🚌 Braintree Village Shuttle: From “Every 15 Minutes” to 3 Trips a Day - Is That Good Enough?
Who remembers the Free Freeport bus? A free shuttle bus linking Braintree Town Centre and Braintree Village. Well it could soon be returning, but not on the timetable many locals remember. The operator’s latest idea of a bookable, free service at 10am, 12pm and 2pm, seven days a week has been sent back to the drawing board after councillors called it “not enough.”
🧭 What’s on the Table
The shuttle stopped in 2019 mostly due to unpopular times leaving busses empty.
Original planning conditions for the outlet required at least two buses (31+ seats) to run free of charge every 15 minutes between the town centre and the site.
The new proposal offers a reduced, bookable shuttle at 10am, 12pm and 2pm daily.
Braintree District Council accepts the old frequency may be “onerous and outdated,” but says it can’t support a plan that effectively renders the service unusable.
💬 What Councillors Said
Cllr Ann Hooks: a leap from frequent, turn-up-and-go to three fixed trips is “not viable either.”
Cllr Tom Diamond: going from “the sublime to the ridiculous.” Three set times won’t work for workers or busy shoppers: “My worry is it becomes so useless people stop using it - and then it stops altogether.”
Cllr Lynette Bowers-Flint: residents regularly ask when the shuttle will restart - demand still exists across the town and nearby villages.
🏬 Why It Matters for Braintree
Braintree Village drives footfall and spend for the wider town. Without a practical shuttle, people face costlier or longer trips, parking pressure rises, and town-centre traders lose out on linked visits. The council’s market-recovery work (post-Covid) previously backed bringing the shuttle back to re-energise the local economy. A token service risks low use by design; a workable timetable could genuinely join up the outlet, the Bus Interchange, and the High Street.
🔄 What Happens Next
Officers have been told to renegotiate a better package. The council signalled it’s open to modernising the old condition, but not to a service that falls short of community needs. Expect fresh proposals looking at:
More frequent daytime departures (esp. late morning to late afternoon)
Weekend uplift for peak shopping times
Clear, turn-up-and-go messaging (not just bookable slots)
Coordination with the Bus Interchange and town-centre events
💬 Final Thoughts
A shuttle no one can use is a shuttle no one will use. If we want the outlet and the town centre to thrive together, the timetable has to match real-world routines - workers, parents, students, and weekend shoppers.
What would make you actually use the shuttle? More runs at lunchtime? Hourly through the afternoon? Later returns? Tell us below and we’ll feed it into our follow-up.
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