Diggle
There has been an outcry from Saddleworth Parish Councillors following the announcement that the frequency of buses servicing Saddleworth, the 180 and the 184, is to be reduced from 28th October 2013.
Lib-Dem Councillor, John McCann said, “We are becoming the outback, how can a poor service be reduced anymore? I note there has not been any consultation with local councillors or the parish. It is a disgrace with Diggle having only one bus an hour.”
Proposed changes:
Service 180 to Greenfield will reduce to once an hour during Monday to Saturday daytime
Service 184 will reduce from every 15 minutes from Manchester to Uppermill to every 20 minutes, with one bus an hour extending to Dobcross, and one bus an hour extending to Huddersfield via Diggle.
The service to Grotton will be increased from every 10 minutes to every 7.5 minutes. These changes affect Monday to Saturday Daytime services
Service 81A This service will be extended from Waterhead to Holts Estate via Stamford Road Lees Village and Lees New Road. It runs every 20 minutes.
Service 415 This service will be withdrawn between Oldham and Holts Estate
Service 350 This service will be diverted to serve Greenacres Road instead of Huddersfield Road
Service 64 This service will be reduced fron every 30 minutes to every hour between Middleton and Oldham via Royton
The changes will take effect from 28 October 2013.
The local link service to Denshaw will continue after April 2013.
Parish Councillor, Garth Harkness added, “This reduction to the public transport network is very disappointing. The borough only has one train service an hour. The metro is a bonus to the borough but people have to get to it and the bus is a way to do that.
“In Saddleworth, like other areas, many people rely on the bus to get about. The current service should be increased, not reduced. There is only one bus service to link with Yorkshire. Travellers in Saddleworth, Diggle and Dobcross will, following the changes, only be served once every hour. Also, uncoordinated timetabling means that bus times will not sync with trains times at Greenfield station?
“We should encourage people to be green by using public transport and also ensure that those who rely on it, get a decent service. We will see areas become more isolated following these reductions. This is far from adequate. I hope that the bus operator reconsiders and that Traffic for Greater Manchester works with them to try and ensure that an adequate service is provided to Saddleworth and indeed the rest of the borough.”
I notice on the 184 service it says one bus an hour to Huddersfield via Diggle does that mean the 184 to Diggle terminus will be stopped? and people will only have one chance to get to Diggle.
As far as I know the changes only affect times, the 184 route should be unchanged.
I have just heard from Royce Franklin that the 184 route could be affected with buses possibly terminating at Dobcross.
This is ridiculous. This will affect the most vunerable people who depend on this service which are the youth and elderly. There are many businesses in this area and these will also be affected and suffer. We will end up cut off from the rest of Saddleworth. Why don’t they run smaller transport buses instead of huge big double decker buses if it is cost?
I think a 20 minute service to Uppermill is just about acceptable for most as long as they are ON TIME.
As for the 180 service becoming hourly, I think this is a very bad idea and it won’t be long until First realize an hourly service to Greenfield is not enough.
As for Diggle, why on earth can the ‘third’ 184 that is subject to terminate in Dobcross not just do an extra two miles to the Diggle terminus? Seems stupid to me. ‘We can serve Dobcross, but by no means can we continue a few more minutes to serve Diggle. This would result in a great loss’. I don’t think so.
As for Diggle Terminus (near the Diggle Hotel), someone mentioned that as a result of the changes, this terminus will fall out of use meaning Sam Road and Diglea will have no services what so ever and will have to walk into the village to catch an hourly 184, however I have a feeling the changes will include the Manchester-Huddersfield service serving Sam Road and Diglea anyway.
Interesting times ahead for Saddleworth bus services in what seems to be a bad move.