Shropshire MP challenges Transport Secretary over rural bus services

It comes as part of a long standing campaign by the MP for better bus provision in rural areas, with her ‘Bus Bill’ petition attracting nearly 2,000 signatures from local residents and being presented to Parliament earlier in the year.

The Liberal Democrat MP stood up in the Commons and asked Mark Harper to consider re-instating funding for rural routes like those in Shropshire which have been lost.

One such service is the Number 64 bus which connects Market Drayton with Shrewsbury and Newcastle Under Lyme.

Mrs Morgan, said: “Shropshire has some of the worst levels of bus service provision in the country, an issue which is hampering economic growth and leading to rural isolation.

“I have continued to bang the drum for our area and stood up in the Commons once again to demand better services in rural areas. People should be able to get onto the high street, to medical appointments and to work even if they don’t have access to a private car.

“There has been some progress with the continued £2 fare cap and £1.5 million boost for our services, but so much more has to be done.”

Mrs Morgan said the Number 64 bus was hugely important to Market Drayton.

"Students rely on it to get them to college but face three hours in the middle of the afternoon with no services, and the last bus of the day is at 7pm. It has changed provider several times in recent years.

“I’ve had far too many conversations with parents and students who are fed up with battling poor public transport to access the education they need.

“The Number 64 bus is vital for hundreds if not thousands of Market Drayton residents in getting to Shrewsbury, Newcastle Under Lyme, and the many villages in between.

“We need serious action on bus routes in and around Market Drayton – action which residents are overwhelmingly calling for.”

Last year the Market Drayton Climate Action group ran a bus survey to document people's experiences using public transport – and what they would like to have available.

It said findings suggested that people in and around Market Drayton would travel more by bus if more services were reliably available.

Analysis showed that Market Drayton was in the bottom 10 per cent of towns of its size when it came to the number of departures each weekday.