Rugby Rural Link Minibus Service

Back in April, I blogged about proposals to introduce a new 'Rural Link' bus service for residents living in the rural areas of the borough who had difficulty accessing transport and needed to get to shops and essential services.

The Parish Council has now received some further information about this new scheme. Called the 'Rugby Rural Link' the service will operate in the Shilton and Barnacle area on Mondays between 9.30am for collection and 2.30pm for return, to allow up to two hours shopping in a "Walsgrave supermarket" (which, I assume, must be either Tesco or Asda).

The service is open to all local residents to use, but before it is used for the first time, residents must register with the Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action Volunteer Centre (who will run the service) on (01788) 539572. The cost of the journey is £2 each way per person, although holders of a concessionary bus pass will pay only £1 each way per person.

The introduction of this new service is a welcome addition to the very limited public transport that's available to local residents, especially in Barnacle. The idea for the service arose out of a scrutiny review carried out by Rugby Borough Council following their decision to withdraw the taxi tokens that used to be issued to senior citizens in villages that did not have a significant local bus service. A copy of the report on the review of the travel tokens scheme can be read here, and further information from Rugby Borough Council on the Rural Link minibus service can be found here.

These services tend to operate on a "use it or lose it" basis, and therefore anyone who welcomes the benefit of an additional weekly bus service to a local supermarket should look to take advantage of the service to ensure that is retained.