Arriva is stopping its weekend cross-river night bus services in Liverpool, after the operator said they are no longer economically viable due to falling passenger numbers.
Notices have gone up on the firm’s fleet of buses stating that the N23 Liverpool to Moreton, N37 Liverpool to West Kirby and N450 Liverpool to New Brighton services will be withdrawn from Saturday, July 26.
A spokesperson for Arriva Merseyside said: “Unfortunately, the number of customers travelling on the Wirral night bus services has fallen significantly during the past few years.
“The night bus services are costly to operate and the falling passenger numbers have resulted in the decision to withdraw the services. We apologise to our customers who are affected by this change.”
The N23 and N37 night buses currently depart Queens Square every half hour from around 1230hrs until around 0400hrs on Sunday mornings. The N450 runs on Saturday and Sunday mornings every 20 minutes between 1210 and 0500hrs.
It leaves Wirral with the 500 Liverpool to Birkenhead night service run by Ace Travel, which operates seven days a week but travels a shorter distance to Hamilton Square.
Merseytravel’s 150 service, which was brought in to cover days when there was no commercial cross-river night bus services, will be withdrawn on August 3 following the introduction of the 500 service.
A spokesperson for Merseytravel said: “We are aware of Arriva’s decision to withdraw its weekend night bus services between Liverpool and Wirral from later this month.
“We recognise that these services are important to the night time economy and we’re currently in talks to explore the potential for additional services.”
