Kenilworth Station bus service has been withdrawn

Warwickshire County Council has announced that the bus service that runs from Kenilworth station will be withdrawn at the end of May.
Kenilworth StationKenilworth Station
Kenilworth Station

The contract for the bus service linking the town to the station expires at the end of May and the county council will not be renewing it.

The authority has said that use of the service has been "very low" and "does not justify the cost of providing the service".

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A survey of residents of the town showed that 83% of respondents were aware of the bus service.

Despite the high awareness, the bus was the chosen means of transport to the station for only 8 per cent of users.

However, the survey also highlighted that the majority of passengers using the train service are deciding to walk to the station (73 per cent).

Mark Ryder, Warwickshire County Council’s strategic director for communities, said: “With around 700 visits each day, the station is obviously being well supported but the vast majority of users are 'walk-on'.

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"We have achieved our aim of getting cars off the road and getting people walking to the station, using the train and leaving their cars at home.

“As part of the strategy to do this, we also trialled a bus service and we have given it time to see if usage improved.

"However, nearly a year on, our studies show that only a small proportion of people coming to the station use the bus to do so.

"Clearly, the service is not representing value for money.

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"But it was only ever a trial and to have provided it long term was dependent on it being well used which has not been the case.

“While we were able to access funding to build the station, the bus service comes out of our annual budget so having it at the station is in place of another service that we could provide. We simply cannot afford to sustain a service with such a low take up.”

Kenilworth Station was recently recognised by the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation as being highly commended in the Best Large Project Category which highlights outstanding examples of transportation or highways project which have made a major contribution to the West Midlands.

It is also one of only three projects shortlisted in CIHT’s national Best Public Transport Project category.