Chester's city centre park and ride has made a welcome return this weekend.

The popular service, which allows motorists to leave their vehicles outside of the busy centre, resumed on Saturday - the first time since lockdown started in March.

However it will only operate a partial service initially, offering two limited stop cross-city services to the city of Chester and the surrounding area.

Routes are currently available between Wrexham Road and Boughton Heath only.

While the stop on Foregate Street on this route will not be in use due to social distancing measures implemented throughout the city centre.

There will also be strict measures in place to accommodate Covid-19 safety guidelines,

These include Perspex screens to separate passengers from the drivers, reduced operating capacity, and contactless payments only.

Face masks are also mandatory when using the service and signage is in place to remind passengers to socially distance.

Those using the service are advised to book in advance.

The Blue Line service will run from Upton (Zoo) car park to Wrexham Road car park passing through the City Centre.

The Green Line service will run from Boughton Heath car park to Sealand Road car park passing through the City Centre and the Greyhound Retail Park.

Both routes will run every 12 minutes between7am and 7pm, Monday to Friday. While on Saturdays they will run every 12 minutes between8am and 7pm.

On Sundays andBank Holidays there will be a service every 15 minutes betweenthe hours of 9.30am and6pm.

A date has not been revealed for when the full routes and services will be available.

Cheshire West and Chester Councils Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport, Councillor Karen Shore said: Our Park & Ride service is being reinstated following the Councils careful and cautious approach to the reopening of services during the on-going pandemic.

Coronavirus has not gone away and initially the service will be only partially reinstated. Please plan ahead to allow extra time for your journey, use the Stagecoach app to book your ticket in advance or be ready to make a contactless payment, and try to travel outside of peak times if possible.

Please play your part and follow current social distancing and hand hygiene advice if you wish to use the service.

To support the Councils Walk-Ride-Thrive initiative, we will be improving the sites to include enhanced cycle storage facilities for anyone wishing to continue their journey into the city by bike.

A Stagecoach spokesperson said: Our first priority is the health and well-being of our employees and customers. Were encouraging people to use contactless, as the majority of our customers are now using contactless and other digital forms of payment. If you need to pay by cash to replace a lost ticket, we will only be accepting exact change.

"As we are unable to give you change at this time we will be donating any leftover change, where customers have paid more than the exact fare, to the NHS COVID-19 appeal, a charity supporting NHS staff and volunteers. If you would like to buy a ticket in advance simply download the Stagecoach Bus app."

It comes as a number of pop-up measures have been implemented around the city centre to allow for social distancing.

Pavements have effectively been widened in Northgate Street with the use of plastic bollards down both sides of the road.

Frodsham Street has been closed to all traffic until further notice, resulting in a series of diversions in the city centre.

In future there will be more shoppers queuing outside shops due to restrictions on numbers but wider walkways will allow pedestrians to pass at a safe distance.

Other measures will include one-way systems on the Rows for the same reason.

See the article here:

Chester Park and Ride returns for first time since lockdown - with new route and timetable - Cheshire Live