Bridlington to Flamborough Summer Improvements

On Sunday 18th April, East Yorkshire will commence an hourly Sunday daytime service on route 14 between Bridlington and Flamborough, operating until Sunday 31st October. The timetable matches the Monday to Saturday year round provision, minus the first two morning services in each direction.

The Beachcomber Blue open top service between Bridlington and Flamborough also returns from Saturday 17th April to Sunday 31st October - an extended season compared to 2019 which operated from 25th May to 1st September. Beachcomber Blue operates every weekend and school holiday. Rather than providing the previous two hourly service that also extends beyond Bridlington Town Centre to John Bull World of Rock, the Beachcomber Blue will instead operate hourly between Bridlington and Flamborough, providing a half hourly frequency with service 14. Be aware though, to benefit from the 30 minute frequency, the East Yorkshire publicity leaflet implies you need a Beachcomber day ticket (£5 adult or £3 child and concessions) rather than a standard return ticket (£4 adult or £2 under 16) that is restricted to service 14. 

Clearly these changes are designed to attract Summer tourists, but may also be useful for locals, particularly the Sunday daytime 14. 

North Lincolnshire Retendering and Changing Fortunes

Two previously Hornsby Travel operated North Lincolnshire Council tenders have passed to Stagecoach. Service 90 between Scunthorpe and Crowle made the switch on Thursday 1st April, whilst service 35 between Scunthorpe and Amcotts was operated by Hornsby for the final time yesterday (Saturday 3rd April), before Stagecoach take over on Tuesday (6th April). Both routes continue on the same timetable with Stagecoach that Hornsby had been operating.

A few years ago, Stagecoach's 'out of town' services from Scunthorpe were limited to the Interconnect 100 (& 101) to Gainsborough and Lincoln, 103 Cliffsider to Lincoln, 350 Humber Fastcat to Hull and the evening peak 399 to Westwoodside. However through tender wins from Hornsby it has added the 4's Sunday service to Brigg, the 60 to Whitton and now the 35 and 90. Whilst Hornsby, East Yorkshire and Isle Coaches still have a presence, Stagecoach have clearly  become the main 'out of town' operator in Scunthorpe again.

Hornsby on the other hand have contracted their 'out of town' and non-Scunthorpe services. In addition to the tender losses to Stagecoach, they have also lost the North Lincolnshire demand responsive service to East Yorkshire and have a reduced network in the Brigg area due to council cutbacks. What is left is now limited to the 4 and X4 to Brigg (and Barnetby on the X4) plus the Barton and Brigg Town Services (and some school and college routes).

Service 1C returns

After a retendering exercise by Hull City Council, East Yorkshire operated services 21 and 51 were withdrawn on Saturday 27th February, and replaced by Stagecoach operated services 1C and 5A on Monday 1st March.

Service 21 had operated between Hull Paragon Interchange, Wilberforce Drive, Freetown Way, Caroline Street, Cannon Street, Bridlington Avenue, Fountain Road, Beverley Road, Mizzen Road, Compass Road and Kingswood Retail Park. The 21 operated every 90 minutes off peak Monday to Saturday increasing to hourly at peaktimes, but omitting Kingswood.

Meanwhile service 51 linked Hull Paragon Interchange, Hull Royal Infirmary, Rawling Way, Hessle Road, Boulevard, Selby Street, St Georges Road, Hessle Road, Hawthorn Avenue, Boothferry Road, Fiveways, Pickering Road, Anlaby Road, Anlaby Park Road North and Sibelius Road. The 51 operated every 90 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes, peak and off peak.

The principle replacement for the 21 and 51 is the Monday to Saturday offpeak 1C, which apart from some variations in Hull City Centre and not serving Kingswood, is a merger of the 21 and 51; not serving Kingswood is unfortunate but would require either a lower frequency or increased vehicle requirement. In Hull City Centre the 1C operates from Sibelius Road direct to Paragon Interchange then as per the 51 route, whilst from Mizzen Road the 1C operates from Alfred Gelder Street via Carr Lane, not serving Bond Street or Paragon Interchange. The 1C number has been used before between Sibelius Road and Compass Road (and Kingswood), back in EYMS days, although arguably in West Hull the current 1C routing has more in common with Stagecoach's service 2 than service 1.

Service 1C operates every two hours but with some extra journeys, departures from Sibelius Road are at 0900, 1000 (to Paragon Interchange only), 1100 and 1300 along with an extra 1435 from Paragon Interchange to Compass Road. From Mizzen Road the 1C departs at 0900, 1000, 1200 and 1400. The 1C requires one vehicle all day and a second first thing in the morning and again mid-afternoon, a reduction from the 21 and 51 each requiring a vehicle all day.

There is no peak time replacement for the 21 along Bridlington Avenue, or for the 51. Parts of the 51 route along Rawling Way, Hessle Road, Boothferry Road, Anlaby Road and Anlaby Park Road are served by other services, and some other sections of route are within walking distance of these roads. Mizzen Road and Compass Road are served by new service 5A, which is a variant of existing service 5 'shorts' between Hull and Orchard Park extending to Compass Road rather than Orchard Park Tesco. Based on the 8th March timetable, departures leave Paragon Interchange at 0730, 1534, 1634 and 1734 Monday to Friday and 0730, 1533, 1633 and 1733 Saturdays. From Mizzen Road the 5A departs at 0715 and 0810 Monday to Friday and 0713 and 0803 Saturdays. 

The 5A appears to use 'slack' in peaktime timetables to serve Compass Road without increasing the peak vehicle requirement. Sadly such 'slack' does not appear to be available off peak at the moment, as in order to serve Mizzen Road and Compass Road, Hull City Council are subsidising the 1C along most of Beverley Road that is otherwise very well served by commercial routes. This subsidy could be used instead to increase frequency between Sibelius Road and Bridlington Avenue, or to serve unserved or underserved roads such as North Road and Askew Avenue in West Hull.

Overall, whilst there maybe hourly rather than 90 minute frequencies for parts of the day and there is through connectivity provided from Beverley Road to Hull Royal Infirmary, these changes are a reduction in service. Hull City Council were considering reducing services to 4 days a week however, so it could have been worse.

New East Hull Services 40 and 41

Hull City Council tendered service 50 was withdrawn after operation on Saturday 27th February, following around 25 years of operation across various routes, but always including Hull City Centre and East Hull. It was initially numbered service 70 and also briefly had a spell as service 58. The 50 latterly was operated by East Yorkshire and linked Hull Paragon Interchange, Holderness Road Shops, Laburnum Avenue, James Reckitt Avenue, Ings Road, Maybury Road, Jalland Lodge, Maybury Road again, Broadway Drive and Holderness Road Morrisons. Four journeys were provided in each direction on a 90 minute frequency Monday to Saturday mornings and early afternoon.

Following retendering the contract was won by Stagecoach and two new services were introduced as a replacement - 40 and 41. I say replacement, but the 40 doesn't do much to replace the 50, rather it reinstates useful links that haven't been provided recently.

The 40 operates as a circular from Holderness Road Morrisons. Going anti clockwise it serves Ings Road, Cavendish Road, Lambwath Road, James Reckitt Avenue (Garden Village), Mount Pleasant and Holderness Road shops. There are four anti-clockwise and three clockwise journeys Monday to Saturday daytimes. The section of Ings Road between James Reckitt Avenue and Cavendish Road has been unserved apart from the 677 Cranswick Foods workers service since the 9 was withdrawn early in the COVID-19 pandemic last year, whilst Lambwath Road has been unserved since then. The section of James Reckitt Avenue served by the 40 also has service 12a, but unlike the 12a, the 40 offers links to the main Holderness Road shopping area and to Morrisons, so has a clear purpose alongside the 12a.

The 41 also operates from Holderness Road Morrisons, via Portobello Street to Broadway Drive then back onto Portobello Street and as per service 14 before replacing the 50 along parts of Staveley Road, Marfleet Lane (Jalland Lodge), Maybury Road and Broadway Drive back to Morrisons. An hourly service is provided Monday to Saturday daytimes, with one 90 minute gap. For Jalland Lodge, Maybury Road and Broadway Drive, through links to Hull City Centre and Holderness Road shops have been traded for increased frequency and a slightly later afternoon service - connections are available to other services on Holderness Road.

The section of James Reckitt Avenue between Ings Road and Gillshill Road is now unserved, as is Laburnum Avenue. James Reckitt Avenue passengers will need to walk to either Ings Road, the stops near the James Reckitt Avenue and Gillshill Road junction, or through East Park to Holderness Road. Laburnum Avenue passengers will need to walk to James Reckitt Avenue or Holderness Road for alternative services.

There are clearly a few positives here, probably more than the negatives. Maybe the 50 could have been retained on a Saturday though, with the 40 and 41 operating weekdays only. That would have avoided any roads becoming unserved and retain all previously provided through links. My other suggestion would be that as the combined 40 and 41 timetable has 17 minutes layover per hour, the 40 could perhaps make a 'double run' along currently unserved Chamberlain Road, using the roundabout at the junction with Stoneferry Road to turnaround - something the 50 and 70 used to do earlier in their history.

JustGo

Back on Monday 7th September 2020, the mostly demand responsive CallConnect service in North Lincolnshire was largely replaced by new fully demand responsive service, JustGo. CallConnect had operated in North Lincolnshire in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council, whose brand it is, with most services being operated by Hornsby Travel. JustGo is operated by East Yorkshire from their Elloughton depot and I presume the change is down to a routine retendering exercise by North Lincolnshire Council. JustGo operates Monday to Saturday daytimes, as with CallConnect.

JustGo has some important differences from CallConnect however. CallConnect requires registration and then for journeys to be booked by phone or on their website (an app has just been introduced in the Gainsborough area however). JustGo on the other hand has had an app available since launch in September, with phone booking also available. CallConnect was pay on bus, whereas JustGo has app or phone payments. Concessionary passes can be registered on the JustGo app or by phone when booking. 

With CallConnect, North Lincolnshire was divided into zones, with no travel possible from one zone to another. JustGo has done away with these divisions, making journeys such as Saxby to Scunthorpe Hospital possible, although it has added some new divides. 

Initially JustGo was quite simple - travel anywhere within rural North Lincolnshire or to and from, but not within, the Scunthorpe, Ashby and Bottesford urban area. One problem with that - the potential to abstract revenue from, and undermine, frequent commercial timetabled services. See the example here of it initially being possible to book a journey from Scunthorpe to Brigg despite an hourly commercial service being provided by Hornsby Travel (and an extra subsidised service every two hours). So a few weeks after launch, four more zones were added, in which travel exclusively within them is prohibited - Scunthorpe to Barton, Scunthorpe to Brigg, Scunthorpe to Messingham and Barton to Ulceby. As with the Scunthorpe Urban area, travel in and out of these zones is allowed, and they are fairly tightly defined around the routes of timetabled services, so whilst Scunthorpe Town Centre is included, Scunthorpe Hospital isn't. Therefore Winterton to Scunthorpe Bus Station by JustGo quite rightly isn't allowed as there is a half hourly timetabled bus instead, but Winterton to Scunthorpe Hospital, not otherwise possible without a connection, sensibly is permitted. 

