St Neots commuters could see the time taken to travel on the early morning and late evening routes of a bus service slashed by half.

County councillors Barry Chapman and Steve Van de Kerkhove have proposed that Stagecoach’s 63 service, which includes stops in Eynesbury, St Neots, Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon, operates on an express basis to help those travelling to the railway station.

They met Cambridgeshire Future Transport – a joint initiative between Cambridgeshire County Council and its partners to find solutions to transport problems – to discuss the future of this subsidised bus service.

The meeting resulted in a proposal which would cut travel time to the station by about half, taking about 15-20 minutes.

Daytime operation of the service is not subject to subsidy but early-morning services and those in the evening are ­subsidised by CCC.

Cllr Chapman said: “We have put forward a number of ideas which provide those wishing to use the bus an economic and efficient means of getting to the railway station and to work with a real alternative to driving.” The proposal will be used as the basis of discussion and could be implemented later this year.

Cllr Chapman said: “This is good news for St Neots commuters and comes on the back of Govia, the new railway franchise operator proposing a Station Transport Plan (STP) for St Neots.” Govia has ­allocated a £1.5million STP fund to improve station connections on the network, which has included more cycle spaces and improved bus and pedestrian access.