Public transport campaigners in Epping Forest have been told that there’s no money to subsidise proposed late-evening bus services between Waltham Cross and Loughton/Debden. The services were intended to replace and extend the evening 250 and 251 services, which ended in August 2017 leaving no buses through Waltham Abbey after 9.15pm.
The Epping Forest Transport Action Group (EFTAG) approached Essex County Council to look into subsidising the later after a campaign to save the original 250 and 251 failed, which led to launching a Judicial Review into the decision to cut them.
Dave Plummer, EFTAG’s lead bus campaigner, said,
‘This will be a huge blow to people working locally in care homes, hospitality and shift workers, along with people returning from London and anybody who needs to travel around our towns during the night without driving or racking up taxi fares.’
‘Evidence provided by EFTAG and a local bus operator showed that there is a real need for these services and the subsidy would have come in at £1.43 per passenger journey, much lower than the County Council’s £5 cap.’
‘We appreciate that Essex County Council faces massive funding cuts and we’re grateful for their time and support. We’ll continue to work with them and hope we can find a way to subsidise these essential services.’
Buses will be on the agenda at EFTAG’s first Annual General Meeting in Loughton on Monday 25th June. For more information and to register visit http://eftag.org.uk/agm2018