Haverhill to Newmarket bus service proposal meets with postive response from residents and councillors
Plans to reintroduce a bus service – which hasn’t run since 2007 – have been welcomed by residents and councillors.
Suffolk County Council is seeking views on whether people would like to to see the the return of the 225/226 bus route which ran between Haverhill and Newmarket.
The possible return of the service, which last ran more than 15 years ago, has been welcomed.
Patrick Hanlon, Haverhill town councillor and West Suffolk Council deputy chair, said: “Bus services come and go but I have never heard of anyone doing this route for many years.
“From Haverhill, you’re fine going by bus to Cambridge, but not to Newmarket or Bury. For the fourth largest town in Suffolk, and the second largest in West Suffolk, we are very cut off.
“What I am really annoyed about is that our town centre is dying now, Newmarket, too; so why aren’t we already having buses going between the town centres.
“People like to venture out to shop and the only opportunity we’ve got is to Cambridge.
“If we have people going from Haverhill to Newmarket and Newmarket to Haverhill, it will help both towns no end.”
Cllr Hanlon also felt the route would benefit the town’s markets.
He said: “Markets are struggling in both. It is really infuriating is the fact that the economy is being affected because we don’t having any buses.
“The response from the public so far to the appeal for views is that there a lot of people are in favour of the route.”
Suffolk County Council has been awarded undisclosed funding for a Bus Service Improvement Plan by the Department of Transport.
The 225/226 services between Haverhill and Newmarket last ran in 2007 before budget cuts forced the county council to withdraw them.
The original services ran six times each day, starting at 6.45am from Haverhill bus station to Newmarket bus and rail stations, making 14 stops along the way including Blunts Hall Corner, Little Thurlow, Stradishall, Cowlinge, Dalham, Gazeley.
The same frequency of services ran the opposite direction from Newmarket to Haverhill, starting at 7.40am.
The council are considering running the 8.45am service from Haverhill around 30 minutes later to enable use by concessionary pass holders between Stradishall and Newmarket.
It says this would mean all buses running later however so the service may not be able to provide a school journey in the afternoon.
It would like to hear peoples views around this possibility.
Parish Councils along the route are also being asked to gather views.
The Department of Transport funding is only guaranteed until the end of March 2025.
The council say that any services will need to show strong passenger numbers to make sure fares income would cover a significant portion of the operating costs – should funding not be renewed.
Haverhill residents have welcomed the possibility of the service on social media after an appeal for views was made by Haverhill town councillor Patrick Hanlon.
Resident Tami Jaggs said: “We absolutely need this service. It’s unbelievable that such a large town as Haverhill doesn’t have a direct link to Newmarket, or Sudbury come to mention it.
“If we are encouraged to use public transport more, then we really need more public transport.”
Alex Campbell said: “This is good news. A lot of out shops on the high street are closed a lot of them say our closest store is in Newmarket. This is great and hopefully a lot of people will use it if ticket prices are not too high.”
Colin Poole, clerk to Haverhill Town Council told Suffolk News: “The more bus services there are, the more regular they can be, the better people can use them.
“From the response so far on social media, at least, here was a lot of tagging between people indicating how much interchange there is between people in Newmarket and Haverhill, suggesting this would be really useful service.”
Indy Wijenayaka, West Suffolk District Councillor for Withersfield, and who is also the council’s portfolio holder for growth, said: “I feel it would be vital to have this sort of service to help boost growth and enable people to travel between the two towns, as well as the parishes in between, either for employment opportunities or to interact with businesses, either by buying products or services, or offering products or services.
A Suffolk County Council spokesperson said: “If there is general support for the proposal, the service would likely start in the autumn.
“As the additional funding is only guaranteed until March 2025, a new or restored services would need to show strong passenger numbers by then to ensure they can be maintained.
He urged residents to contact their respective town or parish council with their views.
Joanne Kirk, clerk to Stradishall Parish Council and Moulton Parish Council, said: “Both councils support any improvements to the bus service.
“Comments we have received so far are supportive provided the bus service fits in with people who might use the bus to get to work, to school or to the railway station in Newmarket.
“Reliability is another factor which will influence whether people use the service or not
