It's not every day theres a TV Crew on your bus...

...but there was today. Having just got settled in my seat on the 350 in Barton this morning and having decided to catch on some textbook reading (boring, but it needed doing and the bus is an ideal place to do it), a reporter and cameraman from BBC Look North got on at Barton Station. Rather surprised to say the least, but it made my bus journey far more interesting than reading a textbook all the way to Hull.

What you probably want to know is why the BBC were filming a bus journey? The answer is the Humber Bridge Tolls. As has been widely reported locally the Bridge Board want to increase the tolls. The BBC were attempting to cover the story from the perspective of less car drivers using the bridge, and more people using the bus instead. The Bridge Board have cited reduced usage and therefore reduced revenue as a reason for their proposal to increase crossing prices.

Within the piece prepared is the official announcement of the 350 going half hourly. You can see one version of the report here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7884002.stm This version was shown on the 6.30 bulletin. The 1.30 bulletin had a very different report with more footage from onboard the bus.

A nice bit of publicity for the bus, and a general good story for public transport. Plus it highlighted the very important issue of bridge tolls. Now I await the new 350 timetable. Going by the VOSA application, the change date is Monday 23rd March.

Scunthorpe-Doncaster rail blockade update

According a comment on my previous blog entry on this subject, Transpennine Express shall be operating a Cleethorpes to Scunthorpe shuttle during the Scunthorpe to Doncaster rail line blockade this summer, which shall also mean they can continue to provide a train for the first service of the day on the Cleethorpes to Barton line. So the Barton Line should be unaffected, a local passengers between Cleethorpes and Scunthorpe don't have to needlessly catch a bus.

350 Changes Update

Further to yesterday's post on the changes to service 350 (Hull-Barton-Scunthorpe), this is from VOSA today:

PB0001484/3 - LINCOLNSHIRE ROAD CAR CO LTD, PO BOX 15, DEACON ROAD, LINCOLN, LN2 4JB
Variation Accepted: Operating between Scunthorpe Bus Station and Hull, Ferensway given service number 350/360 effective from 23-Mar-2009. To amend Route and Timetable.
PB0001484/56 - LINCOLNSHIRE ROAD CAR CO LTD, PO BOX 15, DEACON ROAD, LINCOLN, LN2 4JB
Variation Accepted: Operating between Barton Cemetery and Brigg Leisure Centre given service number 450 effective from 23-Mar-2009. To amend Route and Timetable.

With Stagecoach also planning to make changes to the 350 from March, as well as EYMS, looks like this could be when the service goes half hourly. The 450 from Barton to Brigg also looks to be changing at the same time.

Hull Trains guaranteed 7 trains a day to London till 2014

First Hull Trains's 'Back our Bid' campaign has been successful. The Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) has today said it is minded to allow the company to continue operating all 7 of it's existing daily services between Hull and London Kings Cross. There is a reduced weekend frequency. These services also stop in the region at Brough and Howden.

However the campaigning is not all over yet, First Hull Trains was not awarded the 10 year track access rights it asked for; it only got 6 years. It also wants restrictions on the number of services that can stop at Stevenage to be lifted. Looking further ahead it wishes to introduce a 8th daily service between Hull and the Capital.

Also today the ORR said it was prepared to approve National Express East Coast's plans for a daily Cleethorpes to London Kings Cross service, which would also serve Grimsby. However further consultation is needed because they may affect other operators track access rights.

Today's ORR announcement also included good news for Grand Central and Grand Northern, but the ORR said they were minded to refuse proposals from Platinum Trains and from First Hull Trains to set up a new company, First Harrogate Trains, to link Harrogate and the Capital.

First Hull Trains Press Release - http://www.hulltrains.co.uk/latestnews.php?id=240
The full ORR decision - http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/ecml-cap2_propdec_280109.pdf

Changes to the 350 in March

EYMS, one of the operators of service 350 between Hull, Barton and Scunthorpe via the Humber Bridge, have given notice of changes from 23rd March. This is taken from the VOSA (Vehicle and Operator Service Agency) website.

PB0000328/26 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS
Variation Accepted: Operating between Hull, Ferensway and Scunthorpe Bus Station given service number 350 effective from 23-Mar-2009. To amend Route, Stopping Places and Timetable.

Is this the date for the service to go half hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, as is expected? In September we reported about the possibility of this, with 3 new buses on order to upgrade most of the Stagecoach workings to low floor status. Since then this order has been reported as being increased to 6, with two vehicles for Hull and 4 for Scunthorpe, meaning a frequency increase looks almost certain. All the extra journeys would be operated by Stagecoach, so are EYMS just going to be making minor alterations to fit in with the enhanced timetable, or are the changes unrelated?

Scunthorpe-Doncaster Rail Blockade Dates Announced

Last year we reported that the Scunthorpe to Doncaster (or more accurately Scunthorpe to Thorne Junction) rail line would be closed by Network Rail this summer for an engineering blockade. The line has passenger services provided by Northern Rail and Transpennine Express, the laters as part of the Cleethorpes-Scunthorpe-Doncaster-Sheffield-Manchester Airport service.

The Dates for this have now been announced. The line will shut on June 21st at 11.45 pm and reopen on September 7th at 4am.

http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/news/Rail-line-close-months/article-642102-detail/article.html

It appears that replacement services will provided totally by bus. Obviously the Scunthorpe to Doncaster section has to be served by replacement buses, but what about the Cleethorpes to Scunthorpe section? Through passsengers from Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Habrough and Barnetby may prefer one bus through to Doncaster, rather than a change from train to bus at Scunthorpe, and depending on their destination, back to train again at Doncaster, but local passengers between Cleethorpes and Scunthorpe will have to use a slower bus service.

But passengers from Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Habrough and Barnetby don't have to use buses at all to get to Sheffield. They could always go via Brigg using a line that runs from Barnetby to Gainsborough, then join the Lincoln to Sheffield line to reach South Yorkshire. That option will be available on Saturdays, using the service that operates one day a week (3 journeys each way) on the Brigg line, but it appears that this service will not be enhanced during the blockade. Freight services will be diverted via the line, taking up it's capacity. Though would it be that hard to divert a couple of freight services via Lincoln to allow a limited weekday passenger service to Sheffield?

