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Whitby bus services in line for axe
BUS services throughout the Whitby area are facing the axe due to cuts in North Yorkshire County Council grants that subsidise them.
Changes to the bus services across the county are being proposed by the council in the face of major cuts in public spending.
The changes, which would be introduced at the beginning of the next financial year in April 2011, involve withdrawing funding support for journeys which operate on Sundays and bank holidays and journeys which operate Monday to Saturday in the evenings, generally after 7pm.
Proposed cuts in services include:
l the Whitby to Loftus on Sundays, Bank Holidays and in the evenings
l the 91, 92 and 94A from Whitby bus station
l the 93 Whitby to Scarborough
l the 95 Sleights circular on Sundays and evenings
l the High Stakesby circular
l the West Cliff circular
l and the Eskdale circular on Sundays and evenings.
Malton to Whitby would have no winter Sunday services and the county council could also cut its contribution to the Moorsbus network.
Details of the proposed reductions are being circulated to parish and district councils, which are being invited to comment on the plans before a final decision is taken.
The council is also seeking views on a proposal to standardise the hours of operation of concessionary fares across the county.
This means that passes in all areas of the county would only be valid between 9.30am and 11pm.
It is possible that this change will reduce the cost of the scheme by up to 400,000 a year.
In rural areas where services are infrequent, it is possible that concessionary passes would be accepted on some journeys before 9.30am.
The county council has lost almost 11 million in Government grants for the year 2010-11.
In addition, the annual review of spending due in October is widely expected to lead to reductions of up to 25% in the council's medium term financial strategy – the county council currently spends almost 6.5 million a year on financial support designed to ensure that as many people as possible have access to public transport.
Around a quarter of the county's bus network, carrying more than four million passengers every year, is funded by the county council.
Now the council is proposing a reduction of 600,000, just under 10%, in the amount allocated to supporting public transport.
A county council spokesman said: "In the current economic climate, the council has no choice but to reduce spending across a range of services and we need to consider the extent to which bus services can be reduced to contribute to this.
"We recognise these reductions will inconvenience people who use the bus services but by doing this we will be able to maintain a weekday daytime network which provides essential access for as many residents as possible."
The spokesman added some evening and Sunday services will continue to be provided on a commercial basis but these are to be in the Scarborough, Harrogate and Selby areas – not in the Whitby area.
Arriva runs Whitby town services and the 93 service from Middlesbrough to Whitby to Scarborough.
Iain McInroy, the area managing director for Arriva North East, said: "We're disappointed to learn of the proposals in relation to bus services in North Yorkshire but before commenting further we will wait to see exactly what the final plans are once all the comments have been received.
"We will endeavour to keep all our customers informed of any changes once we have been notified."
Andy Wilson, chief executice of the North York Moors National Park, said of the Moorsbus grant cut: "We understand the hard times the county council is facing that has forced them to take this decision. We will do everything we can to minimise the effect on the service but we're also facing our own budget cuts."
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Weather for Whitby
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North west
