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New Bus Routes through Willaston Area 10 September 2010 The Minister for Community Culture and Leisure has moved to correct suggestions that there will not be any buses to serve the Willaston estate on Sundays. The existing 22, 25A and 26A services are being replaced by the new services 11, 12, 22 and 22A which will continue to serve Willaston. Services 11 and 12 operate a Sunday and evening service through Willaston and are shown on pages 14 and 15 in the new timetable as Watterson Lane. The index on page 6 directs passengers wishing to travel to or from Willaston to refer to the details for routes 22/22A on weekdays and for routes 11 and 12 on early mornings, evenings and weekends. Most services will travel through Willaston from Douglas up Keppel Road before leaving the estate for Hailwood Avenue and Onchan. They will then return to Douglas via Willaston down Snaefell Road, School Road and Tynwald Road. Both use Watterson Lane. Passengers from Douglas wishing to get off at Snaefell Road/ School Road/ Tynwald Road can either travel on the bus to complete the loop, which will take 20 minutes, or get off at Keppel Road and walk the short distance along Fenella Avenue to reach their destination. This is a distance of less than 200 metres. The opposite will apply to those leaving the estate from Keppel Road. In addition there are two additional journeys that loop Willaston and do not follow the extension up to Hailwood Avenue. These operate as service 22A, departing Banks Circus at 16:03 and 17:03 on weekdays. Hon David Cretney MHK, Minister for Community, Culture and Leisure commented: “The launch of the new bus timetable will bring many improvements, addressing the needs of the travelling public. The new Willaston routes have been extended to reduce costs and provide better links between Hailwood Ave and Woodbourne Road and to maintain a link between Hailwood Ave, Manx Arms and Central Onchan. They also allow us to use or resources more efficiently and to reduce our costs. In advance of the new timetable I provided assurances and spoke at length to the local MHKs and have agreed to continue to provide a service to the full estate for the first 3 months and then finalise the route, subject to safe, unhindered passage through the estate for our bus service. We have a ‘hotline’ number available 8am – 6pm Monday to Saturday and 9am to 2pm Sunday on 662525 for any enquiries on the new services around the Island and we welcome any callers to provide advice on any routes. We have undertaken to review all the new services in 3 months. At that time we will be issuing a revised timetable, in the usual A5 timetable. This will clarify the Willaston services by making sure that we specify the exact route of the buses through the estate. We will be providing a greater number of composite timetables in that document to show all the services for a given location in the same place, just as they are shown now at bus stops.” Additional Information: New bus timetables are available at the Welcome Centre, main railway stations and bus depots. More stories >>>
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