Our City p19
28/6/13
14:09
Page 1
SUMMER 2013
Our City 19
Alma and Ray Lovell, from Meir, are pictured by the Lidice Way sign at the new bus station.
Customers inside the City Centre Bus Station.
Passengers and operators welcome
bus station boost ASSENGERS have given Stoke-on-Trent’s new bus station the thumbs up.
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The £15 million state-of-the-art facility opened in March as part of a major redevelopment of the City Centre and includes 22 bus departure bays. Elouise Shenton, aged 18, from Bucknall uses the bus station five days a week to get to college. She said: “The new bus station is a lot nicer than the old one. It is warmer in the winter because you don’t have to stand outside while you BAKERS Coaches has five wait for buses departing from the your bus. It new bus station every hour. Driver Trainer Geoff Barker said:“We welcome the opening of the bus station and believe it is running well. “An updated bus station was badly needed and the covered area makes it a better facility for customers waiting for their bus and drivers moving from vehicle to vehicle.” Ady Culpin, Regional Marketing and PR Manager for Stoke-on-Trent’s main bus operator First, said: “The new bus station is much more welcoming and comfortable for customers. “I would encourage anyone who normally uses other transport to come and see how bus travel has changed as it offers convenience and can be more cost effective to get around the local area.”
Comfort and convenience
is good to have toilets on site too.” Daniel Castle, aged 28, from Stoke, said: “I use the bus station every day to get out and about to see friends. It could be bigger so there is more room for buses, but I prefer the new bus station because it is brighter and you won’t get wet when it is raining.” John Hancock, an 80-year-old bus pass holder from Baddeley Green, said: “You used to get blown off your feet at the old bus station when the weather was bad.
I like the design “This one is much warmer and I like the design of the building, although I wish my stand wasn’t the last one in the station because it means I have to walk the furthest with my shopping. I’m glad the council has created a new station for us.”
Margaret Weston, aged 45, from Hanley, said: “I was expecting the new bus station to be bigger, but it’s a big improvement to the last one and I like that you can wait indoors.” Alma and Ray Lovell, from Meir, had good first impressions of the bus station and were pleased to see it celebrated the city’s links with a Czech mining village. Part of John Street has been renamed Lidice Way to recognise how people of the city rallied to help rebuild the village after it was destroyed in the Second World War. Alma, aged 76, said: “Our Lidice links are something to be proud of. It is a good idea to mark that at the bus station.” Ray, aged 79, added: “The old bus station was badly in need of work, this one is much better and a step in the right direction for the City Centre.”
Elouise Shenton, 18, from Bucknall
John Hancock, 80, from Baddeley Green
Margaret Weston, 45, from Hanley
Daniel Castle, 28, from Stoke
Campaign puts Cars Behind Bars DOZENS of vehicles have been taken off the road in a police clamp down on uninsured vans, cars and motorbikes. The Cars Behind Bars initiative was launched across the city to hit drivers who flout the law on insuring their vehicles. The offence carries a £200 fine and six licence penalty points. Proof of insurance must be shown before a seized car can be retrieved, and there is also a fee of around £200 for storage and recovery. Vehicles which are not reclaimed could be crushed or sold on. A Staffordshire Police spokesman said:“If you drive without insurance on our roads you are breaking the law and could face your car being seized on-the-spot and could face a large fine. “We will continue to track down offenders and make Staffordshire a 'no-go area' for the number of people who are breaking the law.” ● Our picture shows PC Mick Barnett with a crushed vehicle at the launch of the Cars Behind Bars campaign.