Finally another potential issue is the effect on the Barton to Cleethorpes service. The first train of the day is operated by a TransPennine Express unit, but during the blockade they will have none at Cleethorpes to operate it with. So bus replacement seems the only option. I will be investigating this further. Also the Northern Rail stock for the line's other services will not be able to position via Scunthorpe. I presume it will have to be attached to the Saturday Sheffield-Cleethorpes service, which has happenned in the past. Better hope it doesn't break down mid-week though!

Clearly there is essential work to be done between Scunthorpe and Thorne Junction, and as far as freight services go, summer is the best time for it to happen (not for the Cleethorpes tourist industry though). But the total use of replacement buses, as appears to be hapenning, is unnecessary and probably motivated by keeping costs low. Operating a Cleethorpes to Scunthorpe shuttle wouldn't be cheap but passengers will be needlessly inconvienced as a result. Just as a limited weekday Cleethorpes to Sheffield service via Brigg wouldn't be cheap, but would ease the effects of the blockade for some passengers. Dont just think about £££'s, remember the customers too.

Improvements to Bridlington-Scarborough rail service on the way?

It appears that the current Hull and Bridlington to Scarborough rail service, operated by Northern Rail, has a chance of being improved. Currently the Hull to Bridlington service is roughly half hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, with extensions every 90 minutes to Scarborough. On Sundays the Bridlington to Scarborough section is served only in Summer.

The Filey Mercury report that Northern Rail are giving "serious consideration" to a plan to run hourly Monday to Saturday services between Bridlington and Scarborough, as well as a year round Sunday service. This comes after work to establish the feasibility of the plan, lead by the Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership and local councils.

However the plans are dependent on Northern Rail having extra trains to operate the service. Current plans show that Northern Rail will recieve additional units in the next few years, but with overcrowding on existing services into cities such as Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, how much of a priority will extra services between Bridlington and Scarborough be?

The enhanced Sunday service is not dependent on obtaining extra rolling stock. The timescale for the improvements is at least two years (I presume the December 2010 timetable change).

End of Walton Street Park and Ride in Hull

The BBC report, that as part of cost saving measures, Hull City Council, will axe the Walton Street Park and Ride, redirecting users the newer Priory Park site instead. The Walton Street site is located near to the KC Stadium and is part of the Hull Fair site.

The Walton Street bus service, numbered 700, is operated by Veolia, and is the only major 'public service' operated by the former Alpha Bus and Coach operation. The operation, based in Hull does have some other public services, such as Sunday workings on the 350 (Hull-Barton-Scunthorpe-Ashby) and the 78/277 circular (Hull-Hedon) along with schools work and private contracts, but will that alone sustain the operation? Could it be the end for Veolia in Hull or will they secure new work as a replacement?

Veolia recently announced the closure of their Lincoln depot, and sold their York operation to Transdev last year.

New Sunday Grimsby-Lincoln bus service

Interconnect Service 3 between Grimsby and Lincoln will operate on Sundays from the 26th January. There will be three buses from Lincoln to Grimsby, extending to Cleethorpes Pier, along with extra short services between Lincoln and Dunholme/Welton in Lincolnshire. This Sunday service is funded by Lincolnshire County Council. Train services only run between Cleethropes/Grimsby and Lincoln in summer.

Looking at the new timetable, the Sunday service omits a timing point on Hainton Avenue in Grimsby, which may indicate it will run via Bargate instead.

http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/news/8/index.phtml

Always good to see services be improved.

Stagecoach Hull January Changes Update

Update to this post: http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/12/stagecoach-hull-january-changes.html

Stagecoach Hull's new timetables are out for the 20/28/46/49 - or at least online anyway. The 20 will generally be on a half hourly daytime pattern. A few journeys are Saturday only leaving some hour long gaps on weekdays. Overall though the standard pattern timetable is easier to remember and there are some extra journeys, along with two services now starting at the Guildhall on weekday teatimes.

Stagecoach also say they will be looking to make further improvements to the 28 in 2009. Maybe an upgrade to frequento status?

Hull Trains: Back our Bid

First Hull Trains, the main operator between Hull and London Kings Cross have launched a 'Back our Bid' campaign. They have 7 weekday services between Hull and London, though the paths for two of these services are only guarenteed until 2010. There is a chance these paths could be reallocated away from Hull Trains. The 'Back our Bid' campaign has been launched to petition the Office for Rail Regulation to award these two paths on long term basis to Hull Trains.

The East Coast Main Line has seen a flurry of application for new services recently but they can not all be accomodated. There are multiple applications to serve the South Bank alone, as posted earlier in the year - http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/06/race-to-link-south-humber-with-london.html
There are also other applications for services to West Yorkshire, Scarborough, the North East and Scotland from operators including Grand Central, Harrogate Trains (a brand of Hull Trains), proposed new start up Platinum Trains and National Express East Coast.

The Office of Rail Regulation has the task of deciding what destinations and operators should get these valuable paths, and the fear of Hull Trains is that they will loose two of their existing paths in order to provide other destinations and operators with a share of the precious East Coast Main Line paths. And it's quite easy to envisage the arguements - "Hull will still have five services a day on Hull Trains, plus one a day on National Express, we have none, or only one a day"

Many of the applications for East Coast Main Line paths propose new or improved services for places that could benefit in the same way Hull has done with Hull Trains and a frequent London service, and I would hope no one in the local area opposes rival applications because they do not want other places to benefit. However not every one can get what they want and if the local area wants seven services a day to London, it needs to show it's support. It's a shame not everyone can get what they want, and that some places will loose out, but without major investment in an upgrade of the East Coast Main Line, or a new high speed line to London, this is the harsh reality of our railways today.

Web Link to back the bid - http://www.hulltrains.co.uk/backourbid/index.php

Stagecoach Hull January changes

As already mentioned Stagecoach Hull have secured a 3 year contract for services 46/49. They will have dedicated drivers and be operated by low floor buses. Tke K1 Kingswood contract has also been reawarded to Stagecoach on a 3 year contract and it too will gain a low floor bus.
http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/12/stagecoach-hull-win-4649-contract.html

Other changes from 5th January are a new timetable for service 28, with increased running time to improve reliability. There will be a 10 minute peak frequency, and 12 minute daytime.

