Bus companies have the opportunity to “think again” about proposed service cuts across Liverpool City Region (LCR).
A consultation is currently underway on mooted changes to public transport services across five of the six boroughs to come in from September. Operators are proposing dozens of changes including reductions to services into Liverpool city centre on weekends, two services withdrawn in St Helens while some routes between Knowsley and Liverpool will be changed.
Some services are also being reduced in Sefton. An online consultation was launched last month as operators respond to challenges posed by reduced passenger numbers and rising inflation.
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The combined authority’s transport committee heard that more than 1,700 people have made their views known on the plans to date. Following the two week consultation, a new timetable will be published on August 1 to come in effect a month later.
Cllr Liam Robinson, chair of the LCR transport committee, said: “This shows just how important these services are to people. This is an opportunity for the bus companies to think again.
“What we do know is, deregulation has failed and we need to bin it.” More than a dozen services across the combined authority region will have services reduced, mostly on evenings and weekends, with 16 impacted across Liverpool alone, including the 80A to Liverpool Airport cut back to every 40 minutes and a reduction of frequencies between Halewood and Bellevale on the 79.
Cuts to the 79 would hit a number of residents, including Katherine Jewell of Netherley, who expressed her concern to the ECHO. She said: "We in the Woodlands estate in Netherley appear to be shafted royally with the weekday frequency halving from 8 min to 16 min for the 79 Service, where our neighbours in Belle Vale are unaffected - this means either over a mile walk to the shopping centre or putting up with a substandard service during rush hour when we are trying to get to our jobs teaching at Hope University.
“My husband and I already have long standing complaints about this service going back 4 years, so this further detrimental change is like a kick in the teeth. Furthermore, we have observed the buses already implementing this change over the past few weeks and therefore believe this consultation to be a sham and the changes a foregone conclusion.
“We could not be more angry at this detrimental change that will directly affect our lives." The move by operators to potentially reduce services comes after it was announced in June that single bus journey fares would be cut to £2 and confirmation of franchising as the preferred model for running the network earlier this year.
The consultation can be found at lcrbusreview.commonplace.is
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