I do wonder if these additional zones are a downside of apps and automation? A person with knowledge of the bus network could use that knowledge to direct travellers onto a timetabled service if available - I presume that is what CallConnect did - whereas for an app to do so presumably requires some IT work?

Whilst the FAQ section of the JustGo website doesn't allude to this, the rural area of North Lincolnshire served by JustGo does stretch slightly beyond the council boundary according to the JustGo website map. Immingham - nearest town for villages like South Killingholme - and Habrough - rail connections available - in North East Lincolnshire are included, as are Brocklesby, Great Limber and Keelby in Lincolnshire County Council's area - possibly 'compensation' to Great Limber for the 250 being rerouted away to replace a North Lincolnshire Council tendered service? Brigg Garden Centre, technically also in Lincolnshire County Council's area is included and Blaxton in South Yorkshire is also covered, providing connections onto First service 57f to Doncaster. These are all sensible extensions beyond the North Lincolnshire boundary. Could Misterton in Nottinghamshire be another worthwhile extension, for bus connections to Gainsborough and Retford? Maybe Doncaster Sheffield Airport as well for employment links?

CallConnect in North Lincolnshire used to provide some timetabled services, with the demand responsive bus 'borrowed' to operate a scheduled service. These were:

• 55: Santon-Appleby-Dragonby-Scunthorpe - Friday Only
• 58: Wroot-Sandtoft-Epworth - Friday Only
• 59: Wroot-Blaxton - Monday to Friday
• 260: Goxhill-New Holland-Barrow-Barton - Saturday Only

Each operated one journey in each direction, designed for shopping purposes, but were withdrawn with the start of JustGo. Aside from schools and college services, the villages and hamlets of Appleby, Sandtoft, Santon and Wroot no longer have a timetabled bus service, whilst Dragonby residents need to walk to the A1077. The 260 has a weekday service operated by Stagecoach; much of Barrow additionally has the 250 to Barton (plus Hull, Grimsby and Cleethorpes) whilst Goxhill and New Holland have a rail service to Barton (and Grimsby and Cleethorpes) as an alternative, albeit the stations are only conveniently sited for parts of each village - likewise Barton station is only well located for some shops in Barton Town Centre.

These withdrawals are disappointing. I wonder if they are down to the lack of cash handling on JustGo vehicles? Borrowing a demand responsive vehicle seems like a good way to provide a 'no pre-booking required' timetabled service when no other financially sensible options are available.

JustGo hasn't quite meant the end of CallConnect in North Lincolnshire. As happened before North Lincolnshire Council got involved with CallConnect, the Lincolnshire County Council service extends into North Lincolnshire where sensible. The Caistor CallConnect service area includes Brigg, Barnetby, Hibaldstow and Humberside Airport, for shopping, rail links, doctors and employment, as well as Cadney and Howsham villages. The Gainsborough CallConnect includes Kirton in Lindsey, which acts as the local small town for some villages in the Lincolnshire County Council area.

Significant Improvements for Hull Marina and Humber View

East Yorkshire service 178 between Hull Paragon Interchange, Hull Marina, the western part of South Bridge Road (Humber View sheltered housing) and Hull Paragon Interchange was withdrawn at the end of January after just four weeks of operation. The 178 had operated every 1-2 hours Monday to Saturday daytimes. Replacement came in the form of amended Stagecoach services 16 and 20 on Monday 8th February.

Service 16 between Hull Paragon Interchange, Victoria Dock, Mount Pleasant Asda and the Preston Road Estate now makes a short detour in each direction via Humber View. The 16 continues to provide an hourly Monday to Saturday service, so for the western part of South Bridge Road this is a frequency enhancement and comes with a link to Asda as well. The area is within walking distance, at least without bags of shopping, of the City Centre and alternative services, so I can only imagine it's Humber View that is generating demand here.

Service 20 - Priory Park Park and Ride - has replaced the 178 in the Marina area. Previously it had looped around the city centre from Anlaby Road via Ferensway, Albion Street, Bond Street, George Street, Wilberforce Drive, Alfred Gelder Street and Carr Lane back to Anlaby Road. Now from Bond Street the 20 operates in the opposite direction along Alfred Gelder Street then serves the Marina area before routing direct to Paragon Interchange via Castle Street and Ferensway. From Paragon Interchange the 20 returns to Anlaby Road via Park Street. Service 20 continues to operate every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday.

The 20's new route provides a vastly improved frequency between the Ferensway and St Stephen's area of the city centre and the Marina area, as well as a park and ride service for the Marina area without having to walk to Alfred Gelder Street or Carr Lane. It also provides an extra three buses per hour from Paragon Interchange to Hull Royal Infirmary that are direct and don't operate via the city centre loop. However it does come with the drawback of longer journey times from parts of the city centre - Monument Bridge (between Alfred Gelder Street and Carr Lane) to Priory Park was timed for 15 minutes previously, but Alfred Gelder Street to Priory Park is now 28 minutes. Additionally George Street, Wilberforce Drive and Carr Lane are now unserved, though fairly close to alternative stops on Alfred Gelder Street, or in the case of the western end of Carr Lane, at Paragon Interchange.

152 Extended, 153 Truncated

East Yorkshire revised services 151, 152 and 153 on Sunday 3rd January. There have since been some further temporary COVID-19 related changes, but this post is based on the 3rd January changes. Service 151 was the least changed, continuing to link Hull Paragon Interchange, Anlaby Road, Anlaby, Kirk Ella, Willerby Square and Willerby Parkway. 

Service 152 has been extended; still running the same route as the 151 between Hull and Anlaby but rather then looping via Lowfield Road (with waiting time), Beverley Road and Wilson Street in Anlaby back to Anlaby Centre and Hull, Monday to Saturday the 152 is now extended to Bridgehead Business Park in Hessle. The 152 operates to Hessle via Lowfield Road and returns via Wilson Street, so passengers from Lowfield Road to Hull need to walk to either Anlaby Centre or Beverley Road - the layout in Anlaby prevents a service from Hessle serving Lowfield Road, the main Red Lion bus stop in Anlaby Centre and Hull Road in the village. After Anlaby, the Monday to Saturday 152 routes to Darleys Roundabout, and then serves 155's former route in Hessle along Beverley Road, Swanland Road, Barrow Lane and Ferriby Road to Home Farm, before terminating at Bridgehead Business Park. On the return from Bridgehead Business Park, the 152 operates via Boothferry Road and Heads Lane to Ferriby Road instead off Home Farm.

Finally Service 153 between Hull, Anlaby Road, Anlaby, Kirk Ella, Swanland, North Ferriby and Melton Business Park (plus evening and Sunday extensions further westwards) is now truncated to operate between Hull and Swanland only. The new 55 replaces at Melton Business Park, but otherwise the Swanland to North Ferriby link is lost and North Ferriby to Hull is reduced from two to one services per hour. Additionally the Church Road, New Walk, Parkfield Avenue, Nunburnholme Avenue and Corby Park areas of North Ferriby no longer have a bus to Hull and are only served by the 143 to Beverley three days a week and by school buses - the area is served by North Ferriby railway station however.

The main Monday to Saturday daytime service pattern of the 151, 152 and 153 each operating hourly continues, providing a 20 minute frequency between Hull and Anlaby. Monday to Friday peaktime 151's are now 152's, removing morning peak services from Church Lane and School Lane in Kirk Ella and reducing provision elsewhere in the village. The flipside is increased links to Bridgehead Business Park - the 152 is not a very direct route from the centre of Hull at least but it maybe useful for any commuters from Anlaby, Anlaby Common and Anlaby Park. The 55 and 66B provide more direct services to Hull and the 250, 255 and 350 stop within walking distance on Boothferry Road and the Humber Bridge Northern Approach, though business park passengers may need to cross the busy Humber Bridge roundabout. The bus stop at the business park does also provide a useful off road layby for waiting.

Service 151 is enhanced in the evening Monday to Saturday however, moving to a full hourly service; the 1905 152 and 2255 153 from Hull both become service 151's instead. Swanland has lost it's limited evening service.

On Sundays the 153 remains hourly daytimes with the 152 hourly in the evening (and one morning journey). As with the rest of the week, the 153 is now Hull to Swanland only but the 152 is following it's previous Lowfield Road & Wilson Street loop, not extending to Hessle.

Introducing the 55 and X5

On Sunday 3rd January, East Yorkshire extensively revised their services along the A63 corridor out of Hull towards Brough and Goole. In this post I will focus on services that extend west of Melton Business Park.

Previously the main services along the corridor were the 155 and X55. The 155 operated out of Hull Paragon Interchange via Anlaby Road and Boothferry Road as far as Darleys Roundabout, then via Beverley Road, Swanland Road, Barrow Lane and Ferriby Road in Hessle, North Ferriby High Street and Melton Road, Melton and Welton Villages, Brough, Elloughton, Brantingham (early morning and evening journeys only), South Cave, North Cave, Newport, Gilberdyke, Eastrington, Howden, Goole Hospital to Goole Town Centre. The slightly quicker X55 took the same route out of Hull as far as Darleys Roundabout, then continued along Boothferry Road via Bridgehead Business Park to join the A63 to Brough then largely as the 155 to Goole, but not serving Brantingham at all and with some route variations in Goole. There was also a limited 155A that operated via Anlaby instead of Boothferry Road, additionally served Melton Business Park and also served Brantingham. Finally to add into the mix was a small number of service 153 journeys that extended west of Melton Business Park; one Monday to Saturday evening service from Elloughton via Brough, Welton, Melton, to Melton Business Park then as the main 153 route to Hull via North Ferriby, one Monday to Saturday evening return, that extended beyond Elloughton to Brantingham and South Cave, and two hourly Sunday daytime extensions to Melton and Welton.

Monday to Saturday daytimes the core pattern was the 155 hourly between Hull and Elloughton and the X55 hourly between Hull and South Cave, extending two hourly to Goole. The 155 picked up most early morning and late afternoon Goole extensions and also provided a limited evening service alongside the previously mentioned 153. The 155A variation provided two morning peak journeys from Hull, an early morning service from North Cave and a single afternoon journey from Goole, Monday to Friday only. On Sundays the 155 provided four journeys between Hull and South Cave during the daytime.

Now everything has changed. The 153 no longer operates in this area, and the 155 and X55 have been replaced by new services 55 and X5, along with a change to the 152. The 155A remains but with some changes to it's western termini. 

