Campaign launched to save Stockton bus service as MP accuses Arriva of ‘cherry-picking’ routes

An MP has accused a bus company of cutting off vulnerable people and putting profits before people in a campaign to save a service which connects numerous Teesside towns.

Stockton South MP Matt Vickers has called on people to sign a petition to save the 17 bus service, one of the routes at risk from Arriva’s cuts. The bus company, meanwhile, is appealing to the government in a funding dispute as it claims the Tees Valley Combined Authority has not given it enough money to cover its costs.

Under timetable changes coming into force on July 9, Arriva says the number 17 will be “curtailed at Ingleby Barwick twice per hour and will no longer extend to Yarm and Kingsmead. Buses will operate via the existing clockwise loop in Ingleby Barwick performed by the short Service 17 currently, albeit twice per hour.” The service will stop at about 9pm Monday to Saturday and at about 7.30pm Sundays, “regrettably both owing to unsustainable passenger demand”.

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Read the original full Gazette Live article HERE

2023-06-22 06:00:22