STAGECOACH'S decision to drastically cut the number of journeys the 86 service carries out between Whitchurch and Winchester has left residents frustrated.
Once providing 12 daily services, the route will be reduced to just four, mainly catering to college students, leaving many residents stranded.
Residents have now decided to rally against the cuts, creating an online petition that has already garnered nearly 1,000 signatures.
Caroline Barber, a Whitchurch resident, said there used to be at least one bus an hour up until about seven in the evening, with a few more on weekends, but this will be reduced to just two buses in the morning towards Winchester, and two in the evening back to Whitchurch from the start of September.
The journeys will be term time and weekdays only, and will be a shortened route.
READ MORE: Residents upset after major bus route and timing changes in Andover
She said the cuts ignore the needs of other residents, especially those who rely on the bus for essential trips.
"It's a blow to our town," Mrs Barber said. “They’re not taking care of people who need to get down for hospital appointments or shift workers, like NHS care workers, who need buses throughout the day. A bus service in a town like this isn’t meant to be a profit-making exercise - it’s supposed to provide a vital service for those who need it.”
She said it is upsetting that Stagecoach took this decision without any consultation with residents and bus users.
Another resident, Dan Nailor, who has been actively campaigning to improve the bus service, said he was surprised when he heard the latest decision.
“I’ve been in contact with Stagecoach for the last year, trying to petition for a later bus so people could go out in the evenings," he said.
"We wanted the service increased, but instead, they’ve cut it down to almost nothing. It no longer serves the railway station, which is crucial for many residents.”
He said the cuts have a huge impact on residents, particularly vulnerable groups.
“There are two retirement homes on Newbury Hill, and they’re no longer going to have a bus service connecting them to the town centre. It’s going to affect a lot of people,” he said.
“It’s not just about college students - what about people needing to get to hospitals? You don’t get to choose whether your appointment is in Basingstoke or Winchester; you have to go where the specialists are.”
Mr Nailor also expressed frustration over Stagecoach's apparent focus on profits over service.
“If they’re not filling up a big double-decker bus, why not run smaller buses?” Mr Nailor asked.
“It’s ridiculous to cut off Whitchurch from our nearest city. They should be focusing more on the service rather than profit.”
Mrs Barber also recalled the overcrowding of buses that students already faced when the service was more frequent.
“My daughter used the bus to get to college, and even then, sometimes by the time the bus reached Whitchurch, it was full. Students were left at the bus stop, missing lessons. And that was when there was a full bus service.”
SEE ALSO: New evening and Sunday buses between Basingstoke and Newbury to start running
Mr Nailor suggested that a more flexible approach could benefit both residents and the company.
“If they ran one bus later in the evening, it would actually boost their profits because people would use it. A service on a Friday or Saturday night would be packed - I guarantee it.”
As it stands, the cuts have left Whitchurch residents feeling abandoned and isolated.
“It just seems mad to have totally cut Whitchurch off,” Mr Nailor said.
“People have waited years to get a bus pass, and now they don’t know where they can use it. Cutting this service off is cutting us off from our nearest city, from the hospitals, from everything.”
Stagecoach South commercial director James O'Neill's said: "I’m sorry to confirm that we’ll no longer operate a daytime service to/from Winchester from September 1, although College buses will remain on college days only.
"Along with some of our other local bus routes, Service 86 operates at a significant financial loss and is unsustainable in its current form. We’ve had to take significant action this summer to address this challenge – including taking difficult decisions for the number of college buses we can offer into Winchester. We’re simply not able to offer the same service to as many students in September as we’ve been doing in previous years, because we’ve been operating very high mileage at very low revenue, without any direct subsidy support for routes with low fare income.
"The existing public bus link from Whitchurch to Winchester is integrated with a College day service. At present, the majority of passengers on the 86 (at least 60 per cent) use the school and College bus links that we’ll continue to provide in September. A further 25 per cent of customers travel to or from stops between Bullington Cross and Winchester, which will be served by our new Service 75 running every hour between Andover and Winchester. We estimate the remaining 10-15 per cent of customers travel between Whitchurch and Winchester: this is an average of 5 or 6 customers per trip across the day; far fewer than we need to cover the cost of 10 miles in service per round trip, or 90 miles in service each weekday.
"We’ll operate more buses through Whitchurch in September than we do today, with our main Service 76 increasing to every 30 minutes towards Andover. This includes earlier morning and later evening buses than on the current timetable, in particular to help boost later return trips from Basingstoke. Service 76 has seen very promising customer growth during the £2 fare cap promotion and we’re very hopeful this growth can be continued going forward to help us invest further in the years ahead.
"The new Service 75 will improve connections from Andover as well as the villages north of Winchester. We’ve chosen this route over Whitchurch because it stands a better chance of long-term growth, given the quantum of urban development that has taken (and will continue to take) place in Andover. We’re not expecting to have additional subsidy to help support routes which aren’t commercially viable and so are doing our best to prioritise those with the best chance of fare-paying customer development in the years ahead.
"Our data doesn’t indicate that buses on the 86 were ever full in Whitchurch other than at College times, unfortunately. We don’t see a high enough commercial demand from the town towards Winchester on any of our other daytime trips.
"I recognise this decision will impact the small numbers of Whitchurch residents who use the Winchester service outside of College times. I’m very sorry that I’m unable to offer an alternative option at this time, but I hope this email does help explain the background to our decision."
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