The 55 follows the X55 route out of Hull, serving Bridgehead Business Park - service 152 picks up the 155’s old route in Hessle (more in a future post) - before routing via North Ferriby High Street and Melton Road, Melton Business Park (replacing the 153), Melton, Welton, Brough, Elloughton, South Cave and as per the old 155 route to Goole. Brantingham is not served at all by the 55. Service 55 operates hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes between Hull and Gilberdyke. The Gilberdyke to Goole section has four services to Goole and three from Goole Monday to Friday and two each way on Saturdays. The 55 operates hourly early evening between Hull and Elloughton but there is no late evening service. On Sundays, five journeys operate in each direction between Hull and Gilberdyke.

The X5 is a new coach operated service between Hull and Goole. It operates direct from Paragon Interchange in Hull, omitting other City Centre stops, then via Hull Royal Infirmary, Rawling Way and the A63 to Brough and Elloughton. It's then back onto the A63 to Newport, Gilberdyke - serving the B1230 only and not running into the village - Howden and Goole (but not Goole Hospital). Aside from Hull City Centre, the route in Gilberdyke and the extension to Goole, it is rather reminiscent of the original X55 Petuaria Express. The X5 operates five times a day Monday to Friday and four on Saturdays. Although the X5 is advertised as limited stop, as far as i can tell it stops at all stops it passes; limited stop is presumably a reference to the sections of the A63 and B1230 without stops.

It maybe that timetables and frequencies are being 'depressed' by COVID-19, but overall this seems like a step backwards if it reflects the longer term service provision planned by East Yorkshire. Hull to Brough and Elloughton has gone from an almost half hourly service Monday to Saturday, to an hourly service plus four or five fast coaches. Eastrington is reduced from approximately two hourly to 2-4 services per day, with links to Goole Hospital similarly reduced. Hull to South Cave journey times are increased from 51 to 61 minutes. There is also no late evening service at all, so the last departure from Hull is at 1710 to North Cave, 1730 to Gilberdyke, Howden and Goole, 1810 to South Cave and at 2010 to Elloughton, as opposed to 1800 to Goole, 1950 to North Cave, Gilberdyke and Howden and 2255 to Elloughton and South Cave.

There are certainly some positives here which should be acknowledged. Newport and Gilberdyke increase from a two hourly service Monday to Saturday daytimes to hourly plus an occasional fast coach. North Cave gains an hourly rather than two hourly service. Journey times from Hull to Melton and Welton reduce by three minutes. There is a new Monday to Friday 0530 from Elloughton to Hull, previous first service 0633. The early evening service between Hull and Elloughton is increased to hourly rather than 1800 then 1950. On Sundays there is an extra journey, and now a Sunday service from North Cave, Newport and Gilberdyke (Melton and Welton have lost the 153, but it was arguably a 'relic' from when it was the X55 rather than 155 that operated on a Sunday).

It's the X5 which seems most questionable to me, certainly west of Elloughton. Between Hull, Brough and Elloughton, offering one fast and one slow service has it's advantages and disadvantages compared to two less differentiated services. Given the housing growth in Brough, and the railway station being located away from 55 and X5 routes, there is potential here post COVID-19. In Howden, the X5 will have more use as the main service into Goole, and also it's railway station is a significant distance outside of the town.

Taking Gilberdyke however and whilst the X5 is being positioned as a fast Hull link, assuming the pre COVID-19 rail timetable is reinstated, it will be up against two trains per hour, one taking 19 minutes versus 37 on on the X5. Unless there are significant price differentials, how can the X5, or the X5 and 55 combined compete - senior citizen pass holders aside? Rail will have the frequency and speed advantage. It's a similar story in Goole. Two trains per hour to Hull pre COVID-19, the fastest taking 29 minutes as opposed to an hour on the X5. Plus while the X62 doesn't serve Goole Town Centre and the route also had to support the Goole to Leeds section, when Stagecoach tried to provide a more comprehensive fast service on the X62 between Hull and Goole, it failed.

The short lived 74 returns - as the X7

Between Hull and Withernsea there is the main bus 'corridor' via Hedon and along the A1033, plus two 'diversions'; one via Holderness Road and Southcoates Lane in Hull and one via the village off Burstwick. Monday to Saturday daytimes two services per hour can be sustained along the main 'corridor', leaving a choice - share the two 'diversions' out between the two services each hour, or put both diversions on the same hourly journey and run the other hourly journey as a faster service. Since EYMS/East Yorkshire became the sole operator on the corridor, the former has usually been the preference.

In July 2011, the latter was however tried briefly. Service 74 operated between Hull, Hedon and Keyingham (on the A1033), omitting Holderness Road and Burstwick, hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, with some afternoon journeys extending to Withernsea. Alongside this was hourly service 75 between Hull, Holderness Road, Hedon, Burstwick, Keyingham and Withernsea. By October 2011, the corridor had reverted back Monday to Saturday daytimes to an hourly 76 via Holderness Road but not Burstwick and an hourly 77 via Burstwick but not Holderness Road. 

Fast forward over 9 years and on Monday 4th January 2021, East Yorkshire have decided to try again with the one faster and one slower service each hour Monday to Saturday daytimes. Service 75 now operates during this period, as well as continuing in the peaks, evenings and on Sundays, as the slower service via Holderness Road and Burstwick, whilst the faster service omitting both these areas is numbered X7. Services 76 and 77 are withdrawn, which also has the effect of simplifying from three (75/76/77) to two (75/X7) service numbers. Unlike in 2011, all journeys operate between Hull and Withernsea apart from an early morning Hull to Hedon 'short'. For Withernsea this means that rather than a 78 minute journey time on the 77 and an 81 minute journey time on service 76 to Hull, there is now a 73 minute journey time on the X7 and an 86 minute journey time on the 75. 

Good News for Paull and Preston

East Yorkshire revised services 78 and 79 between Hull, Victoria Dock, Hedon Road, Hedon Town Centre and the Inmans Estate in Hedon from Monday 4th January.

Previously, in addition to the locations above which are served by both services, the 78 additionally served Hull Marina and the western part of South Bridge Road in Victoria Dock, whilst the 79 routed via the village of Paull. Together the two routes operated hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, with the majority of services operating as a 78. With the 78 and 79 having unique sections at different parts to the other, in most of Victoria Dock and along Hedon Road there was no even interval hourly frequency, but from both Hull Paragon Interchange and Hedon Thorn Road Corner the 78 and 79 provided departures every 20 minutes combined with services 76 and 77.

The 78 has now been rerouted away from Hull Marina and the western part of South Bridge Road, but instead serves the village of Preston, which otherwise only has the 277 every 95-150 minutes into Hull (plus 1 journey each way on a Saturday on service 173 and Stagecoach's Cranswick Foods workers service 677). The 79 continues it's same route via Paull. The new timetable retains the combined hourly service Monday to Saturday daytimes, with each route now operating every two hours, giving Paull a small increase in services. With the 78 and 79's unique sections of route now both being between Hedon Road and Hedon Town Centre, Victoria Dock and Hedon Road gain an even interval service, and the 78 is quicker between Hull City Centre and these areas. The 20 minute frequency from Hull Interchange is retained, now in conjunction with services X7 and 75 (more on these soon), however from Hedon Thorn Road Corner it's now a 15-15-30 minute split across the hour for departures into Hull.

These changes are a clear improvement for Paull and Preston and to a lesser extent, an enhancement for Victoria Dock and Hedon Road.

Hull Marina and the western part of South Bridge Road are now covered by new service 178, which operates as a circular from Paragon Interchange to the Marina, South Bridge Road and back to the Interchange. The 178 operates Monday to Saturday with departures from Paragon Interchange at 0725 (Not Sat), 0915, 1115, 1215, 1415, 1515 and 1720.

An extra journey for the 88

On Monday 4th January, service 88 between Goole, Airmyn, Rawcliffe and Rawcliffe Bridge gained a slightly enhanced timetable, with an extra journey in each direction. The 88 is operated by East Yorkshire and runs Monday to Friday. Departures from Goole North Street altered from 0905, 1205 and 1505 to 0905, 1105, 1305 and 1505, and from Rawcliffe Bridge changed from 0930, 1230 and 1530 to 0930, 1130, 1330 and 1530; the middle two terminating at Goole Interchange rather than North Street. The pdf timetable now refers to 'Some journeys are provided with the financial support of East Riding of Yorkshire Council' so I wonder if this could be a commercial enhancement as I'm sure the 88 has been fully subsidised ever since it was withdrawn from Thorne?

Isle Coaches Update

Since late March, Isle Coaches service 399 between Scunthorpe, the Isle of Axholme and Doncaster has not operated on Saturdays, just Monday to Friday. As previously mentioned the evening peak Scunthorpe to Westwoodside and return tendered journeys operated by Stagecoach continue to operate on Saturdays. Additionally the 1600 departure from Scunthorpe currently terminates at Westwoodside, rather than continuing to Doncaster.

As far as Isle Coaches service 291 between Owston Ferry on the Isle of Axholme and Doncaster is concerned, it was suspended for much of the Spring and Summer before returning to a reduced timetable. Quite what that reduced timetable is, I don't know. According to the Travel South Yorkshire pdf timetable, the 291 resumed on 21st September 2020, and according to both it and bustimes.org (source Traveline National Dataset) there are journeys at 0900 and 1210 from Owston Ferry Monday to Friday, returning from Doncaster at 1100 Tuesday and Friday only and at 1520 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays only. The unbalanced days of operation in each direction seem exceptionally unlikely to me. The North Lincolnshire Council website states the 291 resumed on 25th August 2020 on Tuesdays and Fridays only, departing Owston Ferry at 0900 and 1205 and Doncaster at 1100 and 1520. Isle Coaches don't have a website to verify what the actual current timetable is. Pre COVID-19, the 291 had operate three journeys to Doncaster and four from Doncaster Monday to Saturday, including an evening peak service. The tendered morning peak 57f from Epworth to Doncaster, operated by First, continues to operate Monday to Saturday.

It remains to be seen once things return to normal whether the 399 returns on a Saturday and if the 291 goes back to normal. If they don't though some anomalies that have occurred could do with being addressed. Monday to Friday there is currently a morning peak service from the Isle of Axholme to Doncaster, but no evening peak return; Monday and Thursday at least the only service from Doncaster back to the Isle is the 1200 399 departure, and Tuesday and Friday at least the last service is the 1520 291. If an evening peak service is not to be provided, then are there better uses for the morning peak subsidy - maybe provision for South Killingholme or Kirmington villages, or Saturday daytime services in the Isle of Axholme? That brings me to the next anomaly - a tendered Saturday morning peak service from the Isle to Doncaster with no evening return, a tendered evening peak service from Scunthorpe to the Isle and return without an equivalent morning service, but no daytime provision. Would the subsidy not be better used for a Saturday daytime shopping service from the Isle to either Scunthorpe or Doncaster? 

