crispy1978
Member
New £6.4m Accrington bus station farce as operators baulk at 'exorbitant charges'
I'm no expert on bus stations, and how they are generally paid for - not really something I'd thought about before if I am honest - but is this a common thing in other towns and cities?
Genuinely interested in this, and how it works - any comments more than welcome!
New £6.4m Accrington bus station farce as operators baulk at 'exorbitant charges'
Operators have warned they may avoid using Accringtons new £6.4m bus station in protest at exorbitant charges.
Charges of up to £1.50 for each journey departure are set to be introduced at the new Accrington bus station when it opens at Crawshaw Street in May.
Independent bus operators in Accrington are warning that they may avoid using the bus station if Lancashire County Council (LCC) introduces such high charges as they bid to make the station self-financing.
Bob Tuffnell, operations director of Accrington-based M and M Coaches, slammed the potential £1.50 charge.
He said: Thats totally ridiculous. For one of our buses to go from Accrington to Blackburn it will cost £3 in charges just for that one journey. Thats exorbitant.
Wed have to put prices and fares up to cover it. In fact were looking into not going into that bus station if they charge that much.
M and M Coaches say they are preparing to bypass the station and use passenger stops instead.
Pilkingtons say they may only use the bus station once an hour.
Alan Pilkington, owner of Pilkington Bus, said: They are going to go from zero to £1.50. That would cost me an extra £50,000 a year and thats for services that dont even make much money.
We either have to change services or not go into that bus station. I cant use it if its going to put my company at risk.
Conservative group leader Coun Tony Dobson said the situation was farcical.
He said: The council started building the bus station without asking operators if they would definitely sign up to the charges. Now we are facing a situation that when the bus station opens in May therell be no buses to go in it - it is a circus.
Phil Smith, managing director of Rosso Bus, said the Lancashire bus operators are in talks with council officers to set an agreed departure charge.
He said: LCC have a facility to charge up to £1.50 and that is a great concern, but I would hope that a sensible level of departure charge can be arrived at before the new bus station opens in May.
LCC said indicative modelling shows that they would need to introduce departure charges of between 50p to £1.50 in order to cover the costs of operating the bus station.
A spokesman added: However, no decision has been made and we are currently working to determine the revised charges to be introduced from April.
Last week we revealed that the new station, due to open on May 22, will include a dedication to former Hyndburn council leader George Slynn.
I'm no expert on bus stations, and how they are generally paid for - not really something I'd thought about before if I am honest - but is this a common thing in other towns and cities?
Genuinely interested in this, and how it works - any comments more than welcome!