Community post-bus axed

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http://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/ ... 4835147.jp

Published Date: 31 December 2008

By ROBERT BROOKS
A POST-BUS covering one of Northumberland's most rural communities will been axed on Friday after it ended up costing tax-payers the equivalent of £142 per passenger on each journey.

The twice-daily 270 service, which runs between Alwinton in upper Coquetdale and Morpeth, only carried a maximum of eight people, but provided an important public transport link for residents living in Rothbury and the smaller settlements of Harbottle, Holystone and Sharperton.

Rothbury Parish Council expressed concern after it emerged that the Royal Mail, which operated the service, had asked Northumberland County Council to more than double the subsidy for the bus, from £14,480 to £33,400 a year.

But figures just released by the county claimed that an average of less than two passengers were using the bus on each trip.
And that meant the cost worked out the same as a current return flight from Newcastle International Airport to Portugal.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Mail said: "In partnership with county councils, we provide a number of post-bus services in remote rural areas and make every effort to sustain these services, with appropriate council subsidy.

"However, Royal Mail is first and foremost a postal operator, not a transport company, and our top priority is the collection and delivery of mail.

"We are facing ever-increasing pressure in a competitive market and in this context, it is more important than ever that Royal Mail focuses on its core business.

"Due to the withdrawal of the subsidy for the post-bus services covering Alwinton to Morpeth and Rothbury to Morpeth, the services will cease on January 2, 2009. Passengers have been informed."

A Northumberland County Council spokewoman said: "On average only 1.8 passengers were taking each trip, which worked out as a cost of £142 per passenger per trip for the council.

"Changes to the timetable also meant that passengers were getting only approximately 20 minutes to spend in Morpeth.
"Northumberland County Council felt that for these reasons the subsidy was no longer giving them value for money."

But county councillor for Coquetdale, Steven Bridgett, says he will fight to have funds re-invested in an alternative bus operator.
"The Royal Mail more than doubled the amount it was asking the county for in subsidy, and there is no way that can be justified," he said. "It's clear they didn't want to run the service, and to put the figure so high obviously makes it unviable.

"I will fight tooth and nail to have the money normally allocated by county put into an alternative service, whatever form that may take.

"This is not an opportunity for the county council to cut costs on public transport."