Alex Carter, managing director of First Group South West, responsible for running all First bus Somerset services, told a virtual meeting of the council’s scrutiny committee that future investment would be focused on routes that were already profitable and ripe for further growth – including the 28 service linking Taunton and Minehead.
But Cllr Ian Aldridge, who represents Watchet and Williton, claimed that improvements were urgently needed on the 28 route.
He said: “We used to have double-decker buses operating to Minehead. The three railway bridges are all 13ft 9ins maximum headroom, and that hasn’t changed in all the time that the bridges have been there.
“If you make a touchdown at Heathrow airport at 5.30pm, you cannot get back to West Somerset. You can get to Taunton, but there is no bus after 8.15pm.”
Mr Carter said there were “very few vehicles” that could otherwise service the 28 route to Minehead, citing industry standards of the height of double-deckers.
He said: “For whatever reason, the industry has generally settled on the ‘hybrid’ version of double-deckers, which are either 14ft 3ins or 14ft 6ins in old money. This is something we would be looking at in terms of service improvements on the more popular routes.”
Mr Carter said the Somerset area of First Group had returned to profit after many years of being “heavily loss-making” – but added the situation was still “more fragile” than in Cornwall.
“This is about trying to coral our costs into areas which are essential and enable us to provide the maximum level of quality service,” Mr Carter said.