CONNECT Bude are encouraging members of the public who are concerned about the bus connections in their local area to attend their upcoming annual general meeting.

Following a Connect Bude meeting held at The Falcon Hotel on October 4, a spokesperson for the campaigning group said: “Connect Bude welcomes the introduction of buses connecting directly with trains at Okehampton Station. Our 450 strong campaigning group has been pushing for this to happen since the rail line reopened at Okehampton in Nov 2021. Creating this ‘bus branch line’ is a positive development and marks a significant step forward on the route towards eventually reinstating the rail line to Bude. However, to ensure long term service sustainability by catering for people’s current and future connectivity needs, the following steps are vital:

“1. Cornwall and Devon Councils need to fund additional journeys to avoid significant loss of travel opportunities by providing (in addition to the planned Sunday service)’: services that enable current student travel opportunities to continue; an early Bude - Holsworthy bus link for workers; a later Bude bus connecting with a later train arrival at Okehampton

“2. GWR, Stagecoach, Cornwall and Devon Councils need to work together to provide bus/ rail through fares at a similar level to the current bus fares between Bude and Exeter.

“3. GWR, Stagecoach, Cornwall and Devon Councils should ensure that all bus and rail timetables and publicity fully reflect connectivity for destinations between Bude and Exeter.

“4. A partnership of GWR, Stagecoach, Cornwall and Devon Councils, Connect Bude and OkeRail should fully collaborate on monitoring route performance, promotion, publicity, etc. to maximise usage.”

Connect Bude holds its annual general meeting (and public meeting) from 11am to 12 noon on Saturday, October 22, at The Falcon Hotel when special guests, David Whiteway, (Regional Growth Manager (west) of Great Western Railway) and Tim Steer (Tarka Rail Association) will make short presentations. There will also be a time for questions and an opportunity for the issues around the No.6 bus service to be discussed. All are welcome including paid up members and supporters of Connect Bude plus members of the public.