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‘Lifeline’ bus from Darwen to Royal Blackburn Hospital axed

8:00pm Monday 26th January 2009 in


A “LIFELINE” bus link from Darwen to the Royal Blackburn Hospital is to be scrapped next month.

The No2 Transdev Lancashire United service will be altered on February 22 so it no longer calls at the hospital.

The nearest stop will be close to KFC in Haslingden Road.

To go direct to the hospital, passengers will need to ride to Blackburn and change.

Pensioner Joyce Barnes, of Higher Perry Street, who uses the service with her husband twice a week, said: “I was so annoyed when I found out.

“It will leave a lot of people in a predicament. In taxis it will cost me £25. It looks like Darwen has been cut off once again.”

A supply teacher who did not want to be named said: “That route is so important, it’s usually packed and the changes will add extra time to my journey.

Darwen councillor Roy Davies said: “It’s a lot more inconvenient for people in Darwen to have to get the bus to Blackburn and then to the hospital.

“It’s more stress on people who are ill anyway. That bus is a lifeline for quite a lot of people.

Coun Julie Slater, who represents the East Rural ward, said: “I’m absolutely disgusted. We need to stop this happening.

“It will cause major disruption especially for the elderly people who depend on using the buses.”

It is the second blow to passengers in the area in eight months, after the number 16 Lancashire United service, which ran from the Hospital to Lower Darwen and Darwen town centre, was replaced because the service was losing £3,000 a week.

Lancashire United were unavailable for comment.

Comments(16)

TheLee says...
8:25pm Mon 26 Jan 09

Money Money Money, sell of the buses and see what is swapped for service!

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Viv says...
10:17pm Mon 26 Jan 09

I was gobsmacked when my daughter told me about this on Friday. I use the Number 2 bus to get to hospital appointments rather than drive, going by bus only takes about 10 minutes longer than driving there. At the momnet I need to leave home and catch the bus about 30 minutes before my appointment time - dropping the service will mean that I'll have to catch a bus from my house to Darwen town centre, then catch another from Darwen to Blackburn, then catch another back up to the hospital - this will add at least an hour, if not more, to my journey EACH WAY. So not only is it inconvenient it means it'll take up a whole morning or afternoon for a 15 minute appointment.

We were promised that when the old infirmary closed there would be a direct service from Darwen to the the Royal Blackburn Hospital site. Somebody needs to make sure that this VITAL service is retained.

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guardian says...
12:13am Tue 27 Jan 09

Viv is right.
There is an easy solution. The 'coalition' councillors in charge of the council can negotiate with the bus companies and subsidise this vital route. They could use some of the £400,000 that's surplus from the concessionary fare scheme.

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True Darwener says...
12:37am Tue 27 Jan 09

I do think that the Bus Company should rethink this as if they do it that means there will be no buses from Darwen to the Royal Blackburn Hospital, I can remember when they closed the BRI hospital we were promise a direct bus service from Darwen to the new Hospital so now they are going to renag on a promise they gave so all i can say is it all comes down to MONEY. I would like Darwen Councillors to stand up and be counted and fight for the people of Darwen to get a bus service from Darwen to Royal Blackburn Hospital back ASAP

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Temporarily overseas says...
4:48am Tue 27 Jan 09

This change is reverting the bus stop back to near where the old Queen's Park Hospital bus stop used to be.

For several months, I made frequent visits, by bus, to visit a sick relative, who eventually died, at Queen's Park Hospital. I got off the bus near where the proposed bus stop is and it was always so cold and windy near the hospital. People will now have to walk even further to get to their clinic once they reach the new hospital.

I couldn't afford taxis on my frequent visits to the hospital so, on my return I used to wait ages for a bus to take me to Blackburn and then had to get another bus to Darwen.

Not everyone has a car or can afford to get a taxis everywhere so I hope they will reinstate the Darwen-Royal Blackburn Hospital for the sake of Darweners.

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Have Yr Say says...
8:33am Tue 27 Jan 09

I sympathise with the Darwen people feeling cut off, Belthorn has felt like that for years, they pay there council tax to both Blackburn with Darwen and Hyndburn, but don't have any transport after 6pm and nothing on Sundays. And they wonder why there are so many cars on the road.