Hornsby Changes and Withdrawals - Services 4, X4, 94 and C4

Finishing my look at Hornsby Travel services post the COVID-19 disruption of 2020, time to look at services 4, X4, 94 and C4 in the Brigg area.

The main service 4 between Scunthorpe, Ashby, Lakeside Retail Park, Broughton and Brigg remains hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, though there has been some reductions in the early mornings and evenings, as well as a minor early afternoon improvement, compared to the pre COVID-19 timetable.

The 0430 and 0630 Monday to Friday direct journeys from the Hornsby depot in Ashby to Brigg no longer operate, whilst the Monday to Friday 0450 from Brigg to Foxhills Industrial Estate north of Scunthorpe starts at Lakeside Retail Park instead, with the first service from Brigg to Scunthorpe now at 0630 weekdays. The Monday to Friday 0640 and 0740 Lakeside Retail Park to Foxhills no longer operate, the former replaced by retiming the 0650 from Brigg to Foxhills to operate twenty minutes earlier; additionally the 0730 and 0830 from Scunthorpe to Brigg no longer start back at Foxhills Monday to Friday.

The Monday to Friday early afternoon Foxhills service has been separated from the main Scunthorpe to Brigg service, operating as Lakeside to Foxhills and return. This provides an extra service between Scunthorpe and Lakeside, and permits the 1230 from Brigg to serve Town Hill in Broughton, whilst the 1435 from Scunthorpe is retimed to 1430 and also now serves Town Hill. 

The Monday to Friday 1715 from Foxhills to Brigg now serves the main route via Town Hill in Broughton instead of Scawby, which is covered by diverting the 1700 X4 from Scunthorpe via the village. From Brigg the 1730 departure Monday to Saturday now runs through to Scunthorpe Bus Station rather than terminating at the Hornsby depot in Ashby.

The evening service has been removed almost entirely, though whether this will return when the evening economy opens up and hospital visiting becomes easier remains to be seen. As a result the last Scunthorpe to Brigg service is at 1830 Monday to Saturday rather than 2010 Saturday and 2225 Monday to Friday, whilst from Brigg the last service to Scunthorpe is at 1730 rather than 2050 Monday to Saturday, and to the Hornsby depot at 1910 Monday to Saturday rather than 2050 Saturday and 2305 Monday to Friday. The one evening service still provided is at 2215 Monday to Friday from Foxhills to the Hornsby depot, extending to Lakeside on request.

The Stagecoach operated Sunday service 4 has resumed it's pre COVID-19 timetable.

The faster Monday to Friday X4 has been reduced from hourly between Scunthorpe and Brigg to approximately every two hours, with all journeys routing via Scawby instead off just alternate services. East of Brigg all journeys continue to Wrawby and Barnetby Top before doing a loop via Melton Ross and Barnetby village back to Barnetby Top. The approximately two hourly frequency is maintained compared to pre COVID-19, but over a slightly shorter operating day, with the first Brigg arrival from Barnetby now at 0905 rather than 0755.

Humberside Airport and Kirmington have been removed from the X4 entirely; in combination with the withdrawal of the C4, Kirmington is left without a scheduled bus service, whilst in combination with the C4's withdrawal and the 250's rerouting, so is Humberside Airport. This change reduces the round trip time from Scunthorpe from 2 hours 25 minutes to 1 hour and 29 minutes, as a result of slack timing between Barnetby and Kirmington, and eliminating a 15 minute layover in Kirmington.

Pre COVID-19, when the X4 didn't operate through to Kirmington, it operated as a short Scunthorpe to Brigg service then operated as a through service to route 94. The shorts have gone, and so has the North Lincolnshire Council tendered service 94. Operating approximately every two hours, the 94 linked Brigg and Kirton in Lindsey Monday to Friday via Scawby, Hibaldstow and Redbourne and also incorporated the Kirton town service. There is no replacement for the 94 with most passengers needing to use the demand responsive JustGo service instead. Scawby does have the X4, so the 94's withdrawal here is unlikely to be hugely significant, but the only timetabled bus left for Hibaldstow and Redbourne, due to the C4 also being withdrawn, is the Thursday only Lincolnshire County Council tendered 161 to Brigg and Lakeside. The Nookings area of Hibaldstow is left unserved. Kirton retains the 103 between Scunthorpe and Lincoln.

As alluded to, the C4 has been withdrawn as well. The C4 was the North Lincolnshire Council tendered Saturday provision for the X4 route between Brigg and Kirmington and the 94 between Brigg and Redbourne, with four journeys to Kirmington and two to Redbourne, though some were effectively positioning journeys. The C4 was suspended last March, but did return between Barnetby, Brigg and Redbourne over the Summer. Barnetby, Wrawby (in combination with the 450's withdrawal) and Scawby (in combination with the evening 4's withdrawal) are now without a Saturday timetabled bus service, though Barnetby does have the train. The Saturday situation in these three villages is far from the biggest issue resulting from these changes, but maybe the easiest to fix - could the Brigg Town Service be amended to provide a limited Saturday service to some or all of these villages; the 91 Brigg Town Service did serve Wrawby for a number of years. 

In addition could the Brigg Town Service maybe also serve Hibaldstow, say on a Tuesday to avoid duplicating the 161? Currently Cadney and Howsham, population 459 in 2011, have a three day a week service on Brigg Town Service 92 whilst Hibaldstow, population 2433 has a one day a week service. I appreciate the 92 also serves Brigg Garden Centre but even still, provision feels a bit 'uneven' here.

Barton Town Service Update

When the 254 Barton Town Service returned from it's COVID-19 suspension in August, it did so with a new - and much better - timetable. The 254 is operated by Hornsby Travel under contract to North Lincolnshire Council and with some funding contributed by Barton Town Council. It operates every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

In May 2019 the service was significantly altered following the move of Barton Library from the town centre to Baysgarth Leisure Centre, with the resulting service being what I called a convoluted mess. It was slightly improved in December 2019 and also revised to include Lidl.

Now the 254 is operating an almost consistent circuit of Barton on every journey. Every service leaves Tesco and operates direct to the Market Place and Barrow Road before serving the Caistor Road Estate via Meadow Drive, Caistor Road, Eastfield Road (turn round at the end) and Caistor Road. The service then routes via Preston Lane and Brigg Road to the Leisure Centre, before double backing down Brigg Road to Holydyke and then turns onto Bowmandale. From Bowmandale the route goes via Millfields and Forkedale to Lidl, then via Warrendale, Tofts Road, Ferriby Road, Holydyke, Market Place, Whitecross Street and Burgate to the High Street. All but two journeys then go to Tesco, but the other two serve Westfield Road and West Accridge en-route. Departures from Tesco are at 0915, 1015, 1115, 1230, 1315 and 1400 (to Baysgarth Leisure Centre only).

Is the new timetable and route perfect? No. The Caistor Road Estate to Tesco for example involves going via Baysgarth Leisure Centre, Lidl and the Town Centre. Westfield Road to the Market Place involves a 24 minute wait at Tesco. Tesco to Westfield Road requires a half hour tour of Barton en-route. The simplification has also slightly reduced the number of services in parts of the town, for example Westfield Road has two rather than three services per day.

However at least it's more simple. For example the December 2019 timetable had six services via Forkedale; the 0936 went via the Market Place and Westfield Road to Tesco, the 1017 via the Market Place to Tesco, the 1117 and 1317 via the Market Place, Caistor Road Estate, Leisure Centre, Market Place again and Westfield Road to Tesco, the 1232 via the Market Place, Caistor Road Estate, Leisure Centre and Market Place again to Tesco, but not Westfield Road, and the 1412 was a part route journey that went to the Market Place and Caistor Road Estate before terminating at the Leisure Centre. Now from Forkedale it's 0936, 1036, 1136, 1251 and 1336 to Tesco, the 0936 and 1136 via the Market Place and Westfield Road and the others via the Market Place but not Westfield Road. 

The timetable is trade off between offering a clockface service - provided in the morning - and making efficient use of the vehicle and driver - as done at lunchtime following the drivers break between 1151 and 1230. A roundtrip from Tesco has a journey time of 32 minutes excluding Westfield Road or 36 minutes including Westfield Road - too long for a half hourly service with one vehicle, not ideal for an hourly service (the morning timetable includes a 24 and a 28 minute layover at Tesco).

There are a couple of changes I think it would be worthwhile to make to this new route and timetable. Firstly between Caistor Road and the Leisure Centre, to serve the Market Place rather than Preston Lane; this would probably add a couple of minutes to the timetable, but would offer a direct service from the Caistor Road Estate to the Market Place, and from the Market Place to Bowmandale, Millfields, Forkedale, Warrendale and Tofts Road. If time needed to be made up, then the Leisure Centre could be served by double backing from the Bowmandale/Millfields roundabout, rather than double backing along Brigg Road which I doubt generates much custom. Secondly I would include Westfield Road on all journeys since it wouldn't prevent the 45 minute interval lunchtime frequency.

Service 35 Autumn Changes

Last December, North Lincolnshire Council tendered service 35 between Scunthorpe, Keadby and Amcotts - operated by Hornsby Travel - was revised to operate hourly from Scunthorpe Monday to Saturday daytimes. I can't recall if the service was suspended in the Spring due to COVID-19 or not, but over the Summer it was operating every two hours. 

In September a new timetable was introduced, restoring the hourly frequency between Scunthorpe and Keadby, but not extending to Amcotts on any journeys, and omitting Scunthorpe Hospital. In some respects this was a positive, omitting Scunthorpe Hospital saves three minutes outbound from Scunthorpe, and not serving Amcotts on some journeys enabled an even interval service in each direction. However it left Amcotts with the demand responsive JustGo North Lincs service as it's only off peak provision, and removed the link to Scunthorpe Hospital from parts of Keadby (other parts of the 35 route are also served by the 90 and 361 that do serve the Hospital).

October saw a partial 'u-turn' as Amcotts was restored to the timetable on four journeys in each direction (three on Saturdays), and as was the case pre COVID-19, it came at the expense of an even interval service from Keadby to Scunthorpe. I'd argue that loss is worth it though, as it provides an easy, and presumably cost effective, off peak timetabled service for Amcotts. 

Hornsby Service 9 Update

Hornsby Monday to Friday circular service 9 between Scunthorpe Bus Station and Scunthorpe Hospital is currently operating to a reduced peaktime timetable, compared to what was provided pre COVID-19. The 9 had operated every 20 minutes between 0700 and 0900 then half hourly until 1600 before resuming a 20 minute frequency until 1840 - however presently it is operating half hourly between 0800 and 1800.

