Revised timetables for Bedford buses include more services for better links with MK and Biggleswade

Revised timetables for Bedford buses mean more services for passengers.

Central Bedfordshire Council has worked with bus operators to introduce service enhancements, funded through their Bus Service Improvement Plan in partnership with the Government.

The changes include a revised timetable for Grant Palmer routes 72 and 74, with additional journeys on Monday to Saturday to and from Bedford, Sandy and Biggleswade.

For Grant Palmer’s service 34 the morning timetable is improved with hourly buses between Flitwick and Ampthill to Milton Keynes. A new journey to Magna Park at 5.45am from CMK The Point, returning at 6.08am has been introduced following customer feedback for a quick bus at shift change times. New journeys are introduced at 6.39am from Flitwick Post Office and 8.28am from Ampthill Heights to Milton Keynes returning at 7.30am and 9.30am from CMK.

For Grant Palmer service 44, a new 6.40am journey replaces the 8am Clophill to Flitwick service to better connect with Thameslink trains in to London. The service will continue to operate every hour, but will now leave at 30 minutes past the hour from Bedford Bus Station – giving better coordination with Stagecoach’s MK1 service as well as buses to Ampthill Road and Bedford Hospital.

But the 7.05pm journey from Bedford to Maulden has been withdrawn due to low usage. Maulden will be served at 10am and 1pm with through buses to Bedford with no need to change with additional journeys in the morning and evening.

On Grant Palmer route 200 the 5.35pm journey from Flitwick to Silsoe will be re-timed to 5.45pm. Other journeys are not changed.

And in the Cranfield area Uno routes C1, C5, C10, C11 and CX will have minor timetable changes.

The creation of the Bus Service Improvement Plan followed consultation with residents in 2021 which aimed to better understand what would encourage people to use buses more, with the council saying it was the first step towards an enhanced partnership with bus operators.

Central Bedfordshire Council was one of the 31 local transport authorities to be awarded funding.

For more information and to view the detailed timetable and route changes, visit the council’s website.

The council says further bus service improvements are expected this autumn.