Bus passengers of Shropshire were saddened today to hear the news that Arriva is considering closing their Oswestry bus depot . While customers of the depot are reassured that their main bus routes will be reallocated to Arriva's depots in Shrewsbury and Wrexham, the community has responded to the news with concern for the jobs of Arriva's Oswestry employees and for the community itself. Macauley Pugh The pandemic has drastically affected Arriva's Oswestry depot with 54% of bus users from before the pandemic no longer using their services. This post-pandemic recovery is far below national trends and comes alongside a challenging combination of significant industry-wide cost inflation and funding support from the local authority falling significantly below the levels provided by other councils to reimburse “concessionary travel” meaning bus services have been operating at a sustained operating loss. Additionally, while a Bus Service Improvement Plan was developed in partners...
