'New bus services will make everyday life easier'

More bus services have been created in Stoke-on-Trent in a bid to meet demand for public transport on evenings and weekends.

The services are designed to enable people to more easily reach shops, hospitals, visitor attractions and key employment sites, the city council said.

Being phased in from Sunday, the routes are part of the authority's bus service improvement plan, a £31.6m initiative funded by the Department for Transport (DfT).

They include service 501, which will link Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station, Hanley Bus Station, Festival Park, Etruria Valley and Wolstanton Retail Park.

Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: "We're bringing buses back.

"We're making them work for working people, getting them to and from work, connecting them to family and friends and making everyday life easier."

Additional services, which will run until at least March 2026, are:

• Number 2 (Hanley – Birches Head) – evening services Monday to Saturday
• 5 (Hanley – Abbey Hulton) – early morning buses from Abbey Hulton into Hanley, Monday to Saturday, along with evening services
• 7A (Hanley – High Lane – Fegg Hayes) – evening service along High Lane, serving Haywood Hospital, Monday to Saturday
• 8 (Hanley – Norton – Ball Green) – late evening services to Ball Green, Monday to Friday
• 9 (Fegg Hayes – Bradeley – Hanley – Newcastle) – evening service along Chell Heath Road, Monday to Saturday, and a Sunday daytime service along Chell Heath Road
• 23 (Hanley – Blurton – Newstead) – late evening services to Blurton, Monday to Saturday
• 27A (Bentilee – Longton – Trentham Lakes) – service running at shift-change times, every day of the week
• 36/36A (Meir – Longton – Hanley – Tunstall – Kidsgrove) – Sunday evening service
• 38/39 (Hanley – Festival Park – Newcastle) – late evening service every day
• 40 (Hanley – Mount Pleasant – Longton – Wedgwood) – Saturday daytime service for Mount Pleasant, also providing a link to World of Wedgwood

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