Watton-at-Stone Parish Council has asked Hertfordshire County Council to improve the bus service for children living in Watton-at-Stone who use the Ware schools and Hertfordshire Regional College.

Last year, residents told us that the 390 bus service was unreliable, overcrowded and was taking up to an hour from leaving Watton-at-Stone to reaching Ware schools. At one point, the service was being cancelled at least once a week. More children now have to rely on this service since Reg’s service finished last year.

After raising the problems with the service with HCC, we are pleased to announce that HCC has now arranged for a new express service, the 907, to stop in Watton-at-Stone, between 7.52 and 7.55 am. It will then go directly to Ware, arriving at Ware at 8.10 am.

Three buses will go from Ware to Watton-at-Stone in the evening, arriving at The Bull at 16.08, 17.15 and 18.15. Anyone can use these services, they are not just for school children, though they are term time only.

The timetable for the 907 is available at https://bustimes.org/services/907-stevenage-brookfield-centre.

Following our feedback, HCC has also been working with CentreBus to improve the 390 service, which will continue to run to Ware via Hertford. Although the bus can arrive 5 or 10 minutes late into Watton, it usually reaches the Ware schools on time now. CentreBus is also using a larger size bus, to improve capacity on the route. Previously some children were not able to get on the bus in Ware due to overcrowding.

We hope this will make travelling to school in Ware easier and more comfortable for our young people. Watton-at-Stone Parish Council is interested to hear how these services perform. Please let us know your experiences by emailing any feedback to clerk@watton-pc.org.uk..