Last year, First Group made £122 million profit t nationally, most of which went into the pockets of its shareholders, the same shareholders who are willing to sit on their backsides comfortably whilst complaining that their workers aren’t doing a good enough job, neglecting the fact that all bus drivers not only have to deal with their management’s incompetence,and the anger at the proposal to cut the 86 bus service This bus is not only used by residents of Rustlings Road and Nether Green but by a considerable number of the allotment holders behind Rustlings Road.
Some of the allotment holders are elderly and no longer permitted to drive due to health Why should these people, who only have pensions to live on, be forced to take taxis? The 86 bus also provides the only direct connection to the rail station for people in Nether Green and Rustlings Road. It is absurd that a substantial suburb like Nether Green and a main road such as Rustlings Road should have no bus service in a town the size of Sheffield.
Over three years we have seen First Sheffield increase bus fairs, this could be why services like the no 86 have lack of people, it is just to expensive for some people to use First, a raft of changes to bus services in Sheffield due to be rolled out in July have been blocked by the council.
Despite pleas from the First group that the routes are not commercially viable in the current economic climate, the council said it was "not signing up to cuts".
FIRST bus company has warned drivers considering striking that they risk a "devastating effect" on the business leading to potential redundancies. Brandon Jones, deputy managing director, said a walkout could result in people permanently switching to their cars.
First, which is facing more strikes by its Sheffield drivers in an unrelated dispute over pay, has been forced to backtrack under the terms of the Sheffield Bus Agreement it signed with the council and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive in May 2007.
This followed outrage at another increase in fairs and public protest, a meeting is to be hold THURSDAY 30th July 2009, 7pm at Quakes Meeting House St James Street Sheffield (near the cathedral) this is part of the ongoing fight for re-regulation of Public Transport.
This meeting is organised by www.wwobb.org (we want our buses back) who also support The Residents Against Station Closure
http://www.rasc-sheffield.com/index.html a pressure group uniting a wide range of groups, individuals, organisations and communities, in a campaign to stop East Midlands Trains installing barriers at Sheffield Station. Ticket barriers will prevent many people walking through the station to gain access to the city centre or the tram stop which is at the back of the station. Sheffield is proud of the station and the region has spent £50 million on the award-winning refurbishment of the station and the immediate vicinity. The resulting refurbishment is described as a world class gateway to the city (In this SYPTE article.)
The footbridge links communities and organisations on both sides of the station. It is one of the few truly integrated transport networks in the area uniting as is does, the tram stop, the station and the Sheffield Interchange.
The bridge is particularly important for wheel chair and push chair users as the only alternative bridge is completely inaccessible, so a very large diversion would be required. Go here to see a Sheffield Council photo presentation on the area, including the alternative bridge
The link through the station is also central to the City regeneration strategy as it provides a direct route for future occupants of the massive Park Hill scheme to access the Golden Route into the city centre.
It is direct actions that has seen East Midlands Trains part back down, a spokesman for East Midlands trains said that “a line had to be drawn”, and we agree - by making this decision, EMT have put their profit margins ahead of the views of the 2,076 Sheffielders who signed a petition opposing the barrier, and we can’t let them get away with it. It raises serious questions about democracy when a scheme so universally unpopular with pretty much everyone can be pushed through.
As for our elected representatives, MP Richard Caborn boasts that he’s “told them not to do a daft thing like this again”, but what’re the chances of them actually listening to him? If we’re going to defend the principle that public needs come before private profit, it’ll take more than fine words from politicians - we need to build a large and militant movement, capable of scaring the arrogance out of bosses who’ll never listen to our views unless they’re forced to.
We hope to see you at this meeting and lets start to reclaim not only our Trains and Buses but our future, in a time where we see the rise of the far right, due to politicians fucking over the working class, and who was it in 1997 told us vote Labour with no illusion of course the far left, meanwhile The Anarchist of Sheffield have always understood which side these people are on, we need therefore to ensure the Socialist Party, of which www.wwobb.org (we want our buses back) is a front for are not the ones leading the fight back and becoming the vanguard of the working class, neither do we need other fronts to do the same, we need a united working class militant movement one that is willing ready and able to take direct action.
{notes}
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/2009/05/430973.html http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/newswire/archive.html http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/2009/07/434204.html 
