Stagecoach is making major service improvements to coincide with the start of its winter timetable in Cumbria from Monday.
Extra buses will be laid on for Silloth, Cockermouth and Keswick, there is a new service to Dalston and an upgrade to routes from Barrow to Windermere and Kendal.
Tom Waterhouse, interim managing director of Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire, said: “We’ve listened carefully to what customers have told us and made changes designed to improve frequencies and reliability.
“The additional early morning and evening journeys will enable more people to use the bus to get to work.”
The 554 between Carlisle and Keswick gets an extra bus on weekdays – including an early journey for hospitality workers – and two extra buses on Sundays.
All buses go via Dalston rather than Wigton Road. In Wigton, the service will operate along the main road between the town centre and Red Dial crossroads. Syke Road will no longer be served.
There is an additional teatime journey on the 400 from Carlisle to Silloth, with a later last bus, although journeys no longer serve Skinburness.
Similarly, there’s an extra bus on the 600 from Carlisle to Cockermouth – two more on Saturdays – with a later last departure in both directions.
The X4/X5 sees additional early morning journeys from Keswick and Cockermouth to Workington while evening journeys are retimed.
There are more buses on the 6 between Barrow and Windermere with some journeys extending to Kendal, especially on Sundays when the 6 combines with the X6 via Grange to provide an hourly service between Barrow and Kendal.
The X6 no longer calls at Furness General Hospital, although the 6 does instead.
On Sundays, the 6 and X6 operate via Croftlands Estate between Lindal and Ulverston while the X6 no longer serves High Newton evenings and Sundays.
The 508 from Penrith to Patterdale gets an extra bus on Sundays and an additional weekday evening bus from Penrith to Pooley Bridge. Departures from Penrith are retimed to provide better connections with trains.
The 555 sees an extra journey between Kendal and Keswick while evening services are retimed and a later evening journey from Keswick introduced.
In West Cumbria, there is an extra early morning bus on the 300 from Carlisle to Workington and an additional evening bus in the opposite direction, a new evening and Sunday timetable for the 30 and changes to evening journeys on the 29, which no longer extends to the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.
In addition to all these, there are minor changes to the 78 from Keswick to Seatoller, the 755 from Heysham to Bowness, the 685 from Carlisle to Newcastle, the 3 and 5 Barrow town services and the 5, 18 and 51 in Lancaster.
Stagecoach adult bus fares continue to be capped at just £2 per journey under a national scheme, which has been extended until the end of 2024.