Service 20 to Wawne via Kingswood and North Bransholme will gain a standard timetable from the current rather uneven one. A couple of journey's will start at the Guildhall in Hull City Centre. Currently all Beverley Road buses only serve the Interchange outbound so this will be a welcome improvement.

Full timetables awaited.

Stagecoach 51 (Grimsby-Louth) changes

Stagecoach Lincolnshire are making changes to service 51 from Monday 5th January. This service was transferred from Louth to Grimsby depot upon Louth's closure in the summer, and that may have influenced some of the changes. From examination of the new timetable there seems to be a new journey at 0555 from Grimsby to Louth. The following are withdrawn:

• 0820 from Grimsby to Louth - this operated Saturdays and School Holidays only. A partial replacement is provided within Louth
• 1650 from Grimsby to Louth
• 1750 from Grimsby to Louth

The 0745 college day only service 51A from Louth will now start at North Thoresby, as shall the College Holiday 0815 service 51 from Louth and Saturday only 51 from Louth.

The 1820 from Grimsby to Louth will terminate at North Thoresby meaning there is a 3 hour 10 minute gap from 1720 till 2030 for buses from Grimsby to Louth. As can be seen, afternoon peak services from Grimsby to Louth are heavily cut back. Only the 1720 remains suitable for Louth commuters.

Unless stated all services mentioned run Monday to Saturday.

Minor changes to Connect 100

Minor changes will be made to service Connect 100 operated by Stagecoach Lincolnshire from January 5th. Those affecting North Lincolnshire are the extension of the 1710 Scunthorpe-Gainsborough to Lincoln and the termination of the 1810 Scunthorpe-Lincoln at Gainsborough.

60% passenger increase on Stagecoach Grimsby Cleethorpes 13/14

Stagecoach Grimsby Cleethorpes have announced a 60% passenger increase on services 13/14. Thats an extra 100,000 services a month. These services benefited from Kick Start funding a couple of years ago.

Congratulations to Stagecoach and everyone else involved.

Stagecoach Hull Nightbuses will run Friday 2nd January

A correction to the earlier post on Stagecoach Hull Christmas/New Year services. Nightbuses will operate on Friday 2nd January to the normal Friday timetable.

Original post: http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/12/stagecoach-hull-christmasnew-year.html

EYMS New 215/315

EYMS have released the new 215/315 timetable.
http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/12/major-115-changes-from-january.html

The 215 and 315 replace the short Hull to Endike Lane journeys on the 115. The 315 is the same route as the 115 but the 215 operates via Cottingham Road and Hall Road to Endike Lane, rather than via Cranbrook Avenue. The 215/315 operate as a circular. The service will operate as the 215 from Hull, and 315 from Endike Lane in the morning, and in the afternoon the reverse will apply. The aim is to provide more buses from Hull City Centre to the Cottingham Road University entrance in the morning, and back into Hull in the afternoon.

However co-ordination with the 105, the other service to Cottingham Road, is appaling. The 105 and 215 leave Hull Interchange at identical times, and leave the University in the afternoon within 1 minute of each other. For two services on 20 minute frequencies this very bad co-ordination, though there is the need to maintain 105/115 co-ordination in Cottingham, and the new 215/315 has to be co-ordinated with the 115.

Timetable - http://www.eyms.co.uk/documents/timetables/[225]EY%20115%20TT.pdf

EYMS Service 50

As already posted EYMS servuce 50 will be changed from January
http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/12/minor-eyms-january-changes.html

As well as the diversion away from Marfleet Village to Jalland Lodge, the service will no longer serve Hull Royal Infirmary. The terminus will be Morrisions Supermarket on Holderness Road and there will be an increase from 5 to 6 services a day into Hull

EYMS Service 1A

Full details of the route changes to EYMS service 1A from January 5th have been released. The service will now operate from St. Georges Road down to Hessle Road then up Hawthorn Avenue to Anlaby Road before picking up the existing route. Currently it goes from St. Georges Road along Anlaby Road then down Hawthorn Avenue the other way to Askew Avenue and Pickering Road which are served by the 1C.

A few comments on this service. Firstly the number, 1A - the service now bears very little difference to the 1C, which before Sepetember it was closely co-ordinated with. Maybe renumber to the 9, which has been used in the past for services to the area?

Secondly why still extend to Sibelius Road? Sometimes the 1A and 1C leave within 6 minutes of each other, then no bus for till the next 1C 54 minutes later. I have been in Hull city centre before on a bus with the 1A in front and 1C behind. Cutting out Sibelius Road would allow the service to go hourly, rather than every 80 minutes, with buses terminating around Hawthorn Avenue/Wheeler Street.

And thirdly stand allocation in Hull Interchange. It is allocated to stand 3 with the 350 but twice a day the two services conflict. The 1A arrives at 0915/1315 and departs at 0920/1320 with the 350 arriving at 0918/1318 and departing at 0925/1325. So the 350 has to pinch someone's elses stand or go back down to the roundabout at the end of the bus station and come back again. I have seen once the 350 have to do that twice. I don't know why the 1A no longer uses the now unallocated Stand 1 (maybe safety as it's a bit tight) but a standard hourly timetable, co-ordinated with the 350 could be a solution (see above).

Stagecoach in Lincolnshire/Christmas and New Year Services

Very simple here, Stagecoach Lincolnshire will operate normal services this Christmas/New Year except there will be no services on Christmas Day/Boxing Day and New Years Day. On Christmas Eve and New Years Eve town services 31A/32A in Scunthorpe end early and the 2110 from Scunthorpe and 2155 from Barton on the 350 will not operate.

http://www.stagecoachbus.com/uploads/ScunTraffic08_Layout1.pdf

EYMS Boxing Day Services in Hull

As a follow up to this post - http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/12/eyms-christmasnew-year-services.html EYMS have announced a basic hourly service on Boxing Day on routes 34 (Hull-Willerby), 56 (Hull-Longhill) and 64 (Hull-Cottingham-Willerby). Services 34 and 64 will interwork.

