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Two bus routes in Bulwell struggling to recover from a slump in passenger numbers are to be propped up by a Government grant.

And part of the money will also be used to improve a major road junction in the town.

Nottingham City Council is being given £11.4 million from the Government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) to help routes currently not being used enough to make them profitable, partly because journeys have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Nottingham City Transport’s (NCT) Yellow 70 and 71 routes between Bulwell, Basford and the city will be supported at a 20-minute frequency (currently 15 minutes), as an interim measure.

The Yellow 70 and 71 lines in Bulwell are among routes chosen by the council for extra Government funding. Photo: Google

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The service provides links into the Norwich Gardens and Sandhurst Road areas of Bulwell – areas that would not otherwise be served.

The Labour-run city council will also use £2.5 million of the funding to create a bus priority network on the A6002/A611 Moor Bridge Roundabout at the junction of Hucknall Lane and Moor Bridge Road in Bulwell.

In addition, to the Bulwell services, NCT’s Purple 88 service between Top Valley and the city will also receive interim support from the Government grant, in order that the current frequency can be retained for an area where passenger numbers are expected to grow back to previous levels over time.

Some of the money will also be used to create a bus priority network at the junction of Hucknall Lane and Moor Bridge Road in the town. Photo: Google

Some at-risk services will also be supported, while £375,000 will go towards the mobility concession for city residents travelling before 9.30am, £70,000 on a jobseekers’ fare scheme, and £450,000 on youth fares for young people age 21 and under.

The grant money will be accepted during a meeting of executive councillors on October 18.

The council added: “It (the Government money) will help the network realign to the new levels of bus patronage which are currently in the region of 80 to 85 per cent of the level of bus use before the pandemic hit and grow patronage going forward.”

In 2020 the Department for Transport asked local authorities to draw up a BSIP and a number were then selected to receive grant money.

Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council were two of 31 successful local authorities, with the former receiving £11.4 million and the latter £18.7 million.

Bulwell bus routes to get slice of £11.4m Government funding support to keep running