Just over two years ago, without any public consultation or prior notice whatsoever, the 82 bus route into Liverpool was abruptly changed.  Instead of travelling to the Liverpool 1 bus station via the city centre, passengers suddenly found their journey taking a radical detour from a point far outside, thus bypassing every city centre location other than the bus station itself.

As a result 82 bus passengers wishing to visit the Berry Street/Renshaw Street/Hardman Street/Hope Street areas of Liverpool city centre are now faced with a long walk or another bus ride, as are those wishing to access Lime Street and Liverpool Central train stations.  Particularly badly affected are the elderly, disabled, parents with young children, and anyone struggling to get to work on time.

But now matters are set to get a whole lot worse!  From the start of January 2020 new plans will mean the abolition of the 82D and 82C routes which currently provide some, though nowhere near enough, compensation for the problems listed above.  Not only that, the changes will apply to outward bound 82s also.  From Hardman Street, for example, you will have to make your way to either Liverpool 1 or the Baltic Triangle to get your bus home!

An online public consultation has taken place and we await the results of that in early November.  Though we are hopeful of some concession to people's concerns, it is likely to be a mere sticking plaster over a gaping wound.  The current situation is already intolerable, so why would we settle for something worse, even if it's slightly less worse than it might have been?

There is only one satisfactory solution to this ongoing disaster for 82 bus service users.  And that is the one which drew more than 5000 signatures to my petition protesting the original route change back in 2017 (and which resulted in the insufficient compromise of the 82C service, now threatened with abolition) - we STILL want our old 82 bus route back.  We want the 82D service to remain also because that was there before the change and served and still serves those wishing to travel to the Dale Street area of town but, above all else, we want our old 82 bus route back!

If you agree with this aim, we urge you to sign this petition.  But not only that we urge you to contact The Mayor of Liverpool, your city councillors, MPs, Merseytravel, Arriva and Stagecoach bus companies and let them know, in a polite and courteous way of course, of your dismay at the planned changes, of the difficulties the route change of 2017 has caused to you, and our demand that the old 82 bus route is fully restored.  Please also do your best to bring the attention of others to this petition and ask them to sign it.  In mid to late November we will be organising a public meeting so that you can put your concerns in person to relevant decision makers.  Please stay tuned!

Thank you. 

Rob Bell, 82 Bus Campaign Group.