A West of England bus route between Wells and Weston-super-Mare, described as ‘essential’ but which was withdrawn in October 2022 due to low passenger numbers, has been reinstated.
The 126 has been re-introduced with Government funding and partnership working between North Somerset Council and Somerset Council. First West of England began running the service from 2 January after winning the contract. The two councils are jointly subsidising the route from their Bus Service Improvement Plan funds. It will operate from Monday to Saturday, approximately every two hours, and replaces a shorter 126 between Wells and Axbridge operated by Libra Travel which Somerset Council had been funding since September 2022. There will also be other associated changes in North Somerset to routes 9 and 10 as a result of the change.
Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Digital, Councillor Mike Rigby said: “We’re really pleased to be able to offer this essential service in partnership with North Somerset. We know losing this important connection between Wells and Weston-super-Mare was a hammer blow to a lot of communities along the route.
“We have done what we can to keep communities between Wells and Axbridge connected, but we know getting the whole route back has continued to be a priority for residents and bus user groups. It’s great we’ve been able to join forces with North Somerset and make this happen, thanks to the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Grant.”
Cllr Hannah Young, Executive Member for Highways and Transport at North Somerset Council, added: “We’ve been working hard with Somerset to get the 126 back up and running, so I’m really pleased that people living in Hutton, Locking, Banwell, Sandford and Winscombe will have a regular bus service again six days a week. It’s been designed to work for school and college students, commuters, people accessing hospital appointments and shoppers, and I hope people will love having it back again.
“We’ve also been able to use this as an opportunity to respond to the call for a local bus from people living in the Worlebury area of Weston who will have a new number 9 service from 2 January. This will be a shopper service running three times a day Monday to Friday between West Wick and Weston town centre with stops at seven supermarkets along the route.”
