BUS passengers could see changes to services from August 30 which, according to Stagecoach South, will be designed to improve the overall offering, although cuts to poorly-used services seem inevitable.

The changes are already causing concern, particularly among more vulnerable passengers who, Stagecoach accepts, may see the bus service as a “lifeline” – but the company claims that the overall package aims to try and meet these needs as well as attempting to grow and develop a service that will encourage greater use.

Increased patronage by fare-paying passengers will, says Stagecoach South commercial manager Adam Hawksworth, ensure a continued and sustainable service in the Alton area and make it easier to support those services that are less profitable but which provide a community service.

What the company cannot do is to continue to run and/or boost non-profitable routes while draining the more popular routes of money and resources.

Those routes under consideration for “positive change” include route 13 (Basingstoke-Alton-Whitehill-Liphook) which is to be extended to run from 6.30am until 8.30pm, with additional buses running earlier and later than at present, and operating up to every 30 minutes at peak times.

In January this year, route 13 saw most buses taking a revised route between Basingstoke and Alton to run via Old Basing, Hook, North Warnborough and RAF Odiham, then via the B3349 to South Warnborough and The Golden Pot, and into Alton via Greenfields Avenue.

At the same time Stagecoach introduced route 13X which operated during Monday to Friday peak times, running direct via the A339, taking in Herriard and Lasham. But this route is to be axed due to poor usage.

Changes are also being considered to route 38 (Petersfield-Liss-Selborne-Alton) but these are expected to be minor, and in line with school and college requirements.

Key to the revised package are improvements to route 64 (Alton to Winchester, taking in Four Marks, Ropley and Alresford) which can be expected to offer a more frequent and reliable service, operating later into the evenings and on Sundays, to the benefit of those who work and shop in Winchester.

According to Mr Hawksworth, a rescheduled timetable will be designed to connect with train services at Alton station. Passengers who want to travel to Bentley and Farnham, and on to Aldershot and Guildford, will be able to go by rail which, in this instance, can provide a more regular, faster and cheaper method of transport than the bus.

At the moment, the 64 service does not link in with the train timetable, with many passengers choosing to stay on the bus, which becomes the 65 service from Alton to Guildford.

According to Stagecoach, the 65 bus often gets caught up in traffic in Guildford, leading to a breakdown in the scheduled timetable for both the 65 and 64 routes. Furthermore, it is a service which is poorly patronised between Alton, Bentley and Farnham and it is to be axed.

Mr Hawksworth is keen to stress that the aim is to leave “no-one high and dry” by these proposed changes, and school and college routes in particular are to be protected.

Alton College journeys will still be catered for by service 65X, and Hampshire County Council has been made aware that Bentley will no longer be served by a commercial bus service.

Eggar’s School will be included on a new route 23 – a town centre service which will run from 8.45am until 3pm Monday to Saturday, covering all roads previously served by route 64 and 65 on the town estates, among them Manor and Wooteys, and taking in Holybourne and the Mill Lane industrial estate.

According to Stagecoach, poor patronage on these routes has led the company to redesign both routes and timetables, providing journeys only in the middle of the day when it is busier.

Wooteys ward councillor Derek Gardner is not happy with the proposed reductions in service, in particular to the Wooteys and Manor estates, pointing out that for those who do not have a car and may be elderly and/or disabled and reliant on the bus service a 3pm cut off will severely restrict their ability to be able to access the town in the late afternoon and evening, and on a Sunday.

While route 13 will cater for those living on the Greenfields Avenue estate it does not cover the estates to the east of the town and this, he believes, will prove a huge handicap.

Robert Saunders, district councillor for Alton Amery (Greenfields estate) and former spokesman for Alton Town Council on local transport, said of the proposals: “There are some welcome positives in the possible changes such as later evening journeys to and from Winchester and Basingstoke which I have been calling for for years and I think that the reinstatement of a separate town service will improve punctuality.

“In addition, I hope that the ongoing East Hampshire District Council rural bus review can consider Bentley in its remit and make some recommendations as to possible council supported services.”

Mr Hawksworth points out that to provide a town centre service for a town like Alton is a “fine balancing act”. The service comprises short routes and it is important to keep fares low in order to attract passengers, but it is not profitable. What Stagecoach South is looking to do is to stimulate growth and encourage new patronage.

“If we can do that we will be happy to continue running bus services in Alton,” he said.

In the meantime, talks are ongoing with Hampshire County Council to see if it would be happy to sponsor less profitable routes and keep them alive as a community service.