Pensioners have claimed they will be housebound because of the change to the E5 bus route, a change that has been described as "a disaster for the elderly and the disabled".
Pensioners, disabled people and mums with young children are left to carry heavy shopping for hundreds of yards to get to the new stop outside Epsom station rather than catching the bus at the clock tower in the town centre.
The change, aimed at reducing delays caused by town centre traffic, only came into force on Monday but has been met with so much opposition that the bus operator is already contemplating switching the route back.
Jackie Garrard, 69, who lives in Tomlin Court, Epsom, a warden controlled development for elderly people,said: “Some people where I live say they can’t get into Epsom any more. They just can’t walk all that way.
“I found it very difficult and when you get there, there is no bench to sit on or a bus shelter. On Monday it was pouring and there was nowhere to get out of the rain.”
The change to the E5 bus route is a disaster for pensioners and disabled passengers according to Councillor Stephen Pontin.
The Ruxley ward councillor is a member of the campaign to have the bus which serves Langley Vale, The Wells, Epsom and Watersedge re-routed back to the clock tower stop.
The change was made to stop the bus being caught in town centre congestion and to ensure the bus runs to time. The new stopping place is also more convenient for train passengers.
Councillor Pontin said: “This is a disaster for the elderly and the disabled. The route really does need to revert back to the clock tower.
Pensioner Chris Dadson from West Ewell said: “This is a very unpopular move. Pensioners with heavy shopping bags and mums with young children are having to struggle all the way round to Station Approach. I just hope the bus company changes its mind and the bus goes back to stopping at the clock tower.”
Steve Whiteway, operations director of the Quality Line buses, which runs the route, said he would make a decision later this week about whether the bus would revert to its old route.
“The change was made to improve the reliability of the service - and also some people like the idea of it stopping at the station.
“I will decide whether the change is reasonable or not. One way round might be to have the peak service running to the station and the off-peak service running to the clock tower.
“We had a lot of complaints about the service being late and now we have tried to do something about it, we have had more complaints.”
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