Revised bus services will help those passengers in Belper and the surrounding area who have been using the Nottinghamshire and Derby service 71/2, thanks to Derbyshire County Council.
The bus operator decided to stop running this service due to issues with bus driver shortages.
We have stepped in and agreed with bus operator Nottinghamshire and Derby to vary the existing 59/59A and 137/8 supported services, which will now take in the 71/2 route.
New timetables for all of these services can be found on the bus info website which will come into force on 29 December 2021.
Cabinet Member for Highways, Assets and Transport, Councillor Kewal Singh Athwal, said:
“When we heard that Notts & Derby were going to stop running the 71/72 service we were of course very disappointed.
“We understand that the national shortage of bus drivers is adding to the challenges that bus companies are facing and the reason for the company wanting to stop the 71/72 service.
“After discussions with them we are pleased that our existing contracts with the company for the 59/59A and 137/8 service are going to be amended to take in the 71/2 route.
“We do realise that the new timetables won’t quite offer the same service to all the users of these services as before, but realistically it is the best we can do at the moment until the bus driver shortage situation improves.”