Hornsby Travel: What's Operating Normally or Almost Normally

Whilst the Hornsby Travel network is substantially revised compared to their pre COVID-19 offering, some services are currently operating to their pre COVID-19 timetables:

• 13: Scunthorpe Town Service (College Days Only Service)
• 91: Brigg Town Service
• 92: Brigg-Howsham

Service 90 between Scunthorpe and Crowle is operating to it's pre COVID-19 timetable Monday to Friday, but is retimed by up to 15 minutes on Saturdays; additionally Saturday inbound journeys to Scunthorpe Bus Station that serve the Hospital now use Cliff Gardens as on weekdays, rather than Church Lane. 

Meanwhile Scunthorpe Town Service 12 is only slightly altered; journeys run 5 minutes later and the first service from Ashfield into Scunthorpe is not currently operating on Saturdays. 

Christmas and New Year Update - Deja Vu

Stagecoach have today updated their Christmas publicity and sadly it's a repeat of last year - Stagecoach not initially announcing all the exemptions to their Saturday service provision on the normal weekdays between Christmas and New Year. It is rather disappointing to see the same issues reoccur and doesn't help travellers plan or support patronage.

As a result of a revised Christmas pdf leaflet added to the Stagecoach website today, the 260 Barton Villager will run as normal on 29th/30th/31st December, and so will Scunthorpe service 10 on the 29th and 31st December - the latter service having been reinstated until the end of the year as per a VOSA registration last week, not that it's listed in the latest timetables section of the Stagecoach website. 

Historically a normal weekday service would be provided in North Lincolnshire on the normal weekdays between Christmas and New Year, and that is the provision offered by Hornsby Travel and that still seems to be attached to tendered service contracts. However in recent years Stagecoach have adopted a Saturday service for their commercial operations in line with other parts of their East Midlands region - not a big deal considering how little Stagecoach commercial Saturday and College Holiday timetables vary in the area. This disparity though between Stagecoach's commercial provision and their tendered service requirements is potentially what led to the initial incorrect publicity being issued. In contrast the initial Stagecoach Lincoln leaflet did manage to list all exemptions to the main Saturday service.

Christmas and New Year Bus Services 2020/2021

Below is my annual summary of Christmas and New Year bus services across the Humber Region. The following operators are included, but not their services outside the region:

• Arriva Yorkshire
• CallConnect
• East Yorkshire (including JustGo)
• First South Yorkshire
• First York
• Grayscroft Coaches
• Hornsby Travel
• 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 further information for other operators, or to correct any details listed here, please post a comment.

UPDATED 21/12/20 REGARDING SERVICES 10 AND 260.

Monday 21st December to Christmas Eve:

Normal services, except First South Yorkshire who will be operating a Saturday service. 

Christmas Eve:

Normal services, except for CallConnect and First South Yorkshire who will be operating a Saturday service. Services will finish at approximately 2000.

Christmas Day:

No services.

Boxing Day:

Daytime services will operate on selected routes in Hull and East Yorkshire. 

This year, as opposed to special timetables, Stagecoach have opted for a Sunday service between 0900 and 1800 on all 'local' routes within Hull, which results in a notable uplift in Boxing Day services:

• The 1 and 2A in West Hull go from hourly last year to half hourly this year.
• The 6 operates for the first time on Boxing Day, albeit in part serving as a replacement for the 10a.
• Sutton Park goes from one bus per hour last year on service 8 to three across services 2A and 8.
• North Branshome goes from an hourly 10a last year to a half hourly 2A and hourly 6 this year.
• The 12 goes from hourly last year, as the 12a, to half hourly this year.

The 11 drops from a half hourly 11a last year to hourly this year, but service 8 provides a second hourly frequency over part of the route.

East Yorkshire will be operating the following daytime services (same pattern as last year):

• 12: Bridlington-Scarborough - Every two hours
• 34: Hull-Willerby - Hourly
• 56: Hull-Asda Bilton - Hourly
• 63: Hull-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly
• 66: Hull-Hessle - Hourly
• 75: Hull-Withernsea - Every two hours, with an extra morning journey to Hull and an extra afternoon journey from Hull.
• 104: Hull-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly
• 121: Hull-Bridlington - Every two hours
• 154: Hull-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly
• X46: Hull-York - Every two hours
• X47: Pocklington-York - Every two hours

Sunday 27th December:

Normal service.

Bank Holiday Monday 28th December:

Sunday service, except for First York who will provide a Saturday service with extra early morning journeys.

Tuesday 29th December:

Predominantly a Saturday service, with the following exceptions:

• Hornsby Travel will operate a normal Tuesday service.
• East Yorkshire services 88 (Goole-Rawcliffe Bridge) and 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe) will operate as normal, as will JustGo North Lincolnshire.
• Stagecoach services 10 (Ashby Parklands-Scunthorpe), 25 (Market Rasen-Grimsby) and 260 (Barton Villager) will operate as normal.
• York Pullman services 195 (Allerthorpe-Pocklington) and 199 (Huggate-Pocklington) will operate as normal.
• First York will operate extra early morning journeys.
• East Yorkshire service 143 (North Ferriby-Beverley) will not operate (it wouldn't normally operate on a Tuesday, but would on a Saturday).
• Grayscroft Coaches Tuesday service 28 (Sandilands-Grimsby) will not operate.
• East Yorkshire services 18/75/121/X47 Friday and Saturday only evening journeys will not operate (normal Tuesday evening journeys on the 75/121/X47 will however).

(Hunts Coaches usual Tuesday service to Grimsby is not operating due to COVID-19 restrictions).

Wednesday 30th December:

Predominantly a Saturday service, with the following exceptions:

• Hornsby Travel will operate a normal Wednesday service.
• East Yorkshire services 88 (Goole-Rawcliffe Bridge) and 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe) will operate as normal, as will JustGo North Lincolnshire.
• Stagecoach service 260 (Barton Villager) will operate as normal.
• First York will operate extra early morning journeys.
• East Yorkshire services 18/75/121/X47 Friday and Saturday only evening journeys will not operate (normal Wednesday evening journeys on the 75/121/X47 will however).

New Years Eve:

Predominately a Saturday service finishing at approximately 2000, with the following exceptions:

• Hornsby Travel will operate a normal Thursday service.
• East Yorkshire services 88 (Goole-Rawcliffe Bridge) and 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe) will operate as normal, as will JustGo North Lincolnshire.
• Stagecoach services 10 (Ashby Parklands-Ashby), 161 (Market Rasen-Lakeside) and 260 (Barton Villager) will operate as normal.
• York Pullman service 196 (Aughton-York) will operate as normal.
• First York will operate extra early morning journeys.
• East Yorkshire service 143 (North Ferriby-Beverley) will not operate (it wouldn't normally operate on a Thursday, but would on a Saturday).

New Years Day:

No services (train services will be operating however, in many instances to a normal Friday timetable apart from early morning services).

Saturday 2nd January:

Services return to normal.

Scunthorpe Town Service 6 remains on reduced frequency

Completing my review of Stagecoach services, and starting my review of Hornsby Travel services, Scunthorpe Town Service 6 between Scunthorpe Bus Station and Ashby has not yet returned to it's pre COVID-19 frequency. Rather than each operator operating every 20 minutes for a combined 10 minute frequency Monday to Saturday daytimes, each operator currently provides a half hourly service on the route, for a combined 15 minute frequency.

Scunthorpe 1 Reduced and 2 Dropped

The biggest COVID-19 impact to Stagecoach's network in Scunthorpe has been to town circular routes 1 and 2, the latter of which has been dropped entirely.

Starting with service 1 and it is currently operating every half hour in each direction Monday to Saturday daytimes, down from every 20 minutes in each direction pre-COVID-19. Additionally it now serves Lakeside Retail Park and Bellingham Road, replacing service 2. The change increases journey times on the 1 by 5 minutes in each direction, but the link to Lakeside Retail Park may well be useful for some, and Bellingham Road benefits significantly. It goes from being served by an hourly circular in each direction Monday to Saturday daytimes with no morning peak service, to a half hourly circular in each direction Monday to Saturday daytimes, including a morning peak service (though it is not served by the first two morning anti-clockwise journeys, which also omit Lakeside); unlike the 2, the 1 also provides links to Gallagher Retail Park on the other side of Scunthorpe, and indirectly a service to Scunthorpe Hospital. So some positives despite the 1's frequency cut - I guess time will tell if the reduced frequency is permanent or not

Now to the 2, which had operated hourly in each direction Monday to Saturday daytimes. Going anti-clockwise, the 2 operated from the Bus Station via Ashby Road, West Common Lane, Scotter Road, Lichfield Avenue, Bridges Road, Manor Farm Road, Willoughby Road, Manby Road, Quebec Road, Moorwell Road, High Leys Road, Enderby Road, Willoughby Road, Chancel Road, Bottesford Road, Ashby High Street, Fulbeck Road, Queensway, Lakeside Retail Park, Bellingham Road, Queensway, Ashby Road and Station Road back to Scunthorpe Bus Station.

The western section of the route between Scunthorpe Bus Station and High Leys Road/Ogilvy Road is also covered by service 3, as is Chancel Road between Cambridge Avenue and Bottesford Lane, so here the overall service falls from a half hourly circular in each direction over services 2 and 3 to an hourly circular in each direction on service 3 only - a significant drop, but could be worse, examples coming up! Quebec Road, Moorwell Road and parts of High Leys Road now join Cemetery Road in Brumby with having double the number of services on a Sunday daytime with service 1A, compared to the Monday to Saturday daytime provision. Talking of the 1A, this evening and Sunday service is now the only service for most of High Leys Road and parts of Enderby Road, joining parts of Burringham Road, Manor Road and East Common Lane with this 'distinction'. Chancel Road between Messingham Road and Cambridge Avenue now only has the 1A and early morning 11, whilst Willoughby Road between Enderby Road and Messingham Road is left only with the early morning 11. Bottesford Road retains the 3 and 4 Monday to Saturday daytimes, but Fulbeck Road is left unserved, whilst Station Road is now only served by college services, early morning service 11, weekday services 360 and 361 from, but not to, Scunthorpe Bus Station and one morning extension of the 350 to Scunthorpe Station.

Scunthorpe Service 10 Withdrawn

In October, North Lincolnshire Council tendered service 10, operated by Stagecoach, was withdrawn (I can't recall for sure but I think 9th October was the last day of operation). The 10 operated on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with differences each day; on a Tuesday the 10 linked Ashby Parklands, Glover Road and Brumby Wood Lane to Scunthorpe Bus Station, on a Thursday it linked these areas to Ashby High Street and on a Friday it provided a link to Scunthorpe Bus Station again, but also served Burringham. On each day one morning trip to Scunthorpe or Ashby was provided along with a lunchtime roundtrip from either Scunthorpe or Ashby.

