Update on Changes to the No 46 Bus Service
During the Easter break the school received further correspondence from Norfolk CC regarding the No. 46 bus
We have been offered a solution by Norfolk CC which will begin on Monday April 30th and take us through to the end of term. The new service will only cater for 70 pupils and we believe 105 pupils may wish to use it, which is a serious issue.
For Pupils with a Norfolk County Council Pass
The West Norfolk 60 service will pick up pupils with a pass at 08.10. It will only transport pupils who currently use the No.46 Stagecoach service and have a Norfolk NCC Pass. These families have been contacted directly by Norfolk CC and are not part of the 70 pupils mentioned above.
For Pupils without a Norfolk County Council Pass
Towlers will be providing a 70 seat coach from the 30 April. It will collect from:
Wisbech Bus Station – 0810 : 1540
Lynn Rd, Locomotive Pub – 0820 : 1530
Marshland High School – 0830 : 1520
The other change will involve the method of payment. Pupils will no longer be able to pay their fare on the bus. However, Norfolk County Council have assured us that Stagecoach will reimburse people for any pre-paid tickets. These tickets will have no validity under the arrangements that will commence on April 30th.
For pupils who wish to use this service the price for the term is £151 (starting April 30th). This is the only price, we cannot offer any weekly/monthly prices. This price is fixed and will not be reduced for occasional absence. It works out at approximately £13.75 per week. If any pupil is off long term then parents need to contact the school and the school may consider a reduction. Payment needs to be made via the school finance office and can be paid in instalments. If parents do not maintain payments then bus passes will be withdrawn. If several parents do not make payments the continuation of the service will be threatened. Marshland is not seeking to profit from the arrangement but we are not in a position to subsidise the service.
I appreciate that this was an unexpected development and the school has had to quickly put something in place. If you wish your child to use the new ‘Towler’ service then please download the attached letter and return the tear off slip to school as soon as possible. If there are more than 70 pupils wishing to use the service the school will have to consider which pupils are selected. We would appreciate if some families would consider an alternative method of travel to school as the numbers clearly do not fit at the moment
To download the letter and tear off slip please click here.