Monday 18 December 2023

Christmas and New Year Bus Services 2023/2024

Here is my annual summary of Christmas and New Year bus services across the Humber Region. It covers the following operators, but not their services outside the region:

  • Arriva Yorkshire
  • CallConnect
  • East Yorkshire (excluding JustGo)
  • First South Yorkshire (Doncaster Area)
  • First York
  • Grayscroft Coaches
  • Hornsby Travel
  • PC Coaches
  • Stagecoach
  • York Pullman
Please check exact details before travelling as I have only summarised here, or for any occasions were publicity is incorrect (it's happened before!). If you have any information for other operators, or to correct any details listed below, please post a comment.

Christmas Eve:
Normal Sunday service with an early finish between approximately 1700 and 2000. 

Christmas Day:
No services.

Boxing Day:
No services. Which deserves a comment as previously East Yorkshire had provided Boxing Day daytime buses on main routes around Hull as well as from Beverley and Withernsea; going back to 2021 the network had extended to Bridlington and York. This follows Stagecoach ceasing Boxing Day buses in Hull from 2021 onwards.

Wednesday 27th December:
Predominantly a Saturday service, with the following exceptions:
  • Hornsby Travel and PC Coaches will operate a normal Wednesday service.
  • East Yorkshire services 131 (Bridlington-Carnaby Industrial Estate), 142 (Beverley-Middleton), 145 (Market Weighton/Lund-Driffield-Bridlington), 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe), 504 (Bempton-Bridlington) and G1-5 (Goole Town Services) will operate as normal.
  • Stagecoach services 35 (Amcotts-Scunthorpe), 60 (Whitton-Scunthorpe), 79 (Hull-Hedon), 90 (Crowle-Scunthorpe), 260 (Barton Villager) and 277 (Hedon-Hull) will operate as normal.
  • Stagecoach service 255 (North Bransholme-Barton Wren Kitchens) will operate two journeys only, at 0700 from North Bransholme and at 1710 from Barton Wren Kitchens. (The 255 would not normally operate on Saturdays).
  • East Yorkshire service 196 (Allerthorpe-York) will not operate as per East Yorkshire's timetable page (wouldn't usually operate on a Wednesday).
  • East Yorkshire services 18/25/54/55/63/75/121/747/X47 Friday and Saturday only evening journeys will not operate (normal Wednesday evening journeys on the 54/55/63/75/121/X47 will however).
  • East Yorkshire services 57/66/104 Saturday only nightbus journeys post midnight will not operate.
  • Stagecoach services 5/6/8/13 in Hull Saturday only nightbus journeys post-midnight will not operate.
As has become annual in recent years, the usually Saturday only Stagecoach 173 between Withernsea and Hull will be operated Wednesday to Saturday for one week only.

Stagecoach operating their morning journeys on service 79 between Hull and Hedon makes sense, as their is no equivalent in the Saturday timetable provided by the main operator of the route, East Yorkshire. However the afternoon service operating is odd. Stagecoach's tendered 1600 service 79 from Hull to Hedon is to cover for the East Yorkshire 1550 service 79 being Saturday only. However as East Yorkshire are operating a Saturday service, the 1550 will operate today, and on the 28th and 29th, in addition to the 1600. Likewise with the 277, Stagecoach's tendered Monday to Friday 1644 from Hedon to Hull is to cover for the East Yorkshire 1629 operating in the Saturday timetable only.

South of the Humber and if you take the publicity at face value, Hornsby are operating a full Monday to Friday service 399 between Scunthorpe and Doncaster, and Stagecoach a full Saturday service. Stagecoach's Saturday service operates all day to cover for no Hornsby 399 on Saturdays. So as per publicity, that means both operators will have an all day service 399 on the 27th, 28th and 29th. Presumably Stagecoach will actually operate their Monday to Friday timetable on the 399 on these three days, with just an evening peak service after the Hornsby service finishes for the day.

