You Said It, We Did It! Bigger, More Comfortable Buses for New Lubbesthorpe

Following feedback from residents, Central Connect is introducing improvements to the NovusDirect bus service in Leicestershire. From Monday 16th March, the existing minibuses on the Drummond Estate-funded New Lubbesthorpe to Leicester to bus service will be replaced by full-size, single deck buses offering more seating and increased comfort.

The timetable was adjusted on 23rd February to account for the additional time needed for larger vehicles, with weekday daytime journeys operating every 20 minutes, Saturday services every 30 minutes and Sunday services running hourly.

The single-deck buses will be based in New Lubbesthorpe at their new site on Dee Way and offer an 80% increase in hourly capacity at peak times. Phil Saunders of GO Travel Solutions, the Travel Plan Coordinators for New Lubbesthorpe, said:

“It’s long been the aim to increase bus use at New Lubbesthorpe to levels that would enable full-size vehicles to operate. ‘Improved vehicle size and comfort’ was requested by almost a third of residents in our 2025 Travel Survey, so we hope that by introducing greater capacity, particularly at peak times, more residents will opt to use the bus. As a result, the hope is the service will continue to grow and, ultimately, become self-sustaining."

Peter Nathanail, Managing Director at Central Connect, said “I want to thank the New Lubbesthorpe community for their ongoing support of our NovusDirect bus service - only through achieving continued growth in passenger numbers has this investment in larger buses been possible. I'm hoping that our passengers enjoy their new fleet of buses, which are comfortable, offer on-board features such as USB chargers and next stop announcements, and are also certified as Low Carbon buses.”

Martin Ward, representing the Drummond Estate, the developer of New Lubbesthorpe, explained: ‘We are committed to providing a range of sustainable transport measures to give residents more travel options for their journeys. Residents have asked for more bus capacity and we’re delighted that this significant investment will help meet that demand.”

Alongside the change to the timetable, from 16th March, the service will move to cashless payments only. Tickets will be able to be purchased via smartphone, contactless card or on the MyTrip App, which features a range of value fares and season passes.

For transport-related questions in New Lubbesthorpe, contact info@localgo.co.uk. For NovusDirect queries and feedback, please contact Central Connect directly on contact@central-connect.co.uk.