Plymouth Citybus has acquired Western Greyhound bus services in the Liskeard area. It took over on December 8 to run in South East Cornwall, safeguarding 31 driving jobs, and continuing to run the Western Greyhound timetables that are currently in place.
The services taken by Go-Ahead Group-owned Plymouth Citybus include the 572 between Looe and Plymouth, the 573 between Looe and Liskeard, the 574 between Liskeard and Callington, and the 576 between Plymouth and Bude, via Callington and Launceston. It will also run the section of service 593 between Plymouth and Liskeard. Western Greyhound will continue to run the 593 between Newquay and Liskeard and through tickets will continue to be available.
Plymouth Citybus intends to take over the lease of the depot off Culverwood Road in Liskeard, along with acquiring nine low floor buses which will be branded under the new name of ‘Go Cornwall Bus’.
Richard Stevens, Managing Director at Plymouth Citybus, said: “We are delighted to be able to come to an agreement with Western Greyhound to take over these routes and safeguard not only 31 local jobs, but to secure important bus services in South East Cornwall.
“We have a wealth of experience of running buses in the area and have this year started providing services to The Rame peninsular and into Liskeard, complementing our service between Callington and Tavistock.
“I would like to personally welcome the staff into the Citybus family and assure them that they are in good hands.”
Mark Howarth, Managing Director at Western Greyhound, said: “We recently put Western Greyhound up for sale and we believe that the deal with Plymouth CityBus for the Liskeard area represents good value for both our employees and for bus users.
“I would like to publicly thank all our staff who have worked so hard under often extremely difficult circumstances, and I would like to thank the public for their loyal support over the past 10 years.”
Although Western Greyhound has had a number of difficulties in recent months, mainly as a result of two arson attacks, it was for many years an award-winning company, recognised in national awards for high quality, year after year.
Mark added: “The company continues in discussions with interested parties for the rest of the business and an announcement will be made in due course.”
Plymouth Citybus currently run a fleet of 180 buses in Plymouth and its commuter belt, carrying in excess of 16.3 million passengers a year.
The current services will remain and fares and times will continue unchanged from Monday. Plymouth CityBus will continue to honour all Western Greyhound weekly and season tickets until their expiry and both CityBus and Greyhound wish to make this change as easy and seamless as possible.
