Following the Prime Minister’s announcement that we now should leave home for very limited purposes, coupled with a significant recent decline in bus use, Nottingham City Transport has announced it will dedicate its services to core routes only from Wednesday 25th March 2020.
The company says this temporary bus network will focus on getting as many key workers to their jobs as possible and providing access to essential shops and services for those without cars.
Whilst even more stringent COVID-19 Coronavirus restrictions remain in place, for Ruddington this means the Navy 3 service will no longer operate. However our village will still be served by buses up to every half an hour on the Green 10 “City Loop” route via Wilford Hill and Loughborough Road. This service will run seven days a week at the same times. You can download the emergency Green 10 timetable >>HERE<<. Note that these buses will no longer run through to the Ruddington Fields Business Park, since many offices are now closed and have staff working from home.
David Astill, NCT Commercial and Operations Director, said: “It is very clear that people must stay at home unless it is for essential travel, as outlined by the Prime Minister on Monday night. There has already been a significant fall in bus use in the last few weeks as people started working from home and universities, schools and colleges closed. This latest announcement on not leaving home except for limited reasons will further reduce use of our services and we have to curtail what we provide to reflect that. All NCT employees have done an excellent job in these difficult times and we thank them for their commitment and continued support”.
Current government guidance is to avoid travelling unless it is for essential journeys and to practice social distancing. Concessionary travel remains available for essential travel before 09:30 on weekdays. Please note the NCT fare increases planned for March 29th have been postponed until further notice.
Grouprider and Network Grouprider prices will remain unchanged – and NCT is not reducing the price before 09:30 on weekdays, thinking this could encourage people to travel, which goes against current government advice.
Customers are being asked to avoid cash, if possible, and instead use NCT‘s existing smart card or the NCTX Buses app – where the company is adding 7 and 31 consecutive day tickets alongside the existing individual day ticket options. You can read more >>HERE<<.
For operational reasons, NCT warns it is temporarily unable to dedicate branded buses to specific routes, so customers should pay particular attention to route number displayed on the destination.
You can see more information, and find the revised special timetables on all NCT’s other routes, >>HERE<<.
OTHER RUDDINGTON BUS OPERATORS during the COVID-19 Lockdown – UPDATED:
Kinchbus 9 – All services suspended from March 30th 2020 until further notice.
CT4N 22/23 – Reduced timetable from 30th March 2020 – downloadable >>HERE<<.
NottsBus Connect 863 – Until Monday 6th April 2020 it’s continuing to operate to the usual timetable >>HERE<<. From Tuesday 7th April, Nottsbus Connect will be trialling a “demand responsive service” only. Call 0115 804 4699 or email fleet.ops@nottscc.gov.uk between 10am and 12noon weekdays for travel the following day.
There’s more news about how COVID-19 Coronavirus is impacting Ruddington >>HERE<<.
