Fresh hope for Burnley General to Royal Blackburn Hospital shuttle bus

The free bus service – currently run by the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) – takes staff, patients, and visitors between the Royal Blackburn, Burnley General, and Pendle Community Hospitals.

The service will cease to exist from Monday, March 31st as the Trust can no longer afford the annual operation costs of £780,000.

As revealed in the Burnley Express, Burnley MP Oliver Ryan had already met with met with transport operators, the Trust’s Chief Executive Officer, the leader of Blackburn Council, MPs for Hyndburn, Pendle and Clitheroe, and Rossendale and Darwen and others to help find a solution to the issue.

Now, in a new development, Burnley councillor and former Lib Dem MP Gordon Birtwistle, has met with the operators of the shuttle, Holmeswood, inlcuding its drivers, in a bid to have the service officially listed as a route, allowing the bus to continue but with a £3 fare.

Coun. Birtwistle said: “I met with drivers of the company on Monday and then on Tuesday with the Trust chief executive Martin Hodgson and Burnley Council leader Afrasiab Anwar.

“The talks with the Trust were positive. We then spoke to the operators who were keen to continue the service, if we can get it officially listed as a route. There may even be a chance of putting some extra buses on. There would be a fare of £3 one way.”

The Trust had said it can no longer afford to operate the route, which it says costs £780,000 per year and is free for anyone to use at any point. The bus was started as an interim initiative for five years in 2007.

The Trust says it undertook an informal survey, to which 248 people responded, with 241 confirming they had used the shuttle bus in the past year, including 172 members of staff, 35 patients, 30 visitors or friends and a number of ‘others’ who appeared to be using the bus, which is open to the public, without any connection to the Trust or its services.