A new late-night bus service for Cranbrook has been hailed as a win for the growing town.
Stagecoach announced this week that it would launch a brand new Service 4 between Exeter and Cranbrook from Saturday 10 January, with hourly journeys until around 4am. The extra services will be for Saturday night into Sunday morning.
The move has been welcomed by local politicians, especially as it could offer a cheap and safe way for residents to get home after nights out, but also provide vital transport for the likes of health workers and shift workers.
“This service will be really useful, and I imagine Stagecoach has conducted enough market research to realise there is demand for it,” Cllr Kevin Blakey (Independent, Cranbrook), who represents the town on East Devon District Council.
“It will help people who are out late at night, but also it could be really useful for people who work in hospitality or in the public sector, such as healthcare workers.
“Given Cranbrook is growing ever larger, with a population in the region of 8,000 people now, I can only imagine this service will increase in popularity as time goes by.”
He added that it was positive Stagecoach had “taken the initiative” in terms of providing the service.
At present, the last 4 bus leaves the University of Exeter at 11:24pm on Monday-Saturday, while the last bus on Sunday starts at Exeter St Davids at 11:40pm.
The last service from Cranbrook that goes to Exeter leaves at 11:36pm on Monday-Saturday, although a slightly later 0:05 service leaves Cranbrook Court Royal and goes to the town’s St Martin’s Primary School. On Sundays, those services leave at 11:35pm and 0:12 respectively.
Peter Knight, managing director at Stagecoach South West, said: “We worked closely with our local partners to identify the need for additional late-night and early-morning links between Exeter and Cranbrook.
“Alongside this engagement, we reviewed our own passenger and demand data, which demonstrated clear value in providing extra journeys on Service 4.
“These enhancements will also support growing housing developments around the Tithebarn and Heavitree Road areas, which stand to benefit from improved connectivity.”
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