Mayor slams bus cuts as 'simply wrong'
StagecoachA mayor has attacked planned cuts to some bus services, calling the decision "simply wrong".
Stagecoach said it would end two routes in Sunderland and cut some number 7 services in Newcastle from 11 May as they were losing too much money.
But North East Regional Mayor Kim McGuinness accused the firm of putting profit before passengers.
The bus operator said the decisions had been made as a "last resort" saying that recent national insurance contribution increases as well as inflation had made the losses on the services "unsustainable".
Stagecoach said it would the cut evening services on the number 7 bus from the Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle, to the Metrocentre.
It also said the 18 and 18A services between Gilley Law and Sunderland city centre would stop entirely.
This means Gilley Law residents would lose their bus route to Sunderland Royal Hospital and would instead need to take a bus into the city centre and change, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
McGuinness said these services provided "vital bus links" to hospitals as well as local shops and jobs.
"Stagecoach can afford to keep these services running," she said. "Their decision is absolutely about maintaining their high profit margin."
She claimed the firm had not consulted the passengers it would be "leaving stranded".
Subsidy talks
Stagecoach North East head Steve Walker said the firm first notified public transport body Nexus that it was losing money on these routes in August 2022.
"But with recent changes to national insurance contributions on top of general inflationary pressures, the losses on these services have become unsustainable," he said.
The firm had been in discussions with McGuinness's team over a subsidy for the services but had been unable to find a solution, leaving Stagecoach with "no option," Mr Walker said.
McGuinness has previously pledged to bring the North East's bus network back under public control for the first time since the 1980s.
However, this could take years to finalise.
The Mayor said: "Cuts to services like this show that the current bus system is broken.
"Buses are a public service and should run for local people – not profit."