Travellers praise for extended bus service

AN EXTENDED bus timetable is being praised by residents travelling from smaller villages around Bingham into Nottingham.

The 55 service from Bottesford to Bingham has been launched by NottsBus Services, paid for by Nottinghamshire County Council and run by Premiere Travel.

The first journey from Bottesford is now 7am instead of 7.45am. It calls at Elton, Orston, Aslockton and Whatton and into Bingham so people can catch the regular bus service to Nottingham earlier.

Buses now leave Bingham at 5.45pm and 6.45pm. The last bus used to 5.10pm.

Mrs Betty Cope (68) of High Street, Orston, said she would use the service a couple of times a week. She said it was better that it ran earlier and later because it gave people more time.

Premiere Travel and the county council have also introduced a 56 service, running between Bottesford or Bingham and Newark, and calling at villages along the route.

Improvements have been made to Premiere’s 57 service, which loops Bingham and runs on an hourly basis from 10am-2pm.

An Orston parish councillor, Mr Stewart Davidson, said: “For a certain number of residents, it is a lifeline.

“The train service when I first moved here was great and now there is basically no train service, so this is needed.”

Mr Davidson was keen to let people know the service had started. He plans to use it regularly.

The parish council chairman, Mrs Eileen Harrison, said: “I am very pleased this service has started. We need one. A lot of villages really rely on it.”

Mrs Joan Redshaw (80) of High Street, Orston, said that she relied on good transport links.

Mr Matthew Flint, of Beverleys Avenue, Whatton, commutes to Nottingham daily.

He said it was great for the villages to have an extended service, especially in the evenings.

He said: “I welcome any improvements to the bus service and I hope it is successful.”

He said people living in villages without a regular train service would benefit greatly from the extended service.

The branding manager for Premiere Travel, Mr Jamie Swift, said it was early days but he hoped the changes to the service were convenient for bus users.

He said: “We expect a lot of information about the service will filter through within the next couple of weeks.”

Mr Swift said they were hoping to combine the service with their X1 service so people could catch a bus from Bottesford right through to Nottingham.

They hoped to look at the possibility next year.

A county council spokesman said they wanted to focus on serving the villages to the east of Bingham.

He said: “There is now a much better choice for getting back. For those people working in Nottingham, it gives them much more flexibility. Hopefully it’s a lot more convenient.”

The new timetable is similar to the previous one during the day, with buses running hourly.