Minor EYMS January Changes

The latest EYMS newsletter reports some services will have minor changes from January 4th/5th:

The 1A between Hull City Centre and Sibelius Road in the west of the city will now serve Hessle Road Asda but not Pickering Road. The 1C, which also serves Sibelius Road but starts in North Hull at Kingswood will have minor timing changes.

Service 50 in East Hull will have a new route serving Jalland Lodge, but no longer operating to Marfleet village.

Service 64 will have a route change in Cottingham on Sundays, while the 105, which also serves Cottingham will have minor timing changes on a Sunday. Timing and route changes will also affect the 153/155/156 group of services between Hull, Brough, South Cave, Gilberdyke, Howden and Goole and the 158 Brough Town Service.

Finally the 121 between Hull and Scarborough shall swap it's existing Somerset Terrace terminus for one on Valley Bridge.

Major 115 changes from January

EYMS are making big changes to the 115 from January 4th. The service currently links Hull with Castle Hill Hospital via Princes Avenue, Newland Avenue, Cranbrook Avenue (for the the University), Endike Lane and Cottingham. The Monday to Saturday daytime frequency is every 10 minutes between Hull City Centre and Endike Lane and every 20 minutes to Castle Hill Hospital.

The 115 will be little changed for the full length journeys between Hull and Castle Hill Hospital, beyond minor timing changes. A Sunday service will be introduced, but with route changes in Cottingham.

The big changes affect the current short journeys between Hull City Centre and Endike Lane. These will be replaced with new circular services 215 and 315. They shall follow the 115 route up to Newland Avenue then operate via Cottingham Road (University main entrance) and Hall Road to Endike Lane before returning via the 115 route down Cranbrook Avenue into Hull. EYMS say this will maintain a 10 minute frequency between Hull City Centre and Endike Lane.

Until the timetable is released next week it remains to be seen if the every 10 minute frequency is from Endike Lane overall (via both Cranbrook Avenue and Hall Road), or from Endike Lane via Cranbrook Avenue only. If the latter then the extensions from Endike Lane via Hall Road back into Hull mean an extra 3 buses an hour for Endike Lane into Hull, and also down the busy Newland Avenue/Princes Avenue corridor.

As a regular user of the 115 I have a personal interest in the new timetable, and in particular am pleased about more buses down Cottingham Road - maybe I won't need to run down to Cranbrook Avenue in future when I'm in a rush to get back into Hull and don't have 20 minutes to wait for the 105?

Information from the latest EYMS newsletter.

More cutbacks on the 41

After cutting the Hull Royal Infirmary from the service in September, EYMS are now cutting their service 41 back from Asda Bilton to Bilton Grange on January 5th. The 41, which serves the Greatfield estate in East Hull, also saw a daytime frequency reduction from every 15 to every 20 minutes back in September. A Stagecoach ticket promotion earlier this year indicated Greatfield was not the best area for bus operators and this seems to be further evidence of it. The 10/11 operated by Stagecoach maintain an hourly link between Greatfield and Asda Bilton.

Also the single EYMS journey on the 42 between Greatfield and Hull will end after operation on January 3rd. It was operated for Hull City Council on what is an otherwise Stagecoach operated route.

Information from the latest EYMS newsletter.

Stagecoach Hull win 46/49 contract from EYMS

After just 4 months of EYMS operation, Stagecoach Hull take over Hull City Council supported services 46 and 49 in the east of the city on January 5th. Stagecoach operated the 49 to Victoria Dock and Jalland Lodge until the end of August when they surrendered the contract. EYMS took the service over on a reduced timetable and new service 46 was started at the same time - it too serves Victoria Dock, and also Marfleet Village. Service 46 partially replaced the 90, and parts of the 23/24.

Information from the latest EYMS newsletter

EYMS Christmas/New Year Services

EYMS service plans this Christmas and New Year:

Christmas Eve: Normal services finishing about 9pm - full route by route details on the EYMS website
Christmas Day: No services
Boxing Day: Bingo buses 1B/2B will operate. Hull City Council may fund a limited service but otherwise no services (Scarborough and District will be operating a limited service however)
Saturday 27th: Normal Service
Sunday 28th: Normal Service

Now it gets a bit more complex. On Monday 29th there is a Saturday service except.

106 - No service
135 - No service
143 - Normal Monday service
160/162 - No service
182 - The 2.30pm service from Beverley will not operate
196/199 - No service
241 - Normal Monday service
350 - Normal Monday service
701 (Hull Park and Ride) - Normal weekday service
747 - Normal service
X47 - Three evening journeys will not operate

There is also a Saturday service on Tuesday 30th except:

106 - No service
135 - Only the 9.10 and 11.40 from Driffield will operate
143 - No service
160/162 - No service
182 - The 2.30 pm from Beverley will not operate
196/198/199 - Normal Tuesday service
350 - Normal Tuesday service
701 - Normal weekday service
747 - Normal service
S1/S2/S3 - Normal Tuesday service
X47 - Three evening journeys will not operate

Saturday service again on New Years Eve with services finishing about 9pm again. However:

106 - No Service
135 - No mention on the EYMS website, but I presume will not operate
160/162 - Normal Wednesday service
182 - The 2.30pm from Beverley will not operate
196/199 - No mention on the EYMS but presume will not operate
241 - Normal Wednesday service
350 - Normal Wednesday service
701 - Normal weekday service
747 - Normal service

New Years Day: Only Bingo Buses 1B/2B will operate

Saturday service too on Friday 2nd, except:

135 - No mention on the EYMS website, but presume will no operate
143 - No service
160/162 - No service
182 - The 2.30 pm from Beverley will not operate
350 - Normal Friday timetable
701 - Normal weekday timetable
747 - Normal Service
S1/S2/S3 - Normal Friday service

http://www.eyms.co.uk/content/busservices/newsitempr.aspx?action=view&id=254

The nature of the EYMS network, with services operating on certain days of the week only makes things looks complicated, but on most routes they are not ... promise!

