237 Evening Journeys (Glossop to Ashton via Hadfield – Tintwistle)
Local’s who use the evening service on the 237 from Glossop to Ashton Under Lyne via Hadfield and Tintwistle may have seen a concerning announcement yesterday.
The announcement is that the company (MCT) that currently runs the service have advised they are proposing to close in late April.
The announcement from the MCT (copied below) appeared on their website yesterday :
Manchester Community Transport (MCT) has announced today that it is proposing to close in late April, citing mounting losses and difficult trading conditions.
The community transport operator was rescued from closure in 2017 by joining HCT Group, and has been reliant on them for financial, management and technical support since that time. Operating conditions for MCT have not improved sufficiently for continued support to be viable. HCT Group can no longer sustain MCT’s losses and has no alternative but to withdraw support.
“It’s a really sad day for all of us” said Phil Stockley, Interim Managing Director at MCT. “Colleagues from across the Group – and the whole staff team at MCT – have worked tirelessly to put the operation here on a sustainable footing.
“We understood the level of difficulty facing MCT when we took on this challenge, but felt strongly it was worth every possible effort to preserve a Community Transport organisation with such a longstanding tradition of service in the area. We have done all we can, but the situation does not appear to be recoverable and we can no longer maintain our support.”
After checking with the public transport folks at Derbyshire County Council, they advise that this is a service that runs via a contract from TFGM (Transport for Greater Manchester). They understand that the contract is due to switch to a different operator in April 2020 so should be unaffected by this change.
The impact of this announcement on services in Glossopdale is limited. Still, there will be some issues elsewhere, and I hope there will be support for the staff at MCT.
As soon as I have details of the new operator and any changes to the timetable I will advise them here. I suspect many locals will be hoping that the contract will have been won by Stagecoach who currently operate the daytime service.
