Helen welcomes £1.8 million county bus funding boost

North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has warmly welcomed news from the Secretary of State for Transport that Shropshire is set to receive £1.84 million in extra funding for bus services.

Helen Morgan has been a campaigner on the lack of public transport in North Shropshire, petitioning residents over her ‘Bus Bill’ presented to Parliament last year and making appeals to Shropshire Council over the situation.

Earlier this year she brought bus operators, community transport providers,  council representatives and other stakeholders together for a ‘bus roundtable’ event in Shropshire and followed that up by hosting a rural connectivity event in Parliament.

Data from the House of Commons Library last year showed that Whitchurch and Market Drayton were in the bottom 10% for bus service provision in England, with the MP describing the latter as ‘an island’ in Parliament.

Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire said, “It is great to see that Shropshire is receiving a long-overdue boost to funding for rural bus services.

“In my time as North Shropshire’s MP, I have heard far too many stories of people unable to get about without a car – even between major towns. This stops people from accessing job opportunities, from getting onto the high street or to medical appointments, and creates real social isolation.

“This funding won’t fix the state of our transport network alone, but it is very welcome news all the same, and comes after a lot of hard work from local people campaigning on the issue.”