections to make it even easier for people living as far away as London to visit the Moors, Mr Blyth said.