Greater Manchester mayor supports Shrewsbury night bus

The Mayor of Greater Manchester who put buses back under public control hopes Shrewsbury’s night bus is made permanent.

Andy Burnham was a guest speaker at The Buttermarket on Thursday (March 26) as part of a Labour event to celebrate the success of the night bus initiative. The scheme was only meant to run from November 24 to December 23 following funding by the Shrewsbury Big Town Plan Partnership and coordinated by Shrewsbury BID.

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However, it got extended from January to March following additional funding from the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner’s Community Fund.

For this part of the trial, the night bus expanded to include Oxon Park & Ride as a stop following demand.

In total, the bus – operated by Arriva – has carried more than 3,000 passengers across three routes. However, the trial came to an end on Friday (March 27).

Julia Buckley, the MP for Shrewsbury, said it having a night bus has helped reduce anti-social behaviour and violence against women, with fewer police call outs in the town centre.

Partners will now analyse usage data, passenger feedback, and route performance to understand where demand is strongest and what future provision could look like. This could be through a further trial, an expanded trial, or integration into longer-term transport planning for the town.

“We had night buses on trial over the last year or so, and they proved really popular particularly on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, so we’ve made them permanent,” said Mr Burnham.

“I hope a way can be found to do the same here.

“It takes some doing to bring everybody together and bring a big change through – it’s a hallmark of a truly effective MP.

“We’ve got to make the argument for that investment in buses. It’s not right that you finish your shift at 1am and then you have to lose two hours of your wages because you’ve got to get an Uber because there’s no other alternative.”

After bringing buses back under public control in 2023, Mr Burnham has the power to manage bus routes and fares. This has resulted in a number of changes including the introduction of the “hopper fare” where a single fare is valid on most buses for an hour.

Mr Burnham said, that while the circumstances are different in Shrewsbury due to the challenges of having a rural bus service, there are many things that are the same.

“I don’t know whether there’s an opportunity for Shrewsbury to link to the West Midlands and any plans to change buses there because they have the power to do what we’ve done in Greater Manchester,” said Mr Burnham.

“I’ve worked with outlying areas like Gloucester where the Bee network of Greater Manchester covers areas beyond our borders, and maybe there’s a similar solution possible here.

“Why does transport in London always get massive subsidy but it doesn’t anywhere else? Anything is possible when you have that public control back.

“I will work alongside Julia to keep this trial going  and get buses under public control.”

Mrs Buckley said: “It’s such a shame we’re not part of a Combined Mayoral Authority where we would receive funding and support to design our buses and different modes of transport how we want them. But until that day, we need to look at areas that do this really well.”