An on-demand bus service is being expanded to another area of Nottinghamshire as hundreds protest against the scrapping of a "vital" route there. Nearly 600 people have signed an online petition calling for the Skylink Nottingham line, which runs from East Midlands Airport to Loughborough, to be saved.
Service operator trentbarton said last summer that the Skylink line would no longer run as part of a "streamlining" of the company to help its post-Covid recovery. Nottinghamshire County Council stepped in to fund the service until April this year, but the authority says it does not intend to extend the contract beyond this point.
Those signing the petition have expressed their opposition to the end of the Skylink service. One resident said: "This service is crucial for older persons and people who cannot walk to the village centre; it links QMC, Nottingham, Long Eaton, village centre, Sutton Bonington and Loughborough. To lose this service would affect the quality of life to some vulnerable people."
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Another added: "It will be a travesty if the village loses this. A lifeline to so many and those commuting to and from work."
But Nottinghamshire County Council says its Notts Bus On Demand service will be expanding to Rushcliffe and this will help people in some areas affected by the end of Blue Skylink. Councillor Neil Clarke, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, first revealed at the start of the year that Notts Bus On Demand could expand after successful trials in Mansfield and Ollerton.
The service allows passengers to select a pick-up and drop-off point before being matched up with the nearest bus. It does not follow a fixed route or timetable, with buses instead travelling anywhere within specific operating zones.
Councillor Clarke told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "In April, we will be launching a Rushcliffe phase of our Notts Bus on Demand service. This will allow residents in some areas affected by the proposed withdrawal of the Blue Skylink to book on-demand bus travel within the zone, which will include East Midlands Parkway train station, the University of Nottingham's Sutton Bonington campus, East Midlands Airport, and East Midlands Gateway.
"Passengers will also be able to use the service to connect through to other bus services for onward journeys out of the on-demand zone. The council is also considering some peak fixed journeys in light of this proposed commercial withdrawal to complement the Notts Bus on Demand service."
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