NEWS
Four years after it bought award winning independent Norfolk Green and subsequently integrated it into its east of England business, Stagecoach has signalled that much of it is likely to close on 29 April when it intends to give up most of the routes and shut its King’s Lynn depot.
Confirming on 30 January that this is a likely outcome of a review of its operations in Norfolk — currently with 75 vehicles and 120 staff — Stagecoach East blames a combination of rising operating costs and pressure on public sector budgets.
Following discussions with Rail Maritime & Transport (RMT) union representatives, it told staff it had already looked at the option of selling the Norfolk business. ‘No firm interest was forthcoming from any operator’, it says.
Stagecoach intends to retain seven fenland routes, which can be operated from its bases at Long Sutton and March. The most frequent of these, and the only seven-day service, is the trunk 505 (King’s Lynn-Spalding), which operates every 20min daytime on weekdays and Saturdays, hourly on Sundays. Next most frequent are halfhourly Wisbech local service 66 and hourly service 56 (Wisbech-Benwick).
The others include 50 (Wisbech-Long Sutton) and 55 (King’s Lynn…
