Another little cut back to the 250

When there were major, mostly positive, changes to Stagecoach bus services in North East Lincolnshire in May 2023, the 250 got the 'short straw', being truncated from a Cleethorpes to Hull service to become a Grimsby to Hull service; 90 minute gaps were also introduced to the hourly frequency. Along comes 21st July 2024. Another set of changes in North East Lincolnshire, once again mostly positive ... except for the 250. In fairness, the 250 doesn't seem to have lost any resource this time, so the timing is probably just for convenience.

The headline change is that the Monday to Saturday off peak service 250 goes from hourly with some 90 minute gaps to a standardised 90 minute frequency. Or viewed another way, the previous 11 round trips become 10. Peak journeys were also retimed. The driver behind this appears to be punctuality; from personal observations, the 250 did struggle to keep to the previous timetable so the old timetable was unsustainable. The July change increased journey times as well as layover time in both Grimsby and Hull. The route continues to require three vehicles.

As much as some change was necessary to restore punctuality, the reduced frequency is regrettable. As are some of the more minor details. Off peak at least, the 250 from Hull remains timed to fit in perfectly between the half hourly 350 over the shared section of route from Hull to Barton. From Barton (Ferriby Road) however the same is no longer true, with the 250 now around 7-8 minutes ahead of the 350. It should also be noted that the 250 now has longer running times than the 350 between Barton and Hull.

At an individual journey level, there is now a 0855 250 from Barton Market Place to Hull at the exact same time as the 0855 255 runs Monday to Friday. Returning from Hull, the previous last 1915 departure is now at 1945 - good news for 250 passengers wanting longer in Hull, but leads to very poor coordination between the service 350 departures at 1835 and 1950.

Hopefully Stagecoach maybe able to further tweak the timetable again in the future to mitigate some of these negatives. 

Whilst on the subject of the 250, I'm starting to wonder if dedicated single deckers in a bespoke livery aren't the best idea? At times the 250 can be quiet and a single decker is all that is needed, but at other times - e.g. Saturday mornings into Hull and late afternoons from Hull - buses are full and standing, to the point that on one occasion earlier this year I was unable to board a Saturday 1555 from Hull (thankfully I was only going to Barton so there was a 350 15 minutes later). I'm starting to think that regularly scheduling double deckers on the busiest journeys (wind restrictions on the Humber Bridge permitting) would be the best solution. No extra mileage, but extra capacity when needed. Of course the other unknown is the future of the £2 fare cap, and if that goes, what impact it has on patronage; Grimsby to Hull is currently a defacto very cheap £4 return.