BUS services in Slough are being kept running by Heathrow Airport and a neighbouring local authority as the area’s cash-strapped council withdraws its funding.

Slough Borough Council has announced new links will be provided, new bus stops added, and buses will start running earlier in the morning and finish later in the evening thanks to new money.

The local authority, which effectively declared bankruptcy in 2021, withdrew its funding from most bus services it supported, including routes 4, 5, 6, 63, and 68, in order to help achieve its £22.4m saving target.

However, Heathrow Airport, Buckinghamshire Council, and the cooperation of bus operators First and Thames Valley Buses have put forward funds to replace the council’s support.

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This means most of the existing level of service on these part-supported routes will be retained from April 2, also with some improvements to routes 4, 5, and 12.

There are no changes in April to routes 63, 68, although Buckinghamshire Council who fund these routes may review them later in 2023, which may lead to some changes.

A small number of bus stops will no longer be served, and fewer buses will run on parts of two routes (with alternative stops a short distance away). There will be routing and timetable changes to routes 2, 4, 5, and 6, also route 12 (evening and Sunday service), along with timetable changes on Sundays to routes 3 and X74 and an increase in frequency on route 7 on Mondays to Fridays.

The only Slough Borough Council supported service will be route 12 (evening and Sunday service), which is funded by a  government grant and will continue until March 2024. A decision will be made nearer that time on the future of this service.

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Cllr Mohammed Nazir (Lab: Baylis & Stoke), cabinet member for transport, said: “I am delighted that, despite the need to save money, we have managed to ensure that most existing bus services will be retained or improved. In the small number of locations where buses will no longer run there are alternatives nearby.

“I am particularly grateful to Heathrow Airport and Buckinghamshire Council for the additional funding they are providing, ensuring that our communities can continue to access jobs and services that are vital to the growth of the town, and to First and Thames Valley Buses for their co-operation.”

Most of Slough’s bus operators are taking part in the government’s £2 maximum single fare cap which has been extended until June 30, 2023, keeping travel costs down and encouraging more people to use buses.