Finally, I do wonder if Stagecoach would be better off just running a normal weekday service in Scunthorpe between Christmas and New Year? Their commercial services are almost identical Monday to Friday and Saturday, whilst their North Lincolnshire Council tenders all seem to specify Monday to Friday service. It would be easier to communicate service levels to the general public at least.

Thursday 28th December:
Predominantly a Saturday service, with the following exceptions:
  • Hornsby Travel and PC Coaches will operate a normal Thursday service.
  • East Yorkshire services 131 (Bridlington-Carnaby Industrial Estate), 142 (Beverley-Middleton), 145 (Market Weighton/Lund-Driffield-Bridlington), 150 (Swanland-Hessle), 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe), 504 (Bempton-Bridlington) and G1-5 (Goole Town Services) will operate as normal.
  • Stagecoach services 10 (Ashby Parklands-Ashby), 35 (Amcotts-Scunthorpe), 60 (Whitton-Scunthorpe), 79 (Hull-Hedon), 90 (Crowle-Scunthorpe), 260 (Barton Villager) and 277 (Hedon-Hull) will operate as normal.
  • Stagecoach service 255 (North Bransholme-Barton Wren Kitchens) will operate two journeys only, at 0700 from North Bransholme and at 1710 from Barton Wren Kitchens.
  • East Yorkshire service 143 (North Ferriby-Beverley) will not operate (wouldn't usually operate on a Thursday).
  • East Yorkshire services 18/25/54/55/63/75/121/747/X47 Friday and Saturday only evening journeys will not operate (normal Thursday evening journeys on the 54/55/63/75/121/X47 will however).
  • East Yorkshire services 57/66/104 Saturday only nightbus journeys post midnight will not operate.
  • Stagecoach services 5/6/8/13 in Hull Saturday only nightbus journeys post-midnight will not operate.
Friday 29th December:
Predominantly a Saturday service, with the following exceptions:
  • Hornsby Travel and PC Coaches will operate a normal Friday service.
  • East Yorkshire services 1 (Holme-Selby), 131 (Bridlington-Carnaby Industrial Estate), 142 (Beverley-Middleton), 145 (Market Weighton/Lund-Driffield-Bridlington), 183 (Hessle Town Service),  197 (Pocklington Town Service), 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe), 504 (Bempton-Bridlington) and G1-5 (Goole Town Services) will operate as normal.
  • Stagecoach services 10 (Burringham-Scunthorpe), 25 (Market Rasen-Grimsby), 35 (Amcotts-Scunthorpe), 60 (Whitton-Scunthorpe), 79 (Hull-Hedon), 90 (Crowle-Scunthorpe), 260 (Barton Villager) and 277 (Hedon-Hull) will operate as normal.
  • Stagecoach service 255 (North Bransholme-Barton Wren Kitchens) will operate two journeys only, at 0700 from North Bransholme and at 1710 from Barton Wren Kitchens.
  • East Yorkshire service 143 (North Ferriby-Beverley) will not operate. Not stated on their festive services page, but as per East Yorkshire's timetable page, neither will service 196 (Allerthorpe-York). Neither route would normally operate on a Friday.
  • East Yorkshire services 57/66/104 Saturday only nightbus journeys post midnight (early hours Sunday morning) will not operate.
  • Stagecoach services 5/6/8/13 in Hull Saturday (early hours Sunday morning) only nightbus journeys post-midnight will not operate.

Saturday 30th December:
Normal Saturday service.

New Years Eve:
Normal Sunday service with an early finish between approximately 1700 and 2000. 

New Years Day:
No services (train services will be operating however, in many instances to a normal Monday timetable apart from early morning services and engineering works related disruption).

Tuesday 2nd January:
Services return to normal, albeit with a mix of School Day and School Holiday variations.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

So, three full days with no public transport in Hull - but the council thought offering a £1 fare for car drivers using the park and ride was the priority when it comes to bus service funding.