The Grimsby Telegraph reports that North East Lincolnshire Council have arranged with Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes to 'reinstate' a bus service around Hainton Avenue and Weelsby Road in Grimsby, lost when the Interconnect 3 was altered earlier in the year. No word on what form the replacement, which will be on a 6 month trial, will take. Earlier in the year Stagecoach were looking at diverting the 51 to Louth via the area.
I use the word reinstate in inverted commas, since the Humber Flyer still serves Hainton Avenue, so it is only a small part of Weelsby Road currently without a service.
Safeguard 550 Recreation
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Today, 30th November, I was lucky enough to join three friends aboard
preserved Duple Dominant-bodied Leyland Leopard OPC 26R for an afternoon
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3 comments:
Time was when the only stretch of Weelsby Road currently devoid of service was the only section to enjoy a 6-days-a-week, 30-minute bus service in the form of Services 1 and 2. Back then, the section currently served by HF was only served on Sundays by Service 16 to a 40-minute frequency.
I suspect that if the area's crematorium wasn't located along the section of Weelsby Road currently unserved, the pressure to provide a service would be far less.
It always fascinates me when roads which received no service at all suddenly receive a bus route and a decent frequency, such as Weelsby Road from Hainton Avenue to Lovelane Corner and most of Clee Road. How can Stagecoach justify introducing its flagship Hull service here while at the same time downgrading and then removing an established service further along the same road?
SGC does not undertake passenger research, so I would suspect the HF has been routed the way it has to enable it to link the centres of Grimsby and Cleethorpes as quickly as possible. They don't say this of course, but if anyone thinks it is because they care for people in the area, you only need to look to the bus-less (populated) section of Weelsby Road.
It wasn't just the fact that Weelsby Road between the College and the Fire Station was no longer served, but also the withdrawal of a low floor bus from the route-many of the older passengers have expressed annoyance at having step entrance buses on Hainton Avenue.
Rumour control has it that Stagecoach were also looking at extending the number 2 to serve the two roads, but like the 51 proposal it went quiet.
I find it positively bizarre that this stretch of Weelsby Road is without a bus service given the amount of elderly people living in that area.
Unfortunately, the worst thing to happen to Weelsby Road was the Peaks Parkway road since that particular junction creates all manner of tailbacks and chaos stretching back to Weelsby Woods and beyond at peak times. The erratic traffic light system barely helps either so I'd guess if one was to provide a bus service down there now, then bus timetables would have to be rather "flexible" to say the least.
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