Neil O’Brien, MP for Harborough met with Arriva, the current operators of the X3 service in Market Harborough.
At the meeting they discussed the current service, usage levels and what options existed which would enable some form of service to continue for residents of the Southern Estate in particular.
Neil said. “It was a useful meeting and I’m grateful to Arriva for coming to discuss the service with me. We considered a range of different options including how best to work together with other operators and existing services in the area.
The underlying issue is the level of off-peak usage, as there are on average only three people per journey outside of the peak commuting hours. Though the service plays a particularly important role for residents of the Southern Estate, who wish to go into town and may not have a car of their own to be able to complete the journey.
I’ll also be continuing discussions with the local authorities on this and other bus routes in the area, some of which are subsidised by the Council; this is not the case with the X3 meaning we have limited leverage to influence this particular service.”
