394 bus service

[JMC]

Awful news. I use this service a lot to the hospital (NHS worker). Having to get 2 buses (383 and 192) in rush hour would be horrendous. Some of us with childcare can't set off till 7.30 already. 375 is alright for middle of the day hosp apts or shopping but not for getting to SHH early in the morning.

Presently my husband and I share a car but we may now have to look at getting a 2nd. 

[amazon]

Yes hope they find the money to save the route, probably a lifeline for vulnerable people going to hospital . Is it subsidised at the minute, does any one know why it is being cut?

Alternative is normal 384 to A6 then cross the road and catch the 192. Not a problem for someone who is fit and healthy but problematic if your not very well or organised.

Derbyshire are with drawing the funding .

[amazon]

High Peak Buses website indicates that a Saturday service will continue to operate (though I bet this won't last for very long). Heaven knows why High Peak extended it from Stepping Hill to Stockport last year as this meant that three buses instead of two were needed to operate the service. I have lived in Marple for 15 years and for me the 394 service has been one of the best things about living in Marple though I have often felt to have been in a minority of one as it is often the case that I would be the only person on the bus this side of Gamesley. I have walked the Cown Edge Way from my backdoorstep to Charlesworth many times when I have had a spare afternoon and love walking Glossop circulars onto Bleaklow or Glossop back to Hayfield for the 358. I thought that we had lost it a few years ago when the bus company folded and it has been living on borrowed time and free concessionary travel ever since. We lost the  67 back from Baslow/Eyam a few years ago. The 358 no longer goes up to Newtown to connect with the 199 for Buxton so we now have the slog from Union Road up Albion road to get to the 199/TP bus stop when heading for Buxton.

I shall miss it dearly but Lane Ends and Chisworth will no longer have a bus service and the link from Hawk Green to High Lane will be lost.

Cameron has been to the buses what Beeching was to the railways. May he (and our Conservative MP) rot for the isolation of so many rural villages throughout the country due to withdrawal for funding for grants to operate rural bus services - just like the railway lines, when they have gone they will have gone forever and car owning Conservative MPs couldn't give a toss!

Is our local mp still around whats he doing about it .

[amazon]

Fortunately the 375 still provides a service from Hawk Green and Marple to Stepping Hill. Let us hope that this service continues to operate (heaven help Hawk Green if the 375 is affected by the cuts in bus subsidies).

And takes twice as long .quite  few students from Gamesley go to the ridge .on this bus it is well used .

[marplerambler]

I have contacted Campaign for Better Transport informing them of the withdrawal of this service and requesting their assistance making the following statements:-

Why is the bus service important to you?
This is the only bus service to link Marple to Glossop. Withdrawal of the service will isolate the population living between the outskirts of Marple Bridge and Charlesworth denying access to shops and medical facilities in Marple Bridge or Marple to the west or Glossop to the east. At Marple Bridge there is a frequent 383-384 service to Stockport and train service to Manchester/Sheffield. At Glossop the 394 links with a train service to Manchester and bus services to Tameside. To the west of Marple there is an hourly Stagecoach 375 service from Hawk Green to Marple and Stockport Stepping Hill Hospital but this uses a particularly circuitous route. This service is a vital lifeline for those on the route who do not have access to a car. Passenger numbers are low but I believe that usage could be increased considerably it the route were to be marketed more effectively to the generally fairly affluent users who face tremendous difficulty when attempting to park at Marple Bridge, Marple station, Marple centre and Hazel Grove.   The service does suffer difficulties with timekeeping due to peak hour traffic jams in Glossop, Marple Bridge and Hazel Grove and these problems are currently exacerbated by single lane traffic on the very busy A6 just south of Hazel Grove to the construction of the SEMMS Manchester airport relief road.
Details of the cut.

I have just discovered that from 28th March 2016  High Peak Buses are completely withdrawing the Monday to Friday hourly 394 Glossop to Stepping Hill Hospital service via Gamesley, Charlesworth, Chisworth, Marple Bridge, Marple Station, Marple centre, Hawk Green, High Lane, Hazel Grove, Stepping Hill Hospital service. The service currently operates without subsidy Monday to Friday (and will continue to operate as a subsidised service on Saturday). The service serves an affluent semi-rural area of Greater Manchester between Hazel Grove and Marple with a very high rate of car ownership. Once out of Marple Bridge population density is low with a small number of houses adjacent to the main road. The small village of Chisworth has no other bus service and the next village Charlesworth is at the moment currently also served by Stotts Tours hourly 341 service. Gamesley is a large Manchester overspill estate originally built in the 1960s and the service is well used for the section to Glossop. I would appreciate your advice about maximising political pressure for local authority support for this service.


