Ipswich: The powers-that-be today applauded The Evening Star’s proposal to reinvent the town with a central bus network.

Revealed on Friday, the dynamic i-Line route would unite the centre of Ipswich with the vibrant waterfront and make it easier for tourists arriving by train to do a day’s shopping.

We called on Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Council and Ipswich Buses to create this route and change the town forever.

We suggested they use the �425,000 pledged by retail giant Tesco to improve travel links in the town centre to fund the new addition to the current network.

A one-day ticket for the loop, which would call at each stop every ten minutes, would cost just �1.

And today those powers have not only praised the plan but said the wheels to make the i-Line happen are already in motion.

Tanya de Hoedt, Ipswich councillor for transport, revealed: “This is a plan we’ve had at the borough council for a long time and it’s something all of the people involved in have worked very hard to develop.

“It is about making it easier for visitors and people from the town. It will encourage them to use a sustainable form of transport which is better for everyone.”

MP Ben Gummer also backed the i-Line, labelling it a “great idea” and saying it will help create the Ipswich he wants.

“It’s one of my missions to get more big national retailers coming into the town centre,” he said. “So the easier we make it for shoppers to get from the train station and car parks to the town centre the better.”

Bosses at Ipswich Buses and Suffolk County Council are also enthusiastic about our idea.

Councillor David Ellesmere, leader of the opposition at Ipswich Borough Council, has said he wants the authority to “work very hard to make the i-Line a reality” using The Evening Star’s vision.

He said: “It sounds like a very exciting idea. A good bus service needs to be frequent, cheap and reliable and The Evening Star’s proposal seems to fulfil all of these criteria.”

He added: “If you make it easier to access the town centre more people will go there and this can only be a good thing for traders.”

n Would you make use of the i-Line bus? E-mail starnews@eveningstar.co.uk or call the newsdesk on 01473 324788.