SAVE OUR BUS SERVICES

This weekend Stagecoach announced its intention to cancel eighteen bus routes across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough with effect from the end of October 2022.

This comes despite a six-month extension of Government bus recovery funding for bus operators like Stagecoach, intended to secure the current network of bus services. It is unacceptable that Stagecoach should take the money and close services anyway.

The routes in question are lifelines for many residents, particularly in rural areas. They reduce isolation, enable inclusion, and support access to key services including education, employment, health, leisure, and retail. Together, they carried almost 90,000 passengers in June 2022.

The decision by Stagecoach will leave many residents isolated and unable to continue their day-to-day lives unless the Mayoral Combined Authority steps in to rescue bus services from the public purse.

That is why we are calling on Stagecoach to reconsider its decision and to work constructively with the Mayoral Combined Authority and others to ensure the provision of a reliable network of public transport across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.