Bus operators Arriva and Stagecoach have confirmed a series of changes to bus services in the Liverpool City Region.
The private operators have finalised the number of changes and reductions to routes across Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and the Wirral that will begin on Sunday September 4. Several services considered to be ‘vital routes’ have been protected from the original proposals after Mayor Steve Rotheram and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority stepped in to provide funding support to save them.
These include the 492 and 495 to Birkenhead, 37 from St Helens to Eccleston and the 76 and 78 from Halewood to Liverpool city centre. Currently, the majority of bus services in the Liverpool City Region are operated on a commercial basis by private operators – predominantly Arriva and Stagecoach. Under this deregulated bus system, these private companies have control over aspects such as routes, timetables and fares.