Stagecoach Hull Christmas/New Year Services

Stagecoach Hull services this Christmas and New Year:

Christmas Eve: Normal Service until 8pm
Christmas Day: No services
Boxing Day: Special hourly service between 10am and 6pm on routes 1, 2, 13, 14, 15, 28, 30, 32, 42, 43, 51 and 54
Saturday 27th: Normal service
Sunday 28th: Normal service
Monday 29th/Tuesday 30th: Saturday service, though no Nightbuses. I presume the 350 will operate to a normal timetable however based on EYMS's plans
New Years Eve: As 29th/30th but no services after 8pm
New Years Day: No service
Friday 2nd: As 29th/30th. Seems odd the normal Friday nightbuses won't run.

Yet again the Boxing Day services are operating, which I think Hull City Council fund. Wierd that larger cities such as Sheffield are only just re-starting to do this after many years with no services. Though after a few years with this basic network, maybe time to operate half hourly on the busier routes such as the 15 and 51. Also why not try doing the X62 since Leeds City Centre shops will be open? And maybe even a New Years Day service too? Yes the shops aren't all open, but no doubt places like Kingswood Leisure Park will be.

Stagecoach Grimsby Cleethorpes Christmas/New Year Services

Stagecoach Grimsby/Cleethorpes Christmas and New Year Service provision:

Christmas Eve: Normal service until 6pm
Christmas Day/Boxing Day: No services
Saturday 27th: Normal Service
Sunday 28th: Normal Service
Monday 29th/Tuesday 30th: Saturday service, though the former Road Car routes 3, 25. 51, 150 and 250 will operate as normal
Wednesday 31st: As 29th/30th but with a 6pm finish
Thursday 1st: No Services
Friday 2nd: As 29th/30th

Would be nice to see a trial Boxing Day service on the core 13/14 and 9 routes...

Scunthorpe-Doncaster rail line to shut for works next year

Network Rail will shut the Scunthorpe-Doncaster rail line at some point next summer to deal with subsidence problems. No further details released yet but it's a good job the Brigg line has been upgraded recently since it will be vitally important for diverted freight and passenger trains. Maybe there will even be a weekday passenger service on the line for the first time in over 15 years?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/7754213.stm

The Iron Express

Scunthorpe United (The Iron) have arranged a new bus service from Kirton for their match on Saturday. It will be operated by Barnard Coaches and serve Scotter, Messingham, Bottesford and Ashby. This initial service is a trial and if successful wiill be expanded with new routes.

http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/barton/news/aboard-Iron-Express/article-490694-detail/article.html

Bizarre incident in Brigg

A ill Hornsby Bus Driver crashed his bus into six cars in Brigg on Saturday, but couldn't recall doing so at all. Rather bizarre - lets hope the driver gets better and the car owners get compensated and their cars repaired quickly.

http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/news/Bus-driver-taken-ill-wheel/article-488510-detail/article.html

First Scunthorpe Bus Lane Proposed

North Lincolnshire Council are proposing Scunthorpe's 1st ever bus lane, down Oswald Road. It would cost £30,000 with work starting in the spring if it goes ahead. The bus lane would run between Mary Street and Station Road and be in operation between 3.30 and 6.30 Monday to Saturdays, requiring 18 parking spaces to be put out of bounds. The area is cited as a traffic bottleneck, something I have witnessed a couple of times.

http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/news/bus-lane-N-Lincs/article-487722-detail/article.html

Whether a bus lane is the answer though is a different matter, and those commenting on the Scunthorpe Telegraph article dont seem to think it is.

New KC Stadium Railway Station

The KC Stadium, Hull Forward, Hull City Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council have proposed a new rail halt on Argyle Street to serve both the Hull Royal Infirmary and the KC Stadium. The station would be at the junction of the Bridlington and Brough lines. Steer Davies Gleave, the transport consultants, have been appointed to carry out a feasibility study.

When first proposed in 1998, the price tag was £3million but this is likely to have increased.

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/news/KC-Stadium-train-station-plans-track/article-470741-detail/article.html

While in principle this sounds like a great idea, it would only be about 2 minutes travel time by train from Paragon Station. For the relatively fit, the distance from the station to the KC Stadium is walkable, while there are also frequent buses. Would the train operators be prepared to serve a station so near to Paragon, and is it really needed? If the KC Stadium management company, as a private company, wish to spend their own money on this then fair enough, but in my opinion anyway, public money could be better spent elsewhere on the local transport network. Improving Castle Street in Hull just one example.

EYMS January Service Changes

Looks like early January will see quite a few changes to local bus services. EYMS have today registered with VOSA to amend the following services:

• 1A/1C: Since September's service changes these two services are no longer linked but remain on the same registration with VOSA and therefore maybe only one of the services will be altered. The 1A links Hull City Centre with Sibelius Road in West Hull via the Boulevard area. The 1C links Kingswood with Sibelius Road via the City Centre and omits the Boulevard area, operating straight down Hessle Road
• 41: Hull-Greatfield-Asda Bilton
• 64: Hull-Cottingham-Willerby
• 102/105: Hull-University-Cottingham
• 115: Hull-Endike Lane-Cottingham
• 121: Hull-Beverley-Driffield-Bridlington-Scarborough
• 155: Hull-Brough-South Cave-Gilberdyke (evening journeys extend to Howden)
• 156: Goole-Howden-Gilberdyke (some journeys extend to South Cave and Brough)
• 158: Brough Town Service

It should be noted these could be minor changes. Further details will be posted when released.

New Ferriby-Beverley service; further details

As already posted, EYMS will begin a new service, the 144, between Ferriby and Beverley on Tuesdays and Fridays from 2nd December. The timetable has now been released which shows one journey each way, giving just over two hours in Beverley. The service will operate via Swanland and Kirk Ella before serving Willerby and Cottingham, duplicating the hourly 180 service. So it looks like Ferriby, Swanland and Kirk Ellas are being relied on to fill the service, which also serves Castle Hill Hospital. Lets hope it is a success.

http://www.eyms.co.uk/content/busservices/newsitem.aspx?action=view&id=251
http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-eyms-ferriby-beverley-service.html

Service 270 (Driffield-Beeford) reduction

Due to the withdrawal of subsidy from East Riding of Yorkshire Council, EYMS will cancel three evening journeys on service 270 between Driffield and Beeford after Friday 21st November. These depart Driffield at 1710, 1800 and 1900 and Beeford at 1735, 1830 and 1930. The journeys operate on weekdays only.

