I have received the following information from Kevin Brock, one of the main campaigners to save the 620 bus route. Councillor Mark Aldred Labour Councillor for Atherleigh and Member of the Passenger Transport Authority has e-mailed him as follows:
At a recent meeting I managed to get the 620 back on on an hourly service
from Ashton town centre to Swan Lane Hindley for 9 months reviewed after 6 months. So let's hope everyone uses it so it continues.
This is excellent news for everybody who campaigned to keep this route alive and shows how people working together can change things.
We now need to run a Use it or Lose It campaign to make sure it does not disappear forever.
If anybody is interested in this please contact me.
8 comments:
Congratulations to those who have worked to achieve the restoration of the 620 service to Hindley. So much for Councillor Ellis's negative comments in the press on this issue.
Well let's hope Cllr. Ellis promotes the service in his area too... Anyway Nigel, any help that's needed, you have my details!
So let`s get this right Nigel. A bus service that`s been operating non-stop for100 years is suddenly stopped on the grounds of not being viable and neither Ian McCartney nor any of you labour councillors lift a finger to stop that happening until an independent councillor protests. and then by some miracle you get it partly reinstated apparently using ratepayers money to subsidise it .take full credit for doing it then ask joe public to leave their cars at home and `use it or lose it`... and you still expect to get re-elected next year Nigel?
anonymous... ARRIVA took the decision to stop the service. The GMPTA did seek to restore the service but the costs involved were too high. When there were protests about it, through myself and others, something did get done about it. The blame for this does rest with Arriva and the GMPTA (to some degree), although they did see sense to restore the service and provide it with a public subsidy. The only independent I know that has had any dealings with this was more intent on moaning that he wasn't consulted, when, in reality, no-one was and the decision was taken by the operator on a commercial basis. As for the Use It or Lose It campaign, this is needed to keep the 620 running. Sadly, if people don't use it, then it *will* be removed, again. I would firmly advise you to get your facts correct before going off throwing wild accusations about.
If it weren't for the councillors I contacted (all three Ashton councillors, Cllr. Aldred as GMPTA rep for Wigan) and Ian McCartney I doubt this would have ever happened. I know many other people also made representations to elected members too.
Perhaps you would like to vent your spleen at the culpable party in this fiasco, Arriva Merseyside who withdrew the service in the first place.
anonymous ... you might also like to look back on here to the 19th August when this matter was first raised.
Initial representations about this matter were made by myself to Arriva, GMPTE (via FOIA) and local councillors on 10 August 2008, two days AFTER the GMPTA had met and discussed this service and decided (at that point) not to keep the service due to the high cost levels as effectively this was just to serve Liverpool Road between Hindley and Platt Bridge which was left unserved. Thankfully, that decision has now been reversed by means of public subsidy to restore this essential public service.
Perhaps you would like to ask the Independent Councillor (whoever that may be, although I have my suspicions) exactly what they have done in response to this matter.
Kilbrock. Thank you for enlightening as to the real reason why the 620 was taken off the route.I didn`t reaise that both the 320 and the 620 were run by the same company Arriva Merseyside and as they were running 60% down the SAME route and both running half empty most of the time then it makes economic sense to take the least important run off and therefore fill the other bus (320) which is exactly what happens now.
With your superior knowledge perhaps you can tell us how much clout does Greater Manchester PTE have with a bus company from Merseyside ? And with the new service being entirely in G.M area will it still be run by Merseyside or not? I was a user of both the 320 and the 620 but I don`t need the 620 now because i have a choice of using the 320 at regular times or walking a few hundred yards to catch the 600 Leigh to Wigan which is every ten minutes and is rarely more than half full but is run by a much better company (First Travel) who put their customers first.If I am a typical example of the customers you wish to entice back with your Use it or Lose it campaign then its doomed to fail. I will not support a company who cares so little about its customers. Ray. (not so anonymous this time)
Ray, with all due respect, I would suggest you direct your queries to Arriva Merseyside and/or GMPTE.
My superior knowledge (ha) does not involve finding out about the inner workings of bus companies or the PTE.
I`m not that interested Kevin And I seriously thought you knew the answer....I wasn`t being sarky... Nigel will know of my opinion of the GMPTE From our little busstop saga. And am still annoyed at his and Ian`s attempts to claim credit for something they didn`t do..But that`s politics for you...Ray
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