Credit: Bryce Elwine
Daffodil Line Bus Service linking Ross-on-Wye with Upton Bishop, Gorsley, Newent, Dymock, Much Marcle and Ledbury has launched today, with the first service arriving in Ross-on-Wye this morning!
From Buses4Us:
The Daffodil Line bus service has been awarded to local operator DRM Bus and the new service will start on Sunday 2nd April.
The bus will run every 2 hours, 7 days a week and will provide an evening service on Friday and Saturday.
The route runs from Ledbury to Ross-on-Wye via Much Marcle, Dymock, Newent, Gorsley and Upton Bishop.
We aim to keep fares affordable (more details shortly) and concessionary passes will be accepted.
This is a huge milestone for us, and we’re delighted to be working with DRM Bus, a local operator with strong roots in the community and a reputation for quality service: we feel like the Daffodil Line is in safe hands.
We’ve been supported by Gloucestershire County Council Integrated Transport Unit through the tender process and we are extremely grateful to the officers there – we couldn’t have got here without them.
Nor would we be here without the support – financial and practical – that we’ve had so far from local councils, people, and businesses up and down the Daffodil Line. Thank you!
But really this is just the beginning: the real work starts now!
Fundraising continues. Although we’ve raised enough money to get our new service started we’ve pledged to ensure it has all the financial support it needs to get well established. So we’ll continue to look for sponsorship and donations to help support the service – and we’ll be announcing an exciting new local business supporter later this week.
But our main job now is to get as many people as possible to use the bus. The more passengers we have the less support we will need in the future from donors and sponsors.
So watch this space for more information. And get ready to jump on board and support the Daffodil Line on April 2nd.
How We Got Here
The towns of Ross-on-Wye, Newent, and Ledbury have always had close links, And we’ve had good public transport connections for as long as anyone can remember. There were regular buses for 70 years and before that a railway, the Daffodil Line.
Then in 2022 the bus company serving our communities decided we didn’t look like a great prospect for making profits post-pandemic and axed the buses connecting our towns and villages.
This caused chaos: children couldn’t get to school, companies lost staff who could no longer get to work, some people were so isolated they had to move house. And for many people, simple things like shopping, going to the doctor, or visiting friends and family were no longer possible.
We quickly realised that if we waited for the Government, or even the County Councils, to solve our problems we would be joining the back of a very long queue. Public transport was in crisis right across the country.
So we decided to sort it ourselves and set out to find a way to get our buses back on the road and reconnect our communities.
Local people, councils and businesses have come together to raise start-up funding for the new 232 Daffodil Line bus service. We’ve worked to improve the route and timetable.
We’ve partnered with an established local bus company with a reputation for quality service – DRMBus, who will be running the service for us.
We’re determined to keep fares low, so that everyone can afford to take the bus.
Now we need passengers.
If everyone who lives along the Daffodil Line takes the bus just once a month we’ll never be at risk of losing this vital connection between our communities again.
So, jump on board and enjoy the ride!
More Details – https://www.buses4us.org/