The remaining EYMS services on the route are the 0710 (Monday to Friday) and 0830 (Saturday) from Beeford to Driffield and the 0730 Driffield to Bridlington (Monday to Friday School Holidays only).

Scunthorpe Town Service Changes

Stagecoach operated evening and Sunday Scunthorpe town services, 31A and 32A will have revised times from Monday 28th October, and new Sunday morning journeys added.

EYMS order new buses

Welcome investment is reported in the November issue of Buses magazine. EYMS have ordered 20 brand new low floor double deckers - Volvo B9TL's with Wright Eclipse Gemini bodywork - for delivery in spring and early summer next year.

New EYMS Ferriby-Beverley service?

Posted on the VOSA website today:

PB0000328/333 EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS
Registration Accepted:
Starting Point: Ferriby, Corby Park
Finish Point: Beverley, Sow Hill Bus Station
Via:
Service Number: 144
Service Type: Normal Stopping
Effective Date: 02-DEC-2008
Other Details: Tuesdays & Fridays

For those who don't know the system, bus operators have to nofity VOSA of new, altered or cancelled services. So it looks like there will be a new North Ferriby-Beverley service from December. Further details awaited.

Humber Bridge Tolls

Yesterday saw the publication of a report into the impact of Humber Bridge Tolls. You can read it here - http://www.cbuchanan.co.uk/pdfs/Humberimpactreport.pdf

In eveidence submitted by bus operators Stagecoach and EYMS they say toll reductions are unlikely to see significant changes in fares or demand. The current bus toll is £8, but this is apparently a small part of operating costs.

From my last trip to Scunthorpe, I remember the bus fare from Barton was about the same as the Barton-Hull fare (currently £5.90). Hull is about 10-15 minutes nearer to Barton on the bus than Scunthorpe so making an educated guess the toll is about £1 of the bus fare. Bit 'back of a fag packet' but it does seem to support the evidence that other costs are far more significant than the bridge toll. However in the case of the X1, Hull to Grimsby service, a couple of years ago the bridge toll was one cost too far in terms of it being commercially viable.

So one would assume that reducing bridge tolls to nominal levels to cover maintenance would only lead to small fare decreases. 50p less is unlikely to be enough to tempt passengers from their cars to an hourly service on either the 350 or X1 that if you miss the bus you have to wait an hour. Or you can't go to the supermarket on your way home. Even if the 350 goes half hourly, a slight reduction in fares is unlikely to cause significant changes in demand, any change in demand would come from the frequency increase and extra options this gives passengers.

This point is made by Stagecoach and EYMS, saying a significant shift in fares would be needed to increase demand. Significant shifts in fares require significant changes in other costs such as fuel and staffing. The bus operators also mention concessionary bus pass users - those that will travel regardless of the fares - and quite a few of them use the 350 and X1. Makes no difference to them what the fare or bridge toll is.

Furthermore one must remember than any reduction in tolls for all users means cars as well - bus services could loose some passengers back to their cars. So all in all reductions in tolls for everyone will make very little difference to bus fares and bus services. Indeed with the 350 possibly going half hourly at current tolls, it shows that bridge tolls are not currently a crucial factor in service provision decisions.

But how likely are reduction in tolls for everyone - in other words the bridge debt being paid off? No sign of the government doing so. Maybe this is were the chance for buses are?

Getting bridge tolls for buses reduced further (as opposed to reductions for everyone) would still be hard but if it hapenned, leading to slight reductions in bus fares, compared to rising bridge tolls (increase due soon) for car users, could it start to make the bus more attractive? Help make the case for increased frequencies? Get car users onto public transport? That last point is obviously aligned with national policies as well as local government transport and environmental targets.

The Humber Bridge tolls are are huge cost for all users, notably hospital patients. And they damage the local economy. For the area as a whole getting the bridge tolls reduced would be great, though for bus services, could even be negative. But the chance of that are slim so maybe reductions or elimination for certain users are needed - and as well as health patients maybe bus operators can make a case to recieve some reductions or elimination?

Hope that wasn't too rambling or boring just a personal analysis of the situation.

New Buses for the 350?

Yes, another post about the 350 (Scunthorpe-Barton-Hull if you don't know), but some interesting news. Buried within the 'Fleet News' section of the October Buses magazine are reports that Stagecoach East Midlands have three new MAN 18.240/Alexander Dennis Enviro 300 buses (low floor single deckers) are on order for Scunthorpe depot, and in particular service 350.

New, low floor buses are obviously welcome but this does create a number of questions. Firstly is the service being upgraded from it's basic hourly Monday to Saturday frequency to half hourly - something the Stagecoach East Midlands MD has mentioned in an interview in the past with Bus and Coach Buyer magazine?

If this is the case the basic service would require 6 buses - but what about the other three buses (only 3 on order). Would these be from EYMS, or Stagecoach Hull - and if from Stagecoach Hull why not brand new ones to match the Scunthorpe ones?

Or is it just an investment in vehicles and no frequency increase? In which case why three vehicles - currently the basic daytime service uses 2 Stagecoach Scunthorpe buses and 1 EYMS bus. Is the third bus a spare, to operate some of the extra services on the route at peak times, or to replace EYMS - but to replace EYMS's journey's from the Scunthorpe end would require a lot of dead mileage.

Questions, Questions, Questions. All should become clear in time and of course it hasn't been confirmed by Stagecoach that these buses are coming yet. But a frequency increase would be very welcome - to removing standing on busy services and to help increase custom - and on a personal note as some one who will be using the 350 almost daily very soon, to reduce waiting times in Hull between other services and the 350. 55 minutes is a long time to wait when you have just missed a bus.

Finally, a comment about Humber Bridge tolls. These are due to rise again soon and in the local press coverage it has emerged that a 2006 deal which saw council's reduce bridge tolls for buses by 35% has not been renewed after expiry of the deal back in April. Hardly going to help the case for more buses over the bridge. Funding needs to be found to reduce tolls for buses to nominal levels (such as £1 or £2) in order to encourage more bus services over the bridge, at cheaper fares, to attract people out of their cars, reducing congestion and pollution.

