HOPE that the new number nine bus service will be extended from a two to a four-hour service have been shattered after Stagecoach South confirmed that there is to be “no change”.

A new town centre service, introduced to replace the 65 service, which was withdrawn in July, the timetable for the number nine shows a two-hour service, offering four round trips between 10am and noon, to serve the Wootey and Manor estates.

But the change has left bus users at the eastern end of town stranded – unable to shop and attend appointments in town in the available time, or to make ongoing connections and return on the same day.

Described as just “half a service” by Stagecoach South operations director Gordon Frost, and despite continuing pressure from residents who argue that a two-hour weekday service is inadequate and does not meet their requirements, the hope was that Stagecoach would have a change of heart. But it seems it is not to be.

According to Stagecoach South commercial director Mark Turner, the company has been looking at passenger numbers and costs, both historical and since the introduction of the new service, and the introduction of an extended timetable for the number nine bus would not be viable.

Mr Turner said that while passenger numbers have slightly increased and the number nine service is just about covering its costs, the cost of providing an extended service would not be covered.

“At the moment we have no plans to make any changes,” he said.

He pointed out that the provision of the number nine service was being “fitted in around other commitments” and that the cost involved in sourcing a bus from Basingstoke or Winchester to provide an extended service, coupled with the availability of drivers, would not stack up.

He explained that the reason the western end of town was better served was because it formed a natural route for buses operating from the Basingstoke, Winchester and Petersfield directions, bound for the town centre.

These buses are already part of an existing service and “have got bigger things to do”, explained Mr Turner, so that part of town benefits as a result. And he added: “We have tried to match our services to demand but it is impossible to serve all of the town with the buses that we have.”

Of the eastern end of Alton, he said the company had looked back at where people travel to and from and at where the demand is, and for Stagecoach the figures did not add up.

It is a desperate situation for those reliant on public transport, especially as there is pressure on Hampshire County Council to look at cutting a further £4m from its public transport budget by withdrawing all remaining bus subsidies, which cover 13 per cent of all Hampshire services, and to stop community transport services such as Dial-a-Ride and Call and Go.

Mr Turner said that Hampshire County Council was “in a difficult position and is faced with making some difficult decisions” but, like Stagecoach, the authority has to operate within the law.

He pointed out that while many passengers have expressed a willingness to pay in order to retain a service, even if they have a ‘free’ bus pass, paid for by tax payers and funded by the county council, to take money from them would be illegal.

It’s an issue that the county council, like many other local authorities, is currently taking up with the Government, but it would take a change in the law to enable this to take place.

If this were to happen and bus companies were able to charge bus pass holders a nominal fee over and above what the local authority would pay for the journey, or even if the bus pass was scrapped, it would change the whole dynamic.

“We would have to operate under a different model,” said Mr Turner.

“As a bus company, we have to work with whatever is put in front of us, but there is no saying it would improve the situation. We have to go for the big passenger numbers.”

He stressed that neither the county council nor the bus companies have a say in whether or not to participate in the bus pass scheme, which is a political decision and, for the county council, is a statutory responsibility.

“As things stand, Hampshire County Council can’t look at that as a way to save money, nor can the bus companies use it as a way of generating money to maintain services,” he said.