Arriva to change timetables and cuts out one route to make buses more 'user friendly' in Milton Keynes
Arriva bus routes are to be ‘simplified and consolidated’ as they try to encourage more people to use their buses in Milton Keynes.
The changes will make the service more user friendly, say the company’s bosses.
They will take effect from Sunday September 1 when the route 1 bus service from Newport Pagnell will cease.
It will be replaced with an “improved” route 2, which will run up to every 30 minutes and connect Grange Farm with Milton Keynes, Poets Estate, Newport Pagnell and Green Park..
“The simpler route continues to connect key destinations previously served by route 1, which is replaced by this new service,” said an Arriva spokesperson.
There will also be later evening journeys from Milton Keynes city centre, so customers can enjoy evenings out by bus.
Arriva says routes have been designed with punctuality first and foremost, so the new timetables will improve timekeeping.
Arriva network manager Matt King said: “It goes without saying that we at Arriva would encourage people to travel by bus: it’s a greener and value-for-money way of getting from A to B.
“We’ve made these changes to make sustainable travel by bus attractive and viable to not only our existing customers, but to people who perhaps don’t usually take the bus.
“We’re thinking about what’s right and necessary for our customers today, tomorrow and well into the future and we need people to use the bus so we can have a positive impact on the environment.”
Another change will be the introduction of a new route 4A, which will extend from Milton Keynes to Shenley Church End, up to every 30 minutes.
Journeys from Wolverton on route 4 will be quicker as they will serve Great Monks Street in Greenleys before heading directly to MK Central Station from Great Holm, before continuing to the hospital and Bletchley.
To help speed up journeys to and from Bletchley, buses will no longer stop Bletchley Station,but will stop a nearby on Queensway/
Buses will run up to every 20 minutes on route 7, including on Sundays, and will run later on evenings.
And route 8 buses will serve the Open University campus at peak times.
Timetables and network maps will be available soon from here.