Millions to improve buses in Worcestershire

The county will receive more than £3 million from the government in scrapped HS2 money to improve its beleaguered bus service.

Worcestershire County Council will be handed £3.4 million by the government to ‘improve services and make buses cheaper and more reliable.’

The money comes from a £150 million pot promised to local councils by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to support other transport projects following the scrapping of the northern leg of HS2.

The northern leg of the high-speed rail project between Birmingham and Manchester would not be going ahead because of huge costs and delays, the prime minister said earlier this month, with the proposed ‘savings’ used elsewhere.

In the city, late-night bus services are few and far between – particularly at weekends – with many routes ending before 7pm.

The latest weekday bus to leave the city is the 35A service to serving Warndon and Blackpole which last leaves the city’s main Crowngate Bus Station at 9.50pm.

Worcester MP Robin Walker said the extra money would be “transformational” for buses.

“Taking the bus is the most popular form of public transport, which is why the Government is right to make the long-term decision to reinvest every penny of savings from HS2 into local transport,” he said.

“The boost of £3.4 million in funding for [the] bus network will be transformational for people across the city and the surrounding areas, improving services and making them cheaper and more reliable.”

The government also confirmed the £2 cap on bus fares, which was introduced at the start of the year as a temporary measure to boost numbers, would now run until the end of 2024.

Councils and bus operators would be able to decide how the funding was spent – which could mean reintroducing evening services, increasing the frequency of buses on busy routes and introducing new services to connect areas.

Before the government’s HS2 announcement, ministers promised the county council it would receive £1.4 million in ‘bus improvement’ funding for the coming year.

Last April, the government rejected a huge £84 million county council bid to transform bus services in Worcestershire saying the bid “lacked ambition.”

Ministers rejected the entire bid leaving a planned overhaul of the bus network in ruins.

The failed bid promised several improvements to bus services through more frequent pick-ups, extra ‘on-demand’ buses, a new smart ticketing system and eco-friendly buses as well as cheaper and simpler fares.

The Department for Transport warned that bids “lacking ambition” would be rejected.