The Mid Cheshire bus network faced the possibility of being put in jeopardy following news that local Arriva depots in Winsford and Macclesfield were at risk of closure. Despite this threat, however, Cheshire residents are breathing a collective sigh of relief. Another operator has now pledged to fill the gap left by Arriva, covering as much of the network as they possibly can.
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| Tom Harrison (Bus Ambassador) |
The local community has shown incredible strength and determination in a short period of time, amassing nearly
4,000 signatures as of Wednesday 1st of March 2023, to urge Arriva North West to scrap their plans to axe the Winsford and Macclesfield depots. We are pleased to report that this strong and unified effort has not gone unheard.
Bus operator D&G, which already operates buses in the area, has recently announced their intent to take up Arriva's mantle, agreeing to step in and provide some routes in the Northwich, Winsford, Crewe and Macclesfield areas of Cheshire from Sunday 23d of April onwards.
David Brookes, commercial director at D&G Bus, said:
"Local people will be worried about the future of bus travel in the area following this announcement.
"We’d like to reassure them we intend to step in and cover as much of the Arriva network as we can.
"We’ve registered replacement services to cover the 31, 37 and 84, and we already provide a service on the 38.
"Timetables will be available on our website dgbus.co.uk over the next day or two.
"There are some services we haven’t registered but we will be speaking to local council officers to see what else we can do to help.
"We can’t guarantee we can cover all the Arriva routes but we’ll make every effort to keep local buses moving in the area."
In order to help the keep the services running, D&G also announced it is recruiting bus drivers and engineers.
David Brookes, added:
"D&G is an independent company which provides a personal family approach to the people who work for us, so if you would like to join D&G Bus or would like more details please contact us on 01270 252970 or 01782 332337, email us at info@dgbus.co.uk, or come and meet us at one of our recruitment events, details of which will be released later this week.
"We’re proud to be helping to keep local services running, and we look forward to welcoming new colleagues and customers on board."
Affected Arriva bus routes that may no longer operate:
- 84 Crewe - Nantwich/Chester
- 6 Leighton Hospital - Shavington
- 31 Northwich - Winsford - Crewe
- 37 Northwich - Winsford - Sandbach - Crewe
- 38 Crewe - Macclesfield
- 7 Winsford Local Circular
- 1 Northwich Circular via Rudheath and Weaverham
- 4 Barnton to Leftwich and Kingsmead via Northwich
- 3 Macclesfield - Weston
- 4 Macclesfield - Upton Priory
- 5 & 6 Macclesfield - Broken Cross
- 9 Macclesfield - Moss Rose
- 10 Macclesfield - Bollington
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