That’s the ticket! Pensioner pays for axed bus service
A GENEROUS pensioner is so keen for people to use buses he is paying to keep a vital Sunday service running through the winter.
Till March, Alan Williams is bankrolling the X53 service to link Bridport,Weymouth and Lyme Regis in Dorset twice every Sunday.
Bus operator First Wessex stopped its four Sunday services on January 16 until its summer timetable begins.
Former railway worker Alan, 78, receives the income from ticket sales but expects his generosity will cost him “a couple of thousand pounds”.
He said: “I just want to give the community their bus service and to encourage people to use it more. I hope it encourages bus companies to keep such services.
Orchestra
“Buses need to run seven days a week. People still need to travel on Sundays, so this service is a lifeline.
“I have seen the regulars still using the service now, as well as new people. It has been operating for three Sundays now and it is very popular.
“The revenue from the service is taken off what I end up paying but I expect it to be a couple of thousand.
“Buses in rural areas need to have their revenues supplemented by the Government or local authority because there aren’t the people using them, especially in the winter. It is OK in the summer when all the holidaymakers are here.”
Alan, from Bridport, also financed the service between Bridport and Weymouth in 2019. It received Government funding in the winter of 2020 during the pandemic.
Bob Driscoll, of lobby body West Dorset Western Area Transport
Action Group, welcomed Alan’s support. He said: “I hope as many people as possible will use the service for a day out, thereby helping us prove the need for a bus service seven days a week, all year round.”
A First Wessex spokesman said: “On the rare occasions where we are unable to run a service, we are always happy to work with members of local communities to find solutions to meet a community’s needs.”
Alan has also supported a chamber orchestra, musical theatre and an annual music festival in Bridport.