Anger as popular Wigan bus service to be axed

A popular bus service is set to be axed in the new year, leaving a Wigan community in uproar.

Stagecoach’s 113 is particularly popular with older people in Standish, who rely on it to get to hospital appointments at Wigan and Leigh Infirmaries.

June Price, 83, lives on Old Pepper Lane, Shevington Moor, where the bus stops directly outside her home.

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She said: “If they take that bus service off us, we just can’t get anywhere.

“I have a son who is quadriplegic, and I need the bus to go and visit him at Wigan Infirmary. It really has upset me.”

Mrs Price isn’t the only person to have been affected by the cancellation.

Elsie Stockley, who is 88 and also lives on Old Pepper Lane, relies on the bus to get food and other essentials.

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She said: “I have two sons and granddaughters who work all week and don’t get back until six or seven o’clock at night, so I can’t expect them to run me here, there and everywhere.”

Without the service, a taxi, which costs around £14 is the only alternative for many of the elderly people who get on at Standish.

An online petition through change.org has been put forward to Stagecoach CEO Martin Griffiths, with over 300 people already signing it.

Stagecoach have released a statement on their website about the service, which says: “From Monday, January 7, service 113 between Preston and Wigan will be withdrawn.

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“The service has suffered from declining passenger numbers for a long of period of time, and the recent addition of alternative bus services in areas the 113 passes through, has increased this decline in passenger numbers.

“The 113, which receives no public funding, has now become unviable to operate.

“Stagecoach provided Lancashire County Council with advance notice of this decision and will assist them wherever possible to provide alternative transport arrangements for communities affected.”