DOZENS of key bus services in County Durham and Darlington are threatened with being scrapped or significantly reduced.
Arriva North East has proposed widespread changes to timetables from July 9, which would see 25 services in the County Durham and Darlington area affected, as well as changes in the wider Tees Valley area.
The bus operator says withdrawing or making significant changes to bus services is “always a very last resort” and the difficult decision has been taken following “exhaustive efforts” , after failing to reach a funding agreement with Durham County Council and Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA).
The full finalised list is due to be revealed this week but documents seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service show the extent of the proposed changes, which include Barnard Castle:
l Service 6, Durham to Cockfield – due to reductions in English National Concessionary funding support from Durham County Council and subsequent unsustainable passenger demand/financial position as a result, Service 6 will be revised to operate to a 20‐minute frequency during Monday to Saturday daytimes between Durham and West Auckland. Only some morning and afternoon peak journeys will extend to Cockfield and there will be no service between Cockfield and Barnard Castle. This is due to unsustainable passenger demand.
l Service X75/X76 Darlington to Barnard Castle – due to reductions in English National Concessionary funding support from Durham County Council and subsequent unsustainable passenger demand and financial position. Sunday journeys on Service X75 will be withdrawn from July 9.
In its report, Arriva said: “Unfortunately, the rates at which both Durham County Council and Tees Valley Combined Authority have felt able to reimburse Arriva for their respective ENCTS schemes for this new financial year has been cut by up to 28 per cent in comparison to levels of reimbursement provided before Covid.
“At the same time Arriva are operating around 94 per cent of service miles in comparison across both areas in total.
“These reimbursement rates fall well below the levels paid by other authorities within the region and, in our view, are not in line with the latest concessionary guidance issued by the Department for Transport.
“We would like to apologise for any disruption.”
The operator says the changes have been made with the aim of minimising the impact of reductions on passengers while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the network.
“We appreciate the financial constraints that both authorities are working under, however the reimbursement rates proposed will not continue to cover the costs of running a significant number of our services and has regrettably led to this decision,” the report added.
“We know how important our bus network is to our customers. We remain committed to working in partnership with Tees Valley Combined Authority and Durham County Council to deliver the high‐quality service that local communities deserve.”
It comes after the Government confirmed Arriva would receive a funding boost to improve services in the local area.
Arriva performance in the County Durham and Darlington has previously been labelled “abysmal” by furious residents who demand a better service, after telling of missing work and hospital appointments.
