Shrewsbury Town FC axe several matchday bus services - with season-ticket refunds offered

Several matchday bus services operating across the county for Shrewsbury Town supporters have been axed following a review.

Services serving Telford (ST2), Oswestry (ST3), Whitchurch via Wem (ST4) and Ludlow (ST5 & ST6), which operated for every Salop home Football League fixture, have ceased operation.

Matchday buses from Shrewsbury town centre to the club’s Croud Meadow stadium will continue this season. However, the club has confirmed the other routes will not return due to rising costs and insufficient usage to make them “viable”.

A club statement read: “As many supporters will be aware, we have worked with our transport partners to review the viability of our matchday bus services ahead of renewing our contract for the new season.

“Two years ago, changes were made to our supporter bus network to reduce the overall cost of providing the services.

“Our bus partners have worked hard with us to achieve these savings, but following a further review of usage and the increasing costs involved, unfortunately the services outside of Shrewsbury can no longer be sustained.

“We are pleased to have worked with Arriva to safeguard the continued operation of the ST1 Town Centre Shuttle service between Shrewsbury Bus Station, Shire Hall, and Croud Meadow.

“However the ST2, ST3 and ST4 services, along with the Ludlow service, will not be returning this season as the number of supporters using these routes isn’t enough for them to be viable.

“We know this will be disappointing for supporters who have used these services, and we apologise for the inconvenience this may cause.

“This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but we have reached a point where continuing to subsidise services with low usage alongside the increased operating costs is unfortunately not sustainable.”

Shrewsbury welcome Barnet on Saturday, August 22, for their first home game of the new season.

The club said public bus services including the 511 (Wem), X5 (Oswestry) and X10 (Telford) are available to and from Shrewsbury Bus Station, providing connections with the ST1 Town Centre Shuttle.

The club added that it appreciates previous information was published stating the services would be retained, but said it was “not aware at the time of the full impact of the increased costs of operating the services”.

The club is offering full season-ticket refunds to supporters who feel they are now unable to attend matches as a result of the bus services being axed.

The offer is available until 2.30pm on Friday, August 14. After this date, the club said refunds will not be available.

The club added: “For supporters experiencing extreme hardship in getting to the stadium, please contact the club. We will do our best to explore an alternative solution and support you where possible.”