Nottinghamshire County Council hope to to replace the Villager 2 service from 24th July with a new 822 service. The announcement follows the news that Trent Barton will cease to operate this route in July.
Tollerton Parish Council heard the concerns of many residents at its June meeting that the withdrawal of the Villager 2 service along Tollerton and Cotgrave Lanes would leave them isolated and unable to access important services and jobs.
The new service has been announced by Chris Ward, County Manager, Transport & Travel Services following the involvement County Councillor Richard Butler and town and parish councils along the route. Mr Ward has confirmed that:
“The final route covers as much of the current Villager 2 service as possible. It maintains the peak time journeys to Nottingham but with the off peak journeys connecting in West Bridgford where there are many options for connections to Nottingham. Peak journeys to Nottingham are also maintained through connections in Bingham with the Rushcliffe Mainline or rail services. We are hoping to introduce a ‘through’ ticketing agreement with both Trentbarton and Nottingham City Transport. Details of this will be made available as soon as possible.”
New timetable
The County Council will be conducting a short procurement exercise in June for a new operator for the 822. The Operator will be offered a two year contract to run the service. Details of the operator, timetables and full information are expected to follow as soon as possible after that. The proposed new timetable has also been published -822-REPLACEMENT-Bus-Service
The County Council has indicated that the long term future of the 822 service will be reviewed once the contract is in place. Representatives from each Parish/Town Council will be invited to contribute to this.
Tollerton Parish Council will continue to put forward the needs of residents for a service on this route and also highlight issues of reliability with the previous Villager 2 timetable.