It is great news for rural communities within Rugby and Nuneaton as Warwickshire County Council unveils its plans to use new Government funding to dramatically improve bus links to the surrounding ...
It is great news for rural communities within Rugby and Nuneaton as Warwickshire County Council unveils its plans to use new Government funding to dramatically improve bus links to the surrounding areas.
Warwickshire County Council is pleased to announce its intentions to spend new government funding intended for supporting local bus services and routes on key projects within Nuneaton and Rugby Boroughs.
In September 2019, the Government announced details of £220 million commitments in 2020-21 to transform bus services in England. In February 2020, further details were published with the Department fof Transport (DfT) inviting local authorities to submit expressions of interests regarding the following:
- £50 million for an all-electric bus town;
- £20 million for demand responsive transport schemes in rural and suburban areas;
- £70 million for new Superbus networks to deliver low fare, high frequency services, alongside the four-year pilot of such a network in Cornwall; and
- £30 million - funding for Supported Bus Services in 2020-21
The new funding for supported bus services, totalling £30 million across the UK, is to be paid directly to local authorities.
In its expression of interest, Warwickshire County Council proposed the following two short-term initiatives for the Rugby and Nuneaton and Bedworth boroughs respectively:
- Replacing current Flexibus operations with a fully demand responsive transport service within the Rugby Borough area, including an improved service timetable; and
- Launching a new bus service calling at Bedworth, employment, a large housing development and a rail station all in Bermuda and then linking to West Nuneaton.
The Council will seek to implement the Rugby Borough and Demand Responsive Transport service within the next 12 months, whilst the launch of a new bus service serving Bedworth and Nuneaton will be implemented upon completion of the major Bermuda Connectivity highway scheme.
The total cost of delivering these initiatives will be £499,674, which is covered in full by the DfT’s Supported Bus Funding
Councillor Jeff Clarke, Warwickshire County Council Portfolio Holder for Transport and Planning said:
“It’s great news for residents of both Nuneaton and Rugby that we have been successful in our bid for Government funding to support bus services.
“These initiatives will bring greatly improved connectivity not only in some of our most rural communities but also in the urban areas where need has been identified and where it can support access to employment and healthcare.”
A full copy of the expressions of interest can be found on the Warwickshire Website: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/buses