‘Red Wall’ bus services ‘fall by half’ with some by as much as 60%, researchers find

In the 40 seats defined by pollsters as the Red Wall - constituencies which traditionally voted Labour but were captured by the Tories in 2019 - services had declined by an average of 45 per cent (Photo: Geography Photos/Universal Images Group)

The number of bus services in the “Red Wall” has fallen by nearly half since the Conservatives came to power, a new analysis has revealed.

Official timetables show a significant reduction in how many different bus journeys were available each day in the areas of the Midlands and North of England which the Tories won at the last election.

By contrast, London has seen service levels remain stable since 2010.

Labour claimed that the cuts to services were a result of austerity hitting local authorities and promised that allowing councils to control buses directly would help to ease the squeeze.

In a major research project completed in 2023, Friends of the Earth and academics at the University of Leeds studied all available data on bus timetables in England and Wales to determine what had happened to the number and frequency of different routes.

In the 40 seats defined by pollsters as the Red Wall – constituencies which traditionally voted Labour but were captured by the Tories in 2019 – services had declined by an average of 45 per cent.

Constituencies including Stoke-on-Trent North, Bassetlaw, Bolsover and Rother Valley were particularly badly affected with cuts of 60 per cent or more.

In March i reported that 16 million miles of bus services across England had been axed, with he North has been hit disproportionately hard, with a 32 per cent reduction in total services compared to the average across England of 22 per cent.

The 10 worst blackspots for bus cuts – where provision has dropped by more than 50 per cent overall – reported then were spread across the country, including in Bath, where services have been cut by 52 per cent, Stoke where services are down 64 per cent, Warrington down 50 per cent and Slough, where 65 per cent of bus services have been lost.

Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow Transport Secretary, told i: “Reliable, affordable and regular buses are the difference between opportunity and isolation for millions of people. But under the Conservatives, bus services have been decimated across the country, particularly in the Midlands and North of England.

“Labour’s plan for better buses will create and save vital bus routes by giving every community the power to take back control of their bus services through franchising or public ownership. Only Labour has a credible plan to deliver better buses in every corner of the country.”

The party claims that its plan to let councils nationalise or franchise their local bus services could save or create 1,300 routes and allow 250 million more journeys to take place each year.

Currently, it is only “metro mayors” such as in London and Greater Manchester who have the power to take bus routes away from private companies and choose to run them themselves, or to franchise them out to firms under strict conditions.

However, as i reported in March, in Manchester, Mayor Andy Burnham has been forced to apologise after frustrated passengers complained of “nightmare problems” with the publicly owned service, with buses arriving two hours late and turning up already full.

Labour has also promised to make bus operators more accountable in a bid to ensure that local communities have high-quality services in all areas of the country – although they have not committed additional funding to help subsidise bus routes which are unprofitable.

A Conservative party spokesman said: “This is rich coming from the Labour Party who have failed to commit to continuing this Conservative government’s £2 bus fare scheme. The failure for the Labour Party to do so will mean higher fares and less affordable journeys.

“The Conservative government, on the other hand, has committed to extending the ‘Get around for £2’ scheme for the duration of the next Parliament and have invested £3.5 billion in the bus sector since March 2020. On top of this we have committed £1bn of HS2 savings to support bus services in the north and midlands.

“Under Labour in Wales, the number of journeys undertaken by local buses declined by almost a quarter from 2010-2020 and Labour’s proposed bus franchising would risk bankrupting councils across the country. This Conservative government will continue sticking to the plan to support bus users, improve route availability, and keep fares down.”

Election 2024

Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer and other party leaders are on the campaign trail, and i‘s election live blog is the go-to place for everything on the general election.

The Tory betting scandal has been leading the election news agenda, while Labour has been battling to see off the Greens in Bristol Central. Nigel Farage has been under fire for making comments about the Russia-Ukraine war, as polling predicts a Labour landslide.

All the main parties have launched their manifestos: read i‘s breakdown of all the pledges from the Tories, Green Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Reform UK.

Got a question for our politics experts? Hugo Gye and Jane Merrick will be answering your questions live during Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak’s TV debate. Send your questions here