Temporary reprieve for two 'lifeline' South Glos buses

Two "lifeline" buses that were set to be axed have been saved because of a £250,000 grant.

The 84/85 and the 622 in South Gloucestershire were due to stop running in the next few weeks but now have a stay of execution until 2024.

Students in Severn Beach and surrounding villages rely on the 622 to get to school in Thornbury.

The 84/85 from Yate to Wotton-under-Edge provides the only public transport link from villages such as Cromhall.

Isabel, 16, from Olveston, who is a student at The Castle School, Thornbury, made an impassioned plea at a meeting of South Gloucestershire Council on 19 July.

"Without the 622 the only bus I can reach independently is the T1, and to reach that I would have to walk 1.5 miles along roads without pavements or street lighting where the speed limit is 40mph but cars often travel at 60mph," she said.

"When I was 10, I was hit by a car on one of these roads and I spent a week in hospital and six weeks in a wheelchair."

The 622 was ended as a public bus in April but continued as a school-only route until the end of the summer term, when it was due to be scrapped because it loses money, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The service will be renamed the 918 but with the same route and timetable.

It will continue to be run by Eurotaxis, now until the end of the 2023/24 academic year, at a cost to the council of £60,000.

The 84/85 service was originally set to end in April but was extended twice until August 27.

Campaigners had previously raised concerns about being "cut off" and left "housebound".

About 10 per cent of the £190,000 cost to keep it going is being met by Gloucestershire County Council.

The rest of the £250,000 to save both services has come from different South Gloucestershire Council budgets which are no longer required.

Cllr Adrian Rush (Lib Dem, Chipping Sodbury & Cotswold Edge) said: "I am truly glad that we have successfully secured an extension, but our work doesn't stop here.

"I am dedicated to finding a long-term solution on behalf of residents."

The 84/85 service will be run by current operator The Big Lemon to a limited timetable, two hours in each direction, until Easter 2024.

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