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Councillors are among those fighting the changes to the Woodley routes
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Bus users hit out over cuts to Woodley's 63/64 service

November 18, 2009

Anger bus users facing service cuts and changes to routes in Woodley hit out at the proposals at a public meeting.

Around 50 commuters gathered at the community services committee meeting of Woodley Town Council last Tuesday, at The Oakwood Centre in Headley Road, to speak out over Reading Buses’ plan to axe the area’s 62 service and its premier 63 and 64 routes.

Under its proposals, which were put out to public consultation last month, the routes would be withdrawn and replaced with new timetables of alternative routes between Woodley and Reading.

However, it is understood the 62 service, which serves areas such as Bulmershe Leisure Centre in Chequers Way and Silver Fox Crescent, will continue to run on Sundays under the operation of Wokingham Borough Council, if the plans are approved.

In response, the borough council has decided to put the routes out to tender.

The firm’s decision to remove the two premier routes, which serve the Airfield estate and its surrounding areas, has courted the most controversy.

These two routes are to be broken down and incorporated into four new routes serving the town on a half-hour and hourly basis. Routes 12, 13 and 14 will commute passengers from Woodley to Reading, via Earley, while route N14 will provide an evening circular variant of the services after 7.15pm.

Frustrated commuters feel a once straight forward journey to places such as Royal Berkshire Hospital and the Loddon Vale Practice in Hurricane Way will now take longer.

Councillor Beth Rowland, leader of Woodley Town Council, said the committee took note of residents’ views.

Cllr Rowland said: “I don’t like to see our residents disadvantaged but they have to realise Reading Buses is running a commercial service. They need to continue using the buses or lose the buses.

“We had a lot of residents at the meeting who were very angry with the changes.

“Wokingham Borough Council has decided to tender some of the services, but there is no way it will pay £250,000 to reinstate these services.”

The council recently brokered a deal with Reading Buses to delay the proposed revamp of its routes until next year.

Following the meeting Cllr Keith Baker, executive member for highways and transport at the borough council and ward member for Coronation, said an emergency meeting of the executive is likely to take place in December to discuss the tendering process.

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If they were not interested in serving woodley, they would not have put new buses on the route and it would not have been added as part of the premier route structure. I would like to add the buses are still very clean. My main concern is how, along with other parts of Reading, the network is becoming much more complicated. While I understand there needs to be value for money, Please can you also consider the bigger picture Cllr Barker? I know that using another operator will be a bad move longer term, and will only makes things harder for the average passenger as things like RB accepting another operators tickets will cause issues. Also it will undermine Reading buses. Again short term won't cause a major issue, and i'm sure it will make you feel good, longer term bad news. Also Please stop giving them bad press, and give us the good as well, such as the 62 is now only being subsidised on a Saturday than all week- money saved. You really are not doing the passengers, the company or indeed yourself any favours acting like this. You also seemed happy to suppport them when they increased the frequency at their OWN risk. I also think its about time someone from RT was interviewed fairly over this, not the usual Anti Reading transport reporting the EP gives over and over again, and the usual half story.

hornbeam, reading
18/11/2009 at 21:50

Cllr Baker. Silver Royal makes some valid points and is only saying what a good majority of the public think. The councils (i'm including Reading and Wokingham) and Reading Buses conveniently sidestep questions from the public maybe even not releasing certain information when they announce public consultation especially about dates of the consultation! Silver Royal is also correct in stating there is no information on Reading Buses website about service changes (I looked myself when it was in the Evening Post last week).

Please will you or colleagues at the council announce honestly in the press exactly what the plans from Woodley and Earley are for the routes into Reading, why the changes are necessary and the amount of money it is costing me as a taxpayer on your consulations.

Why are Reading Buses and the two councils keeping quiet? I think we need to find out.

RYF, Royal County of Berkshire
18/11/2009 at 18:11

Silver Royal - I know you do not like me and you love throwing personal insults to me which is fine. Who am I to stop your "fun". However, to answer your question what are WBC going out to tender the answer has been provided several times. And it is actually quite obvious to most people - we are tendering for the bits that Reading Buses do not want to continue providing.

Cllr Keith Baker
18/11/2009 at 17:23

I wonder how many of 'you' actually use the Woodley Buses. I've never got on one that isn't at least a third full, and as full as the 17 normally is. Can someone give figures like they give for airlines, to show how well a route is used. Perhaps the Airfield part of the journey, which in time is a good 2 thirds longer than from Reading to the Shopping centre, is the problem so why not do alternate buses around this part instead of complete circuits as now. Seems everyone is throwing the baby out with the bathwater when a bit of tinkering and proper discussions between RB and WBC is called for. And yes, I agree that Woodley is 'part' of Greater Reading and there needs to be transport integration, but come on, who would volunteer to come under the control of RBC. WBC is the lesser of the evils!!

