Central Bedfordshire Council to cut more bus services in Bedfordshire.
Biggleswade, Sandy and Potton are set to lose even more buses.
Central Bedfordshire which has already seen savage cuts to bus services over the last 10 years is set to lose even more services in changes due to come into place on 30th September following retendering by Central Bedfordshire Council of the 85/85A town service in Biggleswade and the 188/190 bus routes between Sandy/Blunham/Everton/Gamlingay/Potton/Biggleswade.
The 188/190 Route will lose the following services: 05.40 Potton to Sandy 06.02 Potton to Sandy (via Gamlingay and Everton) 06.30 Biggleswade to Sandy 06.31 Sandy to Biggleswade (via Gamlingay & Potton) 07.06 Sandy to Biggleswade (via Gamlingay & Potton) 07.20 Biggleswade to Sandy
Sandy to Hitchin bus services from 30th September
The first bus for Gamlingay to Sandy will now be at 07.33 rather than 06.13 and the first bus from Potton to Sandy will now be at 07.25 rather than 05.40 The first through bus from Sandy to Hitchin will now be the 07.58 rather than 06.31 Further to this Blunham and Moggerhanger loses their early morning 08.12/08.17 service with the first 188 service going through these villages at 10.10/10.16
Current 190 bus service Sandy to Hitchin – Mon to Fri
Current 188 bus service Sandy to Hitchin Mon – Fri
The Biggleswade Town service is also to be drastically cut with a service every two hours for most of the day and will also be starting much later – around 08.00 rather than 06.00 currently and also finishing much earlier – final stop will be at 18.49 rather than 20.34 currently.
All this information is yet to appear on the Central Bedfordshire website – I can’t think why they want to keep it from us!
Actions speak louder than words. Central Bedfordshire Council with great fanfare recently declared a Climate Emergency. If we are to cut CO2 emissions we will have to reduce our dependence on the car and have a modal shift to public transport. Bus services need to be a viable alternative for commuters across Central Bedfordshire, disappointingly it’s very clear that Central Bedfordshire Council have no interest in providing this alternative.
It’s also shocking that, to my knowledge, there was little if any consultation with the residents of the affected towns and villages. A council should be seeking and listening to the views of its residents.
As the table shows below, Central Bedfordshire already has one of the lowest passenger journeys per head of population in the country.
How to complain?
If you want to complain to Centrebus you can email them at:
help@centrebus.com or phone them on 0116 410 5050
If you want to complain to Central Bedfordshire Council who retendered the contract this Summer you can contact them at:
public.transport@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or phone them on 0300 300 8308
The link to the upcoming 188/190 timetable (from 30th September) is below:
The link to the new 85/85A timetable (again from 30th September) is below:
It’s clear that we cannot trust the Conservatives with public transport. A Labour government will reverse the cuts to bus services and bring bus services under public, local control run for the communities that they serve. You can find out more about what a Labour government will do, including providing free travel to under 25’s by clicking the links below:
Julian Vaughan
Twitter @julian_vaughan_
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