Rural bus services to benefit in £1m boost

BUS users in West Lancashire are to benefit from an extra £1m for services. Local changes include improved services for the 337 and 347 buses, which will restore rural village links and improve frequencies from Chorley and West Lancashire to Southport and Ormskirk.

There will also be more frequent buses between Mawdesley, Croston, Eccleston and Chorley, while the number 337 will now serve Burscough Industrial Estate.

The county council will work with bus operators to restore a daytime service link between Ormskirk, Haskayne, Halsall, Shirdley Hill and Southport.

The improvements to the network of buses supported by Lancashire County Council were approved by its cabinet.

The council has now committed to make an extra £1m available to bus services, increasing the budget from £2m to £3m.

At its meeting this week, the county council’s cabinet agreed to boost the council’s support for buses, with a number of new routes across Lancashire and changes to improve existing tendered bus services.

The aim is to restore lost links between communities, particularly in rural areas where people who do not drive or own a car rely most on public transport, increase the frequency of services on routes with greater demand, and stabilise the network by supporting routes which might otherwise disappear.

County Cllr Keith Iddon, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “This additional funding will support and supplement the commercial network to link communities which might otherwise have no or very little public transport.

“It will make a big difference to people’s lives, and help to ensure transport connections across Lancashire are as effective as possible.

“We need a good public transport network for our economic prosperity, giving everyone the opportunity to access work and education.

“It also means people can carry out everyday activities such as doing their shopping, visiting family and friends, and getting to health appointments.

“In developing these routes, all county councillors were invited to raise local issues and offer their input on behalf of their communities, and we’ve worked hard to get the most out of this investment.

“We will now speak to bus operators about how we could improve services in some areas where we think the best option is to enhance an existing commercial service to better serve communities.”

Detailed timetables will now be developed, and all county councilsupported bus services put out for competitive tender, with the revised services proposed to start from December 10.

There will be no change, or only minor adjustments to timetables, for 15 existing county council tendered bus services.

The routes to be improved include services 337/347, which will restore rural village links and improve frequencies from Chorley and West Lancashire to Southport and Ormskirk. A number of benefits include: Improved service for Croston and Eccleston, restoring the direct link to Chorley.

Improved frequency between Mawdesley, Croston, Eccleston and Chorley.

Service 337 will additionally serve Burscough Industrial Estate, providing public transport access to this employment area.

Service 315 Ormskirk – Haskayne – Halsall – Shirdley Hill – Southport.