New bus service for Chesterfield community

People in the Grindlow Avenue area of Boythorpe will benefit from the changes to Stagecoach’s X17 route from Sheffield to Matlock, which come into effect from May 8.

The X17 route will be extended on weekdays beyond Chesterfield to Sitwell Avenue, with services operating in a one way, anti-clockwise loop via Hucklow Avenue and Grindlow Avenue to Sitwell Avenue before returning to Chesterfield and onwards to Sheffield.

On Sitwell Avenue, Hucklow Avenue and Grindlow Avenue buses will operate on a ‘hail and ride’ basis where passengers can board or alight at any safe place along the route. In Chesterfield buses will drop off and pick up on West Bars, in the coach station and on Cavendish Street, so residents will have a direct link to both the top and bottom of town.

Community worker Lesley Shawcross, who lives on Grindlow Avenue, said:

“We’re all delighted in the area. It’s provided a new sense of community here and has really reconnected the people of Boythorpe, who before now would have to take a taxi into the town centre if they wanted to go shopping.

“We’ve been without a bus service for some time up here, so that’s only added to the sense of how important this change was.”

Natasha Keen, a community organiser, said: “For the local community, the reinstatement of the transport means more than just a bus, it’s a place to see neighbours and friends and a vital link to the city centre, enabling the less mobile freedom and independence.”

John Young, commercial director at Stagecoach Yorkshire, said: “We’re delighted to be introducing this vital new link service for Boythorpe. Following requests from the community, the X17 will serve the Grindlow Avenue and Hucklow Avenue loop three times a day on Monday to Fridays connecting residents with Chesterfield town centre.”

“Following requests from the local community, the X17 will serve the Grindlow Avenue and Hucklow Avenue loop three times a day on Monday to Fridays connecting local residents with Chesterfield town centre.”

For more information visit www.stagecoachbus.com or follow @stagecoachyrks on Twitter.