Since last Friday, when Western Greyhound ceased trading, a large number of people at Cornwall Council and in other bus companies have worked very hard to ensure that the majority of routes have replacement services.
They should be congratulated on the effective manner in which they worked. I am sure it is much appreciated by so many people.
The loss of the company is also a massive blow to this local area and those poor workers who may end up without jobs as a consequence.
Inevitably, there are still some problem areas with the routes – one of which is in my St Enoder division at Summercourt.
The Western Greyhound services 594 and 594 which previously linked Summercourt with Truro have ceased and the ‘replacement’ is the newish 91, 92 and 93 services from First, which commenced a few months ago.
Unfortunately, this service does not presently stop at Summercourt and I have been in regular contact with the Passenger Unit at County Hall about what can be done. I can report that staff at the Council are in discussion with First about how they might be able to serve the village.
Summercourt Travel’s 497 service – which has a limited number of journeys – is still running, but the Council is also keen that the mainline services from Newquay and Wadebridge to Truro include stops at Summercourt.
I will report back again, when I have more information.
While doubtless the council has worked very hard to ensure most areas are covered by some sort of bus service straight away, there will be obvious problems if more buses are not run on some routes (the new 556/557 for instance) before the tourism season gets going.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, there are now only two buses a day realistically linking Bodmin Parkway with the North Cornish coast between Padstow and Newquay for those arriving from London or the north and you can barely go for a shopping trip to Newquay from somewhere like Constantine or Treyarnon before you have to come home again on the last bus. Walking the coast path will be made much harder too.
While obviously the top priority at this time of year if for people to be able to get to and from work, hospital etc, there are so few buses on some routes that it has to be incredibly bad for tourism if things aren't improved over the next few months, and far more linked up buses put on.