New government money!

A Department of Transport News Release today brings some good news for buses in Devon & Cornwall. £750,000 is being spent in Exeter upgrading several city services and over £520,000 is going towards upgrading the Cambourne - Redruth coridor in Cornwall.

Most important news for Plymouth though is the award of nearly £300,000 towards the Tavy GoldLine major upgrade of Plymouth - Derriford - Tavistock services.


The Devon County Council news release
From Pam Newby, Exeter 383654, November 01,2005
Bus services in Exeter and West Devon are to be boosted by a further £1 million investment thanks to joint bids for Government funding submitted by Devon County Council with bus operators Stagecoach and First Devon Cornwall.
The joint bids have secured £1,043,000 in the Kickstart Bus Competition run by the Department for Transport.
Devon County Council Executive Member for Environment, Cllr Margaret Rogers, said: "I welcome this success. Once again, the County Council, working in partnership with bus operators, is bringing further improvements to bus services in Devon."
In Exeter a total of £750,000 will be spent on 10 new 35-seater low-floor buses for service A. This will release 10 nearly-new low-floor buses which will be used to increase the frequency of services E and F to every 10 minutes, and convert services P and B to low floor buses. Service F will also provide a new link to the Summerway area of Whipton.
Chris Hilditch, Managing Director of Stagecoach Devon, said: "This is exciting news. In partnership with the County Council we can now have a completely low-floor network and make Exeter the first city in the South West where all bus services are fully accessible. The increased capacity will also allow us to continue getting more people to use Exeter bus services."
The West Devon scheme is called the Tavy Gold Line and £293,000 will allow bus services between Tavistock, Yelverton, Derriford Hospital and Plymouth to be upgraded. The frequency will increase to four buses per hour with faster, direct journeys at work times. The service will be operated by refurbished low-floor, fully accessible, route-branded buses and, to ensure consistent high-quality service, a dedicated route manager will be responsible for day-to-day operations.
New attractively-priced season and weekly ticket deals will also be offered to passengers.
Gerald Taylor, Managing Director of First Devon Cornwall, said: "This is excellent news. First are pleased to be working in partnership with the County Council to deliver service improvements on the key Plymouth to Tavistock corridor. This will allow us to introduce a more frequent timetable with improved buses and a dedicated route manager to ensure a quality service."