Bath & North East Somerset Council is set to invest £75,000 to help save two popular bus services in Bath which were faced with closure by First Bus.
The Council has committed this funding to keep the No. 2 (Bath Riverside – Bath – Ensleigh) and the No. 4 (Bath- Bathampton) services running, after the current operator First gave notice of its intention to cease operating the services commercially.
Councillor Caroline Roberts, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “The Council decided go through an emergency tendering process and put in this additional funding to keep these important services running.
“Many people living in Bathampton and Lansdown Road rely on these services into Bath city centre.”
The No. 4 will continue to be run by First with the same timetable as it does now; customers should see no change in services, timings, or fares.
From 1st September, the No. 2 service will run by CT Coaches, from Monday – Saturday every hour, operating at half past the hour from Ensleigh – although some of these trips will be substituted by existing journeys on the 620 ( at 7.29am, 12.32pm and 6.26pm).
Return trips will leave on the hour from Bath Riverside between 8am and 5pm except for a gap in service at 12 noon; all depart 11 minutes later from Manvers Street.
Fares on the No. 2 will be £2 single and £3 return for adults; £1.40 and £2.10 return for students and £1 and £1.50 return for children. Family tickets will be £6.
Return tickets bought on service 2 or 620 will be accepted on both services.
The Park & Ride service 31 will continue to call at all Lansdown Road stops after 6pm (Monday to Saturday) and all day Sunday (although No. 2 service returns are not accepted for travel on the 31 service).
Service 620 is operated by Wessex bus and runs between Bath and Old Sodbury on Mondays- Saturdays under a contract tendered by South Gloucestershire Council to which Bath & North East Somerset Council already contributes.
