Stagecoach close Louth depot

Outside the Humber Region, but will have an affect on North East Lincolnshire, is the announcement that Stagecoach in Lincolnshire will shut it's depot in Louth at the end of August due to poor financial performance. The depot has three main services

10: Lincoln-Louth-Mablethorpe (occasional journeys operated by Lincoln depot)
41: Louth Town Service
51: Louth-Grimsby (occasional journeys operated by Grimsby depot)

However apart from these the only other services operated from the depot are mainly school contracts, which will be surrendered. The replacement of many market day and off peak services by demand responsive Call Connect services is being blamed for the decision, since these services improved utilisation of school buses and staff. Staff and buses are being relocated to Grimsby and Skegness depots.

So what will this mean for bus services? Well the 10 is likely to be the route transferred to Skegness depot though complicated interworking or lots of dead mileage may be needed. It would not surprise your author to see Lincoln depot take on additional workings on this service. The 10 is a bit of an exception in Lincolnshire as a rural route subsidised by the County Council that they have not axed and replaced by Call Connect services, but instead recently enhanced in frequency.

The 51 will probably be all operated by Grimsby depot and this may mean changes to early morning and evening times to allow for operation from the Grimsby end rather than Louth end. However daytime frequencies and times probably won't change. This service is interworked with the 41.

Full details of the changes will probably emerge over the summer.