A NEW report has suggested that a new coach network across the north of England would help ‘reconnect’ Cumbria.
The report, written by climate group ‘Possible’, has proposed a sleeper coach service from Carlisle to London and a Workington to Middlesbrough service which would ‘transform’ regional connectivity.
Carlisle and other locations across Cumbria are already on the networks of various coach companies including National Express and FlixBus. But new overnight sleeper services, such as London to Keswick, could provide an affordable and time efficient way to reach the Lake District, says the report.
A London to Cairnryan service for the ferry to Northern Ireland could include a stop in Appleby for the north Pennines and Carlisle, while sleeper services between Manchester and Paris would provide access to French budget high-speed trains.
“The biggest gap in connectivity is the North Pennines National Landscape between major areas of deprivation on either coast, and also with the highest transport carbon emissions per capita,” says the report.
“This is also the location of the largest road scheme in the north - the dualling of the A66 - including a section in the Prime Minister’s [Rishi Sunak's] constituency, which is now facing huge cost overruns.
“Would not a slimmed down road scheme, focused on safety not capacity, to free up funding for new public transport, fit better with current priorities?
“An X-shaped coach service between Sunderland to Barrow-in-Furness and Workington to Middlesbrough could transform regional connectivity.
“Even where there is a bus service, such as between Workington and Penrith, the current X4 bus takes one hour 45 minutes, compared to 45 minutes in a car, as it has 54 stops.
"So, an express service could be transformative for the region.”
'Fall in bus use'
The number of buses and coaches using Carlisle roads has fallen by more than a tenth over the last nine years, new figures show.
It comes as fewer buses were licensed across the UK at the end of last year than in any year since 2014.
The RAC said the fall is "disappointing", while the Campaign for Better Transport urged the Government to work with local authorities and bus operators to expand and improve bus services.
Department for Transport figures show 506 buses and coaches were licenced in Carlisle at the end of 2023.
This was broadly in line with the year before, but represented a fall of 15 per cent since 2014, when there were 595.
Some 141,300 buses and coaches were registered across the UK at the end of last year, a 16 per cent decline from nine years prior.
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Rod Dennis, spokesperson for the RAC, said the fall is "disappointing at a time when so much public money is being spent on trying to make bus travel more attractive".
He added: "It’s little wonder then that so many people are as dependent on their cars as they are."
The number of miles covered by bus services in Cumbria has also fallen by a fifth over the last decade, alongside services across the country.
Department for Education figures show bus companies in Cumbria provided 8.2 million miles of services in the year to March – up from 7.8 million the year before.
But in 2012-13, 10.4 million miles were provided, meaning bus coverage has been cut by 21 per cent over the last decade.
Nationally, the total length of bus routes has fallen by 21 per cent, from 1.3 billion miles in 2012-13 to 1 billion last year.
Silviya Barrett, director of policy and research at the Campaign for Better Transport, said declining bus provision is 'disappointing'.
Some 3.4 billion journeys were completed last year – up from 2.8 billion the year before, but below the 4 billion taken in the year to March 2020.
Meanwhile, residents in Cumbria took 10.8 million bus journeys in the year to March – up from 9.4 million the year before.
However, this remained below pre-pandemic levels, when 13 million journeys were taken but the £2 bus price has boosted numbers across the region.
'Carlisle to Newcastle should take 45 minutes'
The issue of transport connectivity has rumbled on for some time in Cumbria with calls for better transport links across the board.
The Liberal Democrat candidate for Carlisle at the recent election has said he would like to see trains from Carlisle to Newcastle take just 45 minutes.
Trains from Carlisle to Newcastle can take up to one hour and 40 minutes but Brian Wernham, who is also a councillor at Cumberland Council, has called for journey times of just 45 minutes between Carlisle and Newcastle and Carlisle and Whitehaven.
Cllr Wernham said that shorter journey times would take cars off the road and be beneficial to the region’s economy.
His plans would see a fast train running alongside a stopper service calling at the smaller stations like Brampton and Haydon Bridge.
In February, more than 30 representatives from Westmorland and Furness Council, Cumberland Council, Stagecoach, various independent bus operators and associates, including Cumbria Tourism, participated in round-table conversations on enhancing bus transport.
Westmorland and Furness Council pledged to expand on the preliminary discussions and work collaboratively with partners to allocate £1.7 million of funding granted to the Council in 2024/25 between now and June.
The funding, awarded by the Department for Transport, includes over £412,000 from the Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus (BSIP+) funding and an added £1.28 million redirected from HS2 following the Government’s Network North announcement.
'Coaches are a great opportunity for private investment into sustainable travel'
In order to make the network of coach travel happen, the report says there needs to be a partnership between private companies and local and national authorities.
“At a time of constrained public finances, coaches are a great opportunity for private investment into sustainable travel, though changes will be needed to how we allocate space on major roads to make this attractive,” said the report.
“Partnerships with local authorities, transport providers and leisure attractions are crucial though to maximise integration: new urban transport networks can feed customers to coaches, while new coach services can enable people to 'car shed'."
Besides the question of who should operate coaches, is the question who travels on them. Surveys in the UK suggest that many people feel coaches are “not for people like them”.
“Abroad, there are many luxury services, appealing to hipsters and schedule-stretched business travellers.
“While encouraging people to fall in love again with the coach certainly requires faster, more reliable journeys.”
The report calls on the next government to prioritise coach travel over the next parliament.
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