Vital Shropshire school bus service facing axe is saved

Earlier this month Arriva announced a host of changes to bus services across the county.

One of those included in the changes was the cancellation of the route which takes students from Ellesmere to the Marches School in Oswestry - on the number 53 bus.

The decision would have seen the 7.40am from Ellesmere to The Marches School scrapped, along with the 3.15pm from the Marches School to Ellesmere.

Arriva also said it would be cancelling the 5.15pm from Ellesmere to Oswestry, and the 6pm from Oswestry to Ellesmere - as well as the Saturday service in its entirety.

Now Shropshire Council has said that it has stepped in to "secure" the school and Saturday journeys on the route, which will now be provided by Lakeside Coaches.

A statement from the authority said: "The council has agreed to use some of the Bus Service Improvement Plan funding awarded by the Department for Transport, to ensure that these journeys continue to be provided until at least March 31, 2025."

Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for public transport, said: “This is very good news for people using the 53 service for school and on a Saturday.

“Clearly we were very disappointed by Arriva’s decision to cut journeys from the timetables of the 53 service, especially the school journeys.

"But, we’re pleased to confirm that after negotiation with various operators in the county and identifying some available funding in this year’s allocation of the Bus Service Improvement Plan, we are able to reinstate some of the cancelled Arriva journeys which will be provided by Lakeside Coaches.

“The 53 service was receiving revenue support from the government until August 2024 and Arriva have been contacted multiple times over the past 12 months to clarify what they planned to do with the service once the funding ran out.

"We were disappointed to see that they had chosen to cease operating these journeys and we have spent the past few weeks working out a potential solution using our own budgets and funding. I’m pleased that we have now been able to do so.”

During the contracted period, Shropshire Council said it will work with Lakeside and Arriva to understand passenger numbers and plan for service provision from April 2025 onwards.

* Service 53 (click here for timetable) has been awarded to Lakeside Coaches on the following basis:

Monday to Friday, school days only to and from The Marches School. From January 1 to March 31. Inward and return journeys provided.

A full Saturday timetable has also been awarded to Lakeside Coaches. From January 1 to March 29. This will also run until March 29, 2025, at which point it will be reviewed.

Click here for Arriva’s revised timetable for the 53 from January 2025.

All existing Arriva passes will be accepted by Lakeside Coaches.