Gloucestershire campaigners secure community bus route

The group hopes fares will remain affordable and concessionary passes will be accepted

Public transport campaigners have turned the tide of recent bus cuts by securing a new route.

A contract to run the new 232 Daffodil Line service in Gloucestershire has been awarded to DRM Bus.

The route will connect Newent with Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye and will operate every day with an evening service on Fridays and Saturdays.

The link will travel through Much Marcle, Dymock, Newent, Gorsley and Upton Bishop and will start on April 2.

"This is a huge milestone for us, and we're delighted to be working with DRM Bus, a local operator with strong roots in the community and a reputation for quality service,"said Clare Stone chairman of community action group Buses4Us.

"We've been supported by Gloucestershire County Council's integrated transport unit through the tender process and we are extremely grateful to the officers there, we couldn't have got here without them."

Reduced bus services

Last year, commuters said they were devastated by Stagecoach's move to cut the bus service which used to link them to Ledbury.

The bus firm said it was not viable and removed the 132 service which ran from Gloucester to Ledbury via Newent.

They also reduced the 32 service between Newent and Ross-on-Wye.

A Stagecoach spokesperson said: "Stagecoach took the difficult decision to withdraw service 132 and reduce the timetable on the 32 back in February 2022 as we were unable to cover the costs for operation with the fares taken.

"Reducing or removing a service is a last resort and is not a decision that is made without considering alternative options available to us at the time".