Council backs 24-hour bus corridor after two-year trial

Councillors voted 34–9 on Tuesday to make the overnight bus corridor permanent, ending a two-year pilot that its own transport officials had privately doubted.

Ridership on the 3am–5am window rose from a few dozen passengers a night to several hundred, with hospitality and hospital shift workers making up the bulk of the increase.

What changes

• Frequency rises to every 20 minutes overnight
• Three new stops near the docklands
• Fares held at the daytime rate

Opponents argued the subsidy per passenger remains high. Supporters countered that the alternative — taxi surge pricing and drink-driving risk — carries its own public cost.