X62 History Again

In June this blog attempted to give a recent history of the X62 service that links Hull, Goole, Freeport Castleford and Leeds, and there was some useful information posted by an anonymous commenter. What may have helped though was if I remembered the old timetables/maps I had that could help give some insight. So now I've gone through my collection to create this brief recent history.

Back in August 2002 the timetable had departures on Monday to Saturday at (operator in brackets):

Hull - 0625 (EY) 0905 (SH) 1010 (EY) 1230 (SH) 1340 (EY) 1550 (SH) 1710 (EY)
Leeds - 0825 (EY) 1050 (SH) 1155 (EY) 1410 (SH) 1525 (EY) 1740 (SH) 1855 (EY)

EY=EYMS
SH=Stagecoach Hull
Only the 0625, 0905 and 1710 from Hull and 1740 and 1855 from Leeds served Brough.

So departures throughout the day with EYMS carrying the commuters to Leeds and both operators carrying the shoppers to Leeds. Stagecoach had the main evening commuter departure from Leeds at 1740 and East Yorkshire the main return departure for shoppers at 1525. Overall EYMS had four return workings and Stagecoach three return workings.

Just over a year later, in September 2003, EYMS had diverted their journeys via Howden in an attempt to attract extra passengers. However the number of journeys stayed the same (sorry no timetable, this information is from a Hull Bus Map).

Moving onto March 2005 and the service was Stagecoach only. EYMS had dropped their services by now and Howden was no longer served, though all services now served Brough. Stagecoach had increased their services from 3 return journeys to 4 on weekdays and 6 on Saturdays. (again no timetable, information from a Hull Bus Map).

By September 2007 the Monday to Saturday frequencies had remained the same, though two Sunday and Bank Holiday journeys had been added. The timetable was very much Leeds shopper orientated, as can be seen below.

Monday to Friday
Hull - 0920 1020 1320 1630
Leeds - 1105 1235 1520 1815

Saturday
Hull - 0820 0920 1020 1320 1420 1630
Leeds - 1005 1105 1235 1520 1630 1815

Sunday and Bank Holidays
Hull - 1020 1445
Leeds - 1205 1630

November 2007 saw revised departure times Monday to Saturday, with all service from Hull departing at half past the hour and Leeds at twenty past the hour.

And that leads us back to the present, with the current timetable that reintroduces commuter services again (in the morning at least), and provides a better spread off journeys throughout the day. An extra weekday service has also been added, as can be seen below:

Monday to Friday
Hull - 0640 0940 1140 1340 1640
Leeds - 0830 1130 1330 1530 1830

Saturday
Hull - 0640 0940 1140 1340 1540 1740
Leeds - 0830 1130 1330 1530 1730 1930

Sunday and Bank Holiday services where not altered.

Only time will tell if the new timetable is a success. I personally wonder if providing a morning commuter service to Leeds, but no return service (1530 is too early, 1830 too late) will work. Finally the coaches meant to be used on the service since last month have yet to appear and the service is in the hands off Volvo/Paladin single deckers. Lovely .... not.