LETTER TO THE EDITOR: A petition to help us get connected by bus

I HAVE found out that the only bus that links Swallownest where I live to Crystal Peaks, the 27, is going to be cancelled (along with the number 29) from October 2 because First couldn’t provide a proper service for it and several people complained about the poor service (buses cancelled due to lack of drivers) and if you can’t run a service properly, don’t run it at all, so rather than fix the problem, they’ve decided to stop running it completely, which seems a rather immature response by First.

When I sent a Tweet to First about this, they said that any announcements will be posted on their website and someone pointed out that it was on their website that the information was actually posted.

In its place is a number 21 bus that also replaces 27 and 29 and will be run by Stagecoach and TM Travel but it doesn’t go anywhere near Crystal Peaks.

As such, when I contacted Rotherham Travel Line, they advised that the only other alternatives to get there are the X5 to Woodhouse and then the 30 (which is an orange line) to Crystal Peaks or get the X5 to the Sheffield town centre and then the 120 to Crystal Peaks.

There’s another alternative to go to the Manor Top and then one from there to Crystal Peaks, but as the X5 is going to be reduced from every 30 minutes to 40 minutes the link between these buses will take even longer than they are at the moment.

It will be quicker for my son to walk to Crystal Peaks as he has just started work there and I’m concerned how he’s going to be able to get there after the changes to the bus service.

I have created a petition and the link is: https://www.change.org/swalltopeaksbus

Many thanks for everyone’s time and I hope that we can get a bus to be connected between Swallownest and Crystal Peaks again for those who rely on the service, such as the elderly and people that work there.

David Forrest,

Hepworth Drive,

Swallownest