More buses back on Northamptonshire's roads ready for Step Two of PM's roadmap

Stagecoach will put more buses back on Northamptonshire's roads form this weekend ready for the next stage in easing restrctions.

Non-essential shops, hairdressers and gyms can all reopen from Monday under step two of Boris Johnson's roadmap out of lockdown.

Bus operators scaled back services during lockdowns as fewer people needed to travel.

School services were restored as the majority of students headed back to the classroom on March 8.

Now more routes will run more frequently to allow passengers to travel safely as demand increases.

Stagecoach Midlands managing director, Mark Whitelocks, said: “As we gear up for the next stage of unlocking in Northamptonshire with many leisure and hospitality facilities opening up, our bus services will continue to play a crucial role in helping people to re-connect with the things they enjoy doing.

“All of our services are fully Covid secure with extra measures in place to help people feel fully confident as they return to public transport. We’ve all worked so well together, and as the country starts to unlock, it’s still important that people continue to follow all the guidelines in place as they travel on our services.

“We’d like to thank our customers for their support and co-operation over the past year.

"As the vaccination programme continues at pace and as more of the country starts to open up in line with the Government’s roadmap, people are desperately keen to return to some kind of normality and our bus services will make sure they get to where they want to easily and safely.”

In line with coronavirus laws and advice from health advisors, anybody travelling on public transport needs to continue to follow rules around wearing face coverings, washing or sanitising hands before and after travel and maintaining social distancing.

Stagecoach is is also reminding customers not to close open windows to help with natural ventilation and take their litter away when leaving the bus.

Other Covid-19 secure measures put in place by Stagecoach include the Busy Bus app to help customers travel at quieter times, encouraging contactless payments or buying tickets through the app to reduce cash handling.

Fewer seats are available on each bus to maintain social distancing on board. Main changes to services from this weekend are listed below but all current timetables can be found by clicking HERE■ Northampton and Daventry routes

2 — Town Centre - Blackthorn Buses run up to every 10 minutes instead of 15 minutes Monday to Friday.

4 — Town Centre - Holly Lodge Drive Buses run up to every 10 minutes instead of 20 minutes Monday to Friday.

7/7A — Town Centre - Moulton Park Route 7A reinstated and minor changes to route 7 timetable

16 — Town Centre - Ecton Brook Buses run up to every 10 minutes instead of 15 minutes Monday to Friday.

96 — Rugby - Northampton A revised timetable will operate

D2 — Rugby - Northampton Will run at revised times

X6 — Milton Keynes - Northampton Buses will run up to every 30 minutes to Roade and hourly to Milton Keynes on Mondays to Fridays

X10/10 — Northampton - Kettering Service restored.

X44 — Wellingborough - Brackmills Service restored.

X46 / X47 — Northampton - Raunds Buses will run up to every hour on each route Monday to Fridays

■ Kettering & Corby routes

2 — Corby Business Academy - Kettering Holdenby Buses will run up to every 30 minutes instead of hourly between Corby & Kettering on Mondays to Fridays

3 — Shire Road - Danesholme Buses will now run up to every 15 minutes instead of 20 minutes

3C / 5C — Services for school and college scholars only reinstated

16 — Kettering - Raunds With the reopening of Nine Arches Bridge, returns to normal route and will run a revised timetable

17/17A — Service withdrawn. Buses on the 18 run via Desborough Grange as a replacement. Evening and Sunday journeys on service 17A still run

47 / 48 — Wellingborough - Kettering Buses will run up to every hour instead of two-hourly

49 — Wellingborough - Kettering A revised timetable will operate

50 — Bedford - Kettering A revised timetable will operate