Improvements to Warrington's bus service have been confirmed

The council confirmed the improvements while defending itself after a drastic drop in the number of people using the bus services.

In 2021/22 there were 3.5 million registered bus journeys that took place in Warrington - but in the final year before the Covid-19 pandemic, 2019/20, there were 5.5 million journeys.

Bus journeys fell from 5.5 million to 3.5 million in two years (Image: Warrington's Own Buses)

This represents a fall in bus travel of more than 36 per cent in just two years.

Over the decade, bus travel fell by 67 per cent, according to figures from the Department for Transport.

A spokesman for Warrington Borough Council said: "The pandemic has caused a significant reduction in passengers for every bus company, alongside changing work patterns, with more people now working from home.

“We are making continued improvements to transform bus travel in Warrington to encourage people of all ages to use buses for their journeys, following the Bus Recovery Grant and national fare cap funding from the government."

The funding cap refers to the £2 bus tickets introduced by Warrington's Own Buses.

The town's new bus depot is currently under construction (Image: Newsquest)

A council spokesperson added: "The latest set of improvements to Warrington’s bus service launched in October 2022 with the Better By Bus campaign.

"This includes enhanced timetables, the extension of free concessionary pass travel to be used at any time of the day, seven days a week, and fares capped at a maximum of £2 single on any route, at any time of the day, every day."

The statement continues: "Working together with our operators and the wider community, we will soon be introducing further service enhancements to build on recent passenger growth, using our successful bid for Bus Service Improvement Plan funding from the government last year.

"We are also making a major investment to transform all of Warrington’s Own Buses to a state-of-the-art all-electric fleet, with a new depot on Dallam Lane, using Zero Emission Buses Regional Areas funding."

The new depot will house the all-electric buses (Image: Warrington's Own Buses)

Responding to the Warrington Guardian, the council expressed that there will be improvements coming to the bus service, saying: "We have also secured funding from the government to further improve bus services, and more details will be announced in due course.

“We are confident this comprehensive package of improvements will increase the number of people using buses in Warrington."

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