Bus timetable shake-up as services cut
ARRIVA PROPOSES WIDESPREAD CHANGES
COMMUTERS on Teesside and Darlington may be affected by cuts to bus services set to come into force next month.
Arriva North East has proposed widespread changes to timetables from July 9, which would see 25 services across Teesside, County Durham and Darlington affected.
The services on Teesside affected include Stockton to Yarm, Middlesbrough to Stockton and Middlesbrough to Guisborough and Stokesley.
The full finalised list is due to be revealed this week, but documents seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service show the extent of the proposed changes.
The bus operator said withdrawing or making significant changes to bus services is “always a very last resort” and the difficult decision has been taken following “exhaustive efforts”, after failing to reach a funding agreement with Durham County Council and Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA).
In its report, Arriva said: “Unfortunately, the rates at which both Durham
County Council and Tees Valley Combined Authority have felt able to reimburse Arriva for their respective ENCTS schemes for this new financial year has been cut by up to 28 per cent in comparison to levels of reimbursement provided before Covid.
“At the same time Arriva are operating around 94 per cent of service miles in comparison across both areas in total. These reimbursement rates fall well below the levels paid by other authorities within the region and, in our view, are not in line with the latest concessionary guidance issued by the Department for Transport.”
The operator says the changes have been made with the aim of minimising the impact of reductions on passengers while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the network.
“We appreciate the financial constraints that both authorities are working under, however the reimbursement rates proposed will not continue to cover the costs of running a significant number of our services and has regrettably led to this decision,” the report added.
“We know how important our bus network is to our customers and we would like to apologise for any disruption these alterations will cause.
“We remain committed to working in partnership with Tees Valley Combined Authority and Durham County Council to deliver the highquality service that local communities deserve.”
However, TVCA insists the changes are a commercial decision made by Arriva, not the authority and is determined to ensure passengers get value for money.
A spokesman said: “We put forward a fair settlement fully in line with our previous methodology and entirely within the scope of Government guidance, which Arriva refused to accept. Arriva is the outlier, as deals based on the same approach have been accepted by both Go North East and Stagecoach.”
It comes after the Government confirmed Arriva would receive a funding boost to improve services. Arriva performance in County Durham and Darlington has been labelled “abysmal” by furious residents who demand a better service.
Arriva did not comment further on the proposed changes.