More than one million passenger journeys have been made on the Liverpool City Region’s publicly controlled bus network in St Helens, with Wirral due to become the next area to move to the model on 25 October.

St Helens became the first borough in the region to introduce publicly controlled bus services in almost 40 years, with the latest figures indicating improvements in service performance since the network launched.

Reliability, measured by whether services operate on their scheduled routes, has reached 97%. Punctuality, based on buses arriving and departing in line with timetables, has increased by more than 10 percentage points since launch and now stands at over 70%.

The next phase will see publicly controlled services introduced in Wirral, as the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority continues its programme of bus network reform.

The network also retains capped fares, including £2 adult single journeys and the £2.20 MyTicket offering all-day travel for young people.

New services in St Helens include the X3 express route, which links the town centre directly with Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:

“Reaching one million journeys in St Helens shows what happens when you put passengers at the heart of public transport: people use it. By taking back control, we can put passengers first – with more reliable services, better connections, modern buses and fares that people can afford.

“Now it’s Wirral’s turn. In just a few weeks, thousands more passengers will start seeing the benefits of public control as we take back control there and take another step towards building the London-style, fully-integrated transport network our region deserves.”

(Picture: Liverpool City Region)