Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership (CRP) and WWT Slimbridge are excited to announce the launch of the Slimbridge Shuttle, a new local minibus service that will connect the communities of Cam, Dursley and Slimbridge with the railway station at Cam & Dursley and the famous WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre.
The service, the first of its kind in Gloucestershire, started on Saturday 20 May, and will run on Saturdays and Sundays throughout summer 2023. It has been commissioned by Gloucestershire CRP and will be run by Community Connexions, with support from Cross Country trains and GWR.
As well as taking passengers from the station to Cam, Dursley and Slimbridge, it will give local residents access to main line trains to and from Bristol, Cheltenham and Gloucester using public transport, and link up communities along its route. The Slimbridge Shuttle has also been designed with visitors to the area in mind and will stop at Shepherd’s Patch on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, near the Tudor Arms pub, Black Shed café and Tudor Caravan Park.
The 16-seater bus service will run hourly, from around 8am to 6pm, on Saturdays and Sundays during summer 2023. The route starts from the south end of Dursley town and stops at Dursley bus station, Cam village, Cam & Dursley Station, Slimbridge village, Shepherd’s Patch and Slimbridge Wetland Centre. It will call in at Cam & Dursley station on the way to and from Slimbridge, taking rail passengers to Cam & Dursley villages as well as dropping off Slimbridge visitors at the station.
Lucy Smith, WWT Head of Sustainability, helped to develop the new service, and is looking forward to it starting. She commented: “WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre is really pleased to be part of this service which will enable our existing and new visitors to come to the site without needing to bring a car. We hope it gets good levels of uptake during the trial to make the case to retain and expand the service in the future. I’ll be using it to visit the site and go to the station at the weekends!”
Fares are £1 for a single journey or £2 for a return, with contactless payment and cash accepted. Bus pass holders and WWT volunteers travel free, and there are concessions for under 18s. There is one wheelchair space which can be booked in advance by phoning Community Connexions on 0345 680 5029. Mobile tickets can also be purchased using the MyTrip by Passenger app.
Click here for more information and to view the full timetable.
