Isle of Axholme Local Service cut back

Until Friday 29th June, North Lincolnshire Council had directly operated the 58 Isle Shopper 'in-house', every Wednesday and Friday morning/lunchtime. The service provided links into Epworth Town Centre from Wroot (direct), from Sandtoft and Belton, and from Lockwood Bank in eastern Epworth.

Since the start of July however the 58 has become a Friday only service, operated as a 'fixed' CallConnect service - i.e. using the demand responsive Isle of Axholme CallConnect vehicle and driver to provide a traditional scheduled bus service. The Isle of Axholme CallConnect service is provided by Hornsby Travel. The remaining Friday service has also been scaled back, with one journey from Wroot to Epworth Town Centre via Sandtoft and Belton, arriving at 1013, and departing Epworth at 1215. Lockwood Bank in Epworth is no longer served.

For most, an Epworth shopping service is retained, and this arrangement does 'save' North Lincolnshire Council a bus, so is presumably a cost saving. However there is no getting away from this being a cutback. I'm not aware of any usage or cost figures for the 58, so it's not possible to assess if low usage and/or high cost is a justification.