Getting around Birmingham city centre will soon be much easier thanks to the introduction of a free shuttle bus service on Monday.

The new Stationlink service is being launched by the region’s public transport body, Centro-PTA, on Monday 31 July in a bid to make it easier for public transport users to get to different destinations across the city centre.

The distinctive blue and orange buses will provide a shuttle service between New Street, Moor Street and Snow Hill rail stations and Digbeth Coach Station. They will also provide access to the Bullring, Millennium Point, the markets and links to key business, shopping and cultural areas of the city.

“Stationlink is about giving people a convenient, reliable and easy way of getting from the station to where they want to be at no extra cost once they step off a train, tram, coach or bus,” explains Councillor Gurcharan Sidhu, lead member for buses for Centro-PTA, which is funding the project.

“The service’s essential links between different modes of transport goes towards providing the integrated public transport system that Birmingham deserves, making life easier for each person that travels into the city.”

The idea for Stationlink originated from a scrutiny review in which councillors looked at providing better city centre bus services and links between the rail and coach stations, particularly Snow Hill and New Street.

The buses will run from Monday to Saturday every few minutes between 7am and 6pm from specially signposted stops.

The service will be free initially thanks to £250,000 from Centro-PTA to fund the first year. Councillors hope that support from rail and coach companies, as well as other sponsorship, can be found to continue the operation.

The service is particularly good news for the elderly, disabled people, people with young children and those with luggage, especially taking into account the interchange between the city’s different rail and coach stations. All the buses have easy low floor access.

It also gives visitors to the city confidence in getting between Birmingham’s public transport interchange points and the shopping and business areas of the city.

“Stationlink should also help lead to a reduction in congestion by providing an attractive alternative to the car, which in turn will provide a better city centre environment for everyone,” adds Cllr Sidhu.