Bolton Liberal Democrats declare “There ain`t no party like a night bus party”

A recent petition created by regular Night Bus user Kevin Walsh of Harper Green, Bolton has seen over 1000 people sign it to demand plans to axe the services are postponed until a consultation has taken place with passengers to help provide an alternative service.

“The main concern for many of our supporters is that they will no longer be able to get to and from work easily without paying through the nose for a taxi.” Says Mr Walsh “For many residents of Bolton and the surrounding areas this could even mean losing their jobs as their wage for the evening could fall short of covering the faire home.

“We are inviting regular Night Bus users to join us to ride the Number 8 service this Saturday 2nd April from 11:45pm as we look to ride the service all night long to show that we need these services. For First and TfGM to make these decisions without any consultation or thought to the impact it will have on passengers is disgraceful and we hope that this show of support will lead to a rethink.”

The services, due to be axed form Sunday, April 3rd, were deemed by First to be losing money saying “”Despite doing our best to run these services on a purely commercial basis for over a year they are not covering the costs of operation and reluctantly we’ve had to take the decision to withdraw them 8 (Bolton), 36 (Bolton) and 39 (Leigh) night services fromApril 3.” However many commenters on the Save the Bolton Night BUs petition say they would be willing to pay more in order to keep the service running.

As petition signee Peter Fairchild from Bolton says; “I use these services quite frequently when I go out to the Theatres, Pubs, Cinemas and Clubs in Manchester. I don’t own a car and I cannot afford a taxi to get back to Bolton in the early hours. I would be willing to pay up to £5 0n the journey to keep the service going.”

The event will be taking place this Saturday 2nd April from 11:45pm at Picadilly Garden’s, Manchester with supporters riding through the early hours of Sunday Morning. Anyone attending is urged to bring weekly and monthly passes and day savers

The Facebook event is entitled “Ain`t no party like a night bus party and it can be found here- https://www.facebook.com/events/1150673288297600/
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The petition can be found at https://www.change.org/p/save-the-bolton-and-salford-night-bus