As a result Burringham, Ashby Parklands and Brumby Wood Lane no longer have a scheduled bus service, whilst Glover Road is only served by college services. The JustGo demand responsive service provides an alternative for Burringham and Ashby Parklands, but cannot be used for journeys within the Scunthorpe Urban area, so is not an option for Glover Road or Brumby Wood Lane to the centre's of either Scunthorpe or Ashby. For some on Glover Road the 3 on West Common Lane would be an alternative option to use.

Stagecoach in North Lincolnshire: What's Operating Normally or Almost Normally?

Most, but not all, Stagecoach services in North Lincolnshire are currently operating to their pre COVID-19 timetables, or with only relatively minor changes.

These are the services which are 'back to normal' (or in some cases I think never altered?):

• 4: Scunthorpe to Brigg (only the Stagecoach operated Sunday service is back to normal, the Hornsby Travel Monday to Saturday service is amended, more in a future post)
• 11: Scunthorpe Monday to Saturday Early Morning Town Circular
• 100: Scunthorpe to Lincoln
• 161: Market Rasen to Lakeside Retail Park
• 260: Barton 'Villager'
• 398: Belton to Gainsborough
• 399: Scunthorpe to Westwoodside (only the Stagecoach evening peak service is back to normal, not the main Isle Coaches operated service, which is not currently operating on a Saturday - this creates the odd situation of the only Saturday timetabled bus service for many communities in the southern Isle of Axholme such as Epworth being the Stagecoach 1740 from Scunthorpe and 1845 from Westwoodside)

Meanwhile these are the 'almost back to normal' services:

• 1A: Scunthorpe Evening and Sunday Town Circular - exact times are amended, but remains half hourly Sunday daytimes and hourly daily evenings in each direction
• 3: Scunthorpe Town Circular - exact times are amended, but remains hourly Monday to Saturday daytime in each direction. The clockwise timetable now gains a morning peak service at 0750 from Scunthorpe Bus Station, presumably to partially replace withdrawn service 2, but looses it's evening peak 1745 departure, last clockwise departure now 1650 with a later anti-clockwise service at 1720
• 7: Scunthorpe to Skippingdale Retail Park - exact times are amended by up to ten minutes, but remains hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes
• 8: Scunthorpe to Skippingdale Retail Park - exact times are amended by up to ten minutes, but remains hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes
• 60: Scunthorpe to Whitton - The pre COVID-19 Monday to Friday timetable is operating Monday to Saturday, providing an extra Saturday journey for most communities on the route compared to pre-pandemic
• 103: Scunthorpe to Lincoln - the main Lincoln service is operating as normal but the three Monday to Saturday daytime Scunthorpe to Messingham 'shorts' have not returned to the timetable, giving Messingham three buses every two hours to Scunthorpe between the hourly 100 and the two hourly 103 Lincoln service.
• 350: Scunthorpe to Hull - back to the normal half hourly Monday to Saturday service, but the final 'full route' journey in each direction Monday to Saturday at 2010 from Scunthorpe and 2120 from Hull is not currently operating, with last journeys currently one hour earlier. In addition neither are the Saturday only 2220 and 2330 Hull to Barton and 2255 Barton to Hull 'shorts' operating, though there is a new 2330 Hull to Barton service 255 journey. A planned April change to the Sunday service, to provide a two hourly frequency, did not take place and it remains six services each way on an uneven frequency, jointly operated with East Yorkshire. As a side note, the last service from Scunthorpe on a Sunday remains at 2010, so an hour later than the rest of the week.

Stagecoach in North East Lincolnshire Status

Here's a brief overview of the current Stagecoach service provision in North East Lincolnshire:

The following services are operating to either their pre-COVID-19 timetables, or are little changed from their pre-COVID-19 timetable:

• 1: Grimsby-Europarc-Wybers Way Top
• 2: Victor Street-Grimsby-Europarc 
• 7: Laceby (peaks only)-Grange Estate-Grimsby-North Sea Lane - times are changed but the core half hourly Monday to Saturday daytime frequency remains. The first journey from Laceby at 0622 now operates on Saturdays as well as Monday to Friday (previous first Saturday service at 0652).
• 20: Cleethorpes-Grimsby-Europarc-Wybers Way Top
• 25: Grimsby-Binbrook-Market Rasen
• 53: Grimsby-Caistor-Market Rasen-Lincoln

Services 3 and 4 between Laceby Road Morrisons, Grimsby Town Centre and Cleethorpes Town Centre have both been increased from every 12 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes and every 15 minutes Saturday daytimes pre-COVID-19 to every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes. Monday to Saturday evening provision drops from every 30-60 minutes to hourly whilst Sunday frequencies match the pre-pandemic service of half hourly on each route in the daytime and hourly in the evening. The evening and Sunday service 4 diversion via Curzon Avenue is not currently operating, whilst there are some notable earlier first journeys Monday to Saturday; 0510 rather than 0555 (Mon-Fri)/0710 (Sat) from Cleethorpes Pier on service 3 and 0425 from Morrisons instead off 0510 (Mon-Fri)/0700 (Sat) on service 4.

Service 5 between Grimsby Town Centre, the Willows Estate and Immingham and Service 6 between Grimsby Town Centre, the Willows Estate and Wybers Wood were last revised on Sunday 1st November and have a different Monday to Saturday pattern compared to pre-pandemic. Instead of a service 5 every 20 minutes and a service 6 every 20 minutes, there is presently a service 5A every half hour omitting the Cromwell Road loop in the Willows Estate and service 6 every 10-20 minutes to give an overall 10 minute frequency between Grimsby Town Centre and the Willows Estate (excluding the Cromwell Road loop). Evening and Sundays have the same provision as pre-pandemic with an hourly service 5 also serving Cleethorpes and North Sea Lane (evenings only), supplemented by service 6 hourly Sunday daytimes. Three Monday to Saturday morning service 5 journeys start back at Cleethorpes Pier at 0500, 0530 and 0600 compared to 0435 (0440 Sat), 0540 and 0640 from Humberston via North Sea Lane and Cleethorpes Pier pre-pandemic. The peak 5m variation to Catch Training is still provided.

Service 8 between Grimsby Town Centre, Grimsby Hospital, New Waltham and North Sea Lane is reduced from half hourly to hourly on Sunday daytimes, compared to the pre-pandemic timetable, but remains half hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes and hourly daily evenings. Times are revised and the first Saturday service from North Sea Lane is now at 0610 rather than 0720. 

Services 9/10 between Waltham, Grimsby Hospital, Grimsby Town Centre, Cleethorpes Town Centre and North Sea Lane remain every 15 minutes combined Monday to Saturday daytime, with service 10 hourly daily evenings. The Sunday daytime service 10 is presently hourly as opposed to half hourly until March, and the Monday to Saturday morning increase from half hourly to every 15 minutes across routes 9 and 10 combined between Waltham and Grimsby now starts at 0635 rather than 0810, but between Grimsby and North Sea Lane commences at 0710 instead off 0625 (Mon-Fri)/0640 (Sat).

Service 12 between Bradley Park, Grange Estate, Grimsby Town Centre, Cleethorpes Town Centre, New Waltham, and at peak times, Waltham, is operating Monday to Saturday to it's pre-pandemic Monday to Friday timetable, with some slight retimings. This means a reduced Saturday service, with the 'oddball' Saturday morning peak only 0745 Bradley Park to Grimsby not operating, the last service from Grimsby to Bradley Park being at 1337 rather than 1737 and rather than an hourly afternoon service from Grimsby to New Waltham, a gap exists between 1420 and 1740.

Service 50 between Grimsby and Saltfleet is operating to it's pre-pandemic Monday to Friday School Holiday timetable Monday to Saturday, including term times apart from the morning peak service from Saltfleet serving Humberston Academy and Grimsby College on schooldays. As a result the Saturday only 0920 Grimsby to Saltfleet and 1600 Saltlfeet to Grimsby have not been restored to the timetable.

The section of service 51 between Louth and Mablethorpe has been withdrawn and replaced by a lower frequency extension of Stagecoach's Lincoln to Louth service instead. Between Grimsby and Louth the 51 is operating to it's pre-pandemic hourly Monday to Saturday daytime frequency.

Service 250 between Cleethorpes, Grimsby and Hull was re-routed between Keelby and Barton as off 1st September, whilst service 450 between Immingham, Barton and Brigg was withdrawn after operation on Saturday 29th August due to the cessation of the North Lincolnshire Council tender, more details on both changes here.

Stagecoach 4 and 14 Update

On November 2nd, Stagecoach further updated the timetables of service 4 between Bilton Grange, Hull City Centre and Orchard Park, and service 14 between Hull Paragon Interchange and Greatfield. On both services the Monday to Friday daytime frequency was increased from every 15 minutes to every 10 minutes - greater than what was provided pre-COVID 19. In addition on service 4, a new Monday to Saturday 2210 departure from Paragon Interchange to Orchard Park was also added (over three hours after the last departure to Orchard Park), along with a 2237 return working, presumably in connection with the then 2200 closure of hospitality venues.

Service 4 and 14 August Changes

Stagecoach Service 5 in Hull

Stagecoach service 5 in Hull between Paragon Interchange, the Avenues, Orchard Park and Kingswood has seen changes in both route and timetable this year.

Starting first with the route, and in Kingswood the service now operates direct between the Leisure Park and Retail Park, providing a quicker service to the Retail Park from the Avenues and Orchard Park. This is instead off the previous route via Barnes Way, Barnes Road, Runnymede Avenue and Runnymede Way. The 5 now also extends from the Retail Park to Kingswood Health Centre via Runnymede Way, Runnymede Avenue, Barnes Road and the previously unserved Richmond Way. 

Pre the COVID-19 pandemic, the 5 operated to the following frequencies:

• Monday to Saturday daytimes every 15 minutes Paragon Interchange to Kingswood and extra 'shorts' every 15 minutes between Paragon Interchange and Orchard Park Medical Centre.
• Monday to Thursday evenings every half hour Paragon Interchange to Kingswood and extra 'shorts' every half hour until 2100 between Paragon Interchange and Orchard Park Medical Centre, operating as service u5 via Inglemire Lane.
• Friday and Saturday evenings every half hour Paragon Interchange to Kingswood and extra 'shorts' 'all evening' every half hour between Paragon Interchange and Orchard Park Medical Centre, operating as service u5 via Inglemire Lane.
• Sunday daytimes every half hour Paragon Interchange to Kingswood and extra 'shorts' every half hour between Paragon Interchange and Orchard Park Tesco.
• Sunday evenings every half hour Paragon Interchange to Kingswood.

