COUNTRY buses take as long to get to Colchester today as they did more than 70 years ago, a study has revealed.

Colchester Bus Users' Group has been comparing current timetables with schedules from decades past to find out if services have improved or declined.

It found journey times had hardly changed since the 1920s and 1930s, with buses to West Mersea and Brightlingsea taking exactly 35 minutes, then and now.

Though vehicles were slower, the use of conductors meant there were no delays from ticket issuing.

"The buses may be able to go faster, but traffic has got worse," said secretary Peter Kay.

The users' group mainly looked at changes to services in more recent times, by comparing timetables from 1986 and today.

It found there were more town centre buses now than 20 years ago, due to population growth and also possibly to privatisation, with operators competing to win passengers on the busiest routes.

On rural buses, however, services were little altered in spite of increases in population.

Out of 21 routes, eight were the same, seven had got worse and six had improved.

"There does not seem to be much logic in which places have improved or worse services," Mr Kay said. "Almost all places have experienced moderate growth."

While increasing car ownership is a likely factor in the stagnation of rural routes, overall bus use in Colchester appears to be increasing.

First Essex, the town's largest operator, said passenger numbers rose by four per cent in the last six months.

Factors include the introduction of nationwide free bus travel for the over-60s and a discounted season ticket for university students.

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