New bus routes in Keyworth
Extensive changes (mostly for the better, though there is regretfully no longer a direct bus between Keyworth and Leicester) have recently been made to the "subsidiary" bus routes serving Keyworth. By "subsidiary" I mean everything except the Keyworth Connection operated by Trent Barton and travelling between Keyworth and Nottingham.
I am grateful to a local resident for the following article, which is also being published in the Keyworth News.
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The tendered services funded by the Government and County Council were extensively revised from the end of August. Nothing that is written here concerns the Keyworth Connection, which maintains its admirable service, operated on a commercial basis by Trent Barton.
Firstly the 12 service to Leicester was withdrawn and so, for the first time for fifty years or more, Keyworth has no direct bus service to Leicester and the only reasonable way to get to and from Leicester by public transport is to go to Nottingham and take either a train or coach from there.
The new services operated by Premiere Travel with low-floor buses are very comprehensive and timetable leaflets are available from the post office and library. Many new destinations have become available and here are a few highlights.
There are two groups of services, Bingham to Beeston and the City to South Notts villages.
53 Keyworth to Bingham and 63 Keyworth to Beeston. These now run Monday to Saturday and are normally through services at Keyworth with through fares and through vehicles, the service number simply being changed by the driver at Keyworth Square. There are now 15 services a day from Keyworth to Bingham serving Tollerton, Cotgrave and the Cropwells. The first is at 07.03 and the last at 18.43. The journey time is 35 minutes and the bus leaves The Square and travels the length of Nottingham Road and Normanton Lane: the regular departure time is 43 minutes past the hour but there are exceptions on school days. The time from Bingham is usually 25 minutes past the hour. The 63 leaves Keyworth Square Church side at 06.05, 06.55, 07.25, 09.00 and every hour until 15.00, then 15.45, 16.15, 17.00 and 18.00 and serves Wysall, Costock, East Leake, Bunny, Bradmore, Ruddington (Business Park in travel to work hours), Clifton, QMC and Beeston with an overall journey time of 48 minutes. Similar services operate in the other direction with departures from Beeston at 07.07, 07.55, 09.55 and hourly to 14.55, then 15.50, 16.50, 17.20 and 17.50. This is the first time that a regular service has been available from Keyworth to Costock and East Leake and the first time for several years that a service to Clifton and Beeston has been provided.
51 and 52 provide a very clever groups of services from Nottingham Friar Lane F3 to West Bridgford Central Avenue, Tollerton and Keyworth and on to Wysall, Widmerpool, Willoughby, Upper Broughton, Hickling Pastures, Hickling, Kinoulton, Stanton, Nicker Hill and back to Keyworth and on to Nottingham. From 10.03 to 15.03 they provide hourly services from Keyworth Square Church side to these destinations in alternate directions, changing service numbers at Upper Broughton on the return. In the opposite direction leaving from the bus shelter in The Square at 50 minutes past the hour service 51 provides services to and from Tollerton Burnside Grove, Rushcliffe Leisure Centre, Asda and West Bridgford Central Avenue on the way to the City. The 52 goes along Tollerton Lane to Lings Bar Hospital, Morrisons, then Ambleside Drive and Regatta Way to West Bridgford Central Avenue and on to Nottingham. There are several variations and earlier and later buses and careful study of the timetable leaflet is needed to see all the permutations.
Note that the extra KC links in the evening to Wysall, Willoughby and Widmerpool continue to operate as previously.
Getting around Keyworth and the area by bus has never been easier, and so consider using these services for work, education, leisure, hospital visits and shopping. Nottingham Road and Nicker Hill have gained services previously withdrawn and Morrisons, Asda, Clifton, Bingham and Beeston shops and markets are now viable destinations: the longer hours of operation make travel to work a possibility for more people. Walkers and ramblers will find a whole new range of possibilities and visiting relatives and friends in other villages and areas of West Bridgford is now much more possible.
