Sustrans Lotto funding helps river bus in Northumberland

Transport charity Sustrans recently received Lotto funding from the Big Lottery Fund to the tune of £50 million. The Lotto funding has been granted to Sustrans so that they can improve transport links throughout the country.

Sustrans is to use some of the Lotto funding it has received to pay towards a river bus that will be used to ferry passengers between the two villages in Northumberland, North Blyth and Cambois. The river bus will mean that locals won’t have to make a six mile round trip to get from one village to the other.

The cost for the river bus is £1.2 million, and it is hoped that it will be ready for 2012. Sustrans is to put £600,000 towards the budget as part of its Connect2 project. The remainder of the budget will be paid for by the council and private investors.

There used to be a ferry that took passengers between the two villages, known as the Blyth ferry, but it made its final voyage in 1997. The Blyth ferry ran for 130 years before it was retired.

Bryn Dowson of Sustrans stated:

This innovative and bespoke vehicle will hopefully help communities make more convenient daily journeys to school, to work or to the shops.

In this era of concerns about the health of individuals and our environment enabling more journeys to be made by foot and bike can only benefit our community.