The problems with getting to East Surrey Hospital by bus from the Horsham district were raised with Horsham MP Jeremy Quin when he answered our questions at our popular MP Question Time public meeting on the 1st of December.
Mr Quin promised to look into this, and he has just sent the Forum the following update:
'As discussed during the Horsham District Older People’s Forum session, patients and loved ones can get to East Surrey Hospital (as discussed) via bus but this requires changing. (Using Metrobus’ Route 200 from Horsham to Gatwick and then catching route 400, 460 or 100 from there or travelling on route 23 to Crawley and changing buses there but this is a slower option).
In their response to me, Metrobus have set out that they can understand the desire for a direct bus but this would involve joining two routes together which would have implications on reduced reliability, especially as the routes involved are quite long and can be subjected to delays.
However, Metrobus are looking at making improvements which I hope will make this journey easier for residents. There will be a slight increase in frequency of the 200 route in the first quarter of 2024 and Metrobus are also intending to add a third “fast” bus per hour between Gatwick and East Surrey Hospital during 2024 which will further help with connection and journey times.
Metrobus have assured me that they are confident that the improvements planned will make accessing the hospital via public transport easier.
This is far from ideal but it is at least an improvement whilst we continue to push for more services in Horsham Hospital and ideally a new hospital.
I would be grateful if you could share this information amongst your members.
Yours sincerely,
Jeremy Quin
Member of Parliament for Horsham'
For a downloadable map of Horsham bus routes and timetables, click here
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