Hospital links restored with replacement bus services following Avon Bus closure
Publish date
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Merseytravel has acted to introduce a number of bus services into Wirral, including improved provision to two hospitals, to replace services lost following the closure of Avon Bus Ltd earlier this month.
Notification was given by Avon of their commercial decision to cease operations on Friday 5th October and, acting as quickly as possible through a tender process required by law, Merseytravel is now able to confirm the proposed new service provision to replace a number of services which were lost.
Some of the key highlights of these new bus services include:-
- The reintroduction of the 16/17 bus service from South Wirral to Arrowe Park & Clatterbridge Hospitals
- Bus service re-introduced into Oxton Village
- A level of service will be re-introduced to nearly all areas currently without access to public transport of a Monday-Saturday daytime.
Additionally, a replacement service is being brought in to Sefton, serving Bootle to Pendle Drive.
Merseytravel has stepped in to address this private sector operator failure in line with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Committee’s approved policy for provision of bus services. These supported bus services are funded publicly and aim to fill gaps in the network of commercial bus services across Merseyside so that as many people as possible have access to a bus service.
It is anticipated that the services will start on Monday 5th November, subject to successful completion of the required procurement process. The operators of each service, along with arrangements for ticketing, will be confirmed at this point.
"We know how much people rely on bus services for all of their day-to-day activities, from going to school or work, shopping, or visiting the hospital or their GP.
"This swift action, to ensure that people can still get around following the collapse of a private sector operator, demonstrates the importance of the Combined Authority’s role in overseeing public transport across the city region.
"It is also a timely reminder of why we are examining the devolved powers we have around bus services to see how we might further improve bus services in the future."Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region
"While some areas in the country outside our city region are being left with no services due to the financial challenges being faced by local authorities, we have continued our commitment to bus services across the city region.
"The closure of a bus operator at such short notice presented us with a huge challenge but, within the frameworks we have to follow and budget restrictions we have, our staff have done an excellent job to turn around these new services so quickly."Transport Portfolio Holder at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority