Kinchbus, trentbarton’s sister company, is to launch its first Demand Responsive
Transport (DRT) service, in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council.
The DRT will serve villages including Gotham, Ratcliffe on Soar, Kegworth, Sutton
Bonington and East and West Leake, providing an alternative for the villages
affected by the withdrawal of the Sutton Bonington and Loughborough leg of skylink
Nottingham.
However, skylink Nottingham journeys to Nottingham, East Midlands Airport and
Midlands Gateway, as well as Coalville journeys will remain predominantly
unchanged.
The new DRT service, which will use new technology to best respond to customer
requests for public transport, will be introduced from May 15.
An easy-to-use, free app puts booking a journey at passengers’ fingertips, but there
is also a dedicated phone line where bookings can be made up to 72 hours before a
journey.
Tom Morgan, Managing Director, said:
“The Sutton Bonington leg of skylink Nottingham has not recovered from the impacts of the pandemic but has been able to continue due to financial support from Nottinghamshire County Council.
“With this support no longer being available we are left with no choice but to withdraw this leg of the service.
“Nottinghamshire County Council is looking to provide some am/pm peak connections from the affected villages into Loughborough and the new DRT service will act as an alternative, ensuring residents are still able to reach their destinations by public transport.
“DRT brings with it the opportunity to create and run flexible services which help
people in rural locations who do not drive.
“It can also keep cars off the road and so help decarbonise transport by enabling people to share their rides.
“By connecting with other services and modes of public transport, DRT can help
people get where they want to go by bringing them to regular bus routes or railway
stations.
“We look forward to seeing how much the new service is used and valued. The new
DRT service will offer a much requested public transport link between East Midlands
Parkway station and the villages of Kegworth, Sutton Bonington and Zouch.”
