Westmorland and Furness Council have launched a consultation to help shape spending plans to enhance bus services across the Westmorland and Furness area.
The Council is calling for communities to help shape spending plans for a £1.7 million funding pot to put the wheels on more bus services across Westmorland and Furness.
The Department for Transport has awarded Westmorland and Furness Council £1.7 million of Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus (BSIP+) funding to enhance services across the area in 2024/25.
To ensure that services supported by the latest tranche of BSIP+ funding meet the needs of communities and lead to well-supported provision, the Council today launches a consultation offering residents, businesses and visitors the opportunity to shape spending plans.
Work has already started to devise a list of 35 suggested bus routes the monies could fund. The consultation offers the opportunity for people to comment on the routes and positively impact services from years to come.
Westmorland and Furness Council is suggesting the following enhancements to bus services in the Eden area.
104: Carlisle to Penrith - Increase frequent from every 60 to every 30 minutes
104: Carlisle to Penrith - Increase Sunday frequency from every 120 to every 60 minutes and make it more direct
105: Greystoke to Penrith - Offer new Daily service, possibly with links to other areas (for example Settle - Carlisle line at Langwathby)
106: Kendal to Shap to Penrith - Improve days of operation to Monday to Saturday and improve frequency
508: Windermere to Penrith - Improve Summer (2025) frequency to every 60 minutes from every 120 minutes
561: Appleby to Kendal - Re-introduce the Wednesday service
563: Penrith to Kirkby Stephen - Re-introduce regular service from Kirkby Stephen - Penrith, six days a week, possibly with service at peak times.
646: Penrith Town Service - Introduce early morning and later afternoon service - to complement existing daytime service
680: Nenthead to Carlisle - Re-introduce service twice a week, with the possibility of starting one day at Garigill instead of Nenthead
UB1: Ullswater Service - Support new services provided on behalf of Sustainable Ullswater
X4/X5: Keswick to Penrith - Double frequency from every 60 to every 30 minutes to improve rail connections at Penrith
X5: Workington to Penrith - Maintain hourly Sunday Service through Winter
Councillor Neil Hughes, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environmental Services, said: “The £1.7 million funding awarded to our council, supports us in taking a significant step towards enhancing bus provision across Westmorland and Furness.
“Living in a rural area like ours, providing more frequent, enhanced services will open the door for our residents and visitors to choose bus as their preferred way to travel and create more enjoyable, sustainable journeys for all.
“It is the Council’s ambition to allocate the funding towards creating a network of well-supported bus services that moves us closer towards achieving our net-zero ambitions. We recognise that in order to do so, supported routes must meet the needs of communities and visitors across the area.
“I encourage you to take part in our consultation, whether you currently use bus transport or you aspire to, to make sure we get the most out of every pound that we spend.”
Six drop-in sessions have been arranged at various locations on bus routes in April, providing communities the chance to engage directly with the Sustainable Transport Team and share their perspectives.
Sessions will be held across the council district with the following dates from 10am to 2pm on Thursday 4th April at Penrith Library.
For those that are unable to attend during the day, an online event has been arranged on Wednesday 24 April from 6pm to 7pm.
The Council is also exploring the possibility of holding additional public meetings at locations across the area.
Paper copies of the survey will be available to complete at Westmorland and Furness Council Libraries from Monday 25 March until the end of the consultation period on Tuesday 30 April.
Residents and visitors to the area have already started to reap the benefits of an initial £412,130 BSIP+ funding granted in 2023/24 as new services launched earlier this month.
Key connecting routes in Kendal have been maintained, and services restored as a part of the new timetable in Alston, Arnside, Appleby, Grange, Penrith, Sedbergh and Windermere. A further £178,000 of ring-fenced monies has gone towards supporting the transport of workers in the hospitality and tourism sector, with the frequency increased of two bus services from Keswick to Penrith, and Barrow to Windermere.
Those who wish to take part in the consultation can complete the online Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus Funding Consultation via https://goto.penrith.town/Bus-Services-Survey
The Consultation is open until Tuesday 30th April 2024.
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