Councils join forces to provide vital 126 bus between Wells and Weston-super-Mare

An essential bus service linking Wells to Weston-super-Mare will run again in the new year thanks to a partnership between North Somerset Council and Somerset Council.

The 126 service between Wells and Weston-super-Mare was discontinued in October 2022 due to low passenger numbers. Operator First West of England will run the service from Tuesday 2 January after winning a tendering process.

North Somerset and Somerset Councils are jointly subsidising the route, which will operate Monday to Saturday, approximately every two hours. The funding is being split 50/50 between the authorities.

The service is funded using ring-fenced Government money from the councils’ Bus Service Improvement Plans.

Somerset Council has been subsidising a shorter 126 service between Wells and Axbridge since September 2022, operated by Libra Travel – the new service will replace this.

As well as continuing to serve the communities along the route, the new, jointly-funded 126 service connects Wells to Weston-super-Mare via Winscombe, Sandford Banwell, Hutton and Weston Hospital. It will provide journeys timed for schools and college students, including Strode College connections at Wells, Wells Blue School and Weston College.

In North Somerset the service 10 between Hutton, Hospital and Town Centre will be re-purposed to a new 9 service serving Worlebury. The126 service will provide more journeys over a longer portion of the day for Hutton and Uphill.

The timetable and route map for the new services will be available at www.travelwest.info later this month.