by staff reporter

Last updated at 14:25, Friday, 22 June 2012

Bus firm Reays will carry its 1.5 millionth passenger on its City Hopper service in Carlisle today.

And whoever buys the 1,500,000th ticket will receive a free family day out courtesy of the travel firm.

The Wigton-based company says it is carrying more than 20,000 people on its routes in and around the city – launched in October 2010 – every week.

It took 15 months for the new cross-city routes around Carlisle and beyond to clock up their first million passengers as the service became established. But ticket sales show that the next 500,000 passengers will have been carried in less than six months as City Hopper goes from strength to strength.

It does not matter whether it is a cash fare, concessionary card or City Hopper pass which buys the winning ticket. The passenger will receive a free family day out for four to Knowsley Safari Park this summer.

Managing director Chris Reay said: “We hit the one million passenger mark at the beginning of January and had carried 400,000 more people to the end of May. We are now averaging more than 80,000 a month and our records show that we will pass the 1.5 million mark some time on Friday.

“It is an incredible achievement when you consider we were not carrying a single public bus passenger in Carlisle just 20 months ago.”

City Hopper operates seven routes throughout Carlisle.

First published at 14:08, Friday, 22 June 2012
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk