New bus service for Market Harborough's Southern Estate

The air hereabouts is still thick with talk of cuts to bus services, but today there was good news.

Back in February I blogged about our Liberal Democrat campaign against the reduction in the bus service provided to Market Harborough's Southern Estate. (Every street there is named after someone who fought at Naseby, you know.)

I wrote then:

The service around the Southern Estate ... would probably be best provided by a town service using a much smaller vehicle. But that is not what we are being offered.

Today Harborough FM reported that this is pretty much what is going to happen:

A daytime bus service is to return to Market Harborough’s Southern Estate following a campaign by residents. 

Operator Centrebus will launch the new number 30 service on July 1st, with four off-peak journeys to and from the town centre Monday to Saturday.

This is a welcome development, because the trend is now for long-distance services to take numerous detours in an attempt to replace vanished routes.

Until recently the bus from Market Harborough to Kettering took you down streets in Rothwell that were unknown even to people who had spent their whole lives in that little Northamptonshire town.