New Shropshire links are slowly building

Tuesday 24th March 2026

Another example of Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding being put to good use by kick starting long lost bus links commenced in Shropshire at the beginning of the year.

New route 340, operated by D&G Bus, now links Whitchurch and Market Drayton with Wellington in Telford & Wrekin. Both Whitchurch and Marlket Drayton have a direct connection with Shrewsbury (Arriva’s routes 511 and 64 respectively) but it’s been many a year since Whitchurch and Market Drayton have been connected and both having a link to Wellington.

Now, these previously disconnected towns enjoy ten return journeys across a 12-13 hour operating day with two buses in the cycle.

I’d heard positive reports about the take up of this new addition to Shropshire’s somewhat limited inter-urban and rural bus network so was interested to make a journey and see how things are going in the route’s eleventh week.

Whitchurch’s bus station is very much a minimalist affair being sited at one end of a car park in a Tesco supermarket but it does provide a handy location for shoppers with the store entrance close by and is just a stone’s throw from the town’s commercial retail centre.

The one seat provided also has the benefit of being under cover and there’s a timetable display albeit with a rather scruffy plastic covering.

But it was good to see the 340 timetable displayed in full (bottom left) and there was a brightly coloured D&G Bus poster on display to promote both the 340 and D&G’s route 41 as well as an electronic sign that looks sadly decommissioned, although was still connect to a junction box.

I was in time to catch the 12:10 departure and the bus arrived on time at 12:05 from its incoming journey from Wellington with a creditable six passengers on board.

More disappointingly, it was just myself and another passenger boarding for the Wellington bound journey as we set off on time at 12:10. There were no other takers as we made our way out of Whitchurch heading south on the A41, the road dominating the first half of the route.

Seven minutes after leaving Whitchurch we gained our second passenger at the Cherry Tree Hotel although he obviously hadn’t stayed there the previous night.

A few minutes after that we turned right off the A41 to do a circuit of a small village called Prees Higher Heath which proved worthwhile in that my fellow passenger from Whitchurch alighted with her shopping, letting the driver know she’d see him tomorrow, and we picked up a new passenger who was travelling all the way to Wellington’s Princess Royal Hospital. Residents have previously only had route 511 between Shrewsbury and Whitchurch but now they have a link to Market Drayton and Wellington.

Back on the A41 and the next six miles and 17 minutes driving are characterised by passing through Shropshire’s open countryside making for a very pleasant journey but not much opportunity for more passengers to join.

We reach the Tern Hill Roundabout where the A41 crosses the A53 at 12:37 and turn left to head north eastwards for the double run to Market Drayton, and as we enter the town we pass the second bus opertaing route 340 heading to Whitchurch.

Market Drayton’s another Shropshire town offering a bus station very close to the town centre and although this one isn’t next to a Tesco it does have a bus shelter and a bench seat to enjoy the wait for the bus on a lovely sunny day as last Friday was.

Five minutes layover is allowed here which was handy as we had a change of drivers and once the new driver had settled himself in the cab he let the three waiting passengers board giving us five on the bus for part two of the journey down to Wellington.

We retraced our route back to the Tern Hill Roundabout, where we’d been 20 minutes ago, and stayed on the A53 before turning off to head due south on to the A442 to Wellington.

This second half of the route is also characterised by a fast open A road and very little else so it was no surprise we didn’t see any more passengers until entering Wellington itself and making a small detour to serve the large Princess Royal Hospital…

… where the passenger who boarded in Prees Higher Heath alighted and four new passengers boarded.

Five minutes later we pulled into Wellington’s bus station – another conveniently sited facility between the railway station and the town’s retail centre and our complement of eight passengers all alighted (one from Cherry Tree Hotel, three from Market Drayton and four locals).

Another five minute layover turnaround saw the driver head back to Whitchurch with three on board.

So, not huge numbers of passengers but from a zero start just a matter of a few months ago, it’s fairly encouraging to see consistent numbers in the high single figures and I see as well as the Hospital, the route also serves Telford College on the first journey into Wellington on college days as well as an afternoon return journey which would be very helpful for any students in Market Drayton and even Whitchurch who previously had no public transport option.

Route 340 is the kind of service which would be too risky for a bus company to try out on its own as a commercial proposition but with the help of some BSIP funding it’s a worthwhile initiative to give it a go and see if enough passengers can be generated to give it a sustainable future, so well done to Shropshire Council officers and members who proudly gave the service a formal launch at the end of January including a promotional video which can be viewed here.

Roger French

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