Stagecoach West will be introducing changes to their bus services in Stroud from Sunday, February 19th.
Changes have been designed in response to demand and to secure the future of the network whilst improving customer experience.
The following services will be changing: 63, 64, 66, 67 and two new services 62 and 166, will be introduced.
Service 63 between Forest Green, Stroud, and Gloucester will now run hourly Monday to Saturday and every two hours on a Sunday.
However, a brand-new Service 62 will launch providing a quicker link between Gloucester and Stroud. It will run via Stroud Rd, Whaddon, Brookthorpe, Edge, Pitchcombe and Painswick Road. Running hourly Monday to Saturday and every two hours on a Sunday.
Service 64 will continue to operate on the current route up to every 30 minutes Monday to Friday, Saturdays and hourly Sundays and Bank Holidays. There will be a new timetable, so passengers are advised to check the new departure times ahead of their journey.
There will be route changes to Service 66, which currently runs between Stonehouse, Stroud, Brockworth, Painswick Road and Cheltenham. The route of this service will change to provide new links and greater access to Stroud and Cheltenham from Gloucester’s suburbs running via Abbeydale, Coopers Edge and Gloucester Business Park between Painswick and Brockworth.
Service 166 will be introduced to maintain links from Painswick Road to Stroud and Brockworth, running Monday to Saturday. The service will also provide school day journeys to Thomas Keble School. On Sunday’s the 166 will operate to the existing route of the 66 between Cheltenham and Stroud.
Previous connections between Stonehouse, Leonard Stanley and Stroud on Service 66 will also be maintained with the new Service 62 which will run to Stroud and Gloucester.
Service 67 will now run hourly between Bussage and Stroud, with a half-hour frequency maintained between Cashes Green and Stroud. Current low passenger demand in the evenings has led to the evening services being reduced and unfortunately journeys will no longer run on Sundays.
Rachel Geliamassi, Managing Director, Stagecoach West said: “We know how important local bus networks are in connecting people to jobs, education, and skills, as well as ensuring access to key public services.
“These changes help to ensure our bus network is fit for future, whilst maintaining and creating new connections for residents.
“Longer-term, our aim is to grow the local bus network by working together with national and local government to attract more people out of their cars and onto more sustainable public transport.
“The more people who switch to bus, the greater the positive impact on our network. It can generate vital investment for more electric vehicles, helps keep fares low and ultimately will help us to expand the bus network to meet new demand.”
Bus industry figures show that switching just two car trips per month to bus or coach would save 20 million tons of C02 and bring £30bn and £15bn respectively in economic and health benefits by 2050.
Copies of the new timetables can be found on the Stagecoach website at https://www.stagecoachbus.com/service-updates/serviceupdatesarticle?SituationId=ID-03/01/2023-08:54:26:953
