A brand new Goole Town Deal-funded shuttle bus service that will make it easier for people to travel to and from Goole town centre will officially launch on Tuesday, 7 May.

Known as the ‘Goole + Howden Hopper’, the bus service will connect Goole Station with major employment sites located on the outskirts of town and with Howden Station, which offers regular trains services to York, Leeds and beyond, as well London.

Two Goole Town Deal-branded buses, each of which will seat 19 people, have been hired to provide the new service and they’ll be operated by local firm Sweynes Coaches.

The buses will stop at Goole Station, Tom Pudding Way, Glews Garage, Airmyn, the War Memorial in Howden and Howden Station, operating between the hours of 6am and 11pm from Monday to Saturday to try to meet the transport needs of shift workers, as well as those who work typical office hours and people travelling into, and around, Goole for shopping and leisure.

A £1 flat rate ticket will be available to all users of the new service, regardless of how far they’re traveling and the time of day, but a £5 weekly ticket offering unlimited use will also be available to make the service even better value for regular users.

The new service is being funded by the Goole Town Deal programme as part of the £2.4 million Station Hub project, which aims to support Goole’s growth and an anticipated increase in the number of visitors to the town centre by creating an enhanced transport hub and arrival/departure experience at Goole Station.

Councillor Anne Handley, Leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “I’m delighted to see this fantastic new service launching as part of the Goole Town Deal programme to improve connectivity around the town and link up with nearby transport hubs. Many local employers, a number of which are represented on the Goole Town Deal Board, believe that this new public transport provision will benefit the local workforce, including those who currently struggle to access employment opportunities due to a lack of transport or being unable to meet the cost of transport.”

Mark Speed, General Manager of Siemens Mobility’s site at Goole, said “As the Siemens Mobility site on Tom Pudding Way grows, with more staff joining, it is fantastic this new local bus service will be available to help people get around. We have a number of apprentices who will certainly benefit from the connectivity the shuttle bus provides, particularly with the links to Goole and Howden railway stations.”

The bus service will operate as a pilot project for two years to gauge whether there is sufficient demand and, if there is, to determine whether additional provision might be needed in the future.

One of eight projects to have been allocated a share of Goole Town Deal funding, the Station Hub scheme will create a more welcoming and attractive gateway to Goole town centre, becoming an important hub for pedestrian, cycle and public transport movements. The new shuttle bus service, together with the associated infrastructure, such as bus stop signage and shelters, will make people’s onward journeys from Goole Station easier, as well as helping to connect local people with key employment sites, such as Siemens, the RaisE Business Centre, Croda, Tesco’s Distribution Centre and Guardian Industries. It will also help to make the town more attractive to potential investors by making Goole more accessible to those travelling from major cities across the North of England and as far afield as London.

Alongside the other seven Goole Town Deal-funded projects, an enhanced Station Hub will play an important role in helping to make Goole a more attractive and welcoming place to live, work, invest and enjoy leisure time.

• To keep up to date with progress on the Station Hub project, as well as the other seven Goole Town Deal funded projects, visit www.gooletowndeal.co.uk. You can also follow Goole Town Deal on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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