‘Save the school bus’ – MP joins calls to protect Ellesmere to Oswestry service
North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has joined parents and pupils in calls to stop cuts to the number 53 bus service between Ellesmere and Oswestry.
This would see the withdrawal of the service between Ellesmere and Oswestry at 7.40am and 5.15pm, as well as the return journeys at 3.15pm and 6pm. Students from the Ellesmere area who attend The Marches or Oswestry School would be particularly badly impacted, and left unable to get to school other than by car.
As well as this, the service is set to be scrapped entirely on Saturdays – a move the North Shropshire MP is also strongly opposing.
It comes after Arriva shut its depot in Oswestry, therefore increasing the cost of services that start in the town, and after Shropshire Council ended its subsidies for the #53.
Helen has already been in contact with several constituents affected by the changes and is meeting Arriva and Shropshire Council in the coming days to push for a resolution.
Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, said:
“The Ellesmere to Oswestry bus must be protected.
“Young people in North Shropshire need to be able to access education and staff need to be able to get to work without relying on a lift.
“These cuts would make it even harder for people to travel around an already poorly-connected part of the county.
“I’m joining bus users who are calling on Arriva and Shropshire Council to knock their heads together and sort this out. This is a major route connecting two important market towns, schools and employers.
“We have to fight to save it, and we should be very clear that residents will not put up with further cuts to the school bus or the Saturday service.”
