Surrey County Council (SCC) has increased its funding for a key bus route to and from Staines and Heathrow Airport so it can continue to serve residents in the Stanwell area.

Due to the significant downturn in air travel and the impact on their finances, Heathrow Airport Ltd recently announced that they would need to temporarily suspend their funding. The additional funding from SCC will mean route 442 will continue to operate Monday to Saturday between 0500 – 2000hrs from 2 January 2021.

Other affected bus routes are as follows:

· Carlone Buses X442 Staines railway station – Heathrow Terminal 5 – withdrawn from 1 January 2021

· First Berkshire 8 Slough-Windsor-Egham-Staines-Heathrow Terminal 5 – early morning and late evening journeys withdrawn from 9 January 2021

· Hallmark 555 Hersham-Walton-Shepperton-Sunbury-Ashford-Stanwell-Heathrow Central Bus Station – will continue with no changes.

Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Highways, said, “We know that many of our residents rely on our bus network, often for vital journeys such as getting to and from work and that these changes will cause difficulties for some.

This is why we have allocated additional funding to ensure that route 442 continues to run for six days a week to support bus users in the area as best we can.

We’re committed to improving our bus provision in Surrey overall and this includes a significant investment in Ultra-Low and Zero Emission Buses.

We will continue to work with Heathrow Airport Ltd to maintain and develop services when bus patronage grows again, as we recover from the pandemic.”

For more information on the new timetables for services 8 and 442, visit the forthcoming changes page at www.surreycc.gov.uk/buses

Posted from Surrey News