Elderly 'trapped' after bus service removed

Elderly passengers say they feel 'trapped' after a bus service was removed as part of an overhaul of routes in Dudley and Sandwell.

More than 100 people packed into a small church hall to raise their concerns over the axing of the 297 service by National Express.

The service, which ran through Old Hill and Cradley Heath to Russells Hall Hospital, was ended earlier in the summer after a fall in passenger numbers and problems with reliability.

But at the meeting in Old Hill's Our Lady of Lourdes Church, residents vented their frustration at company representative Jack Kelly for the decision. Marcia Harris, from Sherbourne Road, was there on behalf of her elderly neighbours, some of whom now can't make it to their nearest bus stop. The 297 previously ran down the adjacent Station Road and served those in the nearby Lodgefield estate.

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She said: "I spoke to one of my neighbours in the summer holiday who said how unhappy she was, because she wasn't getting out.

"She's housebound really, she can only get out if she gets a taxi.

"It's for the likes of her that bus was for, and now she's trapped. She can't walk up or down the road to the nearest stop.

"It's for the most vulnerable that we are fighting, they should be thinking about the needs of the community."

Others complained that there is now no direct bus route to the hospital, and that they were not consulted properly before the route was discontinued. Some were at the meeting on Tuesday night from Coppice Lane, in Quarry Bank, to explain that they now cannot get directly to nearby Cradley Heath railway station.

One, Chris Hall, said: "We use the train a lot but we've got nothing now. All we've got is the 276 to Dudley and the 217 to Halesowen, we've got nothing that goes to the station."

National Express replaced the 297 with two separate services as it said the length of the 297 route was making it unreliable, and since the change that has improved by 21 per cent.

But since the service was removed more than 600 names have been gathered on a petition for its reinstatement.

Stephanie Peacock, Labour candidate for Halesowen and Rowley Regis, is behind the petition and the meeting.

She said: "There's no direct bus from anywhere in the constituency to Russells Hall, and that's unacceptable. The second issue is that some areas have been cut off, such as the Lodgefield estate. There are alternative buses either side, but there's huge, steep hills, so the alternatives aren't really viable."

Mr Kelly told those assembled at the meeting that he could not make any promises, but would take their concerns to bosses at National Express.