Interconnect 51 July Changes

From VOSA

PB0000163/49 - GRIMSBY CLEETHORPES TRANSPORT CO LTD T/A STAGECOACH GRIMSBY CLEETHORPES, PO BOX 15, DEACON ROAD, LINCOLN, LN2 4JB

Variation Accepted: Operating between Grimsby Bus Station and Louth Bus Station given service number 51/51A/51B/51C effective from 23-Jul-2012. To amend Timetable.

The service was last amended in April.

Holloways Coaches win 90/590 tender

From VOSA:

PB0001403/33 - HOLLOWAYS COACHES LTD, COTTAGE BECK ROAD, SCUNTHORPE, DN16 1TP

• Registration Accepted by SN
• Starting Point: Scunthorpe Bus Station
• Finish Point: Scunthorpe Bus Station
• Via: Gunnes Althorpe Ealand Crowle Eastoft Luddington Garthorpe
• Service Number: 90
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 09-JUL-2012
• Other Details: Monday to Saturday

PB0001403/34 - HOLLOWAYS COACHES LTD, COTTAGE BECK ROAD, SCUNTHORPE, DN16 1TP

• Registration Accepted
• Starting Point: Eastoft Memorial
• Finish Point: North Lindsey College
• Via: Eastoft Crowle Ealand Althorpe
• Service Number: 590
• Service Type: Limited Stop
• Effective Date: 04-SEP-2012
• Other Details: College Days only

Back in April, Stagecoach proposed to withdraw the commercially operate 90 between Brigg, Scunthorpe and Crowle, and the 590 college day variant. North Lincolnshire Council then issued an emergency tender for the routes until July. It now seems Holloways Coaches have won the tender for July onwards. I would guess the Brigg to Scunthorpe section will not be replaced, as it is covered by Hornsby service 4, but interesting to note Holloways 90 continuing beyond Crowle to Garthorpe. Will this be competing with Sweyne Coaches commercially operated weekday services (and Stagecoach tendered Saturday service 357)?

Not winning the 90/590 tender will result in a PVR reduction of 3 for Stagecoach's Scunthorpe depot - more severe than April's changes and arguably bringing some of the points in this post into sharper focus.

Jubilee Weekend Services

This weekend is the main national celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, with two bank holidays on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th June.

Most operators in the region are operating a Sunday services on both days, as is usual on most bank holidays. This includes EYMS (except no Moorsbus on the 5th), Arriva Yorkshire, Transdev York and First South Yorkshire.

One exception is Stagecoach in Hull, which on Monday 4th are running a 'Sunday Plus' service with frequencies of up to every 15 minutes, and a normal Monday evening service. However I can't find any details of the routes seeing this Sunday Plus service. Other services by Stagecoach in the region will have a Sunday timetable on the 4th, as do all Stagecoach services on the 5th.

Also Transdev Yorkshire Coastliner will operate a Saturday timetable on the 4th and 5th, as is usual for them on Bank Holidays.

Market Weighton-York July Changes?

From VOSA:

PB0000328/395 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS

• Registration Accepted
• Starting Point: Market Weighton
• Finish Point: York Railway Station
• Via: Pocklington
• Service Number: X47
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 22-JUL-2012
• Other Details: Monday to Saturday evenings 4 jouneys each direction Sunday

PB0000328/396 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS

• Registration Accepted
• Starting Point: Market Weighton
• Finish Point: York Railway Station
• Via: Pocklington
• Service Number: X46
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 22-JUL-2012
• Other Details: Approx. every 30 mins Mon-Sat daytime. 8 journeys each direction Sunday

My first thought was that these registrations were related to transitioning the services from EU to domestic driver hours rules. This maybe the case, however the frequencies do not match the current level of service. The X46 is currently hourly throughout it's route between Hull and York Monday to Saturday daytimes, and has only 3 Sunday services in each direction. So possibly some enhancements and/or changes to other Market Weighton-York services (X4/746) to come?

