Threatened bus services thrown six-month lifeline

The government made a surprise announcement on Tuesday, potentially saving the majority of Bath’s bus services until October with a cash injection of £150 million nationally.

But it is possible that the money will not cover all the services so essential to Bath residents.

First West of England announced some buses would be scrapped in January, but it only proposed to cut 10 per cent and West of England Combined Authority (Weca) Mayor Dan Norris was able to pump in £3,900 per week to maintain bus route 8 and £3,300 per week to save the number 178, massively reducing the impact of the cuts.

“We found some money down the back of the sofa for the 8 and the 178,” said Mr Norris. “But if we have to go looking down the back of the sofa again, it won’t be there next time.”

North East Somerset’s key bus number 178 was only secured for seven weeks and funding runs out on April 24, after which First is not obliged to keep running it.

Pandemic “recovery” funding from the Department for Transport, to help services get back on their feet, was due to cease on April 24, but will now continue for another six months.

This comes as a crunch meeting between the local bus operator and politicians from B&NES and Weca, set for this afternoon, was due to decide the future of Bath’s bus services given the funding available.

Bath’s MP Wera Hobhouse was triumphant, saying: “After months of campaigning and endless conversations, I’m very pleased to see the government finally listen and support our local bus services.

“I’ve raised this issue in Parliament and met with the Transport Minister to voice the concerns of Bath residents.

“Now we need people to be able to feel that they can rely on our local services going forward. I want to see a detailed long-term plan presented ahead of October.”

But Dan Norris said: “As always, the devil will be in the detail. I await further information on exactly how much of this cash is specifically for our region.

“The greater number of passengers travelling on the buses the more fare income there is, so buses become commercially viable to run.”

With passenger levels understood to be flatlining at 60 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, bus companies were expecting to be forced to cut back their cost base to match, meaning that with no intervention, two-fifths of all the buses in Bath would have had to go.

Everything depends on the size of the new Bus Recovery Grant (BRG) which previously maintained bus services at 90 per cent of their previous levels, but which hasn’t yet been thrashed out in full.