Pupils and workers hit by cut to bus commuter services (From Knutsford Guardian)

Pupils and workers hit by cut to bus commuter services

9:00am Tuesday 12th February 2013 in News By James Wilson

The number 27 bus will no longer go through Over Peover at peak times

VILLAGERS have told the Guardian they have been left stranded after a bus company decided to cut its ‘commuter’ service to the two nearby towns.

In the Guardian two weeks ago it was revealed that from February 11, the 27 Knutsford to Macclesfield service will no longer stop along Bexton Lane and Beggermans Lane in Knutsford.

But now residents in Over Peover have slammed the additional changes which will mean no rush hour services will serve the village.

The service was previously changed in October 2012 meaning that a morning service that left the village to head to Knutsford at 8am was changed to an hour earlier – leaving Knutsford Academy students waiting outside their classrooms until the school opened.

Resident Viv Cunningham told the Guardian the changes would mean the village would lose its commuter service to Knutsford and Macclesfield.

“My son and others who get this bus to go to school or work in the morning and come home at night will have no public transport option,” she said.

“We are encouraged to be green and use public transport but then it is cut.

“The timings in the middle of the day are often almost empty – so why not cut some of those instead of the more essential commuter times which are much busier?”

Fellow parent Sarah Gilbert added: “They got rid of the 8am service and replaced it with a 7am one and my son gets that but the school doesn’t open until 8.30am – but now they are getting rid of the earlier one.

“The last bus back is at 3.15pm but he finishes school at 3.20pm.

“He’s got revision sessions as well so won’t be able to go to those. It’s going to be a real issue getting him to school.”

David Shelley, commercial director for Centrebus, which owns the company that operates the 27 service, told the Guardian the company’s stance was similar to that when the Beggarmans Lane detour was axed.

“Usage at peak times was extremely limited and not widely used for school or work,” he said.

“Taking a more direct and less traffic prone route at peak times will improve the overall reliability of the service.”