Trimdon residents fear they can't leave after bus cuts

Bus operator Arriva has proposed widespread changes to its services from July 9, with dozens in County Durham, Darlington and the Tees Valley set to be significantly reduced or withdrawn altogether. 

The news is a particular blow to residents in Trimdon and its surrounding villages, where people are heavily reliant on the local bus network to get to nearby larger towns. Geographically, Trimdon is located to the east of County Durham but residents fear they will soon become isolated. 

The X21 service, which provides a direct link from Trimdon and Peterlee to Newton Aycliffe and Darlington, is set to be scrapped as well as the 86 service from Trimdon to Bishop Auckland. Arriva says reductions in council funding, rising costs and a lack of passengers has forced its hand, but passengers will be able to use some revised services. 

It comes after the 57/ 57A and 58 services from Durham to Hartlepool, which served small villages in between, were withdrawn in April.

Read more: Proposed cuts to County Durham and Darlington Arriva bus services

But, as the ailing bus network in the area is already preventing people from travelling to work or school, residents are fearing the worst. Describing the cuts as “shocking”, Ellen Wilkinson said: “How are people supposed to travel to work, college, hospital or even try to get a train anywhere? Then when people can't get anywhere the towns will suffer because no one will be able to go shopping then the shops will lose business.”

A survey of Trimdon residents by local Conservative MP for Sedgefield, Paul Howell found that the lack of bus service severely restricted residents’ lifestyles. Out of 400 responses, 40 per cent had to decline employment or education opportunities as transport connections did not exist to get them there. Buses are often cancelled, with people left waiting for ‘ghost buses’ - buses that are timetabled but fail to turn up. 

What routes are changing? 

Service X21 - there will be no direct link to Newton Aycliffe or Darlington from Sedgefield, Trimdons, Wingate and Peterlee. 

Service 86 Trimdon to Bishop Auckland - withdrawn 

Just a few Arriva bus services go through the Trimdon area - but they are set to be scrapped from July (Image: The Northern Echo)

“My son works on building sites as a bricklayer so he can work in areas from Darlington, Durham, Bishop Auckland, Stockton, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool,” said Angela Scott. “He lives in Trimdon Grange, how is he supposed to get to work?

Ms Scott works at the Craigarran Nursing Home but says people won’t be able to visit if there aren’t any buses. She added: “We are not in the dark ages, stop making us feel undervalued and not worthy of a bus service. We have been so let down by the bus companies. People are going to be trapped in the villages with no jobs for no fault of their own. This needs to be addressed as soon as possible.”

Durham is currently the most popular destination for residents, Mr Howell found, but there is no direct transport connection between Trimdon and Durham since the removal of the 57A service, due to a driver shortage. While it only takes 25 minutes to the city by car, the journey is close to an hour by bus during quieter periods. 

Amy Cains, a primary school teacher in West Rainton, must get six buses a day to travel to and from work, taking over an hour and a half in each direction, but only if they are on time. “The connections are unreliable,” she said. “[I’m] having to wait a full hour to get home sometimes.”

Read more: Fears Darlington village will be isolated if 'lifelin' bus service is scrapped 

Julie Thomas, chairman of Trimdon Village Hall, has heard residents’ concerns for months and worries for the younger population of the area. She told the story of a young girl who has had to pull out of college in Durham due to a lack of available buses. 

“She said it's not going to work as there is no other transport plus her parents work; so she's quitting and looking into other colleges - but again she's in doubt as other bus journeys are ending soon,” Ms Thomas said. 

“Now she is thinking, do I stop with further education due to unreliable transport here in Trimdon and try hunting for employment/ a career that I don't really enjoy or want to do?”

Arriva says withdrawing or making significant changes to bus services is “always a very last resort” (Image: ARRIVA)

Arriva says withdrawing or making significant changes to bus services is “always a very last resort” and the difficult decision has been taken following “exhaustive efforts”, after failing to reach a funding agreement with Durham County Council. 

Full list of changes to Arrivca bus services 

It blamed the authority for a 28 per cent cut in funding for the English National Concessionary Fares Scheme (ENCTS) - a programme which provides revenue reimbursement for carriage of free bus travel for eligible people to ensure operators aren’t financially worse off.

But the council defended its decision. “[The move to] withdraw or change services is a private one for Arriva although we will work with them and other operators to support alternative provision where we can.

“We have followed government guidance on reimbursing for concessionary journeys at every step and the payments we have offered have been accepted by all other providers we work with.”