Cancellation of bus route will leave some Brickhill residents stranded claims councillor

Bus company says low passenger numbers has forced decision

People will be left stranded without any public transport following the cancellation of the 21 Brickhill bus service, it has been claimed.

Service operator Grant Palmer Passenger Transport confirmed the route would be cancelled from Sunday, October 1 citing low passenger numbers.

Bedford Borough Council said it was ‘surprised’ by the move, adding it had been in ongoing discussions over the route. It added that the number of people using the route each month has halved since 2022 – and dropped by almost 500 since 2019.

But Brickhill Ward Councillor, Charles Royden, said many passengers were unhappy with the decision and would be left stranded.

He said: “This will come as a severe blow and shock to those residents who depend on the service and it will especially affect Brickhill residents who will be left stranded without any public transport serving Woodlands Park.”

He added that the Lib Dems had “worked hard” to protect bus services and said: “We have called upon Bedford Borough Council to do all it can to take action and provide the necessary support now to ensure the service can be continued.”

Grant Palmer Passenger Transport, which runs the service, confirmed the cancellation was permanent.

A spokesman said: “Service 21 will be withdrawn due to low custom. We’ve operated service 21 since 2013, however increased congestion, high operating costs and reduced passenger numbers in Bedford have all impacted the service. Woodlands Park will continue to be served by service 22. Customers in Abbeyfields can use our nearby 44, 72 and 73 services.

A council spokesperson said: “We have been in discussion with the operator over the last 24 hours around the ongoing viability of the service and so were surprised to see the press release from Grant Palmer detailing the cancellation of the service from October.

“This is, of course, at their discretion as the operator, however, this action was contrary to ongoing discussions and had not followed the standard process involving both ourselves and the traffic commissioner for the purposes of deregistering bus services.”

They added: “Patronage of this route in the last four weekly period was 132 passengers, in 2022 this same period had 259 passengers, and in 2019 it was 629.”