Three crucial Hucknall bus routes to get funding lifeline from Nottinghamshire County Council

As reported in the Dispatch last week, the 141 service serving Hucknall, Linby, Papplewick and Bestwood Village is now being taken over by Stagecoach with support from the council after current operators Trentbarton announced it would stop operating the service at the end of the month.

Now, as well as the 141 service, the Connect Hucknall Green Line and Blue Line routes that both serve Hucknall estates, will also receive funding support from the council.

Funding for these services and all the others being supported will be provided from a new instalment of the Government’s Bus Recovery Grant, announced last week, which has been set up to help routes struggling to recover to pre-covid passenger levels, along with existing council held transport funding.

The money to fund the buses will last initially until April 2023 and is in addition to £4.1 million given by the council already to support a further 80 bus routes each year.

Bus companies are expected to make further commercial decisions on other routes in Nottinghamshire in the coming week which are not funded by the council.

Coun Neil Clarke (Con), the council’s cabinet member for transport and environment, said: “I’m pleased that the council and the Government have teamed-up to help passengers to continue to use these bus services.

“Many residents will use these services for work, shopping and seeing friends and loved ones – and older members of our community find them especially valuable.

“We’re all aware of the many challenges faced by the bus and coach industry after the pandemic.

“I’m glad that the council can still play a crucial role in providing the investment to keep bus services running smoothly across our county.

“We will be reviewing these services in partnership with the bus companies over the autumn, as well as looking at our existing supported network to look at longer-term options after next April.

“It is vital that residents try to use the bus more frequently as it will provide us with evidence and a clear need to continue funding bus travel.

“Using the bus more will help continue to keep bus services running across Nottinghamshire now and in the future.”