Proposed withdrawl of the 375 bus route between Marple and Mellor

[amazon]

As an occasional user based on my observations I would say it would cut off a lifeline for many local pensioners to get to the shops, let alone Stepping Hill...when it bothers to turn up. Thanks for highlighting this though

Does the ring and ride service not run anymore .

[corium]

As an occasional user based on my observations I would say it would cut off a lifeline for many local pensioners to get to the shops, let alone Stepping Hill...when it bothers to turn up. Thanks for highlighting this though

[Dave]

Thanks for spotting this Andrew. It’s extraordinary coming at a time when the talk at government level is of improving local transport, not making yet more cuts.

It may be that few people use the 375, but those who do use it really need it - it provides a vital service for residents of Hawk Green and Mellor who don’t (or prefer not to) drive. Are we serious about tackling climate change or not?

[andrewbowden]

Tucked away in the agenda for Greater Manchester Transport Committee on 21 February, is this about the 375:
https://democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=193&MId=3858&Ver=4
https://democracy.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/documents/s5929/08%2020200221%20Forthcoming%20Changes%20to%20Bus%20Network%20-%20Part%20A.pdf

Service 375 provides an hourly Monday to Saturday daytime service between Mellor and Stockport, operating as a TfGM subsidised service between Mellor and Marple then extending commercially to Stockport since 2014.

The current contracts for the operation of this service end in April 2020. Officers recently issued tenders for the continued operation of this service, with a revised route operating between Mellor, Marple and Hyde, and unfortunately the best prices received represented a significant increase over the expiring contract which would have proved unsustainable due to the extremely high cost per passenger.

Consequently, Officers reissued the contracts, reducing the service to operate between Marple and Mellor only, in the hope this would bring costs within an acceptable level. Unfortunately, while this action did result in a lower price than the initial tender and marginally lower than the expiring contract, it still resulted in an extremely high cost per passenger which would make the service unsustainable.

Subsequently a Demand Responsive Local Link service will be introduced to offer access to the network where there are no alternatives (see Marple, Mellor and Hawk Green Local Link below)Members are asked to approve the above recommendation to withdraw subsidised service 375, to be partly replaced by a new Local Link service, with effect from Sunday 19th April 2020.

The financial implications of this proposal are shown in Part B.

The sketchy details of the replacement are:

This service will serve Marple centre and railway station, Mellor and Hawk Green. The service will run 7am to 7pm, Monday to Saturday but not on Bank Holidays. Customers can use concessionary passes (half fares for regular concessions and free for concession plus) and System One bus products. We are introducing this service to partially address the gap left by the withdrawal of service 375.  Members are asked to approve the introduction of the Marple, Mellor and Hawk Green Local Link from Monday 20th of April, 2020

Given few people ever seem to be on the 375, no doubt this will follow in a few years time by the proposed withdrawl of the Local Link service