Woman's bid to stop cuts to bus service (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Campaigner ordered off vehicle while collecting signatures
8:00am Wednesday 5th May 2010 in News By Charley Morgan
A woman was escorted off a bus while collecting signatures for a petition against Stagecoach making cuts to her local service.
Suzanne Allen has collected almost 500 signatures after Stagecoach announced that the No 54 bus would no longer serve West Swindon.
Instead it will go from Wootton Bassett to the Swindon Designer Outlet to Swindon bus station, and not stop at Freshbrook or the Link Centre.
But on Friday Miss Allen was escorted off a bus by Stagecoach staff after collecting signatures from passengers on board.
Miss Allen, 50, of Godolphin Close in Freshbrook, said: “Two security guards escorted me off a bus on Friday. They said I shouldn’t be collecting signatures on board because of health and safety reasons, but I wasn’t even standing up.
“I was upset about that because I didn’t do anything wrong.
“There are going to be people upset because a lot of them don’t know about the cuts and will be waiting for the bus to turn up.”
She says the cuts will affect elderly passengers and students in particular and will mean people travelling from Wootton Bassett to use the Asda supermarket in West Swindon will have to change buses.
She said she had already met a teenager who was waiting to get the bus home from work in Asda to Wootton Bassett and did not know it was not running anymore.
She said: “I went down to Stagecoach and asked why they are cancelling it and they said the reason was because a lot of people from Wootton Bassett had complained that they had to go through Freshbrook on their way to into town. They (Stagecoach) also said it wasn’t making any money.
“But I have collected between 60 and 80 signatures from people in Wootton Bassett who don’t want the cuts.
“I have collected nearly 500 signatures and there are a lot of people who still haven’t heard about the changes.”
She said students travelling to the North Star campus of Swindon College would also be badly affected and her daughter was now having to leave half an hour earlier in the mornings.
Stagecoach has announced that the No 54 will be replaced with a new service called Direct 54, which will provide a direct link from Wootton Bassett to Swindon. The company said the Direct 54 will not serve West Swindon except on two school journeys numbered 54A.
It said passengers travelling from Wootton Bassett to West Swindon would be able to transfer to Service 8 – which travels from Fleming Way to the Swindon Designer Outlet to West Swindon – at no extra cost.
It added that the Direct 54 would terminate at Swindon and not continue to Wroughton.
For more information about timetables go to www.stagecoachbus.com.
Comments(23)
cookie32
says...
8:27am Wed 5 May 10
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Wootton Bassett have two supermarkets, if you want to use ASDA that's your choice and not the fault of the Bus Company. West Swindon is served by Thamesdown and Stagecoach so there are regular connections to meet the 54.
NorthernWarrior
says...
8:28am Wed 5 May 10
I can understand not wanting to meander round Freshbrook and fewer buses on Westlea Drive is probably a good thing given the tragic incident a couple of years back, but they could still serve the Link and Corton Cres before going down Tewkesbury Way.
Not sure to what extent the council(s) subsidise or licence this service but maybe they'd be better giving it back to Thamesdown who used to do a far better job of running the Bassett buses.
cookie32
says...
8:30am Wed 5 May 10
The Witch
says...
8:32am Wed 5 May 10
politicrat wrote:What a stupid comment. What's stagecoach's decision got to do with whoever the new government is?
we better get used to this because with Cameron in office on friday, I dont even know if our bins will be collected anymore.
politicrat
says...
8:57am Wed 5 May 10
The Witch wrote:It is called a prelude of things to come since tory Swindon council is reducing its funding to Stagecoach we can expect more cuts in services and with a conservative governement on Friday I wonder how many NHS, Education, Police, firemen and ambulance staff will lose their jobs?
politicrat wrote: we better get used to this because with Cameron in office on friday, I dont even know if our bins will be collected anymore.What a stupid comment. What's stagecoach's decision got to do with whoever the new government is?
rmc001
says...
9:02am Wed 5 May 10
Bobfm
says...
9:04am Wed 5 May 10
Bobfm
says...
9:20am Wed 5 May 10
Kineasy
says...
10:43am Wed 5 May 10
cshepherd
says...
11:10am Wed 5 May 10
I would also be concerned about the 55 service - I bet they try to merge them with the 54 further reducing services.
Also, if you do catch the 54 towards town and change to an 8 (would the ticket be valid on the 1/1A, 19 as well?) to come back out you have to cross the road, not so easy if you have baggage. If the 54 went to the Link at least that would be avoided.
rmc001
says...
11:22am Wed 5 May 10
Has anyone noticed that Thamesdown Transport do not run buses to Wroughton? If Stagecoach start cutting back buses to and from Wroughton, more people will be forced to drive.
real -life
says...
11:38am Wed 5 May 10
politicrat
says...
11:47am Wed 5 May 10
rmc001 wrote:these are only small services cuts, wait for friday for the big ones LOL
"It added that the Direct 54 would terminate at Swindon and not continue to Wroughton. " Has anyone noticed that Thamesdown Transport do not run buses to Wroughton? If Stagecoach start cutting back buses to and from Wroughton, more people will be forced to drive.
cookie32
says...
12:08pm Wed 5 May 10
rmc001 wrote:They've added a new service for Wroughton, the No. 72. Still runs every 20 mins I think, so wroughton won't loose out.
