Boost for Royal William Yard bus service

People visiting, working and living in Plymouth’s Royal William Yard will benefit from more frequent buses from mid-April, thanks to funding from Plymouth City Council.

A new contract with Plymouth Citybus will see the introduction of a service 34A which, when combined with the existing service 34, will double the frequency of buses serving the Royal William Yard from Monday to Saturday and quadruple it during the daytime on a Sunday.

The 34A will run between the city centre and Royal William Yard via Millbay and complement the number 34, which also runs out to Derriford Hospital, via Milehouse and Crownhill.

From 12 April buses between the city centre and Royal William Yard will run up to every 15 minutes between 6.30am and 11.30pm Monday to Saturday and until 6pm on a Sunday (reverting to a half hourly service in the evening).

Citybus will also increase the frequency of Sunday buses out to Derriford to every half an hour, compared to the current hourly service.

The new contract is being funded partly through the Plymotion project (using some of the money recently won from the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund) and partly by developer contributions from the Royal William Yard.

There is enough funding to support the improved service for around two years, after which time it is hoped the new timetable will be able to continue on a commercial basis.

Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport said: “We’re really pleased to support this enhanced service, which will help boost the number of visitors to the Royal William Yard and at the same time reduce the need for people to use their cars. It should also benefit people living and working in the yard by making it quicker and easier to get to and from the city centre and other connecting services.”

Richard Stevens, Managing Director of Plymouth Citybus said: “This step-change in frequency mirrors the growth of demand for the yard and will provide a fast, regular and affordable link.”