Shropshire Star

Extra buses laid on for Shrewsbury Park & Ride routes

Christmas shoppers will be able to get in to Shrewsbury more easily after extra buses have been laid on for Park & Ride routes.

Published
Extra buses are being laid on

Shrewsbury BID has agreed to sponsor the extra buses and there will now be an extra bus each hour tomorrow and on December 23.

This will mean 60 extra buses across the two Saturdays leading up to Christmas.

Seb Slater, the BID’s executive director, said: “We are pleased to sponsor additional Park & Ride buses on the busiest shopping days of the year, improving access and the experience for visitors to the town in the run-up to Christmas. There will be an extra bus each hour throughout the day increasing the frequency to every 15 minutes across the three Park & Ride routes.”

And for late night revellers there is the newly-launched night bus which operates between 8pm and 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Operated by Arriva, it will run on the hour every hour, excluding 10pm with two buses using existing bus routes for just £1 each way.

The initiative builds on Shrewsbury BID’s commitment to improve access in and out of town during the evening and night – and James Hitchin, chairman of Pub Watch and owner of The Alb, said he fully supports the trial.

He added: “Those of us running night time venues feel a duty of care to help ensure that our customers have safe and convenient options to get them home after a great night out. As such we warmly welcome this additional affordable option to not only bring them in to the town but importantly to transport them home safely in the small hours.”

There will be a north and south route, and each will each have 12 stops starting and finishing at Shrewsbury Bus Station where the Shrewsbury Business Improvement District (BID) street ambassadors will be on hand to assist.

The north route will take in Battlefield, Harlescott, Mount Pleasant, Hubert Way and Ellesmere Road while the south route covers Shirehall, Meole Brace, Radbrook Green, RSH, Gains Park and Bicton Heath.