More council control of Cornish buses to be considered

Cornwall Council has said it will look into how it could take more control over local bus services in future.

The authority said it would be doing more research into potential models for operating buses - including a greater say over timetables and routes.

It currently spends more than £12m a year to subsidise about half of all services - but private company Go Cornwall operates the routes.

The announcement came as villagers complained services for people living in rural areas of Cornwall are too infrequent and unreliable.

Diana Miller, 84, from Upton Cross, near Callington, said she now relied on the 78 and 78A bus services through her village after hurting her shoulder and being unable to drive.

"The bus service here is absolutely appalling. They're virtually every two hours and it sometimes just leaves you stranded. We've had to get cabs back from Launceston and it's cost us £30," she said.

She said she had missed medical appointments because the bus had been late - and it left both old and young people isolated.

"The last bus back from Liskeard in the afternoon is at 4.30pm, so the young people have to rely on their parents - hopefully they can pick them up.

"I can't go out in the evening because there's no bus. I don't understand why the Cornish have put up with bad rural services," she added.

Go Cornwall, which operate the services, said roadworks in the area were to blame for current unreliability.

The 78 and 78A services are among those currently subsidised by Cornwall Council because they do not generate a profit through fares.

Bob Egerton, a former councillor and bus travel campaigner, said rural services could be enhanced if other routes could be made more profitable in future.

He said: "What you need to do is to get more passengers on to buses, particularly those who have a choice between using the buses or using their cars.

"You've got to do that by making the bus service more attractive and a reasonable cost; but also you have to make the use of cars less attractive.

"If you could make the commercial routes which are self-sufficient even more profitable for the bus companies, then more money can afford to be put into the routes which it's subsidising."

The government has given local transport authorities the option to exert more power over buses - with bus franchising offering the greatest level of control.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Dan Rogerson, cabinet member for transport on Cornwall Council, said the authority had received funding to carry out more research into the best model for Cornwall.

He said: "You've got an option at one end where the council could be buying buses and operating them, or you've got companies doing their own thing. What we've got at the moment is somewhere in the middle.

"We might go slightly further on the road towards franchising - taking slightly more control in the how the timetables are set out and what that package is of buses for Cornwall."

He said franchising had worked in cities but the council wanted to find a system that suited a more rural area.

He said: "We've got communities further apart, so it's a very different type of service. It's got to work in terms of affordability.

"It's how you balance things like the financial risk - where that sits between the company and the local authority - and we want to protect the services the best that we can."

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