And so the axe begins to fall:
Cumbria County Council have announced which bus routes they'll stop subsidising because of government cuts.
Numbers 10, 60 and 511 out of Ulverston and the 541 and 550 out of Kendal are being completely withdrawn.
Meanwhile, certain diversions and late night and Sunday services are being axed.
Routes affected are the 552, 564 and 564a out of Kendal; the 571 between Crosby Garrett and Kirkby Stephen; and the 618 Ambleside to Barrow.
The changes come in from April 30th - full details below.
The council say they've put aside £1,500,000 pounds to keep running 83 other commercially unsustainable routes.
Cllr Tim Knowles, Cumbria County Council’s cabinet member for passenger transport, said:
"Given the scale of the spending cuts, we have to make some difficult decisions, but we've been fair, balanced and meticulous in making these decisions. In an ideal world, the council wouldn't have to subsidise any bus services and they'd all be so popular with passengers that they pay for themselves. But we're living in the real world and we can't carry on supporting a bus that is so under-used that it costs the public purse up to £15 per passenger every time the bus runs.
"The county council remains committed to providing community transport and to support schemes like the Rural Wheels initiative and voluntary car driver schemes. These provide a very valuable and flexible alternative to existing bus services."
SERVICES AFFECTED IN SOUTH CUMBRIA:
10: Barrow - Ulverston via Leece, Gleaston, Stainton, Little & Great Urswick
This service currently provides six journeys a day in both directions, Monday to Saturday. All journeys are being withdrawn.
The commercially provided Service 6 from Barrow to Ulverston via
Dalton and the Service 11 between Barrow and Ulverston via Baycliffe and Aldingham, will both continued to operate as normal.
Rural Wheels will take passengers to Barrow or Ulverston, whichever is nearest.
The contract costs £84,700 per annum with 73per cent of this being funded through a subsidy at a cost of £4.24 per passenger journey.
111: Burnbanks - Bampton - Askham - Penrith (Tuesday)
The service being withdrawn provides one trip to and from Penrith on a Tuesday from villages to the south of Penrith towards Haweswater.
The Saturday service on the route, also supported by the county council, is unaffected, and will continue to operate as normal.
Rural Wheels will take passengers to Penrith or to their nearest bus stop on other routes if more convenient.
The Voluntary Car Scheme also exists in a number of the areas served, and may be able to help with transport.
The contract costs £7,500 per annum with 80 per cent of this been funded through a subsidy at a cost of £5.82 per passenger journey.
511: Broughton in Furness - Ulverston including Service 60: Ulverston - Canal Head
This service provides three trips a day Monday to Saturday, between Broughton in Furness and Ulverston and additionally provides four trips a day to the Canal Head area of Ulverston. All journeys are being withdrawn.
Rural Wheels will take passengers to Ulverston.
The contract costs £53,300 per annum with 83 per cent of this being funded through a subsidy at a cost of £4.74 per passenger journey.
541: Bowness/Winster - Kendal via Underbarrow, Crosthwaite and Brigsteer
(Tuesday and Thursday only)
This service being withdrawn provides one return trip, twice a week to Kendal from a number of villages to the west of the town.
Rural Wheels will take passengers to Bowness or Kendal, whichever is the nearer for onward connections.
The contract costs £9,700 per annum with 78 per cent of this being funded through a subsidy at a cost of £7.83 per passenger journey.
550: Silverdale - Beetham - Kendal via Hincaster, Sedgwick and Natland
This service provides four trips a day from Beetham to Kendal Monday to Saturday with two trips extended to Silverdale. All journeys are being withdrawn.
The Service 555 provides an hourly service between Milnthorpe and Kendal.
Rural Wheels will take passengers to Milnthorpe or Kendal, whichever is the nearer, for onward connections.
The contract costs £78,400 per annum with 75 per cent of this being funded through a subsidy at a cost of £3.60 per passenger journey.
552: Levens - Kendal / Milnthorpe Diversion
This contract provides a diversion to serve Levens village, on the commercially provided Service 552, on four journeys Monday to Friday and five journeys on a Saturday.
The rest of the Service 552 will continue to operate as normal.
An hourly service is provided from Levens Bridge to Kendal and Milnthorpe by the Service 555.
Rural Wheels will take passengers to Milnthorpe or Kendal, or the nearest bus stop for onward connections.
The contract costs £17,300 per annum at a cost of £8.62 per passenger journey.
564: Kendal - Sedbergh (Monday - Friday 17:40)
The journey being withdrawn provides a single late afternoon trip to Sedbergh, which supplements the Service 564 which are both unchanged.
The last trip from Kendal to Sedbergh will become 4.25pm.
The contract costs £12,600 per annum with 90 per cent of this being funded through a subsidy at a cost of £9.41 per passenger journey.
564A: Cowgill - Dent - Sedbergh - Kendal (Saturdays)
This service being withdrawn provides a single return trip to Kendal on a Saturday for villages to the east of Sedbergh.
The Wednesday service, on the same route is not affected and will continue to operate as normal.
The Voluntary Car Scheme also exists in a number of the areas affected and may be able to help with transport.
The contract costs £10,000 per annum with 79 per cent of this being funded through a subsidy at a cost of £5.60 per passenger journey.
571: Crosby Garrett - Kirkby Stephen (Wednesday)
The service being withdrawn replaced the Upper Eden Plusbus in September 2010. It provides a single return journey from a number of villages to Kirkby Stephen on a Wednesday only. This followed a wide range of consultation to determine, a service to be provided on the most popular day. There has been considerable promotion locally of the service as the county council made it clear at the outset that good usage would be necessary to sustain the service.
The Service 563 provides a daily service along the A66 and A685 between Brough and Kirkby Stephen.
Rural Wheels will take passengers to Kirkby Stephen or a convenient bus stop as appropriate.
The Voluntary Car Scheme also exists in a number of the areas served, and may be able to help with transport.
The contract costs £4,900 per annum with 74 per cent of this being funded through a subsidy at a cost of £7.02 per passenger journey.
618: Barrow - Ulverston - Newby Bridge - Windermere - Ambleside
The journeys on this service which are being withdrawn are the late night service at 9:45pm from Barrow and return at 11pm from Ambleside, plus the whole of the Sunday service.
The early morning and daytime service on the route are unaffected by these changes and will continue as normal. A late evening and Sunday timetable is provided between Barrow and Newby Bridge by the Service X35 and Service 6. Services are provided in the evening between Bowness and Ambleside by the Service 555, and on Sundays by the 599 in Summer and 505/516 in Winter.
625: Appleby - Penrith via Brampton Long Marton, Dufton, Knock, Silverband (Tuesdays)
This service being withdrawn provides a single return route to Penrith on a Tuesday from a number of villages to north of the A66.
The Saturday service to Penrith, via the same route will continue to be provided as normal. The Friday service, from most of the villages on the route, to Appleby will also continue to operate unchanged.
Rural Wheels will take passengers to Appleby or Penrith whichever is nearer or to a convenient bus stop for onward connections.
In some areas the Voluntary Car Scheme also exists in a number of the areas served, and may be able to help with transport.
The contract costs £3,800 per annum with 76per cent of this being funded through a subsidy at a cost of £2.53 passenger journey.
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