Village bus service cuts are under scrutiny

CUTS to bus services in the north of the borough are falling foul of disgruntled residents.

A revised schedule from Arriva to serve Ratby and Groby comes into force on February 18. Service 28 covering parts of Groby village is being removed while Service 26 will pick up some but not all of the abandoned route.

The bus firm maintains the changes will “deliver better punctuality” towards Leicester city centre and Coalville.

However locals are unhappy with the changes which cut out Ratby Road Groby including a popular stop at Ratby Allotments as well as Glebe Road and Pymm Lee Lane.

Instead Stephenson Way and Woodbank Road will be served instead.

Arriva say users boarding at the allotments stop can use alternatives at Lawnwood Shopping Parade.

Ward representative Ozzy O’Shea has had discussions on the matter with Arri- va bosses and urged them to ensure services are maintained for the vulnerable and elderly.

He said: “The problem is it’s a commercial route and Arriva are saying it’s not financially viable because they aren’t getting the passengers. My concerns are that although the service attracts low numbers of passengers, these are the people who are vulnerable and rely on it the most.”

Following two meetings Cllr O’Shea said Arriva were looking to re-engage some of the stops during off-peak times if timings allowed.

Publicising the revisions Arriva said: “Services along the Groby Road will now run every 10 minutes between the city centre and County Hall and every 20 minutes to Coalville. We have also introduced additional early morning journeys throughout the week and aligned services with shift times at Amazon to improve access to employment.”