Somerset County Council has stepped in to save and fund the evening D2 service between Bath and Frome, as well as part of the 126 service between Wells and Axbridge, which was also under threat (see here).

From 9th October, SCC will fund the evening weekday D2 journeys at 8.10pm and 10.10pm from Frome to Bath and 9.10pm and 11.10pm from Bath to Frome. First West of England buses will continue to provide daytime, Saturday evening and Sunday journeys on the D2. The D2 evening service is vital for people studying in Bath, out for the night or working unsocial hours in Bath and the villages including Beckington, Rode and Norton St Philip. The new timetable (and the route) from 9th October can be seen here and below – and to the delight of Rode residents (and no doubt thanks to campaigning parish councillor Peter Travis) this also includes many more buses serving Rode. The saved evening services are not yet shown on the timetables posted at many bus stops (SCC has asked First Buses to rectify this)

The change of County Council policy to support evening buses was down to the new Lib Dem administration’s Executive lead for Transport Mike Rigby, and the campaign by the Frome & Villages Bus User Group (FAVBUG – see here), Somerset Bus Partnership, Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner Sarah Dyke and her petition, and the 1600 people who signed it and everyone who lobbied to save the service.

The funding uses the Government’s Bus Recovery Grant which was extended to March 2023, but in April this funding runs out. As Somerset Council budgets will be under considerable pressure, bus usage needs to increase to be sure of saving the evening service in the long term. So, a plan is starting to form. I attended the FAVBUG/SBP online meeting on 6th October chaired by Peter Travis to discuss how to increase patronage of the D2 Frome/Bath bus (especially in the evenings and on Sundays), and there were several ideas put forward which will be progressed in future meetings, so please contact me or FAVBUG – see here if you can help contribute.

Somerset County Council and the Somerset Bus Partnership’s Bus It campaign encourages people to get the bus more – see here about how you could save money.

Frome Town Council have also created a useful bus map to help plan your journeys, showing the nearest bus stop and which route each bus takes – see here and below, and below for the D2 timetable and route…

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