Bus Service Improvement Plan brings more evening and weekend buses to Swanton Morley and Dereham

People living in Swanton Morley and Dereham are the latest to benefit from enhanced bus services thanks to money received from the Department for Transport (DfT) to improve bus services across the County.

The Fab 4 service operated by Konectbus will begin a brand-new Sunday service on Sunday 19 February with the first bus leaving Swanton Morley at 7:40am. The service runs every two hours until 3:40pm and stops at Dereham, East Tuddenham, Longwater, Cringleford and Norwich. The last bus back from Norwich is at 4:14pm to Swanton Morley and at 5:25pm to Dereham.

There are also two extra journeys which operate from Swanton Morley to Dereham at 8:40am and 5:35pm.

For the rest of the week (Monday to Saturday) the Fab 4 service will benefit from the following extra evening journeys:

• 7:30pm and 9:10pm Norwich to Swanton Morley (last bus was previously at 6:25pm).This provides a 7:45pm and 9:25pm pick up at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) useful for those working later shifts.
• 6:25pm and 8pm - Dereham to Norwich (last bus was previously 5:10pm)
• 6:10pm and 7:45pm - Swanton Morley to Norwich (last bus was previously 4:55pm)
• 8:45pm and 10:25pm - Swanton Morley to Dereham (last bus was previously 4:55pm)

Cllr Graham Plant, Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Transport, said:

"Providing later services is something many residents asked for when we developed our bus service improvement plan - so being able to deliver these services to those who wanted them is exactly what the money secured from the DfT is for. Having buses run into the evenings and on a Sunday means more people can make the choice to leave the car at home and use their local bus service - which is key to us achieving our net-zero ambitions."

A single trip on the services will cost just £2 between January and March as Konectbus are one of the local operators taking part in the fare cap promotion funded by HM Government as part of their Help for Households campaign. 

Gavin Smith, Managing Director of Go East Anglia/Konectbus said:

"Konectbus are delighted to have been involved with the BSIP funding project, from initial public consultation to drawing up proposals for bus service enhancements, new services, and improved connections with other transport services across our region. This enhancement is great for people living in Dereham and Swanton Morley and with stops at many key areas of employment such as Longwater retail park and the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital it means more people can choose the bus to get to work."

This is just one of a number of service enhancements which are being funded by the £49.55m funding which Norfolk County Council was successful in securing from the Department for Transport (DfT) to use on improving bus services across the County over the next three years.

Approximately £12m of the funding has been allocated to provide new or expanded bus routes and increase service frequencies on key routes, including more evening and weekend services.

Roads Minister Richard Holden said:

"People up and down the country deserve a clean, reliable, and affordable public transport system. That is why we have provided Norfolk County Council with almost £50m to boost its bus services.

"Supporting Konectbus with providing more frequent services is great for local residents, who will now benefit and be able to make the most of the fantastic work, business and leisure opportunities Norfolk has to offer."

Full details of the new enhanced service can be found on the Konectbus website.