Local Sustainable Transport Fund

Yesterday the Department for Transport announced successful bidders for the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. In the Humber region these were:

East Riding of Yorkshire Council - £943,000 for 'Get Moving Goole'. Bus related measures include real time passenger information on EYMS services. (Search for Get Moving Goole on google for the full bid document - it's the second pdf)

Hull City Council - £1.87 million. Bus related measures include promoting bus use, upgrading bus infrastucture, and most significantly, a new 'Hull Card' bus ticket, available for use on both EYMS and Stagecoach services.

North East Lincolnshire Council - £4.33 million. Full details here. Bus related measures include real time passenger information and an improved bus station in Grimsby, including a new staffed information office.

Return to Skippingdale

From this Monday (21st May) Stagecoach operated Scunthorpe town service 37 will serve Skippingdale Retail Park, which has recently attracted a number of new stores including Matalan last Autumn.

If I remember correctly RoadCar served the retail park with a Scunthorpe Town Service until Tesco relocated in the early noughties.

EYMS June 121/743 Changes

From Sunday 3rd June EYMS are altering the 121 Hull to Scarborough via Beverley, Driffield and Bridlington service, as well as the 743 between Driffield and Pocklington.

On the 121 some journeys will omit Reighton village to improve reliability; the village's service will be generally two hourly, retaining it's current hourly frequency at times. Also more journeys will operate via Cayton Bay instead of Eastfield in Scarborough.

In the evenings the 2125 from Hull will now terminate in Nafferton, not Bridlington, will the apparently little used 2300 from Bridlington to Driffield withdrawn. As a result the last bus from Hull to Bridlington is at 1825 on Sundays and at 1625 on Monday to Saturdays. From Bridlington to Driffield the last bus will now be at 2030 daily.

On the 743 buses from Driffield shall now start from the EYMS Depot and then serve George Street; currently they serve George Street before the EYMS Depot.

EYMS announcement

In addition EYMS are 'splitting' the 121, X21 (Hull to Scarborough fast) and 744 (Bridlington to York) in June to operate under domestic rather than EU driver hours.

Humber Connections

In last month's service changes, Stagecoach revised the 45/150/250/450 to operate as the 45/150/450 under the Humber Connections brand. It's a change for the better, as I noted at the time.

However Stagecoach have let themselves down big time with a timetable that makes no sense at all. They have split the timetable into one for the 45 only, and another showing the 150/450, and supposedly all services, including the 45, to South Killingholme. Yet the two do not match up. Here are some of the inconsistencies I have found between the two:

• The 0715 from Grimsby serves South Killingholme on Saturdays only according to the 45 timetable, but on Monday to Saturdays according to the 150/450 timetable
• The 1445, 1545 and 1645 from Grimsby serve South Killingholme on Saturdays only according to the 45 timetables, but not at all according to the 150/450 timetable
• The 1715 and 1745 from Grimsby continue beyond South Killingholme to Ulceby on Monday to Fridays obly according to the 45 timetable, but on Monday to Saturdays according to the 150/450 timetable
• The 0715 450 from Barton to Immingham (and onwards as a 45 to Grimsby) operates Monday to Saturday according to the 150/450 timetable, but is just a 0750 45 from South Killingholme on Saturdays according to the 45 timetable
• The 0800 from Habrough operates on college days only according to the 45 timetable, but on Monday to Saturdays according to the 150/450 timetable
• The 1520, 1620 and 1720 45's from South Killingholme are shown in the 45 timetable, but omitted from the 150/450 timetable meant to show the entire South Killingholme service
• The 1805 and 1835 service 46's are shown as starting in South Killingholme in the 45 timetable, but are omitted from the 150/450 timetable

There could be other inconsistencies I have missed! However what is the real timetable for Humber Connections, because I haven't a clue! North Lincolnshire Council have their own version in their 'Barton and Immingham' timetable (NLC Leaflet 1) but while that seems to clear up some of the Stagecoach inconsistencies (e.g. the 0715 from Barton does not operate on Saturdays) it has errors of it's own.

Moving on, some complexity on the corridor is inevitable, however I do wonder if some simplification could be made. Firstly Stagecoach show the 45/450 as being split at Immingham (route number change) and Barton to comply with domestic hours rules. Yet as the 2009 version of the 45B showed, Grimsby-Immingham-Barton can be done under domestic hours as it is under 30 miles. So why not just split the service in the timetable once and make it simplier to understand. Even more odd is that 45/150 journeys are shown as being split in Immingham. Grimsby-East Halton is way under 30 miles.

