Almost one in 10 local bus services axed over last year in Great Britain

A local bus in Sheffield. The equivalent of more than 1,000 registered routes have been lost. Photograph: Septemberlegs Editorial/Alamy

Almost one in 10 local bus services were axed in Great Britain in the last year despite government promises to improve local transport connectivity being a key pillar of its levelling up agenda.

The reductions – equivalent to more than 1,000 registered routes – follow the publication of a national bus strategy for England in 2021, aimed at improving routes and service frequencies. The figures suggest the “bus back better” strategy, conceived under the then prime minister Boris Johnson, has failed to halt the decline in local bus services.