Ben Wakerley is managing director of Warrington Borough Council and writes a regular column for the Warrington Guardian

LAST week I read Karen Royle’s letter to the Guardian and so I thought it was a good time to make you aware of our next round of service improvements.

Last year we held a consultation in West Warrington at Meeting Lane Community Centre about buses and we were bowled over by the numbers of people who attended.

This followed a similar exercise in South Warrington, before we launched Cheshire Cat. Residents asked us to reduce fares and connect to more destinations.

I’m pleased to say that we’ve done both. On April 28 we will have a large service change.

The 32 will extend to Widnes market and becomes ‘The Blueline’ as it follows the north bank of the River Mersey from Warrington to Widnes.

As Karen requested, the 13 bus will be extended to serve the new Sankey Hub and Omega every half hour during the day.

Warrington Guardian:

The new routes

The 14/15 will merge and will operate as it used to. There will also be a new shopper bus 33 serving Westbrook and Gemini directly from West Warrington as a trial – we need residents to use this service in order to keep it on.

We are taking steps that will improve the punctuality of the Cheshire Cat and we will extend service 22 to Ashton. Finally, there will be some time changes to the 3 and 4.

The Blueline will have a new, reduced price weekly ticket of £14 as we continue to reduce our fares across town.

The details of these changes, maps and new timetables will soon be on our website: warringtonsownbuses.co.uk

I hope that these changes demonstrate our commitment to the town and that we are listening and improving bus services, in spite of adversity.

A plea from me, please leave the car and give the bus a try when you can as it is vital to keep bus services viable.