Derby City Council is collaborating with operators Arriva and Notts & Derby to deliver service enhancements to Spondon that have passengers at the heart

The Council has been working with bus operators to ensure that areas around the city with little or no bus provision are earmarked for improvement. This ongoing review is part of its work to make Derby a better connected, more sustainable city.

Arriva’s existing 20 service will now run every hour and be extended to serve Sandringham Drive and Sancroft Road, giving these areas a direct bus to the city centre and connections to local shops and the medical centre.

The new 21 service will also run every hour along the same route between the city and Spondon serving Arnhem Terrace and Willowcroft Road. Together these services will provide a 30-minute frequency between Spondon, Roosevelt Avenue, and the City Centre.

The Notts & Derby route, from Spondon Train Station for Rolls Royce, will be extended to run throughout the day Monday-Friday and will travel in a loop around Spondon Village. This change connects the outer village to Spondon Train Station and local employment zones such as Smart Parc. From here residents can continue their journey to Derby by connecting with the Ilkeston Flyer on a 10-minute frequency.

These enhancements have been funded by the National Bus Strategy: Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), which calls for Local Transport Authorities to deliver better bus services and implement measures to improve public transport. Derby’s BSIP can be viewed on the Derby City Council website.

Councillor Carmel Swan, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Transport and Sustainability, said:

When reviewing our transport network, it’s important that we ensure communities have access to reliable and accessible transport options. With these enhanced services, we’re giving the residents of Spondon and surrounding communities access to improved connectivity. I have worked actively with Spondon community groups to understand the challenges and I am confident that we have achieved a positive outcome for the area.

As ever, we can only deliver these improvements through collaboration. As chair of the Enhanced Partnership Board I’m glad we’ve been able to work with Arriva and Notts & Derby to deliver the services our city needs.

As a Council we are committed to creating a greener, better-connected city. To do this, we want to see more people being able to choose sustainable transport options, and a regular, reliable bus service provides an essential mode of transport for many of our communities. This is only possible if the services are there so it’s great to see another area of our city ready to benefit from improvements.

Toby France, Head of Commercial at Arriva, said:

We’re delighted to be working with Derby City Council to introduce these enhancements to our bus network, improving access to healthcare and retail and supporting residents in choosing more sustainable modes of transport.

As Derby’s award-winning local bus operator we’re incredibly proud of our partnership with the City Council, and the whole team at our Ascot Drive bus depot – recently recognised as the UK’s Top National Bus Depot – look forward to welcoming new customers from Spondon onboard our services very soon.

Stuart Frost, Manager at Notts & Derby said:

As a local independent operator, Derby City and its residents are at the core of everything we do. We are pleased to be developing services in Spondon, restoring the old Spondon flyer route, linking the outskirts of the village to the centre every x30minutes, facilitating onward connections into Derby City on the ilkeston flyer operating every x10minutes. This will restore a link which was removed during the pandemic and has been met with lots of support from local residents and Councillors in the area, forming part of an integrated public transport network.

Work to improve bus services sits alongside a wider programme around the city as the Council continues to invest in local transport and build a network to be proud of. This includes upgrades to traffic signalling and active and sustainable travel infrastructure such as cycle lanes.