THE spectre that was always at the back of the privatisation of bus services was that the cash demands of shareholders would start to outweigh the needs of the travelling public.

Those fears are starting to become well founded - as today's report on a massive cost-trimming exercise by Greater Manchester (First Bus) clearly indicates.

Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive believes that two million miles of services will be lost by the changes to 85 different services from the end of this month. We certainly echo the view of Cllr Guy Harkin, a spokesman for Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, that a crisis point has been reached.

His view, that the bus network in Greater Manchester is being continually undermined by the narrow commercial concerns of the bus operators, will be echoed wholesale by those at the mercy of public transport. The statement by Greater Manchester (First Bus) that some of the changes represent improvements will have bus travellers breathing huge sighs of relief - until they hear that some services which currently terminate near the Arndale in Manchester will be extended to Piccadilly. Big deal! When better public transport is being suggested as one means of reducing the traffic congestion caused by cars, most of which usually only carry one person, slashing the bus services hardly seems to be the right route to take. A much fairer balance must be struck between profit and public transport needs.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.