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Droitwich Branch: Answers to Labour’s Questions on the Proposed Changes to the 144 Bus Route

Following the questions put forward by the Labour Party in Droitwich, we have received answers to these from County Councillors

The Droitwich Branch of the Labour Party in Mid Worcestershire recently posed 5 questions to the County Council with regards to the proposed changes to the 144 bus route following the announcement that the service will no longer terminate in Birmingham.

We can now confirm that Labour Town Councillor, Alan Humphries, has received answers to these 5 questions and these can be viewed below:

  1. The new service is currently being offered for 6 months only (subject to review) and we believe our residents need something more definite than that.
  • We are working with National Express to develop a solution for the 144 and to provide a sustainable service for the long term future.
  1. In the absence of details, to travel to Birmingham could now involve 3 separate costs, making the journey more expensive than it used to be coming at a time when everyone is feeling the impact of rising costs in every area of their lives.

Please see statement regarding the cost of fares from National Express “National Express West Midlands has a range of low-cost ticket and pass options to suit customers’ travel needs. You don’t even need to be always trying to work out the best fares – if you simply tap your contactless bank card each time you get on a bus, you’ll never pay more than £4 to travel all day anywhere on our services.” Concessionary pass holders will not be affected.

  1. 3 separate journeys (6 if you count the return) will be extremely difficult for those with disability and mobility issues especially if they’re attending hospital appointments.

Unfortunately the de-registration of this section of the route was a commercial decision by First bus who have made it clear to the county council they were not willing to continue the service, any resolution moving forward had to involve a different bus company whilst we understand the issues around people wanting to get a direct service at this current time that was not possible. We have tried to provide a joined up timetable at Bromsgrove with the existing 144 and at Longbridge there are frequent follow on national Express Services as well as train services.

  1. Will the timetable for the new service “marry” up with that of the 144 into and out of Bromsgrove allowing time to change and not leaving bus users waiting for an overly long period of time for that connection?

We have tried to limit waiting time and as much as possible with the existing 144 and we are monitoring the service closely with National Express.

  1. There is no Sunday service – yet people in certain jobs still must work on a Sunday and hospital appointments can now take place on the Sabbath, causing difficulties for a significant number of people.

We are working with National Express to develop a longer term solution and we will be discussing Sunday services. The county council currently does not subsidise any Sunday services within the county, however we are currently undertaking a review of the commercial network and will be looking how our subsidies can help achieve the ambitions set out in our Passenger Transport Strategy.