Bye Bye 38 Again ... Hello More Complex 30

The link from Garden Village in Hull to Bransholme's North Point Shopping Centre has seen two changes in the past year. Monday 3rd September sees another change.

Until Monday 4th September 2011, service 38 between Hull Paragon Interchange, Garden Village, Leads Road and North Point operated once an hour Monday to Saturday daytime. Then it was replaced by the 31 which operated from Hull to Kingswood via Garden Village, Leads Road and Barnstaple Road, close to North Point every half hour, Monday to Saturday daytime. Until April 2nd 2012 when the 38 returned every hour, though omitting Leads Road and instead operating the more direct route along Holwell Road between Garden Village and North Point.

From Monday the 38 will be axed again, replaced this time by the 30W in a rather complicated set of changes to the 30/30A/30W corridor.

Currently it is fairly simple; weekday daytimes every 20 minutes a service 30 operates from Hull to North Bransholme via Holwell Road, once an hour extending to Wawne as a 30W, and every 20 minutes a service 30A operates from Hull to North Bransholme via Leads Road. On Saturdays the frequencies drop to every 30 minutes, with Wawne extensions remaining hourly.

Monday's changes retain a 30 every 20 minutes on weekday daytimes, with the Wawne extensions ceasing. Wawne services are transferred to the Leads Road services which remain every 20 minutes. There will be 2 30A's an hour between Hull and North Bransholme, following the same route as now, and 1 30W an hour between Hull and Wawne. The 30W will operate via Garden Village, replacing the 38, and between Bransholme and North Bransholme will operate directly, omitting Bodmin Road - this does speed up journey times by 5 minutes on journeys from Hull. Overall Hull to North Point, Hull to North Bransholme and North Point to North Bransholme remain every 10 minutes.

So in these changes Stagecoach have retained the Garden Village-North Point link while cutting the number of buses per hour between Hull and North Point by 1. Efficient - I guess so. Retains a marginal link - yes. Adds complexity - yes. There are now three distinct route variations, 30, 30A and 30W, as compared to just the 30 and 30A (with the 30W simply being an extension of the 30). Bodmin Road has an awkward 20 minute gap once an hour (though does have other routes into Hull).

Saturday daytimes see the same number of buses between Hull and North Point. The current half hourly 30/30A service is retained (15 minute frequency combined) with the 30W operating as an additional hourly service. This means Leads Road gains a 3rd bus per hour into Hull, but on uneven intervals, while Bodmin Road retains an even interval 15 minute service with no awkward gaps, unlike weekdays. The 'extra Saturday 30W' also means an extra bus per hour from North Bransholme to Hull - and the estate is also served by the current version of the 31 Saturday daytimes, giving up to 7 buses an hour to/from Hull - better than weekdays.

Just for a bit more complexity the Monday to Saturday Wawne journeys at 1810 and 2310 from Hull, and all Sunday Wawne journeys are numbered 30W but follow the 30 route between Hull and North Bransholme? Why not number these journeys simply as 30 - the destination blind will indicate they extend to Wawne. The 30 and (Monday to Saturday daytime) 30W routes are quite different now.

Other changes to the 30 corridor see additional running time for improved punctuality.

New Route Map
New Timetable