Decision to axe Saturday bus through Wiltshire criticised

People living in two villages say they have been left "stranded" by a decision to axe a bus route on Saturdays.

Operator Stagecoach West said it was forced to cut the 46 between Swindon and Hungerford due to low usage at weekends, and it will now only run on weekdays.

The change will allow Wiltshire Council to save £18,000 from its bus budget.

One user said passengers were given very little warning of the changes.

They said those living in the villages of Ramsbury and Aldbourne are now stranded if they need to access their most convenient railway station at Hungerford.

"It also strands people in Hungerford who might work in Swindon," the passenger told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A spokesman for Stagecoach West said it was facing "unprecedented" increases to operating costs.

"Passenger usage of service 46 was very low on Saturdays and most of the passengers that were using it on that day to travel to Swindon are now able to travel on service 48 instead," he said.

Wiltshire Council's cabinet member for transport, Caroline Thomas said: "Stagecoach, notified us during the spring that due to rising costs they could no longer operate the contracts for this and three other bus services at their current tender price."

She continued: "The price increase for the contracts would have been £186,000, but a saving of £18,000 could be achieved by not running the journeys that served Hungerford on Saturdays.

"We reluctantly decided to accept that option, as the average number of journeys made by residents to and from Hungerford on a Saturday was just five in each direction, spread across 10 trips."

Ms Thomas added: "We understand the inconvenience this change has caused to the small number of passengers who travelled on service 46 on Saturdays, but sadly the significant increase in cost left us with no other option."

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