Grant Palmer is another operator to register bus services that will soon be withdrawn by Stagecoach East. With subsidy from Central Bedfordshire Council, it will take on routes 72 and 73 from 31 October. They are to observe a revised timetable, operating hourly between Bedford and Sandy six days per week with extensions to Biggleswade and Potton.
Ahead of that date the services will be withdrawn by Stagecoach East, which claims that they are unsustainable. Grant Palmer will use what it says are two “high specification” buses on the services, equipped with USB charging points and high-backed seats.
In addition, the new operator will offer capped contactless payments, and tickets via its app. The app will also provide live tracking, service information and push notifications. Grant Palmer will also provide a printed guide for the routes in advance of the transfer.
Grant Palmer is a further operator to announce that it will step in to replace Stagecoach East routes. The large operator generated controversy in September when it announced the withdrawal of a tranche of services but said that change was necessary to create a sustainable network.
Most of those subject to withdrawal are in Cambridgeshire. Stephensons of Essex has registered a partial replacement for one such route, running between Newmarket and Cambridge, while the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority rapidly issued tenders for others.
