Dozens of residents slam bus services, delays and cancellations during public meeting held in Chesterfield town centre

The meeting which was hosted at Chesterfield Community Centre at Tontine Road on Tuesday, October 3, saw about 20 residents and National Pensioners Converntion members come together to discuss issues with the bus services.

Derbyshire Times attended as residents shared their stories of delays and cancellations.

Buses services complained about the most included 80, 90, 2, 170, 50, 77, 88, 39, X17, 55, 58, 54 and 5.

Issues with accessibility for disabled travellers and route changes were also raised with one resident saying technical problems with a ramp for wheelchairs, caused a bus to be cancelled in Chesterfield town centre.

Many concerns have been raised about the bus services for Ashgate.

One resident said not enough buses go there due to an assumption people in the area are wealthy and use cars and many elderly people who do not drive struggle to get to doctor and dentist appointments.

Many residents said they had to rearrange their appointments at the last minute due to buses being unreliable.

Adrian Rimington, who launched the campaign to improve buses across Chesterfield and called the meeting, said: “Stagecoach get 40% of the funding from the council and is still cherry-picking the routes for the buses and the council seem unable to do anything about it.

“After meeting with MP Toby Perkins and a series of articles in the Derbyshire Times, Stagecoach finally promised to introduce changes - with some services set to run longer into the evening from the end of October. It is a win but we need to keep them accountable and make sure they keep this promise.

“Stagecoach has also told Toby Perkins that they are already improving the delays and cancellations. But only last Monday I was waiting for a bus at 9.35pm and it did not show up.

"This week a young lady was waiting for service 51 at a bus stop at Church Road in the evening and it did not show up. It is a safety hazard for women and girls to be waiting for a long time on their own when it is dark.

“Public transport produces 28% of Carbon emissions in the UK and private cars produce half of this. It is vital to encourage people to leave their cars and use the buses. But for this to happen the buses must be reliable.

Chris Mycroft who attended the meeting on behalf of Mr Perkins provided a statement from the MP.

It read: “Britain is the only country in the developed world where bus operators have the power to set routes and fares, with no say for local communities.

“It is vital that any missed or late services are reported to Stagecoach and to me so that there is a full understanding of the current state of services and can hold them to account.

“Chris from my office will be noting down concerns at this meeting and I will be taking these up with Stagecoach Yorkshire’s Managing Director.

“I know that there have been specific concerns about the decision for Stagecoach to stop running the 80 and 80a services. This service is being taken over by Hulleys from the 29th October and I have requested an urgent meeting with their managing director to discuss how frequent the service will be and whether it will be following the same route.

“I will be urging Hulley’s to still make stops in the Hady Lane and Spital Lane areas, as I know how vital this service is to many residents there.”

Barry Bingham, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Staveley North and Whittington spoke extensively about the issues reported to him by residents.

Cllr Bingham said: “In Old Whitington neither 50 nor 58 get to the top of the hill, meaning elderly residents need to walk 400 or 500 yards up to the buses. Some can’t do that and are extremely isolated.

“I spoke to the Stagecoach about it and they said they can’t go to the top of every hill in every village. But if the bus went to the top of Slug Lane and rejoin the Eckington Road it would add one or two minutes to the journey and would be life changing for the residents.

“I had a meeting with the county council and Chris Henning, Executive Director at Derbyshire County Council promised me that the council is looking into ways to improve the bus services and encourage people to use public transport.”

At the end of September Stagecoach issued an apology for the issues and promised a list of improvements.

Investigations have been launched into the most complained about services - 39 and X17 - and findings will be passed onto the commercial department to investigate.

Stagecoach is also giving office staff extra guidance and training so if a bus missing for any reason, they will cancel it on the app and make sure the next one will run. Provisions have been put in place to make sure that the last buses run, which should mean they are always treated as a priority service.

The suggestions for a Holme Hall to Bakewell route and a service for Ashgate and Deerlands estates suggested by residents are being looked into by Stagecoach’s commercial department.

Stagecoach also confirmed, if a passenger misses a service due to the bus not turning up, the firm will reimburse them if they have to take a taxi instead. The passengers will be asked to provide a valid signed and dated taxi receipt for the journey in order to get the refund.

The transport company also confirmed they will look into introducing a number of late services, which would mean people can go into town for a drink, dinner or the theatre and still get the bus home.