End of the road for Liverpool bus route

A BUS service between Widnes to Liverpool will end later this month after the operator pulled the plug.

A consultation had taken place on the future of the X5 service run by Stagecoach.

The company has decided to ‘reluctantly’ withdraw the service, which will run for the last time on Saturday, November 23.

Giving reasons for ending the service, a Stagecoach statement said other options to Widnes from Liverpool have been explored but that none were ‘commercially viable’ or satisfied demand for a ‘fast, limited stop service’ to the city.

The bus firm says it has been ‘left with no option but to cancel’ the service, despite residents appreciating the fast journey time and its limited stop nature.

The statement said: “The results of the consultation demonstrated that existing customers appreciated the fast journey times and limited stop nature of the service.

“They also demonstrated that there was a clear appreciation of new and improved links to the Lunts Heat and Barrow’s Green areas of Widnes.

“It was also clear that a number of X5 customers had previously used the train, or the car; but the limited-stop nature of the service, combined with comparatively low fares had attracted them to use the bus.

“We did explore other potential options to try and continue to provide a link to Widnes, but none of these were commercially viable, or satisfied the demand for fast, limited-stop journeys into Liverpool.

“As we cannot see a commercially viable future for this bus link, we have therefore been left with no option but to cancel the service.”