First Northampton has given notice of further service withdrawls in the town, which come into effect on June 9, with Stagecoach stepping in to provide replacement services.
Route 12 to Camp Hill, 28 to West Hunsbury and 29 & 30 to Kings Heath will all cease to be run by First. Stagecoach in turn will launch a route to West Hunsbury, numbered 10, and another to Kings Heath, Briar Hill and Camp Hill, numbered 12. Both of these new services will come into effect on May 12, overlapping the First services by a month to ensure passengers are not left without a service at any time and have chance to adjust.
First said it has no plans to make additional cuts in Northampton beyond those already announced, although it is worth noting its entire single-decker fleet in the county town is made up of older vehicles which are not DDA compliant.
Stagecoach said it is also introducing a number of other improvements from the June 10, with service 16/17 extended to Sunnyside every 10 minutes. The service will provide a faster way for people into town from Sunnyside and offer through journeys to Northampton College, Weston Favell and Ecton Brook.
In addition from June 10 the frequency on service 8 is being increased from every 30 minutes to 20 minutes between Northampton town centre and Weston Favell. The route will also be extended to Blackthorn and Rectory Farm to provide links to Northampton College and a more direct service to Weston Favell.
Steve Burd, Managing Director of Stagecoach Midlands, said: “We are pleased to be able to step into what could have been a very difficult position which would have left residents without vital links into the centre of Northampton.”
