Dear students,

A few months ago, you told us through a Students’ Union survey that you’d like to see improvements to the campus bus service between Preston and Burnley.

We wanted to update you on the changes we’ve been able to make, as well as those we haven’t, and explain the reasons why in more detail.

We have introduced advance ticketing

• We heard your concerns about the capacity of the Burnley bus and the uncertainty about securing a place.
• Advance tickets are now available to purchase. This gives you greater certainty when planning your journey and helps us allocate available seats fairly.
• Tickets are now available to purchase for travel up to the Christmas break. Tickets for next semester will be available at a later date.
• The new ticketing system has involved an additional cost to the University, but this has not been passed on to students.
• Please note: The bus service will operate until the start of the Christmas break on 11th December 2026. The service will resume on 4th January 2027 and operate until the start of the Easter break on 26th March 2027. The bus service will then resume on 12th April 2027 and continue until 3rd June 2027, when the service will finish for the academic year.

We have introduced clearer guidance on travelling to placement sites

• We recognise that travelling to placement can sometimes be challenging.
• Information on public transport options for placement locations, as well as how to claim eligible travel expenses through the University, is now available on Blackboard.

We are not able to extend the bus route to Royal Blackburn Hospital or Burnley General Hospital

• The Burnley campus bus was originally established to provide transport between University campuses for students attending taught programme activities. We believe it is important that the service continues to focus on this purpose.
• We recognise that students on placement may also benefit from being able to use the bus. However, there are several practical considerations:
• Around 750 students are based at Burnley.
• During a standard 8-week MBBS placement block, we estimate that around 180 students could travel between the two hospital sites on an average day.
• The bus has around 50 seats. Adding hospital stops could increase journey times for a much larger number of students travelling to the Burnley campus, to provide a service primarily benefiting a smaller proportion of the overall student population.
• The current service already has an early 7.45am departure. Adding further stops could require an even earlier departure to maintain existing arrival times.
• We also need to consider consistency and fairness for students undertaking placements at other locations across the region. Providing dedicated stops for particular placement sites would make it difficult to offer equivalent arrangements to students travelling elsewhere.

We are not able to add a second bus service or additional lunchtime journeys

• At present, there are no additional buses available to operate a second service, so this is not operationally possible.
• The campus bus service is also significantly subsidised by the University and represents a substantial annual cost. Adding further journeys would increase this cost considerably.

The decisions outlined above do not mean that we will not review the campus bus service in the future.

We will continue to monitor passenger numbers and capacity, the impact of the changes we have introduced, and the wider travel needs of students. If circumstances change, we can revisit the available options.

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us.