Stoke-on-Trent prepares to welcome more buses on the road

Thirteen new bus routes are set to be introduced in Stoke-on-Trent as part of ongoing improvements to public transport in the city.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is in the process of engaging operators to run the new bus routes as part of the final phase of its Bus Service Enhancement Scheme.

The new journeys, many operating during the evening and at weekends, are in addition to those introduced earlier this year.

Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker said: “We are on a mission to improve our public transport network here in Stoke-on-Trent and we are making great progress on this. Through our Bus Service Improvement Plan we have introduced discounted bus fares, upgraded our most popular bus stops across the city and introduced essential new bus services.

“Now we want to keep the momentum going by working closely with our local bus operators to introduce even more bus journeys and making our city a healthier, wealthier and greener place to live and work.

“From talking to bus passengers, we know people want more frequent buses that operate into the evenings and at weekends and we hope that these latest journeys will help to address some of those requirements and make it easier for everyone – from students to pensioners – to get around.”

The tender opportunity for the latest journeys will be open until Wednesday 11 December. Once the new routes have been introduced they will run until March 2026.

The bus service enhancements form part of the wider Bus Service Improvement Plan which is being funded by £31.6 million of funding from the Department for Transport (DfT).

The plan has also included the highly successful Affordable Fares scheme, which offers discounted bus fares to adults and young people, and bus stop upgrades across the city.

Earlier this week, the city council announced that it has received nearly £10 million from the DfT to improve the local bus network. This funding will be used to build on the success of the Bus Service Improvement Plan in the coming years.

The new bus journeys being advertised are:

• Service 2 (Hanley – Birches Head) – new evening service, Monday to Saturday
• Service 5 (Hanley – Abbey Hulton) – new evening service and additional early morning buses, Monday to Saturday
• Service 7A (Hanley – High Lane – Fegg Hayes) – new evening service, Monday to Saturday
• Service 8 (Hanley – Norton – Ball Green) – new evening service, Monday to Friday
• Service 9 (Fegg Hayes – Bradeley – Hanley – Newcastle) – new evening buses Monday to Saturday, and daytime Sunday service
• Service 23 (Hanley – Blurton – Newstead) – new late evening buses, Monday to Saturday
• Service 27 (Adderley Green – Meir Hay – Longton) – new daytime service, Monday to Friday
• Service 27A (Bentilee – Longton – Trentham Lakes) – new direct shift-time service, every day
• Service 36 / 36A (Meir – Longton – Hanley – Tunstall – Kidsgrove) – new Sunday evening service
• Service 38 / 39 (Hanley – Festival Park – Newcastle) – new evening service, every day
• Service 40 (Hanley – Mount Pleasant – Longton – Wedgwood) – new Saturday daytime service
• Service 96 (Packmoor – Tunstall – Middleport) – new daytime service, Monday to Friday
• Service 500 and 501 – new links to the Etruria Valley development site from Stoke and Hanley

In addition, the city council is also carrying out a formal tender of services 19, 19A and 42 though these are to the same timetables, so no overall change.