Use it or lose it - warning over returning Sunday bus service - The Worcester Observer

Use it or lose it - warning over returning Sunday bus service

Worcester Editorial 22nd Oct, 2013 Updated: 19th Oct, 2016   0

BUS USERS in Warndon are being urged to support a Sunday service when it returns to the area next month.

After a major campaign by Alan Amos, county councillor for Gorse Hill & Warndon, First Buses have agreed to put on a new hourly service between Warndon and the city centre from November 24.

But the route will not be subsidised by the council and so passengers need to use it in numbers in order for it to continue beyond next Easter.

Coun Amos said: “When the County Council slashed its bus subsidy, local bus routes were decimated.




“I have been campaigning very hard to restore some of the lost services where evenings and Sundays were particularly badly hit.

“I have received an enormous amount of complaints, particularly from elderly residents, about these cuts as they cannot get out of the house since most do not have a car and taxis are prohibitively expensive.


“At the moment, there is no Sunday service at all between Warndon and the City Centre so this was at the heart of our campaign.”

Coun Amos joined forces with Worcester Mayor Pat Agar to set up the Worcester Bus Passenger Forum two years ago which was at the forefront of the campaign.

“Through it we have regularly met the managers of First Buses and lobbied for this new service,” Coun Amos added.

“We are therefore absolutely delighted that we have finally been successful and we are most grateful that First Buses have listened to and acted upon our requests.

“But as it will be a commercial service, with no subsidy, it is absolutely vital that passengers use it. First Buses have said that if the numbers hold up, the service will be made permanent. So, I urge residents to use it.

“This just goes to show what, with persistence and determination, can be achieved by constructive engagement with the bus company. For them to be putting on a new additional service in the current climate of cuts is a tremendous achievement.”

The new hourly service, the 33B, will run between the city centre, Tolladine Road, and Warndon (Glovers Needle).

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