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Nottingham firm Dunn-Line is to stop its services from Ripley which takes in Heage, Belper, Duffield, and Allestree has been withdrawn. There is also no service from Stapelford and Long Eaton.
Arriva Fox have also stopped their services on matchdays from Chellaston, Sinfin, Oakwood, Ivy Square and the Shuttle Bus from the bus station in Derby.
Derby County have underwritten the cost of these buses for the past couple of seasons after the collapse of Trent’s operation on matchdays. However the coach firms wanted a proposed rise in fares of 30%. This would have pushed the price of a return ticket to the game to around £4 with the Dunn-Line bus from Ripley.
Derby County now say that the firms are quoting a fee of around £5 per person as a break-even point. From personal experience I can say that most of these buses are very well supported and it doesn’t take a mathematical genius to work out how much one coach and a driver make from one return journey to Pride Park (given most coaches hold at least 50 people).
The loss of the coach services now means there will be chaos on matchdays outside Pride Park as fans try and find alternative methods of getting to and from the games.