More dereg attacks
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• Transport secretary John Moore disputed Labour MPs' attempts to brand deregulation a failure in the House of Commons East week.
Moore was replying to complaints from the Opposition that deregulation has resulted in cancelled and reduced services, fare increases and towns chock-a-block with traffic congestion.
He argues that "initial difficulties" were to have been expected as the bus industry had been declining for the past 50 years, and pointed out that it had always been recognised that in some parts. of the country the changes would create some disruption.
Bob Hughes, Labour's transport spokesman, maintains that all the available evidence confirmed forebodings that the 1985 Transport Act authorising deregulation would be "an abject failure", "Those who depend on public transport are all being sacrificed in the pursuit of profit," says Hughes, "and all the evidence points to the situation getting worse as the months go by."
Hughes claims that since D-day on October 26 the frequency of bus services in the early mornings and evenings had been "drastically cut" in many places and services on Saturdays and Sundays in some areas had almost disappeared.
Moore says that the Government's policy was based on "putting consumers first". He said that service levels had been "broadly maintained" but this did not mean that every bus which had been running previously still was.
"The bus industry now has a structure which will allow it to serve people better for years to come, invigorated by competition and guided by the needs of customers," he says.
Labour's demand for the repeal of bus deregulation legislation was defeated by 65 votes.
0 Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority announced that since deregulation 25 additional services have been introduced under emergency arrangements — principally to serve schools.
An additional package of about 94 extra buses to bolster early morning services will start from December 1.