PLANS to bring back Melksham’s evening and Sunday bus services to Chippenham and Trowbridge are being held up due to a ‘shortage’ of bus drivers.
But Wiltshire Council has offered reassurance that it still plans to go ahead with the bus service improvements, originally announced in September last year. However, the council has told Melksham News that it is ‘difficult’ to say when it will be possible to make the improvements.
The return of evening and Sunday services to Chippenham and Trowbridge was one of 34 bus service improvements for the county, proposed by Wiltshire Council for implementation within the current financial year.
Also proposed was additional journeys to be added to the Trowbridge to Corsham service, ‘route 69’, which serves Melksham and many of the surrounding villages.
The improvements were to be made possible by £671,000 from the government given to Wiltshire Council.
However, since the announcement last year, there have been no further updates about when residents can expect to see the improvements introduced.
Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for transport, cllr Dr Mark McClelland, told Melksham News, “The current shortage of drivers continues to be a barrier to the introduction of enhanced bus services in Wiltshire. This is a picture repeated nationally.
“Many bus companies are considering the long term viability of existing commercially-run bus services as passenger numbers remain at around 70% – 75% of pre Covid-19 numbers.
“We still plan to go ahead with the bus service improvements announced in September 2021, but it is difficult to give an indication of when this might be possible as it is dependent upon the driver shortage improving, as well as a degree of stability in the bus market.”
Wiltshire Council is also still waiting to hear if a bid for further funding to make improvements to the county’s bus service has been successful.
Late last year the council submitted its ‘Bus Service Improvement Plan’ to the Department of Transport in a bid for a share of £3billion that has been set aside by the government to make improvements throughout England.
Responses from local people, Melksham’s two councils, and representatives from businesses and organisations, were used to help Wiltshire Council form its ‘Bus Service Improvement Plan’.
“We have not heard back from the Department of Transport yet about the ‘Bus Service Improvement Plan’ we submitted last year and our bid for a further funding,” said cllr McClelland.
“We hope to hear if we have been successful in mid to late-February.”