Driffield Town Service

Keith Easton has advised that Acklams Coaches have replaced EYMS operating the tendered Driffield Town Service under contract to East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

See the comment to this previous blog post http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/08/more-eyms-service-change-news.html

EYMS Bridlington Sunday retimings

From Sunday 14th September, EYMS will be retiming Bridlington Town Services 506 and 508 on Sundays to improve reliability.

http://www.eyms.co.uk/content/busservices/newsitem.aspx?action=view&id=224

Stagecoach Hull Changes Update

The new Stagecoach Hull timetables are now on their website so I can clarify some points about their forthcoming service changes:

The imrpovement to the evening service on route 14 seems to be an increase to half hourly, though some of the extra journeys operate Fridays and Saturdays only. The 38 which is being diverted to Bransholme will have peak time extensions to Kingswood Kingsbury Avenue supported by Hull City Council. And the 40/42 changes involve some journeys on the 42 being renumbered as 42C and returning to Hull as a service 40 (and vice versa) to provide a circular service around Greatfield.

And well done to Stagecoach for their new timetables - much clearer maps, details of night buses in all timetables and a great list of all destinations served from Hull by Stagecoach, listed with their service number. Also all services in one area have been grouped in one timetable (e.g. 13/14/15 in Orchard Park) and each timetable has been given it's own colour.

Publicity for buses on the South Bank

Now it's time for bus publicity on the south bank to be put under the spotlight. Operator wise Stagecoach is the only large operator and they produce timetables for all their services. Some include maps and tourist information, such as the 350 timetable, while others are just a timetable. Quite to easy to work out which are the most important services!

Scunthorpe town services are all included in one small guide with a map of summary of the 'out of town' buses. Hornsby services are also included in what is a useful little guide. Hornsby themselves also produce a timetable for their main out of town route, service 4 to Brigg - but it's just a timetable with not even a front cover.

So now for the councils, and first North Lincolnshire Council. They produce 7 timetable guides with timetables, a route description and a map of the services in timetable on the back cover. These cover all areas of the county apart from Scunthorpe town services (the Stagecoach guide does that). These are OK, the timetables are easy to read, there are details of connections at Barton and the bright coloured front covers are eyecatching but the way they are organised could be done better.

Currently all the Brigg timetables are in one guide - great. But for Barton you need three different timetables. Confusing. This is probably to remove duplication of timetables amongst different guides but in my opinion duplication is a sacrifice worth making for simplifying the number of guides. They you could have one for say Barton and the Humber Bank Villages, one for Brigg and Kirton, one for Winterton area and one for the Isle of Axholme. Thats only 4 guides to produce, and the number of timetables in more than one guide would probably be quite low.

Town maps would also be useful - these are included in the council's rural bus map - but that is just full of errors. See this post I made on the Transport East Midlands forum - http://www.travelem.proboards67.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=archieve&thread=675&page=1
With that many mistakes its a way of confusing people and putting them off using the bus, rather than attracting them to the bus network.

Moving onto North East Lincolnshire they publish one bus timetable guide for the whole area, and it includes a summary of train services (though omitting the Brigg Line and Summer Sunday Barton line service) as well as bus stand information at Grimsby Riverhead Bus Station and an area map. A separate bus map is also produced; theres a couple of errors in that but overall not bad.

So at least basic information is produced on the south bank, and in some places it's a lot better than basic. But still room for improvement and proof reading.

Publicity for Buses on the North Bank

Thought I would take a brief look at the publicity produced for bus services in the region, firstly on the North Bank in Hull and East Yorkshire.

Both main bus operators in the area; Stagecoach and EYMS publish timetables for all their services. These are clear and easy to read, and often include maps. Both companies use their 'house colours' for their timetables which means Stagecoach's are a bit more brighter than EYMS's - but crucially both do their job of informing passengers when and were services run.

Stagecoach also produce a handy map of their network with summary timetables of their main services. The frequency of other services are also shown.

Some other operators in the area also produce their own timetables - notably Yorkshire Coastliner with their excellent timetable guide with detailed town maps, tourist information and a guide on how to use the bus (for new users) as well as the timetable.

So what about the councils? First for Hull City Council - I've not seen a Hull City Council timetable for a few years (please correct me if I'm wrong) but then their is very little need for any. Hull is served by only three operators; EYMS, Stagecoach and Veolia. The first two produce their own timetables while Veolia's services are included in publicity provided by others, except the park and ride service 700 which is turn up and go when it is operating. However to bring the whole network together, Hull City Council produce an excellent bus map, complete with a summary of the frequency of every service in Hull.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council produce an A4 sized comprehensive timetable book of every service in the East Riding. It also doubles up as a business directory and I presume that is how it is funded. But it does the job - some maps would be useful though - and from my point of view an indication of which services are subsidised as the old East Riding timetable books of the late 1990's used to do. However many passengers don't care so not a major issue.

Overall services in Hull and East Yorkshire have some good publicity produced for them. Room for improvement but it could be a lot worse.

Big Bus Day 2008

Raising Money for the NSPCC, EYMS will hold their annual Big Bus Day on Saturday 6th September 2008 at the Hull Streetlife Museum. More Information - http://www.eyms.co.uk/content/busservices/newsitempr.aspx?action=view&id=216

More EYMS Service Change News

This should be the last installment in the recent bus 'cuts' saga in Hull and East Yorkshire. It has been announced that service 135 between Driffield and Sledmere will continue with a minor timing change. EYMS had handed this contract back to East Yorkshire Council who must have reawarded it to EYMS with an increase in subsidy.

East Yorkshire Council have also stepped in to ensure the contiuing operation of Saturday services on routes 173/174/175 between Hull and Withernsea - EYMS had intended to withdraw these commercial services.

