St Albans: S6 bus route changed with little notice

The S6 route was launched in 2019 as a short direct route between Marshalswick and the city centre.

This past weekend (September 22) the route was changed with little fanfare, expanding the number of stops to now incorporate several residential areas of St Albans.

It now no longer serves all of Sandpit Drive, travelling via Marshal’s Drive, Charmouth Road, Lemsford Road and Beaconsfield Road.

St Albans City Station will now be a request stop during the busier parts of the day.

The changes come after Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) invested money from developments in the area to bolster the service.

A HCC spokesperson said: “We have been able to use funding from local developments to improve the S6 service, with the help of Red Eagle who operate the service.

"The S6 now runs every 30 minutes throughout the day, and the route has been changed to include areas of St Albans that didn’t have many bus services before."

While this may be good news, many passengers have been surprised by the change, with timetables not updated and little in the way of public signposting.

The changes were displayed online, although Marshalswick resident Carol Chalkley notes that many older residents won't have seen this.

She said: "The people most likely to use this route are the ones who are unlikely to be using the apps.

Carol Chalkley (Image: Carol Chalkley) "People now have no idea where the bus goes - I find it amazing that HCC changed the route but provide no publicity for residents.

"It's madness that they can re-route a bus but don't seem to see the need to tell us about it."

A HCC spokesperson said: "We’re sorry if the changes to the service haven’t been made clear.

"We believe this is a significant improvement to the S6 service, and the bus network in St Albans, and we do want to make sure people know about this great new service so they can make use of it.”