Hucknall bus routes face cutbacks due to lack of funding

And a Hucknall county councillor is calling for an urgent meeting to discuss what he called a ‘short-sighted decision’.

Trentbarton has announced the Connect evening and Sunday services on its green route will end from April 2, meaning there will now be no Connect evening or Sunday services as there were already no Sunday or evening buses on the Connect blue route.

In addition, the second bus on the blue route will be withdrawn from Mondays to Saturdays/

TrentBarton said this means there will still be a bus every 15 minutes, alternating between the blue and green.

The Connect service was threatened with the axe last year until Nottinghamshire County Council stepped in with funding to keep it going.

However, that funding is now due to end in April and TrentBarton says it cannot run the full service without the council support.

Jeff Counsell, Trentbarton managing director, said: "We all hoped that, post-pandemic, customer numbers would return to sustainable levels.

“Unfortunately, numbers have not sufficiently recovered and the local authority support is not being continued for those parts of the services affected.

"For customers who are inconvenienced by the changes, we are sorry.”

But Coun Lee Waters, who represents Hucknall South at County Hall and is himself a bus user, said: “This service has been diabolical for months and the unreliability of Trentbarton’s service has directly led to it being cut.

“Residents, especially the elderly and disabled, will be absolutely devastated.

“I will be asking for meeting with the transport team at County Hall and writing to Trentbarton, asking them to reconsider and explain this short-sighted decision.”

The decision has also been blasted by local residents on social media.

Comments included:

“This is disgusting and a massive blow to everyone who relies on this service, it’s a long walk for many from the tram stop and to stop the service altogether is going backwards.”

“So Hucknall west is essentially being left with zero public transport evenings and Sundays.”

“Local councillors need to look at this, it will basically cut the top end of Hucknall off and it's not safe walking around late at night.”

Your Dispatch has contacted the council for comment.