By Judith Tonner
Three Lanarkshire bus services are being expanded later this month to extend their routes and introduce additional early, late and weekend journeys. Operators JMB Travel say the new additions to the number 5, 41, 42 and 42A services are 鈥渋n response to customer feedback鈥. It will see changes including a direct connection between Larkhall and the New College Lanarkshire campus in Motherwell, plus additional late evening and Sunday buses between Wishaw General and Monklands hospitals. The company鈥檚 鈥渋mproved鈥 number 41 service, linking Hamilton, Motherwell, Wishaw, Carluke and Lanark will now have extra early and late services seven days per week starting from Sunday, July 13. Passengers will have earlier morning buses from Hamilton to Lanark and from Carluke to Hamilton each weekday, plus another from running from Carluke to Motherwell on Sunday mornings. An extended evening service every day now means the last bus from Hamilton will depart at 8.10pm six days per week on at 7.15pm on Sundays, with the last bus from Lanark running at 9pm on Mondays to Saturdays and 8.15pm on a Sunday. The current route of the 42 and 42A is being extended from the same date via Wishaw town centre to Overtown and Larkhall 鈥渢o replace the 251鈥, meaning it creates a direct service between Larkhall and the college campus at Ravenscraig, as well as Motherwell town centre. Hospital visitors will be able to use later evening buses between Wishaw and Monklands Hospital on Mondays to Saturdays, while hourly Sunday buses will also connect the two hospitals and Coatbridge and will use the weekday Calderbank route to improve bus service access for residents of the Airdrie village. Meanwhile, JMB鈥檚 number 5 route between Bellshill, Mossend, New Stevenston, Motherwell and Hamilton is being extended from July 14 to serve Palace Grounds retail park, Hamilton town centre and bus station, with the Saturday frequency also doubling to half-hourly. The latest set of timetable expansions comes shortly after JMB also expanded operation of the popular X1 service between Hamilton and Glasgow after being 鈥渙verwhelmed鈥 by passenger support having re-established the route earlier this year. Residents in the Hillhouse and Earnock areas of Hamilton had campaigned for several years for the reintroduction of a public transport link after the previous operator鈥檚 route ceased in 2020 鈥 and the Lanarkshire company responded by bringing in their Hamilton/Glasgow Fast service between the town and Buchanan bus station. It was extended in May to provide half-hourly services at peak time and a later final evening return from the city centre, in response to demand after 40,000 passenger journeys were made in the first four months of operation. JMB said the 鈥渋mpressive start … exceeded initial expectations鈥 and noted they had been 鈥渙verwhelmed鈥 by the service鈥檚 popularity. Managing director Martin Bell said: 鈥淲e are grateful for the support of the communities in Hamilton we serve with the X1. We regularly receive great feedback and hope that customer numbers will continue to grow which will allow us to invest further in the service in the longer term.鈥 *Don’t miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here . And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here .