Press releases

Monday 31 October will see a real step change for public transport in the area as Arriva launches a fleet of new and refurbished buses on Luton and Dunstable's core bus network.

The massive £2.4 million investment will see the introduction of 19 brand new easy access buggy friendly buses for Marsh Farm Service 27 and Lewsey Farm/Dunstable Service 38.

A further 20 buses, all of which are easy access, have enjoyed a complete makeover and these fully refurbished buses will be used to operate the Stopsley Service 12 and the Dunstable/Leighton Buzzard Service 31.

Our investment will make using the bus a breeze

said Arriva the Shires and Essex commercial director, Brian Drury,

With buses on our main routes running every 10 to 12 minutes people can just turn up and go, it's so simple you don't even need a timetable.

Our aim is to make using the bus easy,

added Mr Drury,

And, with high frequencies on five core routes, colour coded buses and great value Day, Weekly and 4 Weekly Arriva Tickets, which offer unlimited travel on all buses in the Luton and Dunstable area, I believe that we're achieving just that.

The investment in new buses and increased frequencies will be supported by a massive marketing drive in an aim to cut down congestion and pollution and encourage more people onto public transport.

The campaign will see billboards, bus stop and telephone box adverts throughout the area used to inform people about the improvements and leaflets and timetables distributed to thousands of homes.

Luton Borough Council has welcomed the investment by Arriva and head of engineering and transportation Mehmood Khan said,

We are delighted to see Arriva's level of commitment to public transport in Luton

and added,

We share that commitment and we will be making a series of improvements to bus stops and waiting facilities along routes served by the new buses.

New bus shelters, real-time information displays, better enforcement of parking restrictions at bus stops and bus priority at road junctions are all part of a package of measures to make using buses more attractive which will be implemented over the next five years.

An attractive and frequent bus service is essential if we are to persuade people to leave their cars at home

said Mr Khan.

We need to reduce congestion, reduce pollution and reduce accidents and the only way to do this is to reduce the number of cars on our roads. Working in partnership with Arriva to provide the best possible bus service is the way to tackle congestion and avoid gridlock.

From 31 October Service 12 to Stopsley and Service 27 Marsh Farm will also see an increase in frequency with buses every 10 minutes during the main part of the day Monday to Saturday.

The above routes will join Service 9 to Runfold and Service 31 to Dunstable which already enjoy a 10 minute frequency and the Lewsey Farm/Dunstable Service 38 which operates up to every 12 minutes, to provide a 'turn up and go' core bus network for Luton.

Notes to editors

• Representatives from Arriva will be in Market Hill all day on Wednesday 26 October to give customers information about the service.
• Arriva is one of the largest private sector providers of passenger transport in mainland Europe. Employing more than 30,000 people and providing more than one billion passenger juorneys every year.
• Arriva provides transport services including buses, trains, commuter coaches and water buses in eight European countries - Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
• Arriva is the largest private bus operator in Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands and is London's largest operator. Arriva was the first private company to be awarded rail contracts in Denmark.
• In the last five years, the turnover of Arriva's mainland European operations has increase by more than 250 per cent to £514.8 million (Euro €746 million).
• Arriva was the first UK transport company to become a signatory of the European Road Safety Charter – http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/roadsafety/charter.htm.