In my last update, I mentioned that I had written to Transdev urging them to reconsider the withdrawal of the Manchester commuter service for those people living between Rawtenstall and the Red Hall Hotel North of Bury. I felt that the recommendation that I had made would have given them the opportunity to develop a profitable service alongside the existing X43 service which bypasses our communities.
Unfortunately Transdev will not compromise and have written to me to insist that the service is not financially viable. They recommend catching a bus to Bury and then using the tram to get to Manchester.
I remain convinced that a well-advertised service from Rawtenstall (or even Burnley) traveling via Edenfield and then continuing along the current X8 route would be faster than the X43 and consequently would be popular.
I have sent copies of these two routes together with the notes that I have made showing that the X8 route is faster than the X44 to Rossendale Transport. Although we are unlikely to have a continuous service from when Transdev abandon the route, I remain hopeful that Rossendale Transport will look at this route favourably.
X8 route – Approx 45 minutes (Rawtenstall to Manchester) – http://goo.gl/maps/xZlOU
X43 route – Approx 55 minutes (Rawtenstall to Manchester) – http://goo.gl/maps/o23ta
Thank you to the 144 signatories to the petition. I’ll keep you informed by email and this blog when and if I hear more news or information from Rossendale Transport.
I spoke to Mr Timberlake today who confirmed that they will not be reinstating any service through Edenfield even though he admitted that “some of the runs are busy”! He also suggested that the only reason that the X43 is more popular now is because it doesn’t go through Edenfield – nothing to do with petrol prices or parking in Manchester I’m sure…
A bus then a tram is so expensive too, alright for him on his wage I suppose. Are our so called helpful Councillors doing anything to assist us? Why are we paying them?
Hi Sarah,
I think that Transdev are clueless. They fail to realise that coming through Edenfield adds at most 5 minutes to their journey times. They don’t complain about Edenfield when they come through each time the by-pass is congested.
Our proposal to run occasional buses through Edenfield but terminating in Northern Manchester like the X8 could have been an excellent service for them.
It is pretty obvious that this decision is not related to the profitability of the route. They could make it profitable if they chose to run it sensibly. I just hope that Rossendale Transport will take the route on and rub Transdev’s nose in it when people start leaving the X43 for the faster “via Edenfield” service…… Fingers crossed.