A gap in bus routes which will see communities without services for more than two weeks has been blamed on an operator which pulled out of running them.
Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen has criticised local bus operator Arriva for putting profits before people after previously pulling out of providing several routes throughout the region.
It meant local authorities were urgently called into action alongside the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) to save dozens of routes, including several in Darlington, which were set to be removed from timetables for good. Among the changes was a lifeline for the 12 route, which serves Hurworth and Middleton St George, before visiting Darlington town centre.
But some services have seen their routes changed to take in more areas due to the cuts - and despite the reprieve, with operators like Stagecoach taking over some responsibility, passengers will find some services will be off the road for a brief period.
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Explaining the delay for the 6/6a service, cllr Lorraine Tostevin, of Hurworth, said: “Normally when registering a service, a bus operator is required to give 10 weeks notice to the Traffic Commissioner. Due to the nature of the funding Stagecoach could not achieve the full 10 weeks and so submitted a short notice registration, which is permitted.
“Unfortunately, the Traffic Commissioner has rejected this application based on short notice and citing competition issues. The Traffic Commissioner has, however, accepted a start date of 21st September under full notice.
“TVCA are writing to the Traffic Commissioner to try and get the decision overturned and in the meantime are seeking alternative options in order to bridge the gap and maintain service continuity for the public.”
It means there will be a gap in some services from Sunday, September 3 to Wednesday, September 20.
Mayor Ben Houchen remains critical of Arriva’s approach, after previously saying the operator wanted more money and left passengers behind.
“For months now, local authorities and I have tried working with Arriva to agree on a level of service that guarantees value for taxpayers’ money and gets local people where they need to be,” he said.
“Despite generous funding awards, it became clear Arriva would still not meet its previous coverage.
“In our hard work trying to keep local people moving in the face of their behaviour, we secured an alternative service with a different provider. This prompted Arriva to make a complaint to the Traffic Commissioner that we are now disputing.
“Not willing to run the service themselves but not wanting to face any competition, this is yet another example of how Arriva are doing the best for their profits, not our people. Passengers can be reassured we’re looking at any and all alternatives to make sure disruption is kept to a minimum and we’ll have more information soon.”
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Arriva defended its position, however.
A spokeswoman said: “Like other operators, Arriva bid to operate the replacement service. During the bidding process, we made it clear to TVCA that as this is not a direct, like for like replacement service, parts of the new route would directly compete with existing services and therefore a short notice registration would not meet the statutory requirements to cut short the formal notification process required by law.
“This process is in place to ensure open and fair competition, both for commencing and ceasing bus routes and Arriva are equally bound by the same rules.”
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