Bus service reinstated a year after being cancelled

The number 23 route has been reinstated a year after being cancelled

A cancelled bus service which had left residents feeling "isolated and forgotten" is back running again, a year after the route was cut.

Transpora Group has reinstated the number 23 bus to Ashton Vale, with routes to Bedminster and Bristol city centre.

First Bus cancelled the service in April 2023 "due to a combination of very low patronage and rising costs."

Transpora previously said it had decided to bring back the service to help the community stay better connected.

Residents of Ashton Vale, a neighbourhood which is home to many elderly and disabled people, had been campaigning for a better bus service for a number of years.

But instead, the number 23 was one of eight bus routes cancelled in south Bristol last year.

In November, resident Bernice McKendrick told councillors that the service cancellation meant the community had been "cut off from normal life".

Announcing the reinstatement of the service, Transpora's Simon Newport said: "We've got a gap in what our buses do during the day and we thought the best thing was to try and help the local community improve their connections."