Campaign launched to bring back South Lakes bus link (From The Westmorland Gazette)
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Campaign launched to bring back South Lakes bus link
5:00pm Wednesday 12th September 2012 in News
By Emma Lidiard
A CAMPAIGN to bring back a direct bus link between Grange-over-Sands and Westmorland General Hospital has been launched.
It follows an announcement by Stagecoach that it is scrapping the X35 bus which ran directly between the Furness Peninsula to the hospital in Kendal.
It will be replaced with the X6 that will cut out the hospital stop. The change could mean pass-engers living beyond Grange would have to take a number of buses to reach the hospital.
Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron launched the campaign after speaking to many disgruntled Grange res-idents. "People using this bus are normally either really unwell or quite elderly," said Mr Farron. "It is unacceptable that they will have to get a bus into K Village and then wait for another bus to take them onto the hospital."
Instead of a direct passage to the hospital, patients will have to catch a bus or buses into Kendal K Village, and then catch Service 41 to the hospital.
Mr Farron described this as a huge inconvenience, especially for unwell or elderly patients.
“There is also a danger that the change could create a limited access period for patients wit-hout personal transport, because before 10am and after 4pm there are few connecting buses from the hospital to Grange, whereas the old route provided roughly hourly transport to and from the hospital to Grange,” he said.
A spokesperson for Stagecoach said "We reviewed passenger data prior to registering the new X6 (replacing the X35) and we found on average 1.4 passenger journeys were being made per day from Grange to Westmorland General Hospital.
“To extend the X6 to the hospital will make the service unreliable as there is not enough time for the driver to complete the run.
“Should an opportunity arise where we may extend one or two journeys to the Westmorland General Hospital then we will certainly investigate that opportunity."
Comments(2)
TomHarvey
says...
10:21am Thu 13 Sep 12
Just a few more facts for the debate.
The old X35 was paid for by Cumbria County Council, the new X6 is run on a commercial basis without taxpayer subsidy, which means other services in the district, particularly rural ones then give so many people a vital link, have been able to be retained and improved.
There are now more buses on this route compared to the X35.
The connecting 41/41A service synchronises with the new X6 around every half hour.
1.4 passengers per day for a service of about 12 buses per day is 0.1 person using it per bus.
Adding the Hospital to the route adds about 10-20 minutes to the route depending on traffic, or an extra 2 1/2 - 4 hours for the service over the course of the day
It is of course certainly less convenient for the 10 journeys made each week to the Hospital but as with all services there occasionally has to be a compromise, hence the improved linking buses.
Stagecoach need to ensure that their synchronisation of the buses is improved to ensure users of this service have the most efficient way of using the buses.
Helvellyn55 says...
10:10am Thu 13 Sep 12
Members of Parliament should have the intellect to establish facts first before joining in, but there again votes are not won by reference to facts.