A CIVIC leader has welcomed the introduction of three new bus services in the town.
Ellesmere Port county councillor Derek Bateman said the authority was supporting the new routes, which start running on February 11 for a six-month trial period.
He has now urged residents to “use them or lose them”.
Their introduction follows complaints from residents about the lack of buses to certain areas of the town.
Two of the new services, 101 and 159, will operate an hourly service which will fill the gaps created by the current timetable, linking Ellesmere Port bus station with the Westminster estate and Wolverham Road.
The other service, 141, will also operate hourly and link the A41 at Sutton Manor and Kendal Drive to Great Sutton Health Centre and Ellesmere Port bus station for services to Chester and Birkenhead. This replaces the X11 withdrawn by Arriva.
Cllr Bateman, chairman of the Ellesmere Port & Neston District Public Transport Liaison Committee and also the county’s Labour group leader, said: “On behalf of the committee I have been pressing the transport and regeneration service to look at providing more buses and I am pleased the county council has now agreed to additional funding.
“I am sure these additional buses will be welcomed in the communities of Westminster, Wolverham and Great Sutton as they provide improved links into the town centre.”
The bus services will be operated initially as a six-month experiment and Cllr Bateman urged all residents to use them, with a view to them becoming a permanent feature of the Ellesmere Port bus network.
They are being provided by GHA Coaches, which runs a combined fleet of more than 70 modern buses and coaches from depots in Corwen, Ruthin and Wrexham.
Copies of the timetable can be obtained by calling the Cheshire Traveline on 0871 200 2233 between 8am-8pm every day.
Or pick up a copy at Ellesmere Port Bus Station, at any local library or by visiting www.cheshire.gov.uk/transport