Next there could be some service number simplification. The 150 made sense when it served Barton and provided an hourly weekday Grimsby-Barton service alongside the 250, connecting into the 350 and 450. But that all finished in 2006. Personally I would renumber it the 45E. Then if the 45/450 renumbering moved from Immingham to Barton, all South Killingholme services would be the 45, or a variant off.

Looking at the timetable there seems to be some dead mileage that could be reduced. Stagecoach currently have a Baysgarth School (Barton) contract 552. The vehicle from this used to operate the 0900 250 from Barton to Grimsby, but not any more. I wonder if it now goes onto the 0935 150 from East Halton. If so, why not start it back from Barton on schooldays and offer a slightly earlier alternative to the 0945 450/45?

Also there is a 1415 45/450 from Grimsby to Barton, arriving at 1523. This almost certainly provides the bus for the afternoon 552. But on School Holidays and Saturdays this has to run dead from Barton. Why not run it back in service though? There is no 450 from Barton to Immingham between 1345 and 1715, so a new 1545 would fill a gap, and may help develop connections between the 450 and Humber Fastcat. Anyone from Ulceby going for a dayout in Hull currently has to leave Hull at 1305 or 1635 to meet their connection at Barton to return home. Yet at 1545 450 from Barton would connect out of the 1505 from Hull, offering more flexibility for passengers. If this 'messed up' the South Killingholme-Grimsby timetable, then why not run it as an additional service between these points - better than dead mileage surely?

Talking off connections at Barton, there isn't even a footnote about them in the Stagecoach timetable. Missed opportunity?

The 450 timetable also has quite a bit of 'slack in it'. Buses wait 22 minutes in Brigg - but could sometthing better be done with this? The use of double deckers restricts the options, but what about extending to Brigg Garden Centre (should take about 5-7 minutes each way)? Could be a useful link, and replace the 3 day a week Brigg Town Service 93 in the process.

The biggest bit of slack however is on Saturdays and School Holidays when the 450 waits in Brigg from 1438 to 1630. Even allowing for the driver's break, this seems wasteful. The 1630 from Brigg is needed as it forms the 1715 from Barton, which is useful for connections from Hull and Scunthorpe to Barrow, Ulceby etc. However could it run earlier, say at 1530 as on schooldays, and then, as on schooldays, also serve Barrow and Goxhill before returning to Barton for 1715? This could enable the withdrawal of the 1603 service 260 Barton Villager.

Another possible idea is a couple of minor re-routings in Barton. Firstly could the 450 serve Tesco (about 2 minutes extra). Secondly could it also divert to serve Meadow Drive (as the X21 did about 15 years ago) - currently served only by the 3 day a week Barton Town Service, Meadow Drive serves a fairly substantial housing estate and would only take about 2-3 minutes extra in each direction. If all this does take up too much time, the 450 doesn't really need to serve Barton Market Place twice!!!

Finally the 150 also has a lot of 'slack' within the timetable - 28 minutes in East Halton. Could this be better used to serve sides roads within Immingham en-route (such as routing via the Church and Emmersons Coaches depot). This may slightly mess up the even interval frequency to South Killingholme, but only 3 times a day. It would however provide useful new links within Immingham.

So Humber Connections - great principle. More efficient and smarter working. But please proof-read the timetable. And it could be made simplier. And a few minor changes could generate some extra custom and serve more places - without any siginficant time or fuel penalty.

EYMS Bridlington Town Service Changes coming in July

Some Bridlington town service changes coming in July from EYMS. From VOSA:

PB0000328/69 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS
Variation Accepted: Operating between Bridlington Bus Station and Bempton Lane Circular given service number 512/513 effective from 02-Jul-2012. To amend Timetable.

PB0000328/70 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS
Variation Accepted: Operating between Bridlington Bus Station and West Hill Circular given service number 505/506 effective from 01-Jul-2012. To amend Timetable.

PB0000328/71 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS

Variation Accepted: Operating between Bridlington Bus Station and New Pasture Lane Circular given service number 507/508/517 effective from 01-Jul-2012. To amend Timetable.