THOUSANDS of people have signed a petition calling for Transdev to "save the X41 bus service."

Concerns have been raised over the proposed axing of the route, which "provides a vital link" between villages such as Ramsbottom, Holcombe, Stubbins and Edenfield, and Manchester city centre.

Transdev previously told the Bury Times that its Red Express X41 and Red 4 services from Ramsbottom to Bury would be scrapped "because they were incurring losses of around £300,000 per year."

The Rosso spokeswoman cited low passenger numbers and "unpredictable congestion" in Manchester as the reason behind the decision.

So far 4,627 people have signed a change.org petition, which was set up about one month ago to overturn the decision.

Transdev is due to meet with MP for Bury North, James Daly, and Ramsbottom councillors Ian Schofield, Clare Cummins and Kevin Thomas tomorrow to discuss the X41 service.

Mr Daly posted on social media: "The X41 is absolutely vital. We will continue to fight and do all we can to make sure it continues.

"The loss of this route impacts many of my constituents and I will be asking that this decision be reconsidered."

The MP has also met with Transport for Greater Manchester, and Rossendale councillor Noordad Aziz is due to meet with Transdev next week.

One resident posted on the petition: "I work in town and moved to Ramsbottom last month just because this bus meant I could still get to work. Please don't stop now!"

Others described it as "essential", "invaluable", "well used" and an "eco-friendly" alternative to driving.

Chris Ralph, who set up the petition, said the loss of the X41 service would be "detrimental".

He wrote: "The proposed scrapping of the X41 bus service from Accrington to Manchester is going to have a massively detrimental impact on the community.

"Not only is this going to affect many commuters who rely heavily on this service to get to and from work, it would impact massively on school and college students, not to mention anyone wanting a direct route into the city without having access to a car.

"This will literally cut places like Helmshore, Edenfield, Stubbins and Ramsbottom off from Manchester.

"The X41 has been a safe, reliable means of public transport for so many for so long and to suddenly drop the service is simply not acceptable.

"People at the top do not understand or realise the situation this will put people in. This is literally causing people to rethink their whole lives."

Transdev CEO Alex Hornby said: “We announced the changes to the X41 well in advance back in November. As our customers know, we are a good company that innovates and tries new things, delivering a high quality of service.

"Unfortunately, the revenue we attract on this route does not cover basic operational costs, including the drivers wages, so we had to act following many years of losses. 

"We have been approached by local politicians since the start of the new year and are in talks about how it could potentially be retained.

"We are in the midst of these conversations and hope we can announce something next week. Obviously we do not want to see our hard work over the years go to waste and we don’t want to let our customers down.”

View the petition at change.org/p/transdev-save-the-x41-bus-service.