North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has called on the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, who is responsible for Transport policy in Wales, to respond to a statement by Arriva Bus Wales that they “do not want to change services” in North Wales, but are being forced to do so because of the default 20mph speed limit.
This week it was revealed that many bus services across the region are being reduced by bus company Arriva as the new speed limit imposed by the Labour Welsh Government last September adds too much time to their drivers’ journeys.
In today’s Topical Questions in the Senedd, Mr Isherwood, who has been contacted by residents concerned about the reduced services, said that Arriva Bus Wales have told him directly that they have reluctantly made the changes because of the new 20mph speed limit and asked the Deputy Minister how he intends to engage with the Company in a bid to find a workable solution to the problem.
He said:
“Early last month, I met with Arriva Bus Wales at their depot in New Broughton, Wrexham, when their Head of Commercial, North-West and Wales, emphasised what he described as the horrendous’ impact on their services of the Welsh Government's reduction of the default speed limit in Wales to 20 mph. He explained that the changes being introduced by Arriva Bus Wales result from the impact of this on their services.
“I again contacted them last week about the changes to the X51 bus service through Llandegla village after receiving correspondence from affected residents there. How therefore do you respond to their unambiguous reply, as follows? :
“ 'As we discussed in Wrexham, Arriva do not want to change services, but have to because of 20 mph. We would not be changing 90 per cent of the network in North Wales otherwise. The issue we have now is that, because of 20 mph, the buses are taking longer to operate across North Wales, so we’ve had to register changes which have seen route curtailment, frequency reduction and additional resource to cope with the new running times required.'
“That’s what they stated. What is your response to that factual statement, unambiguous, and how are you going to engage directly with them to ensure understanding of where the real problems lie?”
The Minister told Mr Isherwood that he is “very keen to engage with them”.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Isherwood said:
“It is appalling that residents are being cut off because of changes driven by the Welsh Government’s default 20mph speed limit and the Minister needs to engage with Arriva as a matter of urgency.
“These bus services are a lifeline for a great many and everything must be done to protect them.”