Mysteriously EYMS has said that the revised service 1A is still to be confirmed by Hull City Council.
http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/08/hull-bus-cuts-salvage-operation_09.html

Other EYMS news includes retimings on service 246 (Hull-Beverley-Hornsea) and 744 (Bridlington-York via Driffield and Pocklington) as well as re-routings within Hull City Cehtre for services 33/34/44/45/47/115. The revised timetables for 41 and 154 have also been released; changes to these services were announced in July.
http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/07/eyms-cuts.html

Finally Driffield Town Service 530 will be operated by a new operator (if you know who it is please leave a comment to this post) while some EYMS journeys on service 270 (Driffield-Beeford-Bridlington) will be operated by a new operator under contract to East Yorkshire Council. Again dont know who this new operator is but at a guess Manor Travel who already operate journeys on the 270. Not sure if these changes are a result of usual tendering or because EYMS have handed the contracts back because off fuel prices. Sorry for all the uncertainty but its a part of the region I'm not famillar with and I can't find any related press articles.

http://www.eyms.co.uk/content/busservices/newsitem.aspx?action=view&id=217

Hull Bus Cuts Salvage Operation Continues - and some increases including new all night bus services

Sorry for the long title but there is a lot to cover!!!

First of all the fate of the 9 and 1A - the 9 is axed while the 1A is reduced from hourly and diverted to serve the Boulevard area formerly served by the 9 (and 23/24). A big downgrade in service here. The new frequency of 4 return journeys has very poor co-ordination with EYMS's service 1C which it will still parallel for part of it's route. The 1A will still be operated by EYMS.

Now to the city circle service 23/24 which has become the 10/11 (still operated by Stagecoach) and will no longer serve Hessle Road, Marfleet or Victoria Dock, nor will it run on Sundays any more. But it's not as simple as that ... but complicated in this case means an improvement for some on weekdays.

The 10 will operate hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes via Spring Bank, Orchard Park, Kingswood, Sutton Park, Bransholme, Ings Road, Longhill, Bilton Grange and Greatfield. It will use the same number in both directions.

The improvement comes with service 11, again hourly but only on weekdays. It omits Longhill and Greatfield, following a different route to the 10 in East Hull. It will replace hourly Monday to Saturday service 52A from Hull to Sutton Village. Combined with the 10, certain sections of the city circle in North Hull will have a half hourly service.

It should be noted this is the 50th year of the City Circular service. The early morning circular services 25/26 have been withdrawn.

Now for Stagecoach's other service changes:

• Increase in peak time frequency on the 13 to Orchard Park. Evening 13C buses will no longer serve Kingswood.
• Service 14 to Orchard Park has an improved evening timetable, whatever that is, while the 15 gets extra morning peak time journeys and an increased Sunday frequency.
• Service 30 to North Bransholme has an improved late evening timetable.
• Service 32 to Sutton Park and Bransholme is increased to every 10 minutes in the afternoon peak but reduced to every 15 minutes (from every 12 minutes) on Saturdays.
• Hourly service 38 to Garden Village and Sutton Village is diverted to terminate at Bransholme's North Point Shopping Centre rather than Salthouse Road.
• Services 40 and 42C will be revised to offer a new circular service linking a medical centre to 'a wider area' operating every 20 minutes weekday daytimes every 15 minutes on Saturdays and hourly in the evenings.
• Extra journeys on service 42 to Greatfield to ensure a weekday frequency of every 10 minutes.
• Greatfield service 43 reduced from every 10 to every 15 minutes on Saturdays
• Service 51 to Kingswood via Holderness Road will be upgraded to Frequento status with new buses
• Service 63 to Cottingham will see two journeys withdrawn on weekdays and the Saturday service halfed from half hourly to hourly.

And the big news is that the N2 to Hessle and N51 to Bransholme will now operate all night on Friday and Saturday nights with hourly departures from Hull City Centre.

Stagecoach change details in their own words - http://www.stagecoachbus.com/hull/serviceinfo_5300.html

Come across a Hull City Council press release too which states that the 50 will operate as present. Hull City Council have done the best they can it would seem to retain services with no extra money. No area is left without a service I dont think. And on the whole Stagecoach are boosting their core commercial network, hopefully to help long term sustainability, with the all night services a very nice innovation - hope it works out well.

Hull City Council Press Release - http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/portal/page?_pageid=221,93203&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&p_id=1835&p_month=Aug-08&p_page_number=1

Hull Bus Cuts Salvage Operation commences

A few weeks ago East Yorkshire Motor Services and Stagecoach Hull announced major cutbacks - or in most cases more correctly described as handing back contracts to operate tendered services.

http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/07/eyms-cuts.html
http://humbertransport.blogspot.com/2008/07/more-cutbacks-in-hull-now-stagecoach.html

The handed back services included Stagecoach's 49 to Victoria Dock and Bilton Grange plus EYMS's 90 to Victoria Dock and 50 to Marfleet. The City Circle services were also diverted away from Victoria Dock.

Now Hull City Council have decided how these area will be served in the future. The 49 has been saved, albeit on a reduced daytime frequency of every 70 minutes. It will now be operated by EYMS. In addition a new service 46 will operate Monday to Saturday daytimes only between Hull City Centre, the Marina, Victoria Dock and Marfleet every 75 minutes. This too will be operated by EYMS. It should be noted that Victoria Dock is also served by EYMS's infrequent commercial service 78 between Hull and Hedon.

The Hull Daily Mail has a report about this today - well sort off - it lacks any specific details but says:

Last month, East Yorkshire Motor Services (EYMS) and Stagecoach in Hull announced cuts to services 1A, 9, 23, 24, 49, 50 and 90 in the city, citing the rising cost of fuel as one of the main reasons behind the move.
Following the announcement, the council launched a passenger survey in a bid to see which routes were priorities to save.As a result, five of the seven at-risk routes are either continuing as they currently run or being adapted to fit into other services.

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/news/Rescue-deal-Hull-bus-routes/article-256813-detail/article.html

So the 49 is being continued and we know that the 23 and 24 will become the 10 and 11 (see earlier blog posts). The 90 and part of the 50 look to be replaced by the new service 46. So that would leave the 1A and 9 to be axed. The 1A duplicates the hourly 1C but the 9 serves areas in Hull that along with changes to the 23/24 will be left without a bus service. Will have to wait and see if I have correctly guessed what will happen.