Shropshire Council steps in to save another school bus service after Arriva announces cuts

Shropshire Council has moved to secure bus journeys to and from Oldbury Wells School on the number 9 bus service between Bridgnorth and Wolverhampton.

The decision comes after Arriva announced it would be making cuts to the service. 

The cash-strapped local authority has agreed to use funding that was awarded by the Department for Transport (DfT) for the Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), to ensure that these journeys will be provided until at least March 31 next year.

The funding means that Arriva will provide Monday to Friday school journeys to and from Oldbury Wells - on school days only.

The school service will begin on Monday, January 6, in time for the new term.

The new timetable for the service can be viewed here.

Shropshire Council has also agreed to use BSIP funding to save school and Saturday journeys on the 53, Ellesmere to Oswestry service.

The council’s cabinet member with responsibility for public transport, Ian Nellins said: "This is very good news for those using the 9 service to get to and from Oldbury Wells School.

"We were really disappointed by Arriva’s decision to cut school journeys from the timetables of the 9 service.

"As with the 53 service, the number 9 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.

"We will use the time to work out passenger numbers and usage along the corridor. After that time we will look to put in place a further contract which will go out for competitive tender. However, it must be stated that the service will be monitored for its use and is important that customers use the service to ensure financial commitment moving forward."

The council said that the contract awarded runs until until Monday, March 31 - as per the allocation of funding received from the DfT.