NEW BUS SERVICE RECONNECTS LINTHWAITE RESIDENTS WITH MILNSBRIDGE VILLAGE CENTRE

6.00.00pm GMT Thu 12th Nov 2009

Following months of inconvenience and complaints about the 305 bus route being changed to avoid the centre of Milnsbridge; METRO has announced that a new hourly service will again allow people living in Linthwaite to reach shops and key services in Milnsbridge village centre.

The new 388 service will run from Meltham to Linthwaite Church via the Heights Estate, then into the centre of Milnsbridge and on to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

Cllr Nicola Turner, Liberal Democrat member for Colne Valley Ward, who has campaigned since last year to get METRO's original decision to change the 305 service reversed, said:

"This hourly service has been introduced in response to the needs of local people. Not only will Linthwaite residents once again be offered a direct link to the centre of Milnsbridge, but it will also let people travel directly to Morrisons in Meltham as well as the hospital in Lindley".

"We do recognise that residents on Upper Clough will continue to have difficulties in getting into Milnsbridge and we will persist in trying to get the route extended to serve this area as well"

"The haphazard process of introducing and cancelling routes, invariably at the whim of bus operators, must be changed. The Liberal Democrats are now demanding that the ownership of bus routes, timetables and ticketing be handed back to local control. By doing this the public will have a direct say on where the bus routes should and could run and we will be able to build a public transport network which will truly offer a satisfactory alternative to travelling by car".