Elderly and disabled need St Ives buses

HOW can Stagecoach assert that the re-routing of the bus service between Huntingdon and St Ives will provide a better service?

If people going to Huntingdon have to walk or catch a bus into St Ives in order to catch a bus to Huntingdon, how is this an ‘express service’? Do they not realise that there are elderly and disabled people living on the north side of St Ives who rely on the bus service not only to get into St Ives town centre but also to the Spinney surgery and the Ramsey Road shops?

I pose these questions in the hope of persuading the company to reconsider before the proposed new routes come into effect in July.

Mrs PATRICIA CAULKIN

Lancaster Drive

St Ives

Editor’s note: Andy Campbell, managing director of Stagecoach East, responds: “While it is true that the B service will not serve the top of Ramsey Road/Hill Rise during the daytime (still served evenings and Sundays). The A service will offer an increased frequency on the full length of Ramsey Road, so customers in St Ives will still be able to get to the Spinney Surgery and Ramsey Road shops.

“I believe that some people are suggesting that St Ives will not have a Stagecoach service in the Ramsey Road/Hill Rise area. In fact, the bus service coverage of St Ives will improve in July as the A service is extended from St Ives park-and-ride site. The B service will still serve the Oxmoor estate, but the journey will be quicker for Huntingdon customers.

“I would also like to point out that the in last week’s letter from Mr Barraclough that this move is a punishment for the town council decision not to allow buses through the town is ludicrous, as the proposed changes were outlined to the town council before it made the decision.”