A bright new brand is to bring smarter travel to Rossendale thanks to a partnership between operator Rosso and Lancashire County Council. Rossendale Rovers is the new name for Rosso’s local buses in and around Rawtenstall, Bacup and beyond, with a new network which Transdev says will deliver many improvements for the area from Monday 4 January 2021.
Newer easy-access buses will be introduced on services 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13 as part of the new Rossendale Rovers network, with features on-board including audio-visual next stop announcements.
The operator says that its new network will restore previously lost links between communities while also providing more buses, more often to boost the region’s bus services for residents including key workers and students while attracting new customers to choose the bus for local journeys.
Key changes include route 7 between Rawtenstall, Bacup and Todmorden upgraded to run every two hours, restoring direct links through the Rossendale Valley; a more frequent route 8 with a bus every hour from Burnley to Bacup, and; a distinctive Rossendale Rovers livery.
The Rossendale Rovers network is being introduced under a new multi-year contract between bus operator Rosso and Lancashire County Council, supported by a budget commitment by the local authority to invest additional funding into local bus services.
Transdev CEO Alex Hornby said: “We want our buses in and around Rossendale to be a place people want to be seen in, and our new Rossendale Rovers name and brightly coloured buses are all about making our smart buses stand out in and around the town.
“We’re delighted to work with Lancashire County Council to deliver a real and positive step change in quality for our Rossendale customers, in line with our wider strategy to build buses back better beyond the pandemic. We believe buses have a vital role to play as a net contributor to economic growth and positive environmental change.
“With our amazing people delivering a high-quality service that’s Clean, Safe and Ready to Go, we’re looking forward to delivering our exciting new Rossendale Rovers network to begin 2021.”
County Councillor Keith Iddon, Lancashire County Council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Good public transport links are vital to ensure everyone has the chance to access education and employment opportunities, and visit essential services.
“The county council agreed earlier this year to increase the budget for bus services to extend the existing network and help those services which need some support in order to become sustainable, and these improvements in Rossendale have been identified as a priority to meet a demand for better links in this area.
“Our aim is to try and provide good transport links, particularly in rural areas where many people rely on bus services, and to increase the frequency of services where there is most demand to make them useful to as many people as possible, and hence make them more sustainable.
“These buses are modern, comfortable, and convenient, and I’d urge people to make good use of them.”
