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Elderly people are turned away from Grantham buses




Frail and elderly people are being turned away from town buses because they are too full to take their shopping trollies.

George Duffy, a former bus driver, says this is a particular problem on the route from Alma Park into town.

He told the Journal: “The service is ridiculous. It’s leaving people at stops because the bus before did not turn up. This has happened too many times. People with shopping trollies are being told they can’t get on the bus.

“Old people are being left at bus stops, one woman was in her late eighties. Frail people are being left, too. The company is not in a position to run a service effectively in town.”

Mr Duffy says Centrebus is ‘under-resourced,’ with it not having enough bus drivers, something he says also happened before Christmas and he believes the company is in breach of traffic regulations.

However, he won’t blame the individual bus drivers, adding: “They are probably under enough pressure.”

Centrebus operations director Dave Brookes responded: “Road traffic congestion is increasingly a problem in Grantham, not only for bus services but for all road users in the area.

“We regularly review our timetables and adjust running times to account for the increasing number of cars on the road, and to ensure we maintain a good level of service for our passengers.

“We improved the 1 timetable in January this year following feedback from passengers but traffic congestion and road works, such as the closure of the Wharf Road junction, have at times caused further delays to the service.

“We recently registered a further timetable change to the 1 service, to be implemented in October, which will give the bus more time to get to Alma Park. We hope this will improve the service further for the residents of the Alma Park area”.

He continued: “The buses we use on the route are full size single deck vehicles, or occasionally double deckers, and it is true that each bus has limited space for buggies and shopping trolleys.

“We try to accommodate as many passengers as possible at busy times but we are unfortunately restricted by the number of buggies or trolleys we can safely and legally carry, as are all other bus operators in the land.”

Grantham-based councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways and transport for Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We were sorry to hear about Mr Duffy’s difficulties with Centrebus. Although this is a commercial service and not subsidised by the county council, we will raise these concerns with them and ask that they be addressed.”

Coun Davies asked people with similar concerns to email him at cllrr.davies@lincolnshire.gov.uk.

George Duffy says Centrebus is leaving many frail and elderly passengers behind (3903096)
George Duffy says Centrebus is leaving many frail and elderly passengers behind (3903096)


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