This statement is a starting point but it certainly does not fully reflect the dreadful effect the withdrawal of the service will have upon some people who live on the route. For this to be an effective campaign I need a lot more detail of how the withdrawal of the service will effect you personally enabling me to provide a convincing argument for support from Transport for Greater Manchester and Derbyshire County Council  so statements online if you wish or by email to me Steve Slater marplerambler@marplerambler.plus.com would be most useful.

Suggestions about the way forward and offers of assistance to set up an action group would be appreciated. I will write to our MP and Councillors asking for support I would suggest an online petition as well as a straightforward petition so any offer of assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Lateral thinking is always beneficial. Does anyone have any useful suggestions about marketing of a campaign or possible changes to the route or timing of services which would improve usage? 

[marplerambler]

Buses are the most frequently used form of public transport. Day in and day out they link thousands of people up and down the country to jobs, schools and shops.

However, Government spending cuts are having a devastating effect on our vital bus services. Across the country vital buses are being axed by local authorities as they make financially agonising decisions of where to cut spending. The Save Our Buses campaign stands up for treasured local buses and defends them from damaging funding cuts. Routes and services across England and Wales are being lost and if we don't make a stand now, it will be too late.

Buses must be saved because:
64 per cent of jobseekers either have no access to a vehicle or cannot drive
Young people are amongst the biggest users of bus services , whilst 40 per cent of people over 60 use the bus at least once a week
Passenger cars produce nearly 60 per cent of all CO2 emissions from road transport in the UK, compared with just 5 per cent from buses
If drivers switched just one in twenty five of their car journeys to bus or coach, it would mean one billion fewer car journeys per year
Every £1 of public investment in buses provides between £3 and £5 of wider benefits
Bus commuters generate £64 billion in economic output every year.
My very personal reason for wanting to fight for the service is that I have never been able to drive due to epilepsy so without my wife's car I am totally dependant upon public transport.

The Campaign for Better Transport group has been fighting the massive cuts in bus services in Britain. In Greater Manchester we are not facing the same massive cuts to bus services faced by Derbyshire and Lancashire and John Bates points out that the Monday to Friday service has not been supported by Transport for Greater Manchester or Derbyshire County Council but I am totally bewildered about how this service could have been economically viable without subsidy but subsidy is needed if we are not to lose this service.

I shall contact The Campaign for Better Transport group for advice and with the aim of helping to campaign to fight for this service. If you are willing to assist please let me know.

[Russ]

I used the 394 for 3 years going to SHH due to the parking situation there. Went in the car first time, did 3 circuits looking for a space then ended up in Sainsburys car park & a walk back.

[ringi]

I never even know that this bus will allow a nice walk, while leaving my car at home.     Unless public transport is promoted, it will not yet used by people that have an option.

Even then I have to question if I am willing to depend on a bus being me home from the middle of nowhere,  when there is no comeback if it does not run.   Or if I get delayed and miss it  I have to wait hours for the next bus.

[JohnBates]

The midweek service is not subsidised. It is run commercially by High Peak Buses. The Saturday service is subsidised.
High Peak Buses have given the statutory 56 days notice of withdrawing the service.
Transport for Greater Manchester are in contact with Derbyshire regarding this, but no decision has been made as yet.

[hatter76]

FEWER

I am sure you are correct but does it really matter?

[mikes]

The 394 bus service is being withdrawn end of March ,can you phone  email  your MP its a vital service to stepping hill .it must be saved .

That's a pain as I've used this bus several times to save having to park the car at the hospital.

[mikes]

... that there are less buses to ....

FEWER

[hatter76]

Fortunately the 375 still provides a service from Hawk Green and Marple to Stepping Hill. Let us hope that this service continues to operate (heaven help Hawk Green if the 375 is affected by the cuts in bus subsidies).

Assuming the 375 service remains the same the removal of the 394 will mean that there are less buses to choose from, so it will impact on Marple residents.

[marplerambler]

Alternative is normal 384 to A6 then cross the road and catch the 192. Not a problem for someone who is fit and healthy but problematic if your not very well or organised.

Fortunately the 375 still provides a service from Hawk Green and Marple to Stepping Hill. Let us hope that this service continues to operate (heaven help Hawk Green if the 375 is affected by the cuts in bus subsidies).

[marplerambler]

Yes hope they find the money to save the route, probably a lifeline for vulnerable people going to hospital .

To the best of my knowledge not many people from Glossop needing hospital treatment are referred to Stepping Hill. They are generally referred to Tameside Hospital.