BUS USERS in Warndon left without a Sunday service are celebrating after the routes started running again.
But they are being urged by the county councillor who campaigned for their return to either use them or lose them as the routes are not being subsidised by Worcestershire County Council.
First Buses re-launched an hourly 33B service which goes between Worcester city centre and Warndon via Tolladine Road as well as the 32B which runs during Sunday shopping hours between the city centre and Norton Barracks via St Peters on Sunday (November 24).
Coun Alan Amos, county councillor for Gorse Hill & Warndon, joined forces with the Mayor of Worcester, Coun Pat Agar, to lead the fight for their return and the pair set up the Worcester Bus Passenger Forum which was at the forefront of the campaign.
“It has taken a great deal of hard negotiation and determination, but it is wonderful to have got this new service which will enable people, especially the elderly, to get out shopping and visit friends,” Coun Amos said.
“The service will only become permanent if enough people use it, so I strongly urge people to do so or we will lose it.”
First Buses have said they will look at the situation again at Easter to see if enough people are using the service.
Steve Zanker, First Worcester general manager, said the deal had been struck after discussions with Coun Amos and the Mayor.
“We are pleased to announce the expansion of our network on Sundays to provide valuable links for people currently without a Sunday service in their areas,” he said.
“Additionally, taking on board our customer feedback we have made some minor adjustments to a couple of our other services to improve reliability.
“Overall this is excellent news for our customers.”
For full details of the changes, log onto www.firstgroup.com/worcester.
