Morebus, Bluestar and Yellow Buses chiefs admit services will be scaled back or axed if government Bus Recovery Grant ceases in April
NEW Forest bus services face being axed or scaled back if the government presses ahead with plans to stop emergency funding.
Chiefs at Morebus, Bluestar and Yellow Buses have sounded a warning about the impact of ending the Bus Recovery Fund in April.
Andrew Wickham, Morebus and Bluestar managing director, said: “If we don’t receive the extra funding, we will have to review our network.
“I’d like to assure our customers, however, that we will do everything possible to minimise any travel disruption to those living and working across Hampshire and Dorset.”
Yellow Buses commercial director, Simon Newport, said it would be making “changes within the conurbation which we will publish in due course”.
He added: “Where routes are adversely affected, we will liaise with our council colleagues in order to mitigate the impact on the travelling public.”
The issue was raised in parliament by New Forest West MP Sir Desmond Swayne, who said “half of my services” faced being cut.
He told the A&T that figure had been provided by Morebus, adding he was “not optimistic” funding will be restored “given how tight the public finances are”.
Morebus refused to tell the A&T how many services could be affected or declare how much financial help it required.
Mr Wickham revealed it has produced, with local authority partners, a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and sent it to the Department for Transport.
He said: “We are waiting to hear the level of funding the BSIPs will attract – and how this can be used to improve services. However, these plans are aimed at improving services through measures to increase priority for buses.”
Bus companies were “very grateful” for the help they had received, he said, adding: “At present, this support is due to come to an end in April, which would result in some services being withdrawn or scaled back.
“In that Omicron is receding only now, services need a longer period of time to recover.
“We are asking for some support to continue for a further 12 months, which is enough time for demand to stabilise, and for us to plan in detail with our local authority partners any changes that would be needed.”
Mr Newport, of Yellow Buses, added: “From the perspective of Yellow Buses, we will operate route 1a between Bournemouth, Christchurch and New Milton every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday, with some journeys on Sundays.
“This will continue at the same frequency and is seen as quite a success story for us.
“We will also operate our Busters New Forest Explorer from Christchurch through to Ringwood serving Bransgore and Burley this summer with the first day of operation on Saturday 9th April operating daily for the Easter school holidays.”
In the wake of the pandemic bus passenger numbers have been recovering.
The Local Government Association predicted numbers will restore to around 70% of pre-pandemic levels for most UK operators by April.
But the funding halt will cause 30% of bus miles to be cut from timetables so operators can balance their books, it also warned.
The open-top bus New Forest Tour, which is run by Morebus on behalf of the national park authority, was “under no threat” an NPA spokesperson said, as its summer passenger numbers remained comparable to pre-pandemic levels.
New Forest District Council said it had not been involved, while Hampshire County Council and City Bus did not respond to requests for comment.