Arriva to start ‘special service’ covering industrial estate and two other routes from tomorrow

Arriva have announced three services will restart on a limited timetable tomorrow, after cancelling almost all local services last night.

Last night Arriva suspended most of their local services due to a number of staff testing positive for coronavirus, with others shielding.

The new announcement came late this afternoon with a new emergency timetable being released by the company – who also noted in a tweet the service will be run from the Chester depot as Wrexham remains closed.

Cllr David A Bithell Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Transport at Wrexham Council said, “I welcome the news, and thank Arriva Buses Wales for their fast approach to reinstating some local bus services.”

The council are set for talks with Arriva tomorrow.

The three routes restarting are detailed below, with the full emergency timetable published on the Arriva website here :

In related news, Unite the union today said they welcomed the decision by Arriva to close its Wrexham depot in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus amongst its employees and the wider community. Unite say they have managed to negotiate 100% pay for drivers during the period of closure, Jo Goodchild, Unite Regional Officer commented: “Unite welcomes the extremely difficult decision taken by Arriva Wales to close its Wrexham Depot to prevent further outbreaks of coronavirus. We have been working closely with Management, Public Health Wales and the local Environmental Health Department to ensure that the safety of staff and the members of public is not compromised.”

“Unite has also ensured that no member of staff will lose ay wages as a result of the closure. We will continue to work with Management to assist with activating contingency plans to redeploy resources. This will hopefully allow the company to introduce some routes over the coming days to ensure keyworkers are able to get to and from their place of work”.