Stagecoach explains lack of bus stops on busy Eastbourne road

Resident Phil Hall argues Lottbridge Drove is the town’s ‘largest concentration of retail and leisure space’ with a mixture of shops and garages on both sides of the dual carriageway.

He said despite this, many of the sites in the area are ‘inaccessible by bus as there isn’t a single bus that travels down the road’.

Phil said, “Some buses stop at the Hampden Park end, others stop at the Seaside Road end. Take the railway as an example, it’s a good 20-minute walk from either end.

“Given changes to bus services, why not have a bus that would open up this area to more visitors and residents, whilst simultaneously helping reduce traffic movements in the area.”

A spokesperson for Stagecoach said there used to be bus stops by the miniature railway and golf course entrances but they were removed around 2006 before Stagecoach operated in Eastbourne and when the bus stops were there, usage was ‘very low’.

East Sussex County Council is the governing body that decides where bus stops are located. On this issue a spokesperson said, “We are unable to establish why the bus stops adjacent to the miniature railway entrance were removed a number of years ago.

“We understand the service that used to serve the miniature railway stops was very poorly used, and currently Stagecoach do not run a service along this section of Lottbridge Drove. Bus stops are located about half a mile away from the miniature railway entrance, in Birch Road (Stagecoach’s route 3) and outside Morrisons (Stagecoach’s route 5,5A and the Loop).”

Now Lottbridge Drove has ‘no stopping’ signs and there are limited safe crossing points on the dual carriageway if people were dropped off on the wrong side of the road.

The stagecoach spokesperson said there are buses running in both directions and there is a bus stop at Birch Road which is close to Tesco.

He said, “This section of Lottbridge Drove is also ‘no stopping’. So any proposal to install bus stops could be problematic.”

The spokesperson said if a suitable route for buses to stop was created to serve some of the retail units, then it would create a ‘significant time penalty’ and ‘lengthen journey times’ which would also mean more buses would be needed to maintain frequency.

To this, he said, “We believe this would not generate enough patronage overall to cover the extra cost, whether through rerouted services or a new route altogether.”

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