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Gloucestershire Business News

Campaigners celebrate securing new Forest of Dean bus route

Campaigners are ringing the bell after fighting back against transport cuts and securing a new bus route for the Forest of Dean.

Community Action Group Buses4Us has announced the new 232 Daffodil Line bus service will start running on April 2 connecting Ledbury to Ross-on-Wye.

It comes after months of campaigning and fundraising by the group which formed after transport giant Stagecoach slashed local services by last year.

The contract for the new service has been awarded to local operator DRM Bus, based just over the border in Bromyard, Herefordshire.

It will run every two hours, seven days a week, with an evening service on Fridays and Saturdays The route goes via Much Marcle, Dymock, Newent, Gorsley and Upton Bishop with more details of the timetable to be published shortly.

The group is now working hard to keep fares affordable and said concessionary passes will be accepted

Clare Stone, chairman of Buses4Us, said: "This is a huge milestone for us, and we're delighted to be working with DRM Bus, a local operator with strong roots in the community and a reputation for quality service: we feel like the Daffodil Line is in safe hands."

Ms Stone said the towns of Ross-on-Wye, Newent, and Ledbury have always had close links and good public transport connections with regular buses for 70 years and before that the Daffodil Line railway.

However, last year commuters said they had been left stranded after Stagecoach removed the 132 service from Gloucester to Ledbury via Newent and reduced the 32 service between Newent and Ross-on-Wye

Ms Stone said: "This caused chaos: children couldn't get to school, companies lost staff who could no longer get to work, some people were so isolated they had to move house. For many people, simple things like shopping, going to the doctor, or visiting friends and family were no longer possible.

"We quickly realised that if we waited for the Government, or even the County Councils, to solve our problems we would be joining the back of a very long queue. Public transport was in crisis right across the country.

"So we decided to sort it ourselves and set out to find a way to get our buses back on the road and reconnect our communities. "

Local people and businesses and councils in Ross-On-Wye, Newent, Ledbury and Upton Bishop paved the way for the new bus service by pledging more than £150,000 start-up funding for the service and Buses4Us worked to improve the route and timetable.

Gloucestershire County Council Integrated Transport Unit provided support through the tender process and Ms Stone said: "We're extremely grateful to the officers there - we couldn't have got here without them.

"Nor would we be here without the support - financial and practical - that we've had so far from local councils, people, and businesses up and down the Daffodil Line. Thank you."

She said the real work starts now to secure sponsorship and donations to keep the route running.

However, Ms Stone said the more people use the service, the more self-sufficient it will become and urged passengers to jump on board.

She said: "If everyone who lives along the Daffodil Line takes the bus just once a month we'll never be at risk of losing this vital connection between our communities again."

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