Subsidy cut is '˜Dr Beeching' for our buses

Wyre campaigners are calling for a rethink over the removal of bus service subsidies

Lancashire County Council's decision to cut all bus subsidies are on bus services are on a par with the controversial Beeching Report into the rail network, according to Campaign for Better Transport (CBT).

The group found rural bus services were being wiped out in many areas of England and Wales due to cuts in subsidies.

Councils were reducing expenditure on buses by more than £27mn over the coming years as a result of funding from Government being slashed by £78m since 2010, according to the report.

Martin Abrams, CBT’s public transport campaigner, said: “This new research shows that up and down the country utterly devastating cuts are now being inflicted on our vital bus services on a par with the swingeing and misguided cuts the government and Dr Beeching made to our rail network which decimated services back in the 1960s.”

The report states Lancashire bus users will be among the worst-hit by the cuts.

Mr Abrams said it was a “bitter irony” that many of the bus routes being cut had originally replaced the thousands of rail services that Dr Beeching recommended should be ceased, leaving more areas without any public transport.