New bus station opens Sunday 30 September

26 September 2007

The Weighbridge bus station closes after the end of services on Saturday 29 September. Operations transfer to the new Liberation Station, on the Esplanade, where services start on Sunday 30 September.

Liberation Station is a compact purpose built bus station, very different from the old Weighbridge site. Passengers can wait for their buses in an indoor passenger hall which has comfortable seating, a café and display screens giving departure times of the buses. There are also new on site toilets which are accessible from the Esplanade.

The display screens will provide ‘real time information,’ as the operation of the buses will be managed using an electronic system, based on tracking the buses’ progress by satellite. This will enable the operator to continually receive information about the location of the buses which is translated into the estimated time it will reach stops and return back to Liberation Station. This system will also enable bus passengers to find out, by mobile phone text message, how long it will be before the next bus arrives at their stop. This will be launched to the public on the completion of user testing in a week or so.

There are eleven bus stands behind the passenger hall, accessible through sliding doors which are opened when the buses are ready to board, and four stands at the front on the Esplanade. The passenger hall will close at 6.40 pm and the evening services will then depart from the Esplanade stands where there is a covered waiting area.

Earlier this year, the Minister for Transport and Technical Services, Deputy Guy de Faye, asked the public to come up with the name for the new bus station. From the 25 suggestions, the Minister chose Liberation Station to be the most appropriate due to its proximity to Liberation Square and it also provides a link to the role the site played in the German Occupation. On Friday 28 September, His Excellency Lieutenant General A P Ridgway CB CBE, the Lieutenant Governor of Jersey, will be unveiling a commemorative plaque at the official opening ceremony.