Avebury forum 222 room
Image by gyrus
Avebury

Sunday bus service to Avebury cut

close
more_vert
tjj T
tjj Apr 24, 2011 18:05:42
Replying to juamei

juamei wrote:
I would have thought the national trust might be prepared to help. Its in their interest to get people there after all.
The bus that is being cut is the service that connects Swindon and Devizes on a Sunday - Aveury just happens to be about mid way. I don't see why the National Trust would subsidize this service, after all they rake a lot of money in from the car park. Devizes doesn't have a train station any more so unless there is a Sunday bus from Chippenham anyone travelling back to Devizes by train on a Sunday will be stuck - or have to pay £30/£40 for a taxi. The same goes for Devizes' younger population, some of whom come into Swindon on a Saturday for clubs etc and return the next day. Its not just about travelling to Avebury though I have to say some of my best times out there have been when I've caught the early bus on a Sunday morning and had the place to myself for an hour or so. I can live with it of course, and may be leaving the area anyway in the not too distant future. Its worth remembering people did nothing when the all the little sub stations and railway lines closed down back in the days of Beecham; we are much the poorer for it - cutting Sunday bus services is a very backward step.

Note:
I don't think the X5 Service goes through Avebury anymore as am sure I read that it now incorporates one of the routes from Swindon to Marlborough - which would by-pass Avebury.

PS: Thanks for your wonderful rant tsc, I had a feeling you wouldn't be happy.

S Sanctuary
Sanctuary Apr 24, 2011 18:36:10
Replying to tjj

tjj wrote:
juamei wrote:
I would have thought the national trust might be prepared to help. Its in their interest to get people there after all.
The bus that is being cut is the service that connects Swindon and Devizes on a Sunday - Aveury just happens to be about mid way. I don't see why the National Trust would subsidize this service, after all they rake a lot of money in from the car park. Devizes doesn't have a train station any more so unless there is a Sunday bus from Chippenham anyone travelling back to Devizes by train on a Sunday will be stuck - or have to pay £30/£40 for a taxi. The same goes for Devizes' younger population, some of whom come into Swindon on a Saturday for clubs etc and return the next day. Its not just about travelling to Avebury though I have to say some of my best times out there have been when I've caught the early bus on a Sunday morning and had the place to myself for an hour or so. I can live with it of course, and may be leaving the area anyway in the not too distant future. Its worth remembering people did nothing when the all the little sub stations and railway lines closed down back in the days of Beecham; we are much the poorer for it - cutting Sunday bus services is a very backward step.

Note:
I don't think the X5 Service goes through Avebury anymore as am sure I read that it now incorporates one of the routes from Swindon to Marlborough - which would by-pass Avebury.

PS: Thanks for your wonderful rant tsc, I had a feeling you wouldn't be happy.

Maybe a forward thinking private company may take over the service during the summer months June to see if it is viable. The huge influx of visitors to the henge may be very attractive to them. Would it be worth contacting one of them if you know of any? They could of course make there own route up to their best advantage.

T thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Apr 24, 2011 20:06:01
Replying to tjj

tjj wrote:
Thanks for your wonderful rant tsc, I had a feeling you wouldn't be happy.
It's a backward step, and I think your Beeching analogy is very apt. After all, there were plenty of hidden agendas going on then as well.

Many of the lines that were closed by Beeching were perfectly viable, the overriding desire was to increase car use because that was what Beeching's Tory paymasters (including the pro-motorway transport minister) wanted. Most of the un-profitable lines had already been closed, long before Beeching (for example, the line that ran up to Princetown on Dartmoor was closed in the 40s or 50s - think what a tourist magent that would be now!). The cuts that were made on viable services had a devastating effect on our transport infrastructure, which has never recovered. There are campaigns to re-open some of the lines (like the Beverley line in E Yorks), but in the face of a high speed white elephant and increasing lack of funding, it's probably pissing in the wind at the moment.

The reductions in bus services move us further and further from ever getting a proper integrated transport system and even more to car use, which of course the government can tax more profitably.

You're right that I'm not happy.