{"id":632968,"date":"2025-12-15T01:16:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T01:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/632968\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T01:16:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T01:16:27","slug":"merseyside-village-cut-off-from-liverpool-after-four-oclock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/632968\/","title":{"rendered":"Merseyside village cut off from Liverpool after four o’clock"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Horror stories” of bus services in one part of Merseyside include mums waiting at bus stops for two hours and children who can\u2019t get to school\"BusBus stop on Stockbridge Lane(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

People in one part of Merseyside said they\u2019re effectively cut-off from Liverpool after four o\u2019clock in the afternoon, citing a lack of bus services and poor reliability.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Liverpool ECHO <\/a>reported on criticism of bus services in Stockbridge Village<\/a>, after Knowsley<\/a> MP Anneliese Midgley shared a series of “horror stories” about public transport in the borough. These included reports of mums waiting at bus stops<\/a> for two hours, children who couldn\u2019t get to school, and people completely cut off from other parts of the region.<\/p>\n

More than 10,000 residents in Knowsley use the bus network every day<\/a>, and figures show 36% of households have no car, and rely on buses for getting around the region. As a result, Ms Midgley has helped to launch the Big Bus Survey, which is asking people for ideas on how to shape future transport services in their neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n

Knowsley\u2019s MP said: \u201cEvery day, people rely on buses to get to work, go to school, see their mates, go to the match, do the shopping, or get to their family who need care.<\/p>\n

\"StockbridgeStockbridge Village(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard plenty of horror stories from my constituents, from mums with young kids isolated from their families who can\u2019t get a bus for two hours on a Sunday, Kirkby<\/a> kids who can\u2019t get to school, people from Stockbridge Village who\u2019ve had the entire world stopped when the bus has been cancelled for days with no warning.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out more, the ECHO<\/a> took to the buses and headed to Stockbridge Village, and asked people what they thought about transport in their area. We meet Mary, June and their friend as they\u2019re happily chatting away to one another, waiting for a bus to take them home.<\/p>\n

We ask for their thoughts on the local bus services, Mary said: \u201cThey\u2019re not very good. When you\u2019re in town or other places you see all these services and we\u2019ve only got the three.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the winter is the worst because of the cold and you could be stood there waiting for over an hour. Then you have to spend money on taxis which is expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

June Rowan, 80, agrees: \u201cI\u2019ve lived here fifty-odd years since the area was built. We\u2019re all from different places like Walton<\/a> Lane, Anfield<\/a> and Scotland Road but moved over here around the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bus stop where I am is constantly vandalised, and there\u2019s no shelter to sit down or protect you from the rain or the wind. When they do put shelters up they just get wrecked, so I hope these new plans can help with that and maybe get some wardens around here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RoseRose (left), June Rowan (right) with friend (middle) at bus stop in Stockbridge Village(Image: Copyright Unknown)<\/p>\n

Almost to illustrate June\u2019s point, every bus stop we visited in the Stockbridge Village area had the following notice pinned to the notice board: \u201cBus Disruptions: From Tuesday, September 16 2025 until further notice Route 12 will not call at this stop from Tuesday, September 16 2025 until further notice, from 1800 each night, due to antisocial behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many people we spoke to said this exacerbates another existing problem, namely the availability of bus services during the evening. This was a sentiment shared by David Gerrard, 59, who said: \u201cAfter four o\u2019clock, basically you\u2019re just cut off from the rest of the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going out for a pint after 6pm its hard because the buses won\u2019t even come onto the \u2018farm\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I have heard is they\u2019re planning on bringing the buses back into public ownership, just like Manchester, and I\u2019ve heard from a few people I know there, that it works fantastically. So hopefully, we can get a few more services and better reliability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reliability is a theme which comes up time and again, and is something which Thelma Evans would like to see. Thelma, 74, has some mobility issues and uses a walking stick, so relies on public transport for her independence.<\/p>\n

We get talking to Thelma as she gets off the bus, on her way back from the shops in Stockbridge Village, she said: \u201cThe bus routes are fine, it\u2019s just when they turn up, that\u2019s the problem, because you\u2019re forever waiting for them, and they\u2019ve got worse over the years.<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Gerrard at bus stop in Stockbridge Village(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got a timetable but they never stick to it. You look at it and think \u2018oh, a bus will be here in a minute\u2019, and then it doesn\u2019t show up, so you have to give yourself plenty of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, I was due at the doctors for 11.50am, and I left here at 11.15am, for a two minute journey, because you can\u2019t be sure of the buses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The people behind the launch of the Big Bus Survey say they are eager to hear the views of people like Rose, June, David and Thelma, and hope all residents feedback on what works well with the bus services, and what needs to be improved.<\/p>\n

More pertinently, the project hopes to map out where people need to go, the places they currently can\u2019t get to, which buses are reliable, and which never show up on time.<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of the survey\u2019s launch, Mayor Steve Rotheram said this was an opportunity for people to help create a transport network fit for the future, adding: \u201cBuses are the backbone of our public transport system, with around 82% of all journeys in the Liverpool City Region made by bus every single day.<\/p>\n

\"BusBus stop on Waterpark Drive(Image: LDRS)<\/p>\n

\u201cYet for far too long, passengers have been forced to contend with services that are too confusing, too expensive, and too disconnected.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom next year, that changes. We\u2019ll start the process of bringing our buses back where they belong: under public control. It will give us greater control over fares, routes and timetables, so we can ensure that passengers always come before profit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Big Bus Survey is now live and can be completed online or in hard copy, with local community centres, shops, doctors\u2019 surgeries and libraries being asked to support and promote the campaign and hold copies of the survey form for residents to complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Horror stories” of bus services in one part of Merseyside include mums waiting at bus stops for two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,45760,393,4884,41030,179,11653,8892,44876,1263,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-632968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-bus-travel","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-knowsley-council","13":"tag-liverpool","14":"tag-premium","15":"tag-steve-rotheram","16":"tag-stockbridge-village","17":"tag-transport","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115720945609793281","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}