Trentbarton has announced the full hourly skylink Nottingham service - which runs from Nottingham city centre, to East Midlands Airport and beyond to Loughborough - will continue. The route, which starts in Friar Lane, carries on through Beeston, Long Eaton and on to the airport.
From there, the service goes on to East Midlands Gateway, through Leicestershire to Kegworth, then to Sutton Bonington and Loughborough. However, journeys from East Midlands Gateway, the stop after the airport, to Loughborough were due to be withdrawn from October 2 under a network review.
But services will continue after Nottinghamshire County Council pledged its support. Jeff Counsell, trentbarton’s managing director, said: “We are very pleased that Nottinghamshire County Council has agreed to support the skylink Nottingham link to Sutton Bonington which otherwise we could not have continued.
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"It is good that our local authorities value the important social, economic and employment benefits that bus routes contribute to our communities." The bus company has also announced it will trial operating the Coalville leg of skylink Nottingham through Diseworth and Long Whatton after departing from East Midlands Airport.
Under the previous proposed changes, Long Whatton would no longer be fully served. The updated extension to skylink Nottingham means the two villages will continue to have a direct service to the airport, Coalville, Castle Donington, Long Eaton, Beeston and Nottingham.
The villagers will also be able to journey to Loughborough, by connecting to skylink Derby at East Midlands Airport. The revised route will be operated from October 2, if approved promptly by the local transport authorities, for three months to test punctuality and demand.
Mr Counsell added: “We hope the residents of Long Whatton and Diseworth are pleased that they will remain connected and sufficiently use the bus to travel as that means we will be able to provide the service in a long term and sustainable way.”
As well as the hourly full route from Nottingham to Loughborough, skylink Nottingham also offers shorter journeys from the city centre to East Midlands Gateway, and from Friar Lane to Coalville. It comes weeks after trentbarton announced a string of services would be withdrawn because of the impact of the pandemic.
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