Significantly Improved Monday to Friday 399

A major enhancement was made to the Monday to Friday Hornsby 399 between Scunthorpe and Doncaster via the Isle of Axholme on Monday 7th April. Previously there were two Scunthorpe to Doncaster round trips every weekday along with two Scunthorpe to Misterton round trips, a Scunthorpe to Epworth round trip, a Belton to Westwoodside journey and a Westwoodside to Scunthorpe journey.

Now the service has been significantly enhanced and simplified, with five roundtrips between Scunthorpe and Doncaster Monday to Friday - clockface every two hours for most of the day - and one additional journey in each direction between Scunthorpe and Westwoodside, extending to Misterton on college days only. (The Stagecoach evening peak service between Scunthorpe and Westwoodside remains as well). Apart from the the morning peak service not serving the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, all journeys are now 'full route' - no more omitting Althorpe Village/West Butterwick/Beltoft and/or Owston Ferry on certain 'contra-flow' journeys.

One notable aspect about the revised 399 is the provision of suitably timed journeys for commuting to/from Doncaster. As a result First service 357 between Doncaster and Finningley no longer has Monday to Friday extensions to/from Epworth via Haxey and Westwoodside. The Saturday peak extensions remain, retimed to run slightly earlier.

Overall a significant improvement has been made for not much extra mileage, There are still the same number of journeys from Epworth to Scunthorpe for example, and only one extra in the opposite direction. Even from Westwoodside to Doncaster it's not a significant increase when taking into account First's 357. However everything is much simplified compared to previously, which taken with a small increase in mileage makes a big difference.