St Helens bus services down by 59 percent compared to 15 years ago

Looking into bus services across the country, data from Friends of the Earth shows that there were around 226 trips per hour in St Helens between 2006 and 2008.

In 2010, that number had reduced to 195 buses per hour, and in 2023, it had reduced drastically to just 92 buses per hour.

This means that between 2008 and 2023, there was a 59.2 percent decrease in the number of buses per hour across the St Helens borough.

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Buses down in all areas except London

Bus services have decreased in all areas of the UK except for London, between 2008 and 2023 (Image: Friends of the Earth)
Across the wider North West, the number of buses per hour has decreased by 45.3 percent in the fifteen years to 2023.

Highlighting a concerning trend, this is a similar case for almost all regions of the UK, apart from London, which is the only area which has increased its bus services between 2008 and 2023.

Some of the reasons for declining bus services are believed to be as a result of austerity cuts from the government, which has led to declining subsidies from local authorities to bus companies. It is also believed that fewer people are using public transport since the pandemic.

However, in addition to an often disconnected, expensive, and unreliable train network, these figures highlight why local and regional leaders have been calling for drastic transport improvements in St Helens and the wider north in recent years.

Franchise plans to transform local network

Local and regional leaders outside St Helens Town Hall for a transport meeting in 2021 (Image: St Helens Star)
Following Greater Manchester lead, the Liverpool City Region has announced plans to franchise the region's bus network to give local bosses greater control over fares, tickets, timetables, and routes.

In what is hoped to improve the transport experience for commuters, St Helens will become the first area to benefit from the franchising model as part of a phased introduction from 2026.

With a fully franchised system, including a zero-emission hydrogen fleet, expected to be in place across city region by the end of 2028, public consultations were organised to give feedback on the plans last month.

The council also aims to improve the borough's bus network by constructing a new and improved bus station, as part of its £90m regeneration plans in St Helens town centre.

'Vital to sustain rural areas'

Cllr Seve Gomez-Aspron (Image: Cllr Gomez-Aspron)
Speaking about the bus services data, St Helens Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport, Seve Gomez-Aspron said: "In the 1980s, Thatcher privatised bus companies everywhere in England apart from London, which were kept in public ownership under TFL.

"So it comes as no surprise that everywhere expect London has seen a decline in bus routes when they're run entirely on a model to make profit for shareholders.

"70% of train operating companies in the UK are owned by foreign governments. And some of those, like Arriva, run large parts of our bus network.

"In London, profit is used to subsidise remote and less sustainable services and improve services.

"Here, profit is paid out to shareholders and foreign governments and services get cut.

"This is why Metro Mayor Rotherham, in partnership with all Merseyside Councils have voted to bring busses back into public ownership after the government finally changed the law. And it’s a Labour manifesto pledge to do this nationally as it can only currently happen in Metro Mayor areas.

"This is vital to sustain rural services to places like Billinge, Garswood, and Rainfordas the communities rely on these services but they aren’t always economically viable.

"We would use the profit from profitable routes to support services to rural areas that need them desperately. Same applies for linking more deprived areas to new job creation sites like Parkside and Omega West.

"Profit from our services should be spent investing in our services. Not on making travel cheap in Germany, or a shareholder even richer. We’ve seen this with water. It’s the same with buses”.

Buses 'in decline since the 60s'

Franchising the region's bus network is hoped to improve public transport experiences (Image: LCR)
Commenting on the nationwide figures, Graham Vidler, CEO for the Confederation of Passenger Transport said: "With the exception of an increase in the late 1980s/early 1990s, bus mileage has been in decline since at least the 1960s, reflecting major changes in British society in particular the growth in car ownership

"In more recent years the decline in mileage has come in two main phases, between 2010 and 2020, local authorities have reduced their funding for bus services by 58% in real terms, and as a result, the mileage they supported halved.

"Since 2020, operators everywhere, including in London, have reduced services in reaction to changing travel patterns, in particular the decline of five days a week commuting and a sustained fall of around one-third in the number of journeys made by holders of concessionary passes.”