Fifteen months after the site first opened, two new bus stops serving The Park Crematorium are now fully operational but not everyone is happy.
While the Plymouth crematorium links are generally considered a move in the right direction a number of issues have been raised by local residents.
The new stops are on the main road outside the entrance to the Plymouth crematorium site and many feel that the site should have been designed to accommodate buses entering it thus allowing passengers to alight closer to the ceremony rooms which are otherwise quite a walk from the roadside bus stops.
Another criticism is that the new stops – located in an exposed position which sits above the A38 – have been built without any shelters to protect travellers from the elements while they await the arrival of buses.
Read The Previous Plymouth Crematorium Report Here:
Petition states ‘no safe route to arrive’ to Plymouth crematorium other than car
A further important issue to emerge is that the current timetable for the number 19 bus (the sole service using the new stops) does not dovetail well with ceremony times at the crematorium.
Services in Ceremony Room 1 start on the hour and in rooms 2 and 3 on the half hour. Several of the arrival times of buses at the new stops however are right on or just after the scheduled start time of ceremonies.
The bus service may prove more popular with visitors to the on site cafe or those who wish to visit plots at Drake Memorial Park.
The service 19 operates seven days a week and the recent installation works also include a puffin crossing to assist pedestrians who need to cross the road to and from the new stops.
Councillor John Stephens, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport, said:
“It’s great to see this scheme finished and the bus able to serve The Park.
“The council were really pleased to be able to introduce the Service 19, as part of our tendered network, in March this year and provide an important link between Plympton and Plymstock. “
With the installation of the bus stops and crossing at The Park I’m sure the 19 will now also become a much-valued service by residents across the city as well.”
The improvements were funded in the main by the Department for Transport’s 2025-26 Bus Grant.
(story courtesy of the Plympton Podcast)