Bingley, Woodley
18/11/2009 at 14:13

More thoughts. What about the young people who attend Bulmershe School who rely on the current regular bus service from Central/East Reading to drop them outside the school gates or reduced property prices in Woodley because there isn't a regular direct bus service to commute into central Reading?

One more, other than walking or cycling how are Councillors expected to travel to their meetings in a cost effective manner?

RYF, Royal County of Berkshire
18/11/2009 at 14:04

I can cope with the [current] night bus going through Lower Earley but for the whole service to take that route is absurd. 45 minutes(i'm guessing) at off peak times, to get to or from Reading is appalling

I have always sung the praises of Woodley's bus service using it whenever convenient but the price is a huge deterrent especially if there is more than one of you travelling.

Mrs Jones, Woodley
18/11/2009 at 13:57

Part of this issue highlights the ridiculous boundaries we have. Are Wokingham really that interested on how people get to/from Reading? I imagine the catch is that although the regulars will protest about any changes, if the route was really profitable I don't think there would be these proposals - therefore not enough people are using it, so a business decision has to be made and it is then a choice for the local authorities on how much they love there residents and want to subsidise it.

Smiffy, Reading
18/11/2009 at 13:56

Can someone sometime actually tell us, the public, the fodder who use the buses, what the proposals by Reading Buses, and by WBC, are? What are WBC proposing to go to tender on, or haven't they appointed the consultants to tell them yet? The EP has now run at least three stories on this which have been a work of art in not actually giving any facts, and the reference to Reading Buses swebite gives no information either. For those who could not get to the meeting, which seems to have had no relevance anyway becuase the proposed changes, and WBC's response were all decided before had - so much for democracy, what is proposed. Do a decent article, I dare you. And I still think WBC talking big - 'we are going to go to tender to protect peoples' money' is the biggest load of spin yet to come out of Councillor Baker, who doesn't know the difference between an Engineer and an Architect, and is no doubt looking for a pony trap firm to help him out!

Silver Royal, Woodley
18/11/2009 at 13:53

Cut the buses and then introduce 'congestion' charging. Easy money !

Kingsley Royal, Woodley
18/11/2009 at 13:47

One other thought I've had. Reading Borough Council, I recall were after City status and a 24-hour economy. Cutting bus services to residential areas must hamper this plan?

RYF, Royal County of Berkshire
18/11/2009 at 13:08

Of course they haven't taken any of your concerns into account. Reading Buses are far more interested in discouraging Woodley residents from using the buses so they can justify not running any services there. They've been at it for years.

Vestan Pance
18/11/2009 at 12:55

That picture was taken at the launch of "premier" version of the 63/64 route. That is why it is all smiles and why the bus is so clean.

To ony have an hourly "night" service running after 7:15 is crazy. I work until 7pm most days, although in a completely different area, but it is the same reason why I can't get the bus home from Wokingham after work - the buses stop before 7. Do these companies think people lock themselves inside after this hour? No, they just know they won't make any money, so despite being told by the government we should all ditch our cars, we can't even use buses to get home after work, let alone go and do things in the evening!

This does change the public transport information on the Sandford Farm development, which the planning inspector recently said new residents would all use. Will they, when their previously fairly direct service now takes a circuitous route through traffic, runs less frequently and costs more? No, and neither will the current residents. But "that's ok" because by then there's "no demand", so the service can stop entirely(!) But what does this matter, the decision is made so will go ahead despite assumptions that were made now proving false! Same with Plough Lane in Wokingham where development was allowed partly because the Northern Relief Road wasn't going to exist beside it. Just 6 months later, that road appeared in the borough's future development strategy. But that is an entirely different story.

mavdo, Wokingham
18/11/2009 at 12:47

Look at all those happy smiling councillors. Chap in the middle with the beige jacket hardly has the look of a concerned councillor losing a Premier bus route. And is that Delia at the front? How long did they have to wait for the bus for the photo opportunity, and did the bus driver complain when they stood there too long?

Add to that the bus looks remarkably clean.

I have my own concerns with the proposed changes such as how long is the new route, how long does the journey take particularly at peak times, the lack of frequency of services after 7.15pm to Woodley, the amount of fuel these buses will use on a longer route which will involve a lot of queuing and will they be using double decker buses on the route as there will be capacity issues. I hope Reading Buses and our local coucillors have taken all this into account.