South Yorkshire bus boss hopes Government won’t “turn the tap off” funding

There will be some “difficult decisions” about bus services in South Yorkshire unless the Government continues its financial support, says a transport chief.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Government funding helped services continue when passenger numbers fell during the pandemic but it’s only guaranteed until spring.

Nigel Eggleton, managing director of First, told a Sheffield Council scrutiny meeting that he remained optimistic.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“There is inevitably going to be some difficult decisions about the size and shape of the network in the next 12 to 24 months if funding disappears and we lose 20 per cent of our passenger base,” he said.

The managing director of First spoke at a Sheffield Council meetingThe managing director of First spoke at a Sheffield Council meeting
The managing director of First spoke at a Sheffield Council meeting

“There will be services and corridors where a small frequency reduction may be appropriate and there’ll be other more marginal services which will possibly, for the first time, require external funding in some way.”

Mr Eggleton said Government funding for buses was “peanuts” compared to rail investment.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“At the moment, the mood coming out of the Department For Transport hasn’t been as positive as it once was and you can understand that sentiment given the national debt and the inability to afford everything.

“But I can’t believe the Government will allow a major contraction in the bus network, that’s not what any of us want.

“Every cloud has a silver lining, we are seeing punctuality and reliability that we would have dreamed of last year. We want to do everything possible to retain that benefit for passengers.

“We don’t see significant amounts of disruption going forward. The services that were on the margin before will need support but I can’t see any significant reasons as to why we can’t achieve most, if not all of our current network, as it stands today

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Promoting public transport is the way forward. Despite a little bit of pessimism coming out of the DfT I don’t think they will turn the tap off funding completely, there still has to be some to enable public transport to survive.”

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.