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Autumn 2024 Changes to Cheshire East Bus Services

Posted on August 26, 2024

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Thankfully, these are fairly minor compared to previous years. Nevertheless, they can catch you out if you are not aware of them, so I am sharing them on here.

The ones starting from 2024-09-01 are minor changes in journey times. The first is the afternoon journey on service 188, a variation of service 88 between Macclesfield, Knutsford, Wilmslow and Altrincham that is included in the same timetable, that will run 10 minutes earlier. The, there are tweaks to the route 60 and 60A timetables to add extra reliability. Coming on 2024-09-02 is a more dramatic change: Mikro Bus are removing the Brookhouse section from route 39. That will leave some looking for alternative travel options.

On 2024-10-24, two changes are being made to exclude parts of route 312 and the Sunday service on route 130 that go through parts of Greater Manchester. Route 312 will use the A555 instead, while route 130 will go along both the A555 and A34 on its way to and from Handforth Dean Retail Park. The latter will no longer go along Stanley Road or Earl Road; Monday to Saturday journeys are unaffected by this change and continue as they are. In addition, journey times on route 312 will also be altered to improve connections with service 88 for getting to and from Knutsford.

Hopefully, that will be all there is to these because more like the cessations in Nantwich rural services can come yet. There may be a Better Buses Bill on the way, but it brings no extra cash and there is a budgetary shortfall that has affected transport investment. At this moment, public transport needs all the help it can get, so that is a shame. Hopefully, we can get past this challenging period to enter better times; they are sorely needed. While there may be a new government, financial constraints sadly remain for now.