Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot

[cfm146g]

RE: Arriva North West - Runcorn Depot

(10/03/2021 21:08)trixmax2000 Wrote:  From the 11th April Timetable & Routes will be amended with buses no longer using the Mersey Gateway Bridge and revert to the SJB and West Bank,
This will also mean that the 61 will no longer serving Halton Road this was always the plan even with Halton Transport,
On average this will also be a saving of around 3 miles for each crossing

Halton Council made it clear to the operators that when the SJB reopened all buses, whether on local service or not, would be charged on the Gateway bridge but local buses would not be charged on the SJB. This, they explained, was to ensure that the bus companies continued to serve the old town in Runcorn.
What that now means is that there is no option of a faster, more direct service like the 14A as was, between the new town and Widnes. I don't think that either Halton or Arriva intended to abandon the old town but I do think that if you want to encourage people to switch to public transport then forcing all the new town passengers to go on a ten minute detour around the old town to get to Widnes is counterproductive and a faster link could be worked in place of some of the other routes which seem to me to be overcovering some of the roads in the old town.