Lancashire County Council has revealed that a local transport operator in East Lancashire has stepped forward to save a hospital shuttle bus from closure.
Moving People Bus and Coach Services (Moving People), 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.
Established in 2007, Moving People is a bus and coach company that provides a wide range of transport across East Lancashire ranging from public bus services, coach hire and luxury UK coach tours.
The company intends to begin operating a commercial service from April 1, 2025, when the existing service funded by East Lancashire Hospitals is closed.
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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 adds stops in both Blackburn and Burnley town centres.
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.
Burnley MP Oliver Ryan 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.”
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