Arriva bosses refuse to provide bus service for 300 'stranded' pensioners in Milton Keynes - because it would take too long

Arriva bus company has refused a plea to help 300 elderly residents at Shenley Wood Retirement Village.

Many of the residents do not have cars and they were left without a bus service when MK City Council decided to scrap many subsided buses in 2021, replacing them instead with the MK Connect electric vans.

But for the community at Shenley Wood, the new demand responsive service has not proved popular. They claim it is unreliable, inaccessible and often impossible to use for OAPs who do not have the latest technology and smart phones.

As a result, the residents say they feel lonely and isolated and struggle to get out to do their shopping, attend appointments or go to the bank or post office. Their only option is taxis, which many says are simply too costly.

The number 28 Arriva bus had, until 2021, stopped on Chalkdell Drive right outside the retirement village, but now the nearest bus stop is a walk of several hundred metres away – and this is proving difficult for the elderly residents.

They have written to the council and Arriva bosses urging them to re-route the service slightly so it stops closer to the village. But their plea has been firmly rejected.

"We’ve just heard that Aviva are refusing to call at our village with an existing bus route (a matter of a few hundred yards) because it will disrupt the timetable. Can you believe that? It’s a bit pathetic and they have no heart for the elderly,” said resident Marjorie Booth.

The Citizen approached Arriva to state the residents’ case and ask if the route could be tweaked slightly. But a spokesperson for the company told us: “If we were to divert to take in the retirement village – there is little else in this vicinity that would attract passengers and would result in a longer journey for existing passengers.

“We are a commercial operator, so managing the costs that services incur is crucial.”

They added: “We strive to make all services sustainable, in an environment that is extremely challenging.

“Post COVID we have not seen passenger numbers return to the same levels and we have to take steps to protect our networks. This must include ensuring the resources on our services operate efficiently and if we were to add in extra time to allow a longer route it would mean additional resource would be required and the service in question cannot support that cost without funding.”

Residents feel the council should subsidise the service, and Marjorie has written personally to the council’s chief executive Michael Bracey is make the request.

She said: “He suggested that we perhaps could share taxis! I did not feel assured in any way that anything would happen.

“We want to be independent here and surely it is better for the council to keep us mobile. We are supposed to be a Jubilee city now and our older people are isolated. Something must be done.”