As off Sunday 30th August the 5 was operating:

• Monday to Saturday daytimes every 20 minutes Paragon Interchange to Kingswood and extra 'shorts' every 20 minutes between Paragon Interchange and Orchard Park Tesco.
• Monday to Saturday evenings every 30-60 minutes Paragon Interchange to Kingswood (no additional 'shorts' or u5 variation)
• Sunday daytimes every half hour Paragon Interchange to Kingswood.
• Sunday evenings every hour Paragon Interchange to Kingswood with a couple of extra 'shorts' from Paragon Interchange to Orchard Park Tesco.

Subsequently from 2nd November, the Monday to Friday daytime pattern was amended to double the number of 'short' services per hour between Paragon Interchange and Orchard Park Tesco from three to six, giving a frequency of every 6-7 minutes over this section along with the 'full route' Kingswood journeys. In addition the Monday to Saturday evening service is now hourly Paragon Interchange to Kingswood alongside an hourly Paragon Interchange to Orchard Park Tesco 'short'.

Overall frequencies are not back at pre-pandemic levels, but under the circumstances seem reasonable.

First service from Kingswood Health Centre is currently 0450 Monday to Saturday and 0730 Sunday compared to pre-pandemic first departures from Kingswood Retail Park at 0535 Monday to Saturday and 0700 Sunday. From Paragon Interchange services currently commence at 0530 Monday to Saturday and 0750 Sunday as opposed to 0613 Monday to Friday, 0713 Saturday and 0758 Sunday. Last departure from Kingswood Health Centre is presently at 2235 Monday to Saturday and 2230 Sunday instead off 2320 daily from the Retail Park. In the opposite direction the 5's last service from Paragon Interchange leaves at 2320 Monday to Saturday and 2220 Sunday as opposed to 2330 Monday to Saturday and 2328 Sunday.

Hull to Barton Update

Time for a success story. It was only in February that Stagecoach introduced service 255 between Hull Paragon Interchange, Barton Market Place and Barton Wren Kitchens operating 5 journeys from Hull and 3 from Wren Kitchens Monday to Friday. As off 28th September, the 255 is operating as follows:

From Hull:

• 0450 Daily from the Beverley Road/Clough Road Junction (then via Beverley Road to Paragon Interchange at 0505)
• 0550 Monday to Saturday from the Beverley Road/Clough Road Junction (Paragon Interchange at 0605) - on weekdays currently being operated by four double deckers to allow for social distancing
• 0805 Monday to Saturday from Paragon Interchange
• 1410 Monday to Saturday from the Beverley Road/Clough Road Junction (Paragon Interchange at 1425)
• 1550 Monday to Friday from Paragon Interchange
• 1630 Saturday from Paragon Interchange
• 1730 Monday to Saturday from Paragon Interchange
• 1830 Monday to Saturday from Paragon Interchange
• 2330 Monday to Saturday from Paragon Interchange

In addition the 0715 250 from Hull Monday to Saturday serves Wren Kitchens.

From Wren Kitchens:

• 0350 Monday to Thursday to the Beverley Road/Clough Road Junction
• 0848 Monday to Saturday to Paragon Interchange
• 1550 Monday to Saturday to the Beverley Road/Clough Road Junction - again operated by four double deckers Monday to Friday
• 1710 Monday to Saturday to the Beverley Road/Clough Road Junction
• 1820 Monday to Saturday to the Beverley Road/Clough Road Junction
• 1920 Daily to the Beverley Road/Clough Road Junction
• 0020 Tuesday to Sunday morning to the Beverley Road/Clough Road Junction

In addition there are service 250 departures from Wren Kitchens to Hull at 1608, 1723 and 1823 Monday to Saturday.

Quite the increase - some of these services are effectively positioning journeys but even still a significant uplift in provision for Wren Kitchens workers. It's great to see more people commuting by bus, and any reduction in car traffic through Barton Town Centre is definitely a positive. In addition the 255 forms part of the overall Hull to Barton service provision, so it's not just Wren Kitchens workers who can utilise the 255. Before I come to the wider Hull to Barton service, whilst most of the 255 services operate 'out and back' from Hull, and the 0550 (or at least one vehicle from it) works back over the Humber on service 250, the following operate out of service in the opposite direction:

• 0350 Monday to Thursday Wren Kitchens to Beverley Road/Clough Road
• 0450 Daily Beverley Road/Clough Road to Wren Kitchens - could form a useful pre 0630 arrival into Hull from Barton
• 1920 Sunday Wren Kitchens to Beverley Road/Clough Road - there is already an 1830 service 350 departure from Paragon Interchange so running in service from Hull to Barton would duplicate an existing service

Pre COVID-19, the Monday to Saturday daytime service between Barton and Hull was every 15 minutes, split between the half hourly 250 and half hourly 350. The two services shared a common route entering from Humberside Airport/Scunthorpe via Ferriby Road then routing via Barton Market Place, Pasture Road, Butts Road, Barton Interchange and Fleetgate back to Ferriby Road and across the Humber Bridge to Hull, and vice versa from Hull. The 250 'short' working each hour between Hull and Humberside Airport was due to be replaced with an hourly 255/255X between Hull and Barton in April, but this change was never implemented.

Since Tuesday 1st September, the Barton to Hull service pattern has been the 350 as normal (apart from evenings) and one 250 per hour operating a revised route. It arrives from Barrow via Falkland Way to Butts Road and Barton Interchange then 'double backs on itself' along Butts Road to Pasture Road, Barton Market Place and Ferriby Road (early morning variations excepted). This gives a three buses per hour service between Barton and Hull, which at the current time is probably a fair frequency. However it does mean an uneven timetable, with services at 10/20/30 minute intervals from both Barton Interchange and Barton Market Place to Hull, and at 15/15/30 minute intervals from Hull. In addition the 250 and 350 now leave from opposite sides of the road to each other in Barton Market Place and on Pasture Road (though the 250 and 255 now serve the same side of the road in Barton Market Place). This isn't ideal, but with the 250 coming from Barrow and the 350 from Scunthorpe there are no easy answers; given the use of full size single deckers the only suggestion I have is to route the 350 the opposite way around Barton in each direction, so that from Scunthorpe buses operate straight to Barton Interchange then as the 250 route to Hull via the Market Place.

Looking in more detail at the overall Hull to Barton timetable, when adding in the 255, a 15 minute frequency remains from Hull in the 1400, 1600 (Saturday Only) and 1700 hours. The 1550 Monday to Friday 255 isn't great as it sits in between the 1540 350 and 1555 250, before then waiting at Wren Kitchens for 44 minutes. Presumably this is driven by Wren Kitchens shift patterns, as the Saturday arrangement with the 250 at 1630 makes for a far more even timetable out of Hull. Later on the arrangement of service 350 leaving Hull at 1825 and the 255 at 1830 isn't ideal - I'd suggest either move the 255 to 1840 or move the 255 to 1825 and the 350 to 1840/1845 to provide a better spread of departures.

Wren Kitchens will shortly be starting an 'inhouse' commuter coach service from Hull to Barton - how that impacts the 255, if at all, I'm unsure off.

Humber Flyer Rerouted and 450 axed

Back in 2014, a revised timetable for Stagecoach's 250 Humber Flyer appeared on the Traveline East Midlands website, for a re-route of the service at the start of 2015. The Humber Flyer links Hull, Barton, Keelby, Grimsby and Cleethorpes with the plan back then being to re-route between Barton and Keelby away from Barnetby Top, Humberside Airport and Great Limber and instead serve Barrow, Thornton Curtis, Wootton and Ulceby. The change was intended to be temporary due to roadworks on the A18 rail bridge at Melton Ross, but never happened. Flash Forward to Tuesday 1st September 2020 and, aside from the first morning Grimsby to Hull journey, it did happen and not just as a temporary measure.

Saturday 29th August was the last day of operation for route 450 between Immingham, Barton and Brigg (having operated throughout the height of Spring COVID-19 restrictions as normal). The 450 was a North Lincolnshire Council tendered service operated by Stagecoach. It ran four times a day in each direction Monday to Saturday, though on schooldays the third journey from Brigg terminated in Barton and the fourth terminated in Goxhill, meaning the last bus from Barton to the villages of Thornton Curtis, Wootton, Ulceby and South Killingholme was at 1205 rather than 1605 as on Saturdays and in School Holidays. This was down to schools requirements, with the 450 itself providing a schools service to Brigg for out of catchment area students and also being interworked with a Baysgarth School (Barton) service (the 450 used two vehicles each day).

The only new mitigation provided to replace the 450 was the 250's re-routing as described in the first paragraph. This meant that the Barton to Ulceby section of route swapped a basic provision of two to four services a day Monday to Saturday for an hourly service that also serves Hull, Grimsby and Cleethorpes and the last departure from Barton on schooldays is now at 1943 rather than 1205. Quite an upgrade here! The 250 will probably benefit as well from more passengers, as Barrow, Thornton Curtis, Wootton and Ulceby will likely generate more custom than Barnetby Top, Humberside Airport and Great Limber.

As far as routing goes, in Barton, aside from some early morning exceptions, buses from Hull now serve the Market Place, Pasture Road and Butts Road before Barton Interchange, then retrace their route along Butts Road before operating along Falkland Way to Barrow. Last time I checked sadly no stops installed along Falkland Way. Some journeys divert into Wren Kitchens off Falkland Way.

In Barrow, rather than follow the 450 route via Ferry Road, Barton Lane, the Market Place, High Street, Church, Beck Lane and Wold Road, the 250 takes a more direct route via Ferry Road East, Barton Street, the Church, Market Place and Thornton Street. This means that at the Church and Market Place bus stops, the 250 departs towards Barton from the opposite side of the road to the 260 (not ideal), and the Ferry Road and Beck Lane bus stops are not served (still served by the 260). On the plus side the Barton Street bus stop gains it's first all day service in some years. The change is probably driven by a desire to maintain an hourly frequency with four buses whilst still serving the main Market Place and Church bus stops.

Wootton is 'skimmed' by the 250, stopping at the Nags Head public house at the east end of the village only. This compares to the 450 which provided comprehensive coverage of the village by serving the High Street. Again though journey times are probably the issue here; the 250 can do Thornton Curtis to Ulceby in 5 minutes whereas the 450 took 9 minutes.

In Ulceby the eastern end of the village is missed, the but main western part of the village is served and more comprehensive coverage of the village would require a reversal and consume extra time.

Looking at the 250's timetable, compared to pre-COVID-19, the Hull to Grimsby/Cleethorpes service is back to hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes. A planned two hourly Sunday service that was due to start in April (possibly Summer only?) never did. What has changed though is that there are no 'short' Hull to Barton/Humberside Airport journeys, apart from the 0723 Barton Market Place to Hull (that operates the 250's 'old' route/the 350's 'current' route around Barton). Pre-pandemic hourly shorts were provided between Hull and Humberside Airport, though these were due to be replaced in April with 255/255X 'shorts' between Hull and Barton only, that like the 250's Sunday service, never started. I will cover Hull to Barton, including the 255, in more detail in a separate post.

