Tell us how changes to buses in central Lancs could affect you
Lancashire County Council has unveiled plans for new bus links in Preston, Chorley and South Ribble as part of a shake-up of services from Spring 2025.
The council is proposing to use some of the extra Bus Service Improvement Plan funding it has received from HM Government to support its ambition to improve East-West links by expanding the services it operates in the central Lancashire area.
People have the chance to have their say on the plans until Monday 20 January 2025.
The changes proposed to be introduced from 31 March 2025 include:
- A new 'cross-borough' service linking Longton, Bretherton, Leyland and Chorley.
- Revisions to the existing Preston to Wigan service with a new route north of Leyland which will serve the new housing along The Cawsey at Penwortham/Walton Park.
- Changes to the existing services 112 (Preston to Croston) and 119 (Preston to Chorley) to allow the wider reorganisation of services to be introduced, with parts of those current routes to be covered by other services.
County Councillor Rupert Swarbrick, Lancashire County Council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "Our current contracts with bus operators for the services we support in Preston, Chorley and South Ribble expire in March 2025 and we've taken the opportunity to review how they work and propose some changes to serve areas of new housing, deliver longstanding requests from the community, and improve reliability overall.
"Our aim is to use the extra funding we've secured from the Department for Transport for our Bus Service Improvement Plan to encourage more people to use the bus by providing a more comprehensive network.
"The new links we're proposing will mean more people can easily catch the bus near their home to make using public transport a more attractive and convenient option for them.
"I'd be grateful if people could take the time to look at the changes we're proposing and let us know if they have any feedback before we introduce them. Our aim is to improve services and we don't want to do anything which would make existing passengers miss work or school, or be unable to return home due to changes to the timetable."
You can see the changes being proposed and have your say until Monday 20 January at https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/roads-parking-and-travel/public-transport/bus-service-changes/preston-south-ribble-and-chorley/.