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Have Yr Say says...
8:36am Tue 27 Jan 09

Maybe if they changed the roundabout at Blackburn Royal Hospital to traffic lights it would help the traffic flow, or if drivers let out other drivers on a one on one basis this would help too at roundabouts. When you look at satellite pictures of Blackburn, all you see is one big roundabout.

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A Darener says...
10:51am Tue 27 Jan 09

Have Yr Say wrote:
Maybe if they changed the roundabout at Blackburn Royal Hospital to traffic lights it would help the traffic flow, or if drivers let out other drivers on a one on one basis this would help too at roundabouts. When you look at satellite pictures of Blackburn, all you see is one big roundabout.
In my experience as a driver I have often found that on the odd occasions traffic lights are out the traffic flows much better. Therefore your suggestion would probably make the situation worse.

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Have Yr Say says...
11:15am Tue 27 Jan 09

(A Darener, Darwen) You are right, when the Darwen Street lights are out the traffic does flow better, but I think in this instance especially traffic coming in/out of the hospital it maybe of a help rather than a hindrance.

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maureen robinson says...
1:09pm Tue 27 Jan 09

I believe Lancashire United should inform their customers regarding the extensive changes about to take place on February 22nd. For example the No.19 bus Feniscowles to Blackburn town centre via Ewood is to be withdrawn completely. Ewood is the nearest large shopping centre to Feniscowles many of us are elderly with no access to private transport. All buses from Feniscowles are to redirected via Mill Hill. This means that in order to visit my G.P. a journey which now takes ten minutes will after the Feniscowles bus is withdrawn take in excess of thirty minutes. It would appear that the main citeria is finance and inconvenience to customers is irrelevant. M. Robinson

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Katie BLACKBURN says...
4:44pm Tue 27 Jan 09

Our local councillors and Hospital bosses must fight this. My Daughter-in-law works at the Hospital and won't be able to get back into Darwen to pick up her children from school, as it is she gets a lift every morning otherwise she couldn't get to work. They ask people not to use cars then do the dirt. Feel sorry for all the older people who relied on this service to get to hospital. Once again its the sick and elderly and all who work there who will suffer.

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fe says...
3:17pm Wed 28 Jan 09

What about the non drivers who work at the hospital? If the nearest bus stop is KFC it's a good trek to the hospital if the bus is running late then they are going to be late for their shifts. As usual the people who make these decisions have no idea about what is needed and what isn't, mostly because they don't live here and they don't use the buses.

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Blondie says...
4:58pm Wed 28 Jan 09

I feel for all the passengers who are now going to stuggle with their new bus routes.
The number 16 was taken off and now the number 2 gets the chop too.
On my many visits to the hospital i have always found this service to be busy going and coming back and find it quite hard to believe the sevice was not financially viable.
I hope some other bus company can step in and offer their services.
I would glady pay a higher bus fare than lose this service completely and i know others would too.





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e=mc says...
9:11pm Wed 28 Jan 09

I use this bus to get to and from work every day. It will mean leaving up to an hour earlier to get to work on time. What the article does not mention is that it may be changing route as well to miss out Guide. This means people who work at Guide will have to get off the bus outside St. James' church and walk up the hill. This route cannot be losing money as it is standing room only as it is full by Higher Perry Street most mornings and RBH in the evenings which ever bus you take.

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Blondie says...
7:19am Thu 29 Jan 09

Passengers in nearby towns have no direct bus service to the hospital either and some might argue why should Darwen be any different?
I know these cut backs are having a terrible affect on the elderly and disabled but all i can say is get yourself registered with community wheels and dial-a-ride to get you out and about.
Spot on saver tickets can be bought which will save passengers a fortune in fares.
Failing this there is only one solution, use the good legs you were born with and walk, it wont do you any harm and you will soon adjust as i know from experience.







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Proud Darwener says...
2:57pm Thu 5 Feb 09

I agree with all the other postings and I would like to add that this is the only bus I ever use... I have to attend the eye-clinic and have drops that mean I can't drive. There must be many like me who rely on this service to get to and from the hospital... and with the cost of and shortage of parking at the site, they should have more buses and routes, not less!!

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