Plea for Diamond to think again over plans to scrap town’s ‘lifeline’ bus service to city centre

Travellers are urging a bus firm to think again after it announced plans to scrap a town’s ‘lifeline’ service to the city centre.

Heywood residents say that losing the 163 bus would cause them huge problems getting to work or college and university – as well as making it more difficult to visit family and friends.

Diamond Buses has confirmed it will be withdrawing the service – which connects Heywood, Langley and Middleton with Bury and Manchester – from 16 April.

Running every 12 minutes, the service is vital to many – especially as it runs through some areas with the lowest levels of car ownership in Greater Manchester.

Diamond says the ‘tough decision’ has been taken because of the ‘uncertainty’ around bus franchising – the taking of services under public control, which will be rolled out from September this year, starting in Wigan, Bolton and parts of Salford and Bury.

But in Heywood – which has no rail or Metrolink services – it will come as a particularly hard blow to those who rely on public transport.

Among them is nurse Paul O’Neill who regularly uses the 163 to travel to the city centre or visit his parents.

A non-driver, he says travel services in Heywood are already ‘quite poor’ for those without a car.

“It’s a surprising choice to get rid of it,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“The wider point is that the service from Heywood to anywhere is quite poor from Diamond Buses. So scrapping, or partly scrapping one of the services they do have seems like an odd decision.”

Paul says people are genuinely worried about losing the 163 bus.

“I was in Middleton having been running on Saturday and there were a couple of old ladies at the bus stop saying they didn’t know what they were going to do [if the service is scrapped].”

Those fears were echoed by people waiting for the bus next to St Luke’s Church, in Heywood.

“I work in Manchester and get the one 163 every day,” one commuter who asked not to be named told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

“If they get rid of it, I would not be able to go to work – it’s a big worry. It’s a lengthy journey, I do need the 163.”

She said the only alternative would be to get the 125 bus to Middleton and change services from there.

“That would cost me more as I would need to get that and another bus,” she adds. “It’s the only service to Manchester, we have no trains, no trams. It’s a vital service to Manchester.

“It’s a lifeline for people to get to work.”
 

Read more: Andy Burnham will ‘pull out all the stops’ to save bus services under threatPublished: 27 January 2023

It would also cause a big headache for Manchester University student Leona Whittle.

“I don’t know how I’m going to get to university,” she said, before jumping on the 163 bound for the city centre.

And Hope Groarke said she would have to make alternative arrangements to get to college.

Heywood councillor Liam O’Rourke and Councillor Phil Burke, who represents West Middleton, are leading the fight to save the bus.

Councillor Phil Burke, the council’s transport spokesman, said: “I am dismayed at the decision, which will increase social isolation, reduce connectivity and impact older and vulnerable people the most.

“This short-sighted move will leave only one daytime bus service between Heywood and Manchester and no buses directly linking Bury with Middleton.”

He added: “I know from speaking with residents in my Langley ward how vital the 163 bus is for people getting to work, catching up with friends or going on their weekly shop.

“I have urgently raised this issue with Transport for Greater Manchester to call for action to be taken to safeguard the service, which is one of the busiest run by Diamond Buses, and provides such an important lifeline for so many people.”

A spokesperson for Diamond says the decision to remove the service has been made due to the ‘possible uncertainty that the franchising announcement has generated and will continue to generate for most of this year.

They added: “Given the requirement to give 112 days’ notice, if we find ourselves in a position where we are short of staff later in the year, we would not be able to respond. So we are essentially having to take this action on a pre-emptive basis.

“We have been engaging with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) since before Christmas around these changes, and we will support TfGM in trying to mitigate the impact of them as best we can.

Diamond says it is aware of the campaign to save the 163 and understands the strength of feeling behind it.

The spokesperson added: “We are aware of a campaign regarding saving the 163 service which we fully understand. The 163 is a service that brings communities together, in this circumstance we have had to make this tough decision for the service and network that we currently run to ensure that we run a reliable and sustainable network across our network.”

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporting Service