| Re: Cornwall: more council control of Cornish buses to be considered Posted by grahame at 10:34, 30th September 2026 |     |
Can I point (bus-y) members towards the TravelWatch SouthWest meeting on 9th October where the theme of the day will be "socially necessary bus services".
See https://www.passenger.chat/r32460.html
| Re: Cornwall: more council control of Cornish buses to be considered Posted by LiskeardRich at 09:15, 30th September 2026 | |
Unfortunately this is a consequence of living in a sparsely populated rural location. Having a more regular bus to a village with a population of 1500, the majority will be car users who can’t be convinced to use public transport no matter how good the transport is.the rest of the 78 route passes through hamlets with less than a dozen routes each.
These people who move to these lovely rural villages don’t think, “what if I have to give up driving”.
Upton cross has its best service in several decades, until the current council tenders in 2020 they had 2 buses a day. They now have the 78 and 78A, which suffers from punctuality issues but always runs except in extreme circumstances.
As a rural bus driver myself at another operator, running times are unpredictable around rural country lane routes. You could have a perfect clear run through one day bang on time, the next day you’ll meet every farmer with their tractor and trailer and spend more time going backwards than forwards
| Cornwall: more council control of Cornish buses to be considered Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 00:34, 30th September 2026 | |
From the BBC:
More council control of Cornish buses to be considered
Cornwall Council has said it will look into how it could take more control over local bus services in future.
The authority said it would be doing more research into potential models for operating buses - including a greater say over timetables and routes. It currently spends more than £12m a year to subsidise about half of all services - but private company Go Cornwall operates the routes.
The announcement came as villagers complained services for people living in rural areas of Cornwall are too infrequent and unreliable.
Diana Miller, 84, from Upton Cross, near Callington, said she now relied on the 78 and 78A bus services through her village after hurting her shoulder and being unable to drive. "The bus service here is absolutely appalling. They're virtually every two hours and it sometimes just leaves you stranded. We've had to get cabs back from Launceston and it's cost us £30," she said.
She said she had missed medical appointments because the bus had been late - and it left both old and young people isolated. "The last bus back from Liskeard in the afternoon is at 4.30pm, so the young people have to rely on their parents - hopefully they can pick them up. "I can't go out in the evening because there's no bus. I don't understand why the Cornish have put up with bad rural services," she added.
Go Cornwall, which operate the services, said roadworks in the area were to blame for current unreliability.
(BBC article continues)
Cornwall Council has said it will look into how it could take more control over local bus services in future.
The authority said it would be doing more research into potential models for operating buses - including a greater say over timetables and routes. It currently spends more than £12m a year to subsidise about half of all services - but private company Go Cornwall operates the routes.
The announcement came as villagers complained services for people living in rural areas of Cornwall are too infrequent and unreliable.
Diana Miller, 84, from Upton Cross, near Callington, said she now relied on the 78 and 78A bus services through her village after hurting her shoulder and being unable to drive. "The bus service here is absolutely appalling. They're virtually every two hours and it sometimes just leaves you stranded. We've had to get cabs back from Launceston and it's cost us £30," she said.
She said she had missed medical appointments because the bus had been late - and it left both old and young people isolated. "The last bus back from Liskeard in the afternoon is at 4.30pm, so the young people have to rely on their parents - hopefully they can pick them up. "I can't go out in the evening because there's no bus. I don't understand why the Cornish have put up with bad rural services," she added.
Go Cornwall, which operate the services, said roadworks in the area were to blame for current unreliability.
(BBC article continues)
