THE bus operator First West of England has announced that the operation of the Severn Express service from Newport to Bristol via Chepstow and Magor will be transferred to Stagecoach West in the autumn.

There will be no change to prices or frequency of the service as a result of this change in September and no jobs will be lost at First West of England who will redeploy staff to other routes.

The change will come into effect on September 1.

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James Freeman, who is the managing director of First West of England said: “We have worked really hard in recent times to invest in this route with brand new buses and other initiatives, but the rapidly changing situation including last year’s removal of Bridge Tolls has meant it is challenging for us to run.

“We have therefore reluctantly made the decision to concentrate on our core business and transfer this route to Stagecoach, who I hope will be able be able to keep the service running so that our customers can still rely on the bus.”

Arrangements regarding the changeover of ticketing are still being finalised and will be confirmed by Stagecoach West closer to the transfer.