Deputy ‘incensed’ by bus diversions out west

Roadworks adjacent to the Imperial Hotel finished yesterday, but for several days passengers on the 91 bus from St Peter Port, which usually passes the Imperial, were forced to get off at L’Eree, a 30-40 minute walk, mostly without a pavement.

Deputy David De Lisle, formerly a representative for the western parishes before the introduction of island-wide voting, said CT Plus was shirking its responsibility to collect and drop passengers at least somewhere near their normal bus stops.

‘We need a reliable bus service, especially as we are entering the tourist season,’ he said.

‘The bus service is becoming increasingly unreliable and people in the western parishes are being disengaged from the service.

‘They are using alternative transport and that means cars and that means more pressure on parking in the Town.

‘Torteval has been plagued by this in recent years and it is becoming more and more of a problem.’

A similar problem occurred in January.

CT Plus has frequently cut Torteval out of bus routes when the road between the Mallard and the Imperial is closed.

A spokesman for the company said that every diversion from a roadworks closure takes time.

‘Too much time lost from a route can result in a delay or a cancellation,’ he said.

‘When there are several roadworks going on around the island simultaneously, this time lost to diversions quickly builds and affects the network.

‘We fully understand the disruption roadworks cause and, while the area of Pleinmont remains accessible for some services, the time constraints to the network prevent long diversions from all bus services linking to this area while the roads are closed.’

Torteval constable Becky Link, who is a regular bus user, has contacted CT Plus about the problem.

‘Although we understand it is not the bus company’s fault that the road is closed again, we are just very disappointed that once again the Torteval commuter has not been given priority,’ she said.