BEECHING FOR BUSES

BEECHING FOR BUSES Rural bus services being wiped out due to tory cuts in subsidies RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2016 :: RMTnews 6 Cuts to bus services are on a par with the controversial Beeching Report into the rail network which decimated services, according to new research. A study by the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) found that rural bus services were being wiped out in many areas of England and Wales due to cuts in subsidies. Councils were reducing expenditure on buses by more than £27 million over the coming years as a result of funding from government being slashed by £78 million since 2010, according to the report. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the axing of nearly £80 million from bus service funding by the government was wiping out services across whole swathes of the country exactly as RMT had predicted. “The reality is that in many areas where these cuts are hitting hardest the bus service is the only transport option for those who don’t have a car. “This systematic destruction of lifeline bus routes will condemn many in the communities affected to fuel poverty and will leave them as prisoners in their own homes. “We need publicly supported and operated bus services, integrated with the rail network, that give transport options for all instead of just the rich,” he said. CBT spokesman Martin Abrams, said that the research revealed that up and down the country “utterly devastating cuts” were now being inflicted on vital bus services on a par with the swingeing and misguided cuts the government and Dr Beeching made to the rail network which decimated services back in the 1960s. He said that it was a "bitter irony" that many of the bus routes being cut had originally replaced the thousands of rail services that Dr Beeching recommended should be ceased, leaving more areas without any public transport. People living in Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Somerset, Dorset, West Berkshire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, North Yorkshire and Lancashire would be worse affected, the CBT found. Local Government Association transport spokesman Peter Box said that councils were finding it "impossible" to continue to make up a funding shortfall for the concessionary fares scheme, which is in place for young, elderly and disabled people. "The way the concessionary travel scheme is funded by Whitehall has long been unfit for purpose and has not kept up with growing demand and cost. "Unless the government commits to fully funding concessionary fares, vital bus services that support the most vulnerable in our society will continue to come under pressure," he said. Labour's shadow transport minister Daniel Zeichner said that David Cameron had promised to keep the free bus pass but he cut the buses instead. "Labour would make sure that local communities have the power to make bus operators provide the services local people need," he said.