Petition - Aldershot Bus Station and Residents of Kingsley Court - re-instatement of bus service

Thank you for the petition you sent to the County Council regarding bus services in Aldershot town centre, the closure of Aldershot Bus Station, and the impact of the changes on the residents of Kingsley Court who are finding it more difficult to access bus services since the closure of the bus station.

The decision to close Aldershot Bus Station was not made by the County Council and as such there is no decision against which an Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) could have been done by the County. The bus station site is in private ownership and has historically been leased to Stagecoach. The site was allocated in the current Rushmoor Borough Council Local Plan for housing and was subsequently granted planning permission. The private landowner has since made the decision to terminate the lease and seek to sell/develop the land. The lease ended in May 2023. 

The 1985 Transport Act sets out how decisions are made regarding bus routes and timetables. These decisions are primarily made by bus operators on a commercial basis, in other words they make a decision as to which routes and timetables can be operated profitably, and which roads these services will serve. When making these decisions, they take into account several factors such as the numbers of passengers boarding at each stop, journey times (usually the quicker the better) and other local factors that drive demand for bus services such as shops, residential areas, employment areas, healthcare facilities, schools, colleges and rail stations.

However, the County Council has worked with Stagecoach and Rushmoor Borough Council to provide alternative bus stop arrangements within the town centre.

In deciding how to best run commercial bus services in Aldershot the bus operator consider that by terminating the Gold Route 1 service in its new location, it provides quicker and more reliable journey times for the majority of passengers. The rationale for this is that it avoids an inefficient routing though Aldershot town centre and the longer journey times associated with that. Unfortunately, this means the service no longer serves the rail station, but that is the commercial decision that Stagecoach has arrived at. We have held a number of discussions with Stagecoach about the changes in Aldershot, and whilst they have tried to be accommodating by amending their service 15, they are not minded to revise the route of the Gold service because of the overall operational benefits associated with the new route. The situation is being closely monitored by Stagecoach, the County Council and Rushmoor Borough Council.

The County Council is not in a financial position to purchase the site of the bus station and from our discussion with the operator they do not see a need for it.

In respect of the residents of Kingsley Court who are finding it difficult to use buses as a result of the changes, there is the option of using the Rushmoor Connect service. This is a door-to-door service that can take passengers to anywhere within Rushmoor Borough. On set days of the week there are also trips to the Meadows, Camberley and Badshot Lea Garden Centre. Local trips within Rushmoor cost £6 return and trips to Camberley cost £7 return. Passengers do need to book in advance and anyone who does not have access to a public bus service is eligible to use the service. More details on Rushmoor Connect and Fleet Connect. 

The County Council will continue to work with Stagecoach and Rushmoor Borough Council to keep the situation under review.

Yours sincerely

Councillor Adams-King
Executive Lead Member for Universal Services