Cash boost to help 'stabilise' region's buses

About £90m is going to be invested into improving bus services around the South West, the government has confirmed.

It said Cornwall Council would receive about £30m, Devon and Torbay £43m, and Plymouth £14m.

The Department for Transport explained the money was for local councils to increase services, keep fares low, and to spend on newer, greener vehicles.

It added giving local authorities funding settlements over a three-year period would help them to better plan routes and services to serve communities.

Simon Lightwood MP, the Transport Minister, confirmed the funding on a visit to Plymouth on Thursday.

He said: "It's something that local transport authorities have been crying out for for many many years - having that certainty to plan ahead and deliver those promised better services.

"Within this multi-year allocation is actually a rurality aspect as well, because I'm acutely aware that rural areas have been particularly hard hit by cuts to bus services."

MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Luke Pollard said the cash was welcome after years of cuts to services: "That's made it harder for people to get around, to go to work or go to medical appointments.

"Now we're getting our fair share of bus funding at long last it means we can put on extra buses, we can look at restoring some of the routes that we've lost many years ago and we can increase the frequency of bus travel."

"This is good news for our city and importantly it's not just Plymouth that's benefiting - it means more money for Devon, more money for Cornwall and that's good news for the entire region," he added.

The minister's visit to the city included a guided tour of Go South West's depot in Plymouth by the bus operator's managing director Richard Stevens.

He welcomed the consistent investment in services and said it was a tough time for the industry.

"The whole country's under pressure and bus companies are no different to anybody else. We've got rising costs and our revenue is pretty static so that's a problem we're all trying to solve.

"I think that the three-year settlement is good news so let's build on that. Our local authorities will be able to plan and hopefully we can stabilise the bus networks in Cornwall as well as in Plymouth."

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