BUS COMPANY GOES BUST IN LATEST BLOW FOR SOUTH YORKSHIRE PASSENGERS

Published 5 August 2022 at 4:04pm

Reacting to the news that Powell’s bus company will close and services will stop running, South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard said:

“I know that Powell’s announcement of their insolvency will be a huge worry to our community, putting at risk people’s jobs, livelihoods and further undermining our region’s bus network. I share those concerns. At a time when operators are already failing to provide passengers with the services they need and deserve this is another blow. 

“With the limited public money available to support bus companies, we had been providing Powell’s with additional levels of financial support this year. Their announcement this week is just another example of how the system as a whole is broken - temporarily plugging the gap of at-risk services is not a viable long-term solution or a route to building the public transport network our region needs.

“Right now we have a broken system that allows operators to simply walk away, leaving taxpayers to step in and prop up services, so people can get to work, school, medical appointments and to see family and friends. That’s why we are undertaking the assessment into whether we can franchise South Yorkshire’s buses, as a route to a long-term solution for our public transport network. In the meantime, it’s also why we’ve asked the government for a funding package that allows us to better support and maintain our public transport network. 

“More immediately, I have asked officers to look into all the options open to us to protect services, including our legal position in relation to ownership of bus companies. People will understand that it’s a complicated process, limited by legislation in the Bus Services Act and a host of other challenges. However, I will explore any and all opportunities to protect and improve services. 

“However, my priority is to move at pace to find operators to plug the gaps that have been created by Powells. I’m pleased to say we have had positive conversations with alternative operators and I’m confident we are in a position to fund other operations to provide some of the services that are at threat of being cancelled. We’ll make details available as soon as we have them.” 

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority is co-ordinating work, with local authorities and other bus companies, to put alternative services in place, where possible.

More information about affected Powell’s bus services is available on the Travel South Yorkshire website.