Bus service improvements in Salisbury
08 May 2015Park & Ride improvements
Park & Ride users in Salisbury will be able to travel earlier in the morning and later in the evening thanks to changes being introduced in June.
There will be extra early morning bus departures from the Beehive, Britford and Wilton Park & Ride sites and the ability to travel back to those sites and London Road on other bus services during the evening.
The changes, which are being introduced, on 1st June, will also allow the Park & Ride bus services to pick up and set down passengers at all bus stops along their route and will see a significantly improved bus service for the residents of the Hampton Park and Bishopdown Farm Estates.
Salisbury Reds, which is part of the Go-Ahead Group, was awarded the contract to run the Park & Ride bus service for five years, following a major tender exercise. The new contract will see the services operated with high quality low emission vehicles integrated with the existing bus services the company provides.
Horace Prickett, portfolio holder for transport, said: “Bus services are vital in our county as they offer a lifeline to people without a car, and businesses benefit from the extra trade they bring in. I’m delighted this contract will allow us to offer better services to the residents of Salisbury and extend the opening times of our Park & Ride sites. The contract represents good value and has the additional benefit of providing an improved service to the residents of Salisbury. All of this and it will still only cost £2.50 for a return or £3.50 for a group when using the Park & Ride.”
Salisbury Reds managing director Andrew Wickham said: “I am delighted to unveil our new and improved network, with many enhancements to the services we provide here in Salisbury. Our team has been doing a tremendous job since taking over many of the city’s park & ride services and now we are extending that offering. We have been working closely with Wiltshire Council, not only to safeguard this essential facility, but to further enhance our other services here too. There will be no change to the ticket prices for passengers using the Park & Ride sites and there will be a new range of season tickets allowing them to transfer onto other bus services in the city centre, including those serving the district hospital. The arrangements will benefit a great many people and make the Park & Ride scheme more sustainable for the future. It will also see more services operated by new vehicles which have lower emissions, helping to reduce air pollution issues in the city”.
The timetables and fares are available at www.salisburyreds.co.uk. You can also download a map showing the revised network.
Changes to Salisbury Reds
Salisbury Reds has also announced a revised network for its bus routes across the region – with a large number of services changing from Sunday 31 May.
Key changes to the Salisbury Reds timetable include renaming Red 3, which will become PR3 to include the Wilton Road park and ride site. Red 7 will be withdrawn – with the Bishopdown Farm section to be operated by PR7 and the Devizes Road section will be covered by the brand new Red 10. The 674 service will also be extended to and from the city centre to replace Red 7 journeys that currently go via Ford.
A full list of changes can be found on the Salisbury Reds website.