Three Fenland bus routes will be taken over by new operators next week after Stagecoach pulled out of running the services.
Stagecoach cancelled its registration for the 56 Wisbech to Manea / Benwick, 50 Wisbech to Long Sutton and the 66 Wisbech Town Circular.
It will no longer operate the services after Monday (July 24) - but other companies are being lined up to take over the routes.
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority says Stagecoach “decided that due to lower levels of patronage [the routes] can no longer be run without subsidy”.
The Combined Authority is currently in the process of awarding the new contracts and says the routes should not be affected by the changeover.
A spokesperson said: “We are committed to running a comprehensive bus network and these bus routes are an essential part of Fenland’s public transport.
“The three bus services mentioned have been operated commercially by Stagecoach East Midlands for many years but they have decided that due to lower levels of patronage they can no longer be run without subsidy.
“The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has put out these routes to open tender, compliant bids have been received for all three services and we are in the course of awarding those contracts, which will be for the same routes and timetables as now.
“We don’t anticipate any interruption to services arising from the tendering process”
Stagecoach was approached for comment but directed our request to the Combined Authority.
The 56 Wisbech to Manea / Benwick route includes stops at March Railway Station, Neale Wade Academy and Doddington Hospital.
The 50 Wisbech to Long Sutton stops in Leverington, Parsons Drove and Tydd St Giles.
Meanwhile, the 66 Wisbech circular serves communities in Walsoken.
Read more:
- Mayor Dr Nik Johnson says work to reform buses is ‘vital’
- Firms who will save 17 axed bus services are revealed
Dr Nik Johnson, the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, has said previously that the way buses operate across the county needs to change.
The Combined Authority has also set a target to double bus usage across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough by 2030.
In September last year, Stagecoach announced it would be cutting 18 routes across Cambridgeshire and Fenland because they were “no longer financially viable”.
Seventeen of the routes were saved through other operators.
The remaining route, service 39, was covered apart from a section between Chatteris and March.
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