A new direct bus service between Stone and Rugeley began operating on Tuesday 1 September. The 151 route is operated by Chaserider and funded by Staffordshire County Council for an initial 12-month trial period.
The service connects Stone with communities including Aston Lodge, Burston, Sandon, Weston, Hixon, Great Haywood, Little Haywood and Colwich. It also replaced the former A service between Stone and Aston Lodge. Passengers gain access to destinations along the A51 corridor, including Great Haywood for Shugborough, Wolseley Bridge and Bishton.
Timetable and routes
Buses run Monday to Saturday with nine journeys in each direction. From Stone, services depart from the stop by Morrisons. The first weekday departure is at 8.54am with the final departure at 5.34pm. The journey to Rugeley Bus Station takes around 45 minutes.
Trial period and future prospects
Staffordshire County Council reported that initial take-up had been good. The transport team will monitor passenger numbers throughout the 12-month trial before decisions are made about the service's future.
Andrew Mynors, Staffordshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Connectivity, said: "This new service has had a great start with encouraging passenger numbers in the first few weeks. It is serving communities along the A51 corridor, connecting them to both Rugeley and Stone on a route where there hasn't been a continuous link for number of years."
Brendan McKeown, Stafford Borough Councillor for Haywoods & Hixon, added: "We're pleased that as anticipated the new service has been well received and people have got on board already. After our hard work and planning to get to this point, we hope as many people use the service as possible, as its future will depend on passenger numbers over the next 12 months."
The full 151 timetable, including Saturday services, is available on the Staffordshire County Council bus timetable website.