Warrington celebrates 'levelling up' bus services boost

Warrington has welcomed a "huge boost" for its plans to transform bus services after the government unveiled its "levelling up" strategy.

The town is in line to receive funding in the national Bus Back Better scheme.

Warrington Borough Council said the amount would be "significant" and would help make its service more frequent, reliable and cheaper to use.

Councillor Hans Mundry said the funding was "a fantastic opportunity" to transform bus services in the borough.

The government's "levelling up" plans, which aim to tackle regional inequality, were published on Wednesday.

It has committed £3bn in grants to support the Bus Back Better initiative to improve bus services outside London.

Mr Mundry, cabinet member for transportation, highways and public realm for the Labour-run council, said it was "great news".

"It shows real recognition from the government of our commitment to treble the share of all journeys made by bus from 5% to 15% over the next 20 years," he said.

Mr Mundry said work was under way on a new bus depot and securing £21.5m in Zero Emission Buses Regional Areas funding to replace Warrington's Own Buses's diesel fleet to 120 electric buses by 2023.

He added there was also money within the project to introduce multi-operator ticketing, improve public transport information and bus stops as well as shelters.

"We are committed to creating a reliable, sustainable, future-facing bus service for Warrington," he said.

More than 85% of services and vehicles in Warrington are operated by the council majority owned arms-length municipal bus company, Warrington's Own Buses, the authority said.

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