East Lancs Hospital Shuttle bus service saved

A local transport operator in East Lancashire has stepped forward to save a vital hospital shuttle bus from closure following huge public reaction and protests to save the service for local people.

Moving People Bus and Coach Services, which is based in Oswaldtwistle, near Blackburn, has submitted papers to formally register the route between Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital and Burnley General Teaching Hospital.

It intends to begin operating a commercial service from April 1, 2025, when the existing service funded by East Lancashire Hospitals is closed.

The new route, which is supported by Blackburn with Darwen Council and Lancashire County Council, will remain a direct service between the two hospitals for patients, visitors and staff at the Trust, but add on stops in both Blackburn and Burnley town centres to improve travel for passengers. It will start around 6am and include regular routes throughout the day, until about 8.30pm at night. It will initially run between Monday and Friday, with a review once operational to consider an expansion over the weekend.

Glen Chamberlain, managing director of Moving People, said: “This will be commercial service with a charge in place for passengers and run independently and without subsidy from the hospital trust. It is clear from data provided from the existing service that patients, visitors and staff rely upon it and, as a local company, I am delighted we have been able to step in and pick up the route.

“In the coming weeks we will be sharing the exact stops and timetable and I want to urge people who are currently using the bus to continue using it. We do need to make this commercially viable for Moving People and the people of East Lancashire and protect the service for the future.”

Burnley MP Oliver Ryan brought together a working group of people, including MPs from across East Lancashire and members of a number of local authorities, in January when East Lancashire Hospitals announced that it could no longer afford to subsidise the shuttle bus and would close it on March 31.

He said: “This is a brilliant outcome for people power and all of the passengers who use the shuttle bus service to travel between hospitals for health care to visit friends and family or to get to work across the Trust. The public reaction was immediate and very clear – people value this service and were prepared to fight for it.

“I have done everything possible to work with colleagues to find a transport operator to pick up this route and it’s great that this has been delivered so quickly to ensure there is no disruption to existing travel arrangements and passengers can continue to get to where they need to go.

“I’d like to thank Moving People for stepping forward and to encourage everyone who fought for the shuttle bus to continue to use it and ensure it’s viable for them to operate for a very long time.”

Councillor Scott Smith, lead member for Highways and Active Travel at Lancashire County Council, said: "I am very pleased that a way has been found to save this vital service for patients, visitors and staff at the hospitals.

"Following the decision by the hospital trust much work has taken place behind the scenes to ensure a solution could be found and I would like to thank all those involved, particularly Moving People who have stepped in to run this as a commercial venture.

"It is also good that thanks to the extra stops being made available in Blackburn and Burnley town centres this service will ensure even more people can use this service to access the hospitals."