A FREE summer bus service has been launched from Ellesmere Port train station to Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet and the Blue Planet Aquarium.
The bus link, which was introduced by Merseyrail last week, will run between 10am and 6pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays up until and including August 31.
Passengers with a valid rail ticket will be able to use the service, which is jointly funded by Merseyrail, Blue Planet and Cheshire Oaks.
The initiative has the backing of Visit Chester and Cheshire and the new Cheshire West and Chester Council, who are keen to deliver links between key destinations and the railway network.
Bart Schmeink, Merseyrail’s managing director, said: “Blue Planet and Cheshire Oaks are real crowd-pullers but up to now it has been difficult to reach them by public transport.
“With our partners, we are now creating the opportunity to use the train to get to them seamlessly and provide a real alternative to using the car, with our new family day ticket as a further incentive.”
Cheshire Oaks general manager Colin Wilding said: “There are a number of initiatives we’re looking at, especially from a public transport perspective.
“We’ve been talking about this since before Christmas. It’s very much a trial on the basis that we think it will be successful. The early indications are that it will be.”
Blue Planet general manager Andy Hygate said: “If people choose to visit us by train, which is in the minority at the moment, then we want to make it as easy as possible for them to get here.
“We’re doing it as a summer trial, which is our peak period, and we’ll see how it goes. Hopefully lots of people choose to use it.”
