Bus cancellations in Gloucestershire: My trip from Newent to Cheltenham

Travelling by bus in Gloucestershire in recent months has proven a challenge for many.

Bus cancellations have been commonplace in the county as Stagecoach West says it struggles with the national shortage of drivers.

On Wednesday, I thought I’d see for myself just how difficult it is for people who rely on public transport to get around.

I had an appointment at noon in Cheltenham so I thought I’d use the bus to get there. I thought catching the 10.10am from Newent to Gloucester would give me plenty of time to get there, how wrong was I.

My first stretch of the journey started outside the Co-op in Newent, and despite being about ten minutes late, I would arrive in Gloucester within 40 minutes.

The bus was very busy and well used by people along the route with several getting on at villages such as Highleadon only to get off at Rudford. Bus routes like this are a lifeline for rural communities.

But Stagecoach is expected to withdraw from providing more services in November and council chiefs expect the changes to affect the most rural and disadvantaged communities in Gloucestershire.

Earlier this year, Newent suffered cuts to bus routes earlier in the year when the 132 to Ledbury was axed and the 32 service to Ross significantly reduced which has made impractical for more people to use public transport.

I arrived at a busy Gloucester Bus Station at around 10.55am, and with the 94 to Cheltenham expected at 11am I was rather relaxed and confident I would arrive in the town with plenty of time to spare.

However, four consecutive buses failed to show up. The bus at 11am didn’t show, nor did the one at 11.10am, 11.20am nor 11.30am. It wasn’t until 11.40am that I was finally on a bus to Cheltenham.

There were no announcements that buses had been cancelled and no information to explain what was happening, the buses simply didn’t show up.

One woman I spoke to said she was meant to meet a friend in Cheltenham at 11.30am, she told me the funny thing was her friend who was also travelling by bus from Winchcombe was also delayed.

Once we got going, the trip to Cheltenham was good. But the bus was extremely busy due to the cancellations and the knock-on effect that more people were waiting along the route.

It was 12.10pm by the time I got to The Promenade, so I was late. A journey which would otherwise have taken 40 minutes by car took a whole two hours to get there by bus.

If the situation does not improve soon, getting more people to travel on the buses in Gloucestershire is going to be a hard sell for transport chiefs.

By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter

Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk