Changes to Arriva bus services in Luton, Dunstable and Houghton Regis

Arriva has announced changes to its bus services in Luton, Dunstable and Houghton Regis from 18 June 2017.

The popular A & Z busway services will see a boost in frequency, with Busway A’s Monday to Saturday daytime frequency increase to every seven and half minutes.

Busway A will operate between Dunstable, Luton and Luton Airport with an overnight service between the Interchange and the airport being introduced to create a 24-hour service.

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The busway Z route will be diverted between Lewsey Park and Parkside via new A5055 link road to speed up the service and extend it to Dunstable, with an evening service being introduced on Sundays.

Alongside this, passengers will see the restoration of the 1 and 4 Farley Hill services, replacing the current section of services 28 and 29 (A and B) to improve reliability and punctuality.

Other amendments include a new timetable to improve reliability and punctuality on the Watford to Luton Sapphire 321 service and later evening buses on the Luton to Dunstable 31 service.

Arriva stated the changes have been made to reflect changing customer demand and follow feedback from passengers and drivers.

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Area managing director Maq Alibhai said: “We work hard to provide the best possible services for our customers and always do our best to respond to their needs and suggestions.

“Arriva’s mission is to provide stronger, simpler and more sustainable transport links and these changes will offer improved reliability and connectivity and give our passengers greater convenience and value for money.”

Customers can find out more details of the changes by visiting www.arrivabus.co.uk/beds-changes

Arriva is also holding roadshow events at The Mall, Luton, from June 8 to June 11 where you can pick up timetables and maps of the new Luton, Dunstable and Houghton Regis network.

Notes on the service changes:

Farley Hill – Service 1 & 4

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“We are restoring the 1 & 4 and separating them from the Hockwell Ring and Runfold services to improve reliability and punctuality. In morning and evening peaks the services will be extended to serve the railway station at the Interchange, providing better connectivity. Buses will run up to every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday and every 30 minutes on a Sunday.”

Service 12

“The service will now serve the Interchange on all journeys and will leave the town via Crescent Road on all Putteridge-bound journeys. Monday to Friday frequency remains the same at every 10 minutes, Saturday frequency is reduced from every 12 mins to every 15 and Sunday remains unchanged at every 20 minutes.”

Service 13

“The service will now leave town via St Mary’s Road rather than Crescent Road as that will be served by the 12 (see above). The frequency is unchanged but the first service on a Saturday has been withdrawn due to very low usage and there are changes to Saturday afternoon times.”

Service 14

“There are no changes to route or frequency, but there are slight changes to afternoon times.”

Service 24 & 25

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“The services are withdrawn from Bushmead between 15.00 and 16.15 on schooldays. Minor changes to timings have been made on Saturday afternoons.”

Service 27

“There are minor changes to the timings on Sundays.”

Services 28, 29 (A & B)

“These services have been separated from Farley Hill to improve reliability and punctuality and therefore the 28A and 29A evening variants are withdrawn. The Sunday service on the 28 is also withdrawn. The frequency remains unchanged with buses running up to every 15 minutes Monday to Friday, every 20 minutes on a Saturday and an hourly 29 Sunday service will be interworked with the 32. A slight timing change has been made to the 28B to better cater for GM workers.”

Service 31

“The evening service is being extended to 23.30 from 21.30 to cater better for evening trade. Frequencies remain the same on Monday to Saturdays but will increase to every 20 minutes on a Sunday.”

Services 32 & 33

“The last round trip on the 32 is being withdrawn on Monday to Saturday evenings. Service 33 is extended on Monday-Saturdays from Lewsey Farm, via Wheatfield Drive, Sandringham Drive, Windsor Drive, Parkside Drive and Tithe Farm Road to Houghton Regis to replace withdrawn section of Z route and to part replace 38 route. The 33 will also operate via Beechwood Road, Addington Way and Leagrave High Street and will no longer serve the hospital on Lewsey Road. The Sunday service is also withdrawn.”

Services 38 & 38A

“This route is being withdrawn.”

Sapphire 321

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“A new timetable is being introduced to improve reliability and punctuality. The last 00.05 departure from Watford to Garston is being withdrawn, but the frequency remains the same.”

Busway A & Z

“We are making some significant changes and improvements to frequency.

Busway A service will operate between Dunstable, Luton and Luton Airport only and an overnight service between the Interchange and the Airport is being introduced, making the service 24 hours. The service will operate every 7.5 mins between Dunstable and Luton Interchange with 4 buses an hour going to the airport on Monday to Saturdays. Sunday frequency remains the same.

Z service will be diverted between Lewsey Park and Parkside via new A5055 link road to speed up the service and extend it to Dunstable. The Z will operate every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday and every 20 minutes on Sundays and an evening service is being introduced on Sundays to maintain the link between Parkside and Dunstable.”