February 23, 2011 5.04 pm This story is over 156 months old

Council scraps 22 city bus routes

Bussing out: Several Lincoln bus routes have been scrapped or altered by the County Council due to cuts.

A number of Lincolnshire County Council-funded bus routes will be altered or scrapped due to cuts in the authority’s budget.

Lincolnshire County Council’s bus service budget has been slashed from £5m to £4m because of a lower grant settlement from the Government.

This loss of one million Pounds has caused the council to rethink a few of the county’s bus services, including 22 serving Lincoln.

The bus services to and from Lincoln that will be altered from Monday, April 4, are:

  • InterConnect Service 1: Lincoln to Grantham — Withdrawn at certain times. 1805 Lincoln to Grantham will terminate at Leadenham.
  • Service 2: Lincoln to Branston — 1900, 2015, 2115, 2320 Lincoln to Branston, 1926, 2041, 2141, Branston to Lincoln withdrawn.
  • Service 3: Lincoln to Grimsby/Cleethorpes — All journeys withdrawn on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
  • InterConnect Service 6: Lincoln to Skegness — 2300 Lincoln to Skegness, 2100 Skegness to Lincoln withdrawn
  • Service 8: St Georges to Lincoln — 0620 withdrawn
  • Service 10: Horncastle to Lincoln — Mondays to Saturdays, service diverted in Washingborough to replace service 40 on Tuesday and Friday.
  • Service 11C/20: Lincoln to Waddingham — Service withdrawn
  • Service 13: Lincoln to Waddington — Service after 1915 at weekends withdrawn. Sundays and Bank Holidays
    1815 Lincoln to Waddington and 1838 Waddington to Lincoln withdrawn
  • Service 17/18: Lincoln North Circular — 1850, 1950, 2050, 2150 and 2300 withdrawn. Service after 1735 withdrawn on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
  • Service 23: Caistor to Lincoln — Section of route between Caistor and Market Rasen withdrawn.
  • Service 27: Lincoln to North Hykeham — Timetable revised
  • Service 29: Lincoln to Skellingthorpe — 1745, 1815 Lincoln to Skellingthorpe and 1810, 1840 Skellingthorpe to Lincoln withdrawn. New route at 1800 Lincoln to Skellingthorpe and 1825 Skellingthorpe to Lincoln.
  • Service 31: Lincoln to Sleaford — 0550, 1620 Lincoln to Sleaford 0705, 1730 Sleaford to Lincoln withdrawn on Saturdays.
  • Service 31A: Coningsby to Lincoln — Friday Non Schooldays & Saturday Service withdrawn.
  • Service 33: Stamford to Lincoln — Saturday service withdrawn.
  • Service 40: Washingborough to Lincoln — Service on Tuesdays and Fridays withdrawn and replaced by service 10.
  • Service 44: Lincoln to Birchwood — Revised evening timetable and 0555, 0610 and 0625 Lincoln to Birchwood and return withdrawn on Saturday.
  • Service 46/A: Newark/Witham St Hughs to Lincoln — Revised timetable introduced, Newark service withdrawn.
  • Service 66: Lincoln to Birchwood — Revised evening timetable.
  • Service 87/A: Newark to Lincoln — Revised timetable, renumbered Service 47.
  • InterConnect Service 100: Scunthorpe to Lincoln — 1810 Gainsborough to Lincoln withdrawn.
  • Service 777: Lincoln to Saxilby — Diversion on Fridays via Broadholme withdrawn

‘Unavoidable’ cuts

Chris Briggs, Head of Transportation, said: “Whilst cutbacks are sadly unavoidable, Lincolnshire County Council know how important bus services are to our residents, especially in rural areas.

“Consequently, we’ve worked very hard to retain as many as we can and strived to ensure they affect as few people as possible.

“This meant focussing the main cuts on services which aren’t well-used or those running at off-peak times. We also needed to reduce the frequency of some.

“However, we’ve tried to protect buses on commuter routes where there is direct economic impact.

“We also run a nationally recognised, on-demand service named CallConnect which operates six days a week, and we hope affected residents will be able to make use of this as an alternative.”

There are also other public transport alternatives other than buses and taxis, such as Voluntary Car Hire, the Wheels to Work scheme and Lift Share.

To find out more about which bus routes in the county will be affected, or learn more about the CallConnect service, view the Council’s bus cuts document.

Photo: Jonathan Cox