Campaigners are celebrating the likely return of a key bus route between Barnet and Potters Bar after a long-running funding deadlock was finally broken.

The 84 bus service was axed in spring 2022 after 110 years serving the two communities, leaving some residents struggling to visit friends and family or get to local schools, hospitals and shops.

Former operator Metrolink claimed the service was no longer sustainable. Although Sullivans Buses runs a new 84 bus between Potters Bar and St Albans, this misses out a large section of the route that used to run across the M25 and through High Barnet to New Barnet Station.

Calls for Hertfordshire County Council and Transport for London (TfL) to work together to bring back the former 84 service led to a standoff over funding.

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But last week Nik Oakley, who holds Hertsmere Borough Council’s transport portfolio, revealed the authority was in a position to provide funding that would restore the service – and deliver on a key pledge of the Labour group’s local election manifesto.

Cllr Oakley said: “The service will benefit Barnet residents who need to get to both Barnet Hospital and Potters Bar Community Hospital for appointments, visiting and working.”

Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers, who has been campaigning for the 84 service to be brought back, described the development as “very encouraging”.

She added: “If this is confirmed, it will be great news for my constituents who have been fighting to bring back the lost services. Discontinuing the route to Barnet has been causing serious hassle and disruption for my constituents.

“A big problem has been that it has become more difficult for people to get to Barnet Hospital and to the Moorfields Hospital unit in Potters Bar.”

Sharon Boast, who lives in Salisbury Road, High Barnet, said the replacement service was “really welcomed by constituents in Barnet”.

Last summer, Sharon had to visit Potters Bar Community Hospital for a series of appointments. Unable to use the 84, her husband had to take several days off work so he could drive her there.

Sharon said: “I don’t need to go back to the hospital anymore, but some of my neighbours do, and it [the new service] is very welcome. Also, I was speaking to some neighbours and they said, ‘finally, we can get to St Albans’. For us in Barnet, St Albans is a major shopping centre.

“It has had a huge impact on people – not just in Potters Bar, but for Barnet as well. I can only speak for Barnet residents, but from what we have come across, everybody is really happy, especially older people – they really want to go to St Albans to do their shopping. To go to St Albans is really a lifeline for us.”

Cllr Oakley said the new service, which is set to be funded on a short-term basis using money raised from Hertsmere Borough Council’s community infrastructure levy, would run seven days a week, with early morning journeys between Monday and Friday.

There have been concerns that it may miss out a short section of the former 84 route in Potters Bar, although transport planners have been re-examining this aspect of the proposals. TfL has indicated it is open to considering a London service permit that would allow the proposed route to operate within the London boundary.

Cllr Oakley said that in the long term the borough council hopes that “the usage of the service will speak for itself and that funds from TfL and Hertfordshire County Council will come forward”.

A spokesperson for the HCC said: “Officers are working with the DfT to understand further how this funding can be used and the time period over which it can be used. As part of that work, officers are also forecasting the pressure on the existing bus budget to keep up with inflation and other factors that are driving up costs for existing contracted bus services.

“It is envisaged that over the coming weeks, HCC will have a more informed position on how this extra funding can best be utilised to support vital bus services in the county.”