Infrastructure gaps put rural residents at a major disadvantage

From the isolated village where I live you can catch a minibus to the nearest supermarket, seven miles away.

- John Craven

On the return journey it will drop you and your shopping off right outside your front door. That's service for you, but, as you will have gathered, this is no ordinary bus route.

It is operated for and by the community and thrives at a time when, right across the countryside, countless bus routes and other rural amenities are disappearing. As well as the supermarket run, our little electric buses go to seven other destinations within a 15-mile radius, including doctors' surgeries and town centres. There is even a daily shuttle service for commuters to and from the train station. Villagers without cars do have to regulate their lives around the limited timetables, but they no longer feel isolated from the rest of the world.

What a contrast to the bleak findings of the State of Rural Services 2025 report, published by the independent and not-for-profit research body, Rural England CIC, which reveals that gaps in infrastructure, funding and access continue to create real disadvantages for country people. Bus services, it states, are at an historic low.