A CHANGE of heart at county level has resulted in a reprieve for some of AltonÕs Saturday bus services.
Due to be axed as part of a cost-cutting exercise to make up a £138,000 shortfall in the budget, a re-tendering exercise has come up trumps, enabling some services to be saved.
According to a report by the county surveyor on services affecting the Alton area, while in the majority of cases it has been possible to award contracts and retain services, there are some which have failed to meet the value-for-money criteria.
A small number of underused services have been withdrawn - those which carried less than five passengers on average, and in some cases no passengers at all, but it has been possible to reprieve others.
Some services will see a change of tender. The 23/24 Alton town service, which is mostly commercial, is operated on schooldays by Stagecoach. However, a contract has now been awarded to Stagecoach for Saturday journeys while Altonian Coaches has picked up the Monday-to-Friday service during school holidays.
Services 205 (East Tisted-Farringdon-Alton) and 206 (Froyle-Binsted-Alton), which have for some time been operated by Altonian Coaches, will now pass to Stagecoach.
However, while the 205 service has been enhanced since 2000 with additional journeys using funding from the Rural Bus Service Grant (RBSG), patronage has not built up and, with one exception, these additional journeys are to be withdrawn.
Among those Saturday services scheduled for withdrawal but which are now to be retained are: the 28 (Alton-Medstead-Basingstoke); the 72 (Alton-Selborne-Liss-Petersfield); the 209 (Brown Candover-Medstead-Alton); and the 221/2 (Bordon/Whitehill local service).
Route 13 (Alton-Whitehill-Liphook) will run a reduced Saturday service although the Whitehill-to-Alton section will be retained.
Service 205 (East Tisted-Farringdon-Alton) which was originally to remain unchanged will now see the withdrawal of RBSG supported journeys.
The new contracts, which began on June 2, will be of four yearsÕ duration.
Most of the Alton area contracted services are included in the Alton and Alresford Travel Guide while others appear in either the Petersfield or the Bordon and Liphook guides.