Petition launched to save Edenfield bus route

11:30am Monday 17th October 2011 in Edenfield Photograph of the Author By Vanessa Cornall, Crime reporter

A PETITION has been launched in a bid to save a bus service which is facing the axe in Rossendale.

Bus operator Transdev has decided to scrap the X44 bus service through Edenfield because transport bosses believe the service is ‘under-used’.

The daily service, with nine return journeys between Nelson and Manchester, will be scrapped by the end of the month.

It will be replaced with a new X8 service through Edenfield that will run just twice a day.

Services on another Nelson-Manchester bus route, the X43, will also be increased but this does not go through Edenfieid.

Bus user Richard Bishop, 39, of Market Street, Edenfield, has backed a petition which has gathered 150 signatures in just a week.

He said: “Just on the 6am service alone I count 12 people getting on the bus to Manchester.

“This service is not under-used. These changes will be really inconvenient for everyone.

“If we could see it was underused we would be able to understand.

"But Transdev are simply wanting to make the changes that suit them, not their service users.”

County Coun Darryl Smith said: “'I am appalled that Transdev intend to replace a much-used service with a very much-reduced one.

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“There is simply no justification for this move.

“I am currently in discussions with the Director for Sustainable Transport at Lancashire County Council to see what can be done about this.”

Transdev previously tried to cancel the service in 2006 but, after a high-profile petition, it was saved at the last minute.

A spokesman for Transdev said: “Due to the low utilisation of this service, the decision has been taken to withdraw this route and increase the frequency of the X43 route to every 15 minutes.

"However, Edenfield will continue to have a frequent, accessible public transport network after these changes are implemented.”

Comments (9)

12:33pm Mon 17 Oct 11

HelmshoreMan2010 says...

The way I see it;

The X43 goes past Edenfieid but down the bypass, granted it does take longer so they can't send every bus through the town itself but that ones that do go down the bypass can't pick up any extra people where as the ones that do go through the town can.

This means they need to find a balance between quicker busses to Manchester and ones that pick up extra people but take longer....oh wait thats what they currently do!

If its not broke don't fix it!!
The way I see it; The X43 goes past Edenfieid but down the bypass, granted it does take longer so they can't send every bus through the town itself but that ones that do go down the bypass can't pick up any extra people where as the ones that do go through the town can. This means they need to find a balance between quicker busses to Manchester and ones that pick up extra people but take longer....oh wait thats what they currently do! If its not broke don't fix it!! HelmshoreMan2010

1:31pm Mon 17 Oct 11

suzyk2002 says...

HelmshoreMan2010 wrote:
The way I see it; The X43 goes past Edenfieid but down the bypass, granted it does take longer so they can't send every bus through the town itself but that ones that do go down the bypass can't pick up any extra people where as the ones that do go through the town can. This means they need to find a balance between quicker busses to Manchester and ones that pick up extra people but take longer....oh wait thats what they currently do! If its not broke don't fix it!!
Couldn't agree more. It's not just Edenfield that will be affected, it's the Townsend Fold/Horncliffe areas of Rawtenstall and Shuttleworth as well. All the people who currently catch the X44 from these places will be forced to catch an extra bus to Rawtenstall to meet the x43 or drive into the town and pay to park. It's a well used service and shouldn't be scrapped. Richard Bishop - is there a link to your petition online?
[quote][p][bold]HelmshoreMan2010[/bold] wrote: The way I see it; The X43 goes past Edenfieid but down the bypass, granted it does take longer so they can't send every bus through the town itself but that ones that do go down the bypass can't pick up any extra people where as the ones that do go through the town can. This means they need to find a balance between quicker busses to Manchester and ones that pick up extra people but take longer....oh wait thats what they currently do! If its not broke don't fix it!![/p][/quote]Couldn't agree more. It's not just Edenfield that will be affected, it's the Townsend Fold/Horncliffe areas of Rawtenstall and Shuttleworth as well. All the people who currently catch the X44 from these places will be forced to catch an extra bus to Rawtenstall to meet the x43 or drive into the town and pay to park. It's a well used service and shouldn't be scrapped. Richard Bishop - is there a link to your petition online? suzyk2002

7:16pm Mon 17 Oct 11

RichardBishop says...

suzyk2002, the petition is paper based, and it's being handled by other people that I meet on the bus. If you can't manage to sign the paper version, add your details to this online version that I've just created and I'll pass them on.

http://bish.co.uk/bl
og/?page_id=35
suzyk2002, the petition is paper based, and it's being handled by other people that I meet on the bus. If you can't manage to sign the paper version, add your details to this online version that I've just created and I'll pass them on. http://bish.co.uk/bl og/?page_id=35 RichardBishop

8:17pm Mon 17 Oct 11

suzyk2002 says...

RichardBishop wrote:
suzyk2002, the petition is paper based, and it's being handled by other people that I meet on the bus. If you can't manage to sign the paper version, add your details to this online version that I've just created and I'll pass them on. http://bish.co.uk/bl og/?page_id=35
Cheers Richard will do!
[quote][p][bold]RichardBishop[/bold] wrote: suzyk2002, the petition is paper based, and it's being handled by other people that I meet on the bus. If you can't manage to sign the paper version, add your details to this online version that I've just created and I'll pass them on. http://bish.co.uk/bl og/?page_id=35[/p][/quote]Cheers Richard will do! suzyk2002

8:38pm Mon 17 Oct 11

RichardBishop says...

The above link looks odd.
Try this if the first one is no good.

http://bish.co.uk/bl
og/?page_id=35
The above link looks odd. Try this if the first one is no good. http://bish.co.uk/bl og/?page_id=35 RichardBishop

6:13pm Wed 19 Oct 11

pwitch says...

May I suggest that you put the petition link on facebook too. I dont live in that area but would be happy to help if there is nobody else. i used to live in Bury and know how important that service is.
May I suggest that you put the petition link on facebook too. I dont live in that area but would be happy to help if there is nobody else. i used to live in Bury and know how important that service is. pwitch

6:14pm Wed 19 Oct 11

pwitch says...

May I suggest that you put the petition link on facebook too. I dont live in that area but would be happy to help if there is nobody else. i used to live in Bury and know how important that service is.
May I suggest that you put the petition link on facebook too. I dont live in that area but would be happy to help if there is nobody else. i used to live in Bury and know how important that service is. pwitch

6:14pm Wed 19 Oct 11

pwitch says...

May I suggest that you put the petition link on facebook too. I dont live in that area but would be happy to help if there is nobody else. i used to live in Bury and know how important that service is.
May I suggest that you put the petition link on facebook too. I dont live in that area but would be happy to help if there is nobody else. i used to live in Bury and know how important that service is. pwitch

6:15pm Wed 19 Oct 11

pwitch says...

May I suggest that you put the petition link on facebook too. I dont live in that area but would be happy to help if there is nobody else. i used to live in Bury and know how important that service is.
May I suggest that you put the petition link on facebook too. I dont live in that area but would be happy to help if there is nobody else. i used to live in Bury and know how important that service is. pwitch

Comments are closed on this article.

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