U-turn over plans to cut Isle of Man bus services

On demand minibus services were first introduced in the Jurby area in April 2019

Planned cuts to scheduled bus services in the north of the island have been dropped amid an angry response from residents.

New timetables scrapping several scheduled journeys between Jurby and Ramsey on non-school days were due to be introduced from Monday.

Minibus services at set times will now be introduced instead.

Tim Baker MHK welcomed the U-turn and said the original proposals were "unacceptable" and had caused "anger".

The compromise reached with the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) showed "that the community has been listened to", he said.

The DOI said the revisions had been made following discussions with local politicians and the community.

Many of the current scheduled Bus Vannin services were re-introduced in November last year after concerns that "more cost-effective" on-demand minibuses, to be booked 24-hours in advance, could leave people stranded.

New scheduled minibus services will leave Ramsey for Jurby at 09:00, 11:00, 14:00 and 18:40 GMT on school days, while additional weekday services at 06:30 and 16:00 will run on non-school days.

On-demand minibus services will continue to run alongside the timetabled journeys, the DOI said.

Existing services on Sundays and public holidays will remain unchanged.