Angry council leaders have warned that a “decimation” of the North East’s vital bus network is now imminent.
The region’s privately-owned bus companies are shortly expected to confirm severe cuts to many routes, amid a major funding crisis as emergency Covid bailout funding from the government comes to an end.
Tyne and Wear’s five local councils announced on Tuesday that they would now reluctantly agree to an “unprecedented” £4m funding increase to Metro operator Nexus, in order to avoid even deeper blows to the area’s public transport services.
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Bus operators, such as Go North East and Stagecoach, and Metro owner Nexus are set to suffer when financial support from the government that has covered losses caused by low passenger numbers during the pandemic is withdrawn at the end of March.
Nexus is also planning to reduce the amount it reimburses the bus companies for carrying passengers with free bus passes by £7.5m, while the publicly-owned body’s own funds to save ‘secured’ bus routes otherwise deemed unprofitable would have been further slashed if the councils had not agreed to up their contribution.
In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, the leaders of Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside, and South Tyneside councils said that communities “face having their public transport links severely cut back, or removed altogether” as a result of the crisis – and urged both bus operators and the government to urgently rethink.
They added: “As council leaders we cannot allow this to happen. People in our communities need bus services to access jobs, schools and colleges, and essential services like healthcare. Buses also support our efforts to improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions.
“We need Nexus, on our behalf, to be able to maintain its expenditure on publicly-funded bus services in the worst affected areas, staving off the worst effects of commercial bus cuts by maintaining the most important transport links in places like the Outer West of Newcastle."
The five leaders claimed it was “grossly unfair” that they were being forced to dip into their increasingly bare council coffers to bail out Nexus and that the North East was “being treated unequally compared to the rest of the country” by the Government.
They added: “The upcoming decimation of the bus network in Tyne and Wear is wholly within the Government’s power to resolve. We call once more on the Government to reverse its decision to end Covid-19 funding for buses and light rail, before the effects of the pandemic have passed.
“We also call upon the private bus operators to reflect upon the profits their owning groups have made over recent years, even during the pandemic. We ask them to remember that we voluntarily chose to continue to pay local subsidies of approaching £40 million in order to keep services running throughout the pandemic. We now need the bus companies to reciprocate by maintaining services to our communities.”
Martijn Gilbert, chair of the North East bus operators' association NEBus, admitted that cuts are “likely”, with passengers levels around 30% lower than pre-Covid, but said operators would work with councils to “deliver the most efficient and best possible outcome with the resources available”.
The Go North East chief added: “We join the calls of the regions’ politicians for an extension of bus funding to allow more time for the market to recover across more services.
“In the meantime, we are now engaging with local authorities on possible options and will continue to work hard to maintain as many services as possible, and are taking a long-term view where the recovery of routes’ costs is clearly in sight.
“This means that, even after the possible end of any funding, many unprofitable services will continue to be operated commercially, but the sector cannot sustain the operation of the very worst performing services and it is important that we reflect the changes in people's travel patterns and demand as we emerge from the pandemic."
Council leaders had been due to decide whether to back the £4.1m levy increase last week, as part of financial plans to deal with a £21m budget shortfall at Nexus, but deferred the decision in the hope of talking the government into a U-turn.
That rise is now set to be agreed, but must be formally signed off at a meeting of the North East Joint Transport Committee that is yet to be rescheduled.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We have provided unprecedented support for the bus sector during the pandemic, including the £1.5bn Coronavirus Bus Service Support Grant, and the ongoing £226.5m Bus Recovery Grant.
“We are closely monitoring passenger levels and continue to work with the bus sector to ensure services always meet demand."
