People in Worsley are struggling to get to hospital appointments because the bus service is so bad, a councillor has claimed. Robin Garrido, leader of Salford Conservatives, said delays to the number 20 bus is causing regular delays for residents. It stops in Worsley on the way to Salford Royal Hospital. Mr Garrido said: “We remain disappointed in Worsley, you have a job to get a bus here. Older people in our area can’t get to hospital. “There’s one bus that runs through that’s not normally on time. There were two buses that didn’t turn up the other day, a resident contacted me, and they waited for over an hour and were told that the bus hadn’t even left the depot. “We have a particularly bad service. I just hope that the Bee service is at long last going to actually give us what we need in our area, not just an improved service, but just a bus service.” He added: “We have a total lack of bus services in the area and we are one of the wards with the highest percentage of older people in the city. “They have hospital appointments and they are waiting for one bus which often doesn’t turn up, it’s just not good enough. We’ve complained about this many times over the years. “The problem is they say the use doesn’t justify improving the service. But if you’ve got a dozen people who have no other form of transport because of health then it’s our job to provide that. “For all of Andy Burnham’s talk about the Bee Network, we have serious doubts about whether it will change anything in Worsley. It seems Andy Burnham isn’t bothered about older people living in Worsley.” Mr Bunham’s office was contacted for comment but did not respond. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said from April additional buses will be provided on the route to improve punctuality. Stephen Rhodes, director of bus at TfGM, said: “As we take control of the bus network – where operators decided on routes, frequencies, timetables, fares and quality standards – we are seeing that we are inheriting a system where too often bus punctuality was not as good as it should be. “Customers are at the centre of the Bee Network, and from Sunday half of all bus services – serving millions of passenger trips a week – will be locally controlled and accountable to passengers, and the reports we are publishing every week show that these services are better than the ones they replaced and the rest of the network. “I’d like to reassure all residents in Worsley that we are committed to deliver a service that works for you, and are working with the operator to prioritise improvements and are bringing in some changes to improve punctuality in April. “I’d encourage any residents not satisfied with their bus service to get in touch with us.”
