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MP and bus firm boss call for urgent action on M6

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Thomas Calderbank said issues on the M6 are having a knock-on effect on bus services in Preston

The boss of a Preston bus operator has called for urgent safety improvements on the M6 after repeated closures have caused "severe disruption".

Thomas Calderbank from Preston Bus has written to the transport secretary and the Ribble Valley MP Maya Ellis, to explain how crashes on parts of the motorway in Lancashire have been causing chaos for drivers and passengers.

Ellis, raised the issue in the Commons, where she told MPs that collisions and closures had become "a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence".

The Department for Transport has been contacted for comment.

Mr Calderbank said he was deeply concerned about the long-term effects the traffic problems would have on "public confidence in our services".

He said the motorway closures "have directly impacted our bus services, our drivers, and most importantly, our passengers".

Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Transport Lillian Greenwood agreed to meet Ellis to discuss the issues after she raised her concerns in the House of Commons.

Parliament UK Official portrait of Labour MP, Maya Ellis. She has long, straight dark hair and a red top. She is standing in front of a plain dark grey backgroundParliament UK
Labour MP, Maya Ellis, is to meet with the Secretary of State for Transport

There was a serious collision between a van and a lorry on the motorway on 15 May between junction 31a and junction 32.

The M6 was also closed due to a lorry fire on 22 May near junction 31 causing delays and congestion as commuters tried to find a way around.

Mr Calderbank said the knock-on effect meant the private bus company experienced a month's worth of cancellations on one day.

His open letter said following the lorry fire "severe disruption" included:

  • 70 individual bus journeys, amounting to over 350 miles, had to be cancelled
  • By 16:00 BST not a single Preston Bus service in Preston was running on time
  • Buses were taking well over an hour to travel between Royal Preston Hospital and the city centre.

Ms Ellis told MPs "economic growth requires people to be able to get to work".

She said: "Yet another road traffic accident has had a hugely disruptive impact on the mainly small roads around it in my constituency.

"Yet again, my residents in Longridge, Grimsargh and all the surrounding areas woke up to the prospect of another journey to work that takes two hours instead of 20 minutes, and this is becoming a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence."

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