Ludlow bus operator hits back at criticism
A Ludlow centre bus service is doing a good job – and town councillors were wrong to say buses are not sticking to the timetable and are departing from their route, the operator and bus users have said.
Operator Minsterley Motors and supporters of its Ludlow 701 and 722 buses have reacted in anger after Ludlow town councillors said residents told them buses have skipped stops or gone the wrong way.
The town council resolved to write to Shropshire Council expressing their "disgust" at this, and about a price increase they were not consulted on. But Minsterley Motors and its supporters say 'unreliability' accusations are groundless and the councillors were misinformed.
John Jones, Minsterley Motors' managing director, said: "I have trackers on all my vehicles and we are doing the job right. We are having no complaints and I have spoken to Shropshire Council who confirm that they are not having any complaints."
At the meeting this week it was suggested buses could not be running to timetable. Councillor Rosemary Jones said she saw three outside Ludlow Assembly Rooms in three minutes. Councillor Glen Ginger claimed he'd seen seven go past GD Ginger Antiques in Corve Street in half an hour.
But Mr Jones said: "The 722 and the 701 come into Ludlow Assembly Rooms at the same time, and our bus that runs from Pontesbury to Ludlow on Monday and Friday departs from the Assembly Rooms at 1.15pm – which gives you the three buses. We go past his (Cllr Ginger's) shop up to the square and back past his shop within a few minutes – giving four vehicles in the space of about fives minutes. Then we are back doing the same procedure in half hour."
"I thought councillors should know what the are talking about," he said.
On the prices increase, he said: "I agree it is a big increase but what the public is not considering is that they have not had an increase in fares for quite a few years and since our subsidy has been severely axed we have had to come into line with a true running cost to operate and maintain the service."
Denys Richards, who catches the 722 every day, said: "Everyone using the service is totally complimentary on how Minsterley Motors operates the services – their reliability is already renowned amongst the users."
Andy Boddington, Shropshire councillor for Ludlow North, a bus user himself, said he found the service to be reliable, but was not able to speak at the meeting as he was not sitting as part of the town council.
He said: "We recognise that we have problems with the timing at times, but this is mostly during the festivals, and we have already got a review under way to look at that."
