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Secretary of State for Transport visits The Robin following £4.4 million funding announcement

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Thanks to recently announced additional Department for Transport funding The Robin pilot, which currently operates in the Forest of Dean and the north Cotswolds, will be expanding. The Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus (BSIP+) funding amounting to £2,209,623 has been allocated to improve bus services in the county during 2023/24 and an anticipated further £2,209,623 will be given for 2024/25.

Gloucestershire County Council was proud to host a visit from Secretary of State for Transport, and MP for the Forest of Dean, Mark Harper MP, today (20 October) at Lydney Dial-A-Ride. The Secretary of State took up the opportunity to speak to passengers who regularly use the government funded on demand minibus The Robin.

Gloucestershire County Council recently proposed expanding The Robin to three additional rural areas in Tewkesbury, Stroud and the south Cotswolds as well as enhancing the offer in the Forest of Dean. The funding also means some services which were withdrawn last year by Stagecoach can be reinstated, if operators come forward to run the routes. BSIP+ funding is aimed at boosting the numbers of people travelling by bus, which have fallen since the Covid pandemic.

The funding provides the opportunity to run additional services at weekends and later in the evenings, in response to feedback from bus users. Among the proposed bus service improvements are:

·    Service 72, Chepstow to Lydney – service to be extended from Lydney to Mitcheldean via Soudley, Ruspidge and Cinderford

·    Service 8, Kingsway to Coopers Edge via Gloucester – two later journeys each way on Friday and Saturday evenings; Sunday/Public Holiday service to continue until at least 11pm

·    Service 41, Cheltenham to Tewkesbury and Ashchurch Station – two late journeys each way, Friday and Saturday evenings; Sunday/Public Holiday service to continue until at least 11pm

·    Routes 62,63, Gloucester to Stroud – two later departures each way, Monday to Saturday

·    Service 801, Cheltenham to Moreton in Marsh via Bourton in the Water – extended to an hourly daytime service Mondays to Saturdays and a two-hourly Sunday/Public Holiday service

Cllr Philip Robinson, cabinet member with responsibility for buses, said: “I’ve welcomed this opportunity to have the Secretary of State for Transport to visit The Robin. We’re so pleased that we can build on our pilot and enable residents in other areas to travel more easily. Mark was also able to hear first hand how the services operates from passengers who use it regularly to get about.”

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “The Robin is a great way for people in Gloucestershire to get from A to B, access medical appointments and see loved ones. Backed by Government funding, the service will continue to boost local transport connections by expanding the service to more communities in the Forest and across the county.”