Returning to the 450's demise and for a lot of the remaining communities, North Lincolnshire Council's demand responsive service, which changed from CallConnect to JustGo in September, is now the only option. It's also the only option for anyone in Barton, Barrow, Thornton Curtis, Wootton or Ulceby who need/want to travel to Brigg or Immingham (school services excepted).

At the eastern end of the 450, South Killingholme two years ago had a 20 minute service to Immingham and Grimsby in addition to the 450. Now no 'scheduled' service at all apart from schools which is a very disappointing development. (To be fair, that 20 minute service was no doubt only so frequent due to the village's proximity to employment sites, rather than because the village itself justified it). Ulceby Skitter which the 450 served is home to Ulceby railway station, so here rail is now the only 'scheduled' public transport provision.

Turning to the Barton to Brigg section, the first village out of Barton was South Ferriby, which is served by the half hourly 350 between Hull, Barton and Scunthorpe. The main loss here is the Brigg link, and the service to the south of the village not served by the 350. Horkstow, Saxby, Bonby, Worlaby and Elsham now have no scheduled bus service apart from schools/college services. Finally Wrawby does have the X4 to Brigg and Scunthorpe as an alternative, but Monday to Friday only.

Barton to Brigg has been tried as a 6 day a week subsidised service for over 20 years at frequencies varying from uneven intervals to hourly, and with many journeys omitting Elsham to save time for a period. I myself used the service for 7 years for school/college travel and towards the end of that time had reason to use some of the non-schools journeys - they were never busy. Schools demand justified double deckers for the last 15 years, but North Lincolnshire Council are now diverting this traffic to Sherwood Travel schools services. Horkstow, Saxby, Bonby, Worlaby and Elsham are small villages. The only village that has much demand for Barton is South Ferriby, as noted also covered by the 350. In Wrawby the 450 hasn't been the 'main' service since the 68 Wolds Villager was introduced in the mid-noughties. Other than schools travel, people in Barton aren't likely to visit Brigg on a regular basis. People in Brigg aren't likely to visit Barton much at all. Barton to Brigg has been given a 'good go', particularly in the noughties. If it's not working as a 6 days a week service I can understand it - though I do think it's a shame at least a Thursday 'market day' bus to Brigg hasn't been retained.

X62 Remains Suspended

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stagecoach's X62 between Hull, Brough, Goole and Leeds has not operated. The Hull timetable page of the Stagecoach website calls the X62 'suspended' as opposed to withdrawn, so there is still a chance the route returns. The same also applies to the N(6)2 between Hull and Brough.

Stagecoach in Hull: What's Operating Normally or Almost Normally?

While many Stagecoach services in Hull are currently operating to different timetables (and in some cases routes) compared to pre-COVID-19, there are a couple of exceptions where the pre-pandemic service is currently being provided:

• 242: Hedon to Beverley
• 677: Hull Paragon Interchange to Preston Cranswick Foods

In addition the following services currently only have minor changes compared to the pre-pandemic provision:

• 16: Hull Paragon Interchange to Preston Road - the Saturday only 0840 departure from Paragon Interchange is not operating, the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 1440 departure from Paragon Interchange and 1509 return now operate at 1450 and 1519 respectively Monday to Saturday. Some other journeys have also been slightly retimed.
• 123: Beverley to Bransholme North Point Shopping Centre - the college day extension to/from Wilberforce College is not currently operating (unless it's a 'closed' schools service extension?)
• 350: Hull Paragon Interchange to Scunthorpe - the final 'full route' journey in each direction Monday to Saturday at 2010 from Scunthorpe and 2120 from Hull is not currently operating, with alternate journeys one hour earlier. In addition neither are the Saturday only 2220 and 2330 Hull to Barton and 2255 Barton to Hull 'shorts', though there is a new 2330 Hull to Barton service 255 journey (more in a future post). A planned April change to the Sunday service, to provide a two hourly frequency, did not take place. As a side note, the last service from Scunthorpe on a Sunday remains at 2010, so an hour later than the rest of the week.

Bricknell Estate Update

Stagecoach service 3b between Hull Paragon Interchange and the Bricknell Estate currently continues to provide a hourly Monday to Saturday off peak service as it did pre-pandemic, however it has been cut back at the start and end of the day. In the morning, the peak service has been withdrawn with the first journey from the Bricknell Estate now at 0902 Monday to Saturday rather than 0653 Monday to Friday and 0753 Saturday, and from Paragon Interchange at 0945 Monday to Saturday rather than 0835 Monday to Friday and 0945 Saturday. In the afternoon, the 3b now has final departures from Paragon Interchange at 1345 Monday to Friday and 1445 Saturday as opposed to 1445 Monday to Friday and 1645 Saturday. From the Bricknell Estate the last service is now at 1402 Monday to Friday and 1502 Saturday instead of 1502 Monday to Friday and 1702 Saturday.

Stagecoach's 7, 8 and 11 in Hull

Pre-pandemic, Stagecoach services 7 and 8 combined to offer a service every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes between Hull Paragon Interchange, Beverley Road, Sutton Park and Bransholme North Point Shopping Centre. The 7 then continued half hourly to North Bransholme via Bodmin Road before forming a circular with service 6 between North Bransholme, Kingswood and Paragon Interchange. Service 8 also extended back to Paragon Interchange half hourly, but without a change in number, via Midmere Avenue, Howdale Road, Dunvegan Road, Salthouse Road and Holderness Road. The 8 also had two variants; the 8a omitted Midmere Avenue and Dunvegan Road in favour of Biggin Avenue, part of Noddle Hill Way, Kestrel Avenue and the central and eastern sections of Howdale Road and operated as an hourly off peak variation, while the 8x was a weekday morning peak variation via Clough Road and Sutton Fields Industrial Estate. Evenings and Sundays the 7a operated half hourly (hourly Sunday evenings) mostly following the service 7 route but serving Honiton Road and Wawne Road instead of Bodmin Road, and extending from North Bransholme to Kingswood Retail Park via the service 6 route.

Looking at the arrangements in Stagecoach's 30th August network and there has been some significant changes. Firstly the 7 and 8 are no longer co-ordinated, with the 7 operating half hourly and the 8 every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes, giving an extra bus per hour between Paragon Interchange and North Point, but at uneven intervals.

The 7 now had a totally different route beyond North Point, with Bodmin Road and North Bransholme no longer served, and the 6 operating as a 'standalone' service. As such Bodmin Road no longer has a link to Beverley Road, though the 2 and 10 provide services from both Bodmin Road and North Bransholme to North Point and Hull City Centre five times an hour combined Monday to Saturday daytime, and the 11 provides an extra service every 20 minutes for part of Bodmin Road. 

Instead the 7 now operates a loop from North Point via Honiton Road, Biggin Avenue, part of Noddle Hill Way, Kestrel Avenue, the central and eastern sections of Howdale Road, Sutton Village and the southern part of Wawne Road back to North Point. This loop is largely to replace the withdrawn 8a variant, but also covers for the loss of the 9 on Honiton Road. The half hourly frequency of the 7 represents a doubling of frequency for Biggin Avenue, Kestrel Avenue and the parts of Howdale Road that were only served by service 8a hourly pre-pandemic. The loop does not operate at peak times, and the morning peak service is inbound only to Paragon Interchange, with the afternoon peak service outbound only from Paragon Interchange.

Turning to service 8, and aside from the withdrawal of the 8a variant, the other route change is a diversion away from a small portion of Salthouse Road to serve part of Bellfield Avenue and Middlesex Road - the pre-pandemic 11a route. This provides a new Monday to Saturday daytime service for Middlesex Road. As already noted the frequency has increased from half hourly to every 20 minutes; the 8X variant remains and now also operates on Saturdays. 

Looking in more detail at the timetable, the first clockwise service 8X from Paragon Interchange is now at 0537 Monday to Saturday, rather than the first Sutton Park departure being at 0617 on service 7 pre-pandemic. From North Point the first departure for Sutton Park is now at 0553 on service 8 Monday to Saturday rather than 0455 Monday to Friday and 0555 Saturday. 

The evening and Sunday 7a has been withdrawn; with the reversion of the evening and Sunday 12a variant to operate via the main 12 route, the northern section of Wawne Road is covered, and service 6 has gained an evening and Sunday service to replace the 7a around Kingswood and North Bransholme, albeit at a lower frequency - hourly at all times rather than half hourly Monday to Saturday evenings and Sunday daytimes. Service 8 has gained an hourly early evening Monday to Saturday and Sunday daytime service, but otherwise Sutton Park is served daily evenings (hourly) and Sunday daytimes (half hourly) by the 2A. Sunday daytimes, the 2A and 8 combination provide Sutton Park with three services an hour, compared to two pre-pandemic.

Finally to service 11 between Hull Paragon Interchange, Holderness Road, Bellfield Avenue, Dunvegan Road, Howdale Road, Midmere Avenue, North Point, Tiverton Road, Bodmin Road and Kingswood Retail Park. Routing wise, the 11 no longer operates direct between Bodmin Road and Kingswood Retail Park, but instead routes via Kingsbury Way and Richmond Lane to Kingswood Health Centre, replacing service 9, before changing number on most journeys to service 5 then serving Kingswood Retail Park. The evening and Sunday 11a variant for Salthouse Road is gone with the main 11 route operating at all times, replaced by the 8 along Salthouse Road Monday to Saturday early evening and Sunday daytimes only. Finally Monday to Saturday morning peak services no longer serve Hull Royal Infirmary and Smith & Nephew.

Service 11 frequency is currently every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and hourly evenings and Sundays, compared to every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and half hourly evenings and Sundays pre-pandemic, though the 8 parallels the 11 for most of it's route between Paragon Interchange and North Point, and it's frequency improvements replace the 'lost' service 11 journey each hour during the daytime.

First service from Kingswood Retail Park is 0432 Monday to Saturday and 0728 Sunday compared to 0645 and 0715 respectively pre-pandemic - though earlier 'short's were provided from North Point starting at 0455 Monday to Friday and 0555 Saturday. First service from Paragon Interchange is now at 0550 Monday to Saturday and 0740 Sunday rather than 0555 Monday to Friday, 0655 Saturday and 0735 Sunday. Last service from Paragon Interchange is now at 2320 Monday to Saturday and 2210 Sunday as opposed to 2330 daily, whilst from Kingswood Retail Park the final service leaves at 2252 Monday to Saturday and 2158 Sunday rather than 2340 daily.