City and college bus timetables to change

Councillor Dan Boatright-Greene said students needed to get to college

Bus services in and around Worcester are changing at the end of the month, operator First Bus has said.

A weekday morning service between Worcester and Great Malvern is being cut and the number 50 will no longer stop at Pershore College due to "very low usage".

On other routes, the bus company said it was making changes to tackle "poor punctuality", and running more trips with double-decker buses to increase capacity on busy journeys.

Pershore councillor Dan Boatright-Greene said: "September will be a test of whether First Bus have judged this right."

On the Pershore College service, the company said the X50 provided an alternative every 30 minutes.

It said it was withdrawing daytime trips on service 50, but would continue to run peak trips to accommodate Worcester Sixth Form starts and finishes.

Boatright-Greene said: "Cutting the 50 service in place of the X50 makes sense but only if the changes to Pershore College have been taken into account.

"There will be an increase in students coming to the town and we need to make sure they can get to college on time and cheaply."

First Bus said there were minor changes on services including the 43, 44 and X44 between Worcester and Great Malvern.

The 54 between Worcester and Pershore High School is being cut.

Stops at Littleworth and Wadborough are being added to the 51 service, but the 51 will no longer run via County Hall or Worcestershire Parkway Station.

Other changes taking effect from 31 August include additional capacity on the 144 Worcester to Catshill route, and some number 38 journeys are being replaced by more direct X38 trips to and from Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.