n By Hajera Blagg
If you wanted to catch a bus from the Welsh hamlet Bwlch-Derwin to the nearest major town Caernarfon – only nine miles away – you’d better not miss it. Otherwise, you may have to wait two hours for the next one.
If you’re entirely reliant on public transport in Bwlch-Derwin, you can’t visit your friends in town past eight. There’s no ‘nipping into’ the nearest local shop. A bus trip there – over four miles away in Penygroes – can easily turn into a whole day affair.
As inadequate as bus services already are in rural Wales, they’re absolutely vital. Any cuts to services would be nothing short of devastating, leaving entire communities cut off.
But a future of extreme isolation – especially for the most vulnerable – isn’t just an imagined nightmare. It’s a very real possibility after the Welsh government announced the end of the Bus Emergency Scheme (BES), which provided funding for bus services throughout Wales since the pandemic.
With nothing substantial yet to take the scheme’s place, it is estimated that as many 35 to 45 per cent of bus routes in Wales could be slashed, with hundreds of jobs potentially being lost in the sector. And as with all services run for profit, the least profitable routes will be the first to go, no matter how desperately needed they are by local communities.
Unite Community member Kevin Pass told Landworker that cuts to
bus services in and around Bwlch- Derwin would be catastrophic.
“While our family does have car, earlier in the year, it was stuck in the garage for two months waiting for parts,” he explained. “We had to rely entirely on the buses and it was a huge struggle – and that’s with bus services as they are now.”
Kevin explained that his children who are in primary and secondary school are guaranteed free transport to their respective schools because they live over three miles away. At the moment, they’re being picked up by taxis. But once his son, who’s now doing his GCSEs, goes on to do his A-levels, he’ll need to go to a college nine miles away – and he’ll have to make his own way.
“At the moment, he’ll have to take two buses to get to the college. Each of those is more than 20 minutes, then there’s waiting for the transfer, and the 20 minute walk to the bus station,” Kevin noted. “If bus routes were to be cut, then it would have a huge impact on young people seeking education.”
Kevin highlighted one instance three years ago at a nearby town called Criccieth, where a local private bus company’s license was revoked, plunging bus services there into chaos.
“There was no else to provide bus services in the area so for three or four months, there were absolutely no buses running in Criccieth and children literally couldn’t get to school,” he noted. “It was a total disaster.”
And it isn’t only young people who’ll be affected by cuts to rural bus routes in Wales, Kevin added.
“There are many older people who live alone in the local area, and getting to town to socialise is important for their mental health. Whether it’s getting to work, going to meet friends or getting an education, buses are a fundamental public need.”
After the Welsh government announced that the BES funding scheme would be ending in July,
Unite launched a campaign called Back your Bus Route that is calling on the government to take action to protect bus routes.
Chair of Unite’s passenger transport RISC, Martin Murphy, who’s also been a bus driver for nearly two decades, said the union’s campaign is absolutely vital. “Without adequate funding to replace the BES scheme, bus operators will then cut routes that they don’t make a profit on, mainly the rural routes,” he explained. “This will cut off communities completely.”
Like Kevin, Martin emphasised the importance of rural bus routes. “Buses take elderly people to the shops, to their hospital and doctors’ appointments, and children to their schools and back. My operator recently pulled out a part of a route at my depot, and that’s cut off a connection that local kids take to get to college – cuts to routes have
15 uniteLANDWORKERSummer 2023
very serious, real-life consequences for people in our communities.” Martin added the uncertainty over funding is also having an effect on bus drivers themselves. “For some time now, bus drivers have been leaving the industry in droves, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to recruit,” he said. “Now with the uncertainty over funding, many more bus drivers are leaving. We’re concerned now that even if the funding is secured, there won’t be enough bus drivers left.”
Both Kevin and Martin urged the Welsh government to take action to protect bus routes. “All we’re asking is for honesty and transparency so that both bus workers and the communities we serve can have some security for the future,” Martin said.
Kevin highlighted that just as the Unite Back your Bus Route campaign started, already Unite Community members in his area are getting involved.
“There’s a retired couple who are using their older person’s bus passes to have a ride around on all the buses all day to hand out Unite leaflets on the campaign,” he explained. “We’ll also be going into Pwllheli to hand out leaflets at the bus interchange there. It’s vital that people are aware of what’s happening so that we can write to local politicians and make sure our voices heard. We cannot lose our buses – they’re part of the very social fabric of our communities.”
update
As Landworker went to print, the Welsh government announced it would be extending the BES scheme for another financial year, but there is as yet no detail over the actual funding that operators need. Unite’s campaign is far from over – Unite continues to call for a long-term funding solution for Wales’ buses.
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