WBC have just informed BPC that they will be making a series of changes to public bus services operated by West Berkshire Council Transport Services in our area from Monday 4 November 2024.

They will be withdrawing the 41 and 44 bus routes with the last day of operation being Friday 1 November 2024.

From the 4 November a new on-demand bus service West Berkshire Community Connect will be operating in the area and will be called Thatcham Connect. West Berkshire Community Connect is more flexible than a traditional timetabled service, allowing passengers to choose where they would like to go and when, and a journey will be planned to suit the passenger. It gives the passenger more control over their journeys and will also be operating in a few areas where a public bus service has not been available for quite some time.

This new service builds on our successful launch of West Berkshire Community Connect in the Northwest Downlands area of the district, which connects the area with Newbury and began in January 2024. We have attached a leaflet about the Thatcham Connect service which goes into more detail about how it will work, the website pages will be updated very shortly to provide information about the service.

There will also be some timetabled services available, to be known as Community Connect B and Community Connect C. These will operate independently to the Thatcham Connect on-demand bus service and will also start on 4 November 2024. wew have also attached a leaflet which also provides information about these bus routes and this information will be made available on our website.

WBC have also done some community engagement with passengers who use the 41 and 44 services to let them know about the changes and provide information about the new on-demand service and the timetabled routes.

If you require this leaflet in an alternative format or a translation, please call the WBC Community Connect Team on 01635 519650 or email communityconnect@westberks.gov.uk