Lincolnshire rail passengers can use £1 bus connection to reach Nottingham to Skegness Poacher Line stations

Residents in south Lincolnshire can use a new £1 bus service to connect to the county's stations on the Nottingham to Skegness railway line.

From next Monday (April 11) travellers with a rail ticket for the Poacher Line can get to and from their station for £1 each way when using the county council's on-demand CallConnect bus.

The scheme - called Poacher PLUS - is designed to encourage people back on to public transport and address the fact it is hard for people to get to railway stations in the first place.

It has been launched by the Poacher Line Community Rail Partnership (CRP) and covers people travelling to and from Grantham, Ancaster, Rauceby, Sleaford, Heckington, Boston, Swinesehead, Hubberts Bridge, Boston, Thorpe Culvert, Wainfleet, Havenhouse and Skegness.

Jo Andrews, Community Rail Officer for the Poacher Line said: “It has been wonderful to be able to design this initiative with CallConnect to offer an affordable option for getting to and from our stations.

“It will open up the service to those who had previously thought they could not use the railway because they lived in rural or isolated areas. With this offer we hope to encourage people to return to our public transport network.

“The railway is a safe, sustainable and easy travel option and with the price of fuel ever increasing, and the climate crisis we are currently seeing, these initiatives are more important than ever.

“We are also hoping to encourage other transport operators and businesses to join in with the incentive to offer some great deals when people Go Greener by train and we want anyone who is interested to let us know.

“We would like to thank Community Rail Network for funding the idea and to CallConnect for recognising the value in the scheme.”

Nicole Hilton, county council assistant director for communities, said: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to join forces with the Poacher Line Community Rail Partnership to provide this boost to the service.

“As we increasingly get back to our pre-pandemic lives it’s a very good time to ensure that, by putting together linked-up initiatives like this, we can help everyone who wants to travel by public transport as much as possible.”

Bookings can be made now by calling 0345 234 3344 or online at: lincsbus.info/callconnect

For more details of the initiative and terms and conditions, go to the Poacher Line website: poacherline.org.uk/poacherplus.