"No-one is happy with the service": Passengers hit out over Stagecoach cuts to Bedford buses

They claim they are even worse off than before with some services reduced.

But, Stagecoach bosses have clapped back – saying the simple truth is it needs to run buses where people actually want to catch them.

The new timetable was introduced on June 3 and according to the Lib Dems, services 4 and 10 have been reduced to one every 45 minutes in each direction, service 5 to one every 30 minutes – and the 53 bus in Kempston and 41 in Biddenham still don’t run on Sundays.

One resident said: “I am very disappointed with the number 10 bus service. I understand the bus due at 8am was 45 minutes late and I went for the 8.55am which finally arrived at 9.20am. This is simply unacceptable as three other people that were waiting for the same bus said I am going home and will take my car into town as this service cannot be trusted or relied on.

“This situation cannot continue and must be sorted out as a matter of urgency. I have been talking to people who need to get to work and school – no-one is happy with the service since it was made 45 minutes between each bus.”

In Kempston, residents are also frustrated, with one resident telling the Lib Dems residents have been forced to use taxis on Sundays – “however, taxis are not affordable for those on limited incomes”.

Wootton residents have also been left with the bizarre situation of being able to catch two weekday buses within two minutes, and then no service for an hour.

And one Biddenham resident – Victoria Kahl – is so fed up she’s even set up a petition for a regular bus service

She said: “I feel that Biddenham deserves some kind of bus service on a Sunday… also there are no buses available from 5pm to 5.30pm for people finishing work.”

The Lib Dems also have a petition which you can access here

But David Boden, business development director of Stagecoach East, said: “The simple reality is that, as a local bus operator, we have an obligation to use our resources to best match the changing travel patterns of people in the region. That is to say: we need to run buses where people actually want to catch them.

“On the 4, 5 and 10 services, sadly, despite our best efforts to try and grow passenger numbers, the number of passengers choosing to use these services remains very low, meaning they do not even cover their own costs of service. Congestion in the centre of Bedford also have not helped. We want to do whatever we can to provide a service and the only way for us to do this is to take the reluctant decision to reduce frequencies to a level which meets the number of current travelling passengers.

“For the 41 and 53, neither of these have run a Sunday service since at least 2022, when, again, passenger numbers were extremely low.

“We would always say that we are very happy to speak to and work with any local elected officials, to decide how we can work together to identify the areas where people really do want to travel, so we can continue to develop a local bus network that meets people’s needs today.

“As people who work on the local buses, we get up every morning dedicated to providing the best service that we can to our local communities. We work very hard on issues like reliability – and that is making a real difference. For example, each week we monitor the amount of miles our buses travelled compared to the amount they are scheduled to do. Last week, across our full range in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, we completed over 99.5% of its scheduled miles.”