"It added that the Direct 54 would terminate at Swindon and not continue to Wroughton. " Has anyone noticed that Thamesdown Transport do not run buses to Wroughton? If Stagecoach start cutting back buses to and from Wroughton, more people will be forced to drive.
Captain Sensible
says...
1:14pm Wed 5 May 10
Nathan Griffith-Williams
says...
1:26pm Wed 5 May 10
With respect to the service changes all of the new timetables have been available in print form since Friday 23rd April. A leaflet detailing the changes has also been available to passengers since that date. All of the above have also been available to view on our website. In addition a customer notice detailing the changes has been on display on all of our vehicles for nearly two weeks. In summary, the changes are as follows:
Several Stagecoach bus services in and around Swindon will be revised on 4th May 2010 including enhancements to Route 66 and changes to certain timetables.
The people of Swindon, Faringdon & Oxford will be able to enjoy better public transport links on the enhanced Route 66. Stagecoach West has increased the number of journeys on the busy route which links the three areas. This includes more Monday to Saturday services, increasing the daytime frequency to every 30 minutes, and extra journeys in the evenings. The service will also provide additional journeys on Sundays which will increase the current frequency to hourly. To celebrate these improvements, the Route 66 buses have been given a face-lift in the form of a striking new livery which will be unveiled at Sudbury House Hotel in Faringdon on 4th May.
Wootton Bassett estates and Woodshaw will soon be able to take advantage of a direct bus service to Swindon town centre. The current Route 54 will be re-branded as Direct 54 and will no longer serve West Swindon, thus cutting the journey time down by 15 minutes which is ideal for commuters. Passengers who wish to travel to West Swindon will be able to transfer to Service 8 at Paddington Drive at no extra cost. These passengers should simply retain their Direct 54 ticket or pass and show it to the driver of Service 8. Transfer tickets will also be available on journeys in the opposite direction and a through facility will continue to be provided during evenings and on Sundays on Service 55A.
4th May will also see the reintroduction of Service 72 which will cover the Swindon to Wroughton section of the current Route 54 that is not served by Direct 54.The basic daytime frequency along this section of the route will still be every 20 minutes, though at slightly different times to the current Route 54.
Punctuality will be improved on Route 55 and Service 7 following minor revisions to their timetables and all Sunday journeys on Service 7 will now serve South Marston Park. There will be minor timetable changes to afternoon journeys on Services 6 and 8 to reflect changes in customer demand, including the reduction of the Sunday frequency on Service 8 to every hour. There will also be minor timetable changes to Route 65 as a result of the enhancement to Route 66.
Al Smith
says...
4:44pm Wed 5 May 10
-
From the blah blah blah you've just written it looks to me like you are nothing more than a propagandist for stagecoach. If you are could you please at least be honest about it!
rmc001
says...
9:22pm Wed 5 May 10
swindontownfc12
says...
10:37pm Wed 5 May 10
It'ss ideal too commuters ehh. because the 55 isn't. the 55 goes THROUGH the CENTRE of wootton bassett to serve people wanting to go into the S. Town within 20 mintues. The 54 provided the scenic option too which appealled to many becasue it went past link centre, ASDA, etcc.
why choose a direct54 bus at every 30mins, when you can get a doubledeck 55 at every 20mins, .. She had a right to collect the signitures. showss how mad people are at this.
BrizisthePM
says...
11:26pm Wed 5 May 10
politicrat wrote:I hope so. I don't want MY money being used to provide public transport to the great unwashed!
The Witch wrote:It is called a prelude of things to come since tory Swindon council is reducing its funding to Stagecoach we can expect more cuts in services and with a conservative governement on Friday I wonder how many NHS, Education, Police, firemen and ambulance staff will lose their jobs?
politicrat wrote: we better get used to this because with Cameron in office on friday, I dont even know if our bins will be collected anymore.What a stupid comment. What's stagecoach's decision got to do with whoever the new government is?
politicrat
says...
3:52pm Thu 6 May 10
BrizisthePM wrote:you prefer it being used to finance a non-dom Wifi company maybe?
politicrat wrote:I hope so. I don't want MY money being used to provide public transport to the great unwashed!The Witch wrote:It is called a prelude of things to come since tory Swindon council is reducing its funding to Stagecoach we can expect more cuts in services and with a conservative governement on Friday I wonder how many NHS, Education, Police, firemen and ambulance staff will lose their jobs?politicrat wrote: we better get used to this because with Cameron in office on friday, I dont even know if our bins will be collected anymore.What a stupid comment. What's stagecoach's decision got to do with whoever the new government is?
vote4briz
says...
10:58pm Thu 6 May 10
politicrat wrote:cracking idea - who do I vote for?
BrizisthePM wrote:you prefer it being used to finance a non-dom Wifi company maybe?
politicrat wrote:I hope so. I don't want MY money being used to provide public transport to the great unwashed!The Witch wrote:It is called a prelude of things to come since tory Swindon council is reducing its funding to Stagecoach we can expect more cuts in services and with a conservative governement on Friday I wonder how many NHS, Education, Police, firemen and ambulance staff will lose their jobs?politicrat wrote: we better get used to this because with Cameron in office on friday, I dont even know if our bins will be collected anymore.What a stupid comment. What's stagecoach's decision got to do with whoever the new government is?
politicrat says...
8:11am Wed 5 May 10