Dorchester bus contracts set to be extended (From Thisisdorset)

Dorchester bus contracts set to be extended

9:57am Wednesday 30th January 2013 in Latest

BUS SERVICES in Dorchester are set for another temporary reprieve.

A number of routes in the county town came under threat last year when operator Damory Coaches announced it could no longer run them on a commercial basis.

However, Dorset County Council stepped in to fund the routes on a short term basis, with Damory continuing to operate a revised service from June last year.

The routes affected were the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 Dorchester Town services and the number 95 school service as well as the number 103 between Bovington and Dorchester.

At the same time the council also awarded short term contracts to secure the continued future of the 212 service between Dorchester and Yeovil and the 387 from the county town to Poole.

The contracts were initially expected to be in place for around nine to ten months but the county council’s cabinet will meet next week to discuss extending them until August.

This will enable the council to complete a review of all of its bus services and a major transport procurement exercise before new local bus contracts can be put into place next Autumn.

When the Dorchester routes first came under threat last year local Liberal Democrat councillors launched a petition calling for the services to be preserved that attracted over 1,000 signatures.