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| Bury Free Press, 15 February 2005 |
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| Buses in Bury St Edmunds are worse than ever and costing more, say passengers – just a week after bus chiefs said services would improve. |
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| This week, bus users were told some ticket prices had gone up by nearly 25 per cent and, according to one count by a town councillor, at least 130 buses had been late since last October. |
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| First Eastern Counties said it had reduced the daily ticket price but politicians working to improve the buses said it was 'giving with one hand and taking with the other'. |
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| Lorna Allen, who catches the 81 bus to work in Bury, said: "The bus didn't turn up and people had to wait 30 minutes in the cold to catch the next service. |
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| "What is really annoying is this keeps happening and you never know when the next bus will come along or why your bus is late." |
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| Another passenger, Sharon Bradley, said she had been shocked to find fares had gone up. |
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| "We got on the bus and were told the 10-journey fare had gone from £6 to £7.50. |
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| "Many people didn't have enough money so had to buy a day ticket – there was no advertising on the buses or the bus stop to warn us of the rise." |
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| Bury town councillor Alan Turner, who has fought hard to improve bus services around the town's estates, said: "In a way, I am not surprised. |
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| "The bus company has said they will improve things but I think I will believe it when I see it." |
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| He added he kept detailed information on which buses were late or had not turned up at all. |
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| "The numbers are really amazing – it's ridiculous really and things need to improve." |
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| He says more than 130 buses have been late since October last year and several buses have not turned up at all – excuses given to Mr Turner range from broken down buses to driver illness. |
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| The news comes one week after a meeting between Cllr Turner, MP David Ruffley and First bosses ended with a four-year agreement being signed to improve services. |
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| Mr Ruffley said: "I am shocked to here some fares have gone up. The company said they would reduce the daily fare to attract more users. |
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| "However, if they have raised other prices and are effectively giving with one hand and taking away with another, that is not acceptable." |
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| Labour's Dave Monaghan held talks about Bury's problems with Transport Secretary Alastair Darling on Wednesday. |
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| Mr Monaghan said: "I'm glad the Transport Secretary took the time to hear the plight of Bury bus passengers and agreed enough was enough." |
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| Tom Oxley, spokesperson for First, confirmed some prices had gone up but added a day ticket in Bury has gone down from £2.60 to £2. |
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| He added flyers telling people of the rise had been distributed and the rises were due to increasing international oil prices. |
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| Cliff Hussey, operations manager for First, said: "We have been keeping a close eye on reliability at Bury St Edmunds. With regards to services most recently, there have not been major problems but there have been some – we know this impacts on passengers and we apologise for that." |
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