New timetables on 155 Bus Stops promised to me by Tuesday 19th April.

Many of you will now be aware that there have been cuts and changes to bus services. These have most impact on young families, people without cars and the disabled and elderly members of society.

Update:

Sunday April 10th: Cuts and changes to Arriva Routes in Medway including 155 bus service.

Thursday April 14th: Mass confusion continues as almost no one is aware of changes. I wait for 13.33 for over half an hour with the girls and other Borstal residents unaware that it has been cut.

Borstal residents start to contact me about cuts and lack of information.

Friday April 15th: Ring Rochester Visitor Centre and speak to the manager. He has no idea about the changes and cuts and is still handing out old timetables.

Saturday April 16th: I go into the Council Contact Point in Rochester Library. No information. The woman at the counter prints a new timetable for me and says she can do his for anyone who needs one. At my request she also puts up a sign to alert people to the change in service. Rochester Visitor Centre still displaying and handing out old timetables.

Monday April 18th: At 9.00 this morning I rang Arriva and asked why there was no information. The man responsible for timetable information explained that due to funding cuts from central Conservative and Lib Dem Government, Arriva had cut his hours and cut costs. They were struggling to get new timetables out but he promised me they would have timetables on 155 route by tomorrow. Within an hour, timetables were being changes at Star Hill.

I then rang Phil Filmer, Conservative portfolio holder for Transport on Medway Council. As he is not a bus user he appeared not to have become aware of the problem until a few days ago. On my suggestion, he also agreed to look into the possibility of the Council providing funding to replace lost services. If I am elected on May 5th, I will make following this up one of my priorities. We have no post office, bank, library and very few shops in Borstal and we need a good, reliable, reasonably priced service. I am willing to fight for it.

To make a complaint, phone Arriva on 0844 8004411 and press 2 on the options. The more complaints they receive, the more impact they will have. Your complaint should be passed to the manager of the planning team and you should be given a reference number like 11/14772 When I rang, the woman was very pleasant and apologetic which was nice!