NEW bus timetables introduced after severe service cut-backs will leave passengers waiting for up to an hour between connections.

The situation was labelled absurd by the chairman of Watford Bus Users' Group, Mr Phil Glazebrook.

He said: "There are some horrible, horrible bus journeys."

The problem arises from the reworked timetables, introduced after Arriva cut two services and substantially reduced others.

Mr Glazebrook criticised the new timetables for being badly co-ordinated with other bus and rail services in the area.

In the evening, Silverlink run trains from London Euston to Watford Junction at four minutes past the hour.

The new W4 Arriva bus service to Abbots Langley leaves Watford Junction six minutes before the train arrives. As a result, a commuter would have to wait 54 minutes for the next bus.

Part of the problem is bus and train operators do not communicate with each other when drawing up timetables. Arriva said times on affected services were decided by Hertfordshire County Council.

The council subsidises some evening routes, which do not make enough money for the company to run commercially.

A statement by the council said it decided the timetables in conjunction with Arriva. It said it was "impractical to schedule an hourly bus service to meet any given train".

Arriva defended the changes, prompted by driver shortages, as necessary to retain a reliable and punctual service.

The problems are most marked for evening commuters.

The W2 stops at Watford Junction at 7pm, leaving a 37-minute wait for the connecting bus to South Oxhey.

Mr Glazebrook said other routes to Mount Vernon hospital were badly co-ordinated, missing connections by seven minutes.

He said: "Passengers are just going to desert. There is no real thought in this time-keeping."

Before the new timetable was published on Friday just days before the changes were to come into force Mr Glazebrook said a shift to hourly services would start a vicious cycle of decline and underuse.

This affects vulnerable people the elderly and the poor the most, he said.

Environmentalists slammed bus operator Arriva for its poor services, unreliability, and latest reductions in services.

Watford and District Friends of the Earth's transport campaigner, Mr Terry Figg, said: "Bus passengers in Watford are treated by Arriva as if they were no more than an irritating nuisance. They have cut services with little notification to passengers, and many buses don't even carry the new timetables.

"The helpline is nearly always busy, some drivers don't know the route, buses don't even have the right number on them, and some even have different numbers on the back and front of the bus.

"They are truly the bus operator from hell."

Timetable information is available on 0870 608 2608.