Mayor fights to keep Fenland town's bus route

A newly elected mayor said he would fight to save the only direct bus service between a Cambridgeshire market town and a major city.

Stagecoach said the 33 route between March and Peterborough was due to be shortened on 31 August due to "extremely low passenger numbers", and would start and finish in Whittlesey instead.

Paul Bristow, the Conservative mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough's Combined Authority, said talks on the changes were "ongoing", with "potential options available" to keep March connected.

A passenger, who relied on the route, told the BBC that the service ending would "have a huge impact on people's jobs and mental state".

The passenger, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "For a growing community it's absolutely unacceptable."

Another bus user, Craig Denyer, 43, said he lived in Whittlesey but travelled to work in March at a care home.

"Currently the bus gets me to and from work at the right times, and costs £2 each way. When the service is cut I will have to use the train, which will be well over £10 a day," he said.

Mr Denyer added that the train times would not be ideal either, as he would have to wait 90 minutes to catch a journey home.

A third passenger, who lived in March, said they used the 33 route for regular hospital appointments in Peterborough.

The cutbacks would leave her having to use a more expensive train or using connecting buses that would mean travelling to Wisbech - "about eight miles in the wrong direction", she said.

Meanwhile, a fourth passenger, who commuted daily from Peterborough to March for work, said they were not aware the service was being stopped. They said the news meant they could be forced to find a new job closer to home.

Bristow, who is in charge of the Combined Authority that oversees the county's bus network, said: "I understand how worrying it is for people in March and surrounding villages to know that they could lose their only bus service to Peterborough.

"I have already met with Stagecoach to discuss the 33 and other routes. This dialogue continues. There are potential options for keeping March connected and I hope that we will be able to get one of these options to work."

Darren Roe, managing director of Stagecoach East, said: "I welcome our new Mayor Bristow and all the newly elected councillors into their positions. We know just how much we can achieve if we all work together.

"Cambridgeshire is a wonderful region to serve, but there are big and tough choices to be made to improve our regional transport network.

"We believe in the need to plan for the future, and now is the ideal moment to do just that."

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