Bus services across Lancashire are set to receive a funding boost of over £7 million for the next financial year to boost services across the county.
It comes on top of a recent £4.49m for each of the next two financial years to protect and enhance local bus routes.
The latest funding comes from the £36 billion saved by cancelling the next phase of HS2 after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to reallocate the cash to new transport projects in the North of England.
Commenting on this additional investment Burnley and Padiham’s MP Antony Higginbotham said:
Having good, reliable bus routes in and out of Burnley and Padiham isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. And is why it’s so important that we invest in our local transport system.
That’s why I’ve brought up our local bus services in Parliament on several occasions, including our rural links – and is why I think this decision to reallocate the spiralling costs of HS2 to transport services people actually raise with me is the right decision.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
This announcement marks the start of the Network North plan coming into action.
The government is taking the right long-term decisions to deliver on our vision for a fairer and improved transport system by investing billions back into the transport projects that matter most to people and their communities.
This is the first tranche of £1 billion worth of new funding that the government is dedicating to bus services across the North and the Midlands as part of the Network North plan – with further funding allocations to be announced in due course.
