EYMS VOSA Changes

The following variations, cancellations and registrations have been published on the VOSA website today. I presumme the 155 registration covers the tendered Sunday service.

 

PB0000328/6 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS

Variation Accepted: Operating between Hull and Withernsea given service number 75/75H/76/77/914 effective from 23-Nov-2014. To amend Timetable.

 

PB0000328/17 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS

Cancellation Accepted: Operating between Withernsea and Hull given service number 174 effective from 24-Nov-2014.

 

PB0000328/18 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS

Cancellation Accepted: Operating between Hull and Withernsea given service number 175 effective from 24-Nov-2014.

 

PB0000328/462 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS

• Registration Accepted
• Starting Point: Hull Interchange
• Finish Point: Museums Quarter Circular
• Via:
• Service Number: VC1
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 29-NOV-2014
• Other Details: New Service

PB0000328/463 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS

• Registration Accepted by SN
• Starting Point: South Cave
• Finish Point: Goole
• Via: Gilberdyke
• Service Number: 155
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 02-NOV-2014
• Other Details: New Service

Kirton Kipper to Hibaldstow

North Lincolnshire Council have announced their directly operated 'Kirton Klipper' service will be extended to the nearby villages off Redbourne and Hibaldstow from 24th November.

North Lincolnshire Council has brought in a new bus to deliver the Kirton Klipper and Isle Shopper bus services to ensure that the best possible facilities are provided for residents.

The Kirton Klipper will also be expanding its route from 24 November 2014. From this date it will stop off at Hibaldstow, Redbourne and Gainsthorpe Road; meaning that more people can benefit from the service.

The service will still run on the same days: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Currently the service does four circular loops around Kirton-in-Lindsey finishing at 11.40am. However the new route will run up until nearly 2pm. 

The council has invested £8,000 to allow for improvements to be made to these bus services. The new and improved bus continues to provide access for disabled people and people in wheelchairs as it has a lift for passengers.

The bus will also carry out school runs before and after the Kirton Klipper and Isle Shopper services. On the days it doesn’t do the Kirton Klipper service it will provide the Isle Shopper service on Wednesday and Fridays.

Cllr Neil Poole, cabinet member for policy and resources, said:
“We have listened to residents views in North Lincolnshire by investing in and improving this much-needed bus service in Kirton and the Isle of Axholme. The new bus is a lot more suitable for the job and more adaptable. After reviewing the Kirton Klipper bus service it was recognised that the route needed to be extended to reach more locations and keep running for longer.

“We are in the process of the reviewing the Isle Shopper service to see if any improvements need to be made, such as increasing its route.”

End of the LinQ

After a year of operation, Stagecoach axed their Saturday evening/night LinQ service at the end of August.

The service had operated from North Point to Mecca Bingo on Clough Road via Holderness Road, Hull City Centre and the Avenues. Between North Point and Holderness Road the route was either via Midmere Avenue, Spring Cottage and Salthouse Road (LinQ 1) or Wawne Road, Sutton Village and Ings Road (LinQ 2). Services to Clough Road operated every 10 minutes in the early evening, then every 10 minutes from Clough Road late evening and every half hour from Clough Road between 2330 and 0200. Services alternated between the LinQ 1 and LinQ 2 routes.

As a partial replacement, Stagecoach have linked up evening journeys on the 15/new route 16 with services 32 and 51 to offer cross city journeys via Hull Interchange without the need to change buses. In East Hull the 32 and 51 serve many of the areas covered by the LinQ, including Holderness Road, Sutton Village, Spring Cottage, Midmere Avenue and North Point, plus some additional areas including Summergangs Road, Bellfield Avenue, Noddle Hill Way, Bodmin Road and Kingswood. These links run either 6 or 7 days a week, offering through services from East Hull to the Avenues on more than just Saturday evenings.

At this point it is probably worth explaining new service 16; it operates via the service 15 route between Hull Interchange and Cranbrook Avenue before omitting Orchard Park and operating directly to Kingswood Leisure Park via the part of Greenwood Avenue only served by service 14 and Beverley Road. From Kingswood Leisure Park it operates directly to the Retail Park before extending to Kingswood Health Centre, who's only other service is at weekday peak times. The 16 operates half hourly Monday to Saturday evenings and Sunday daytimes, combining with the 15 to provide a 15 minute frequency over common sections of route. The 15 had operated every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday early evenings and Sunday daytimes so for Orchard Park and parts of Kingswood only served by service 15, frequency is halfed at these times. Was the 15 underused in these areas at these times? The 16 appears to serve less populated areas and has no journey time advantage over the 15. I'm struggling to understand the point of the service. While it would mean some 'double backing', Kingswood Health Centre could be served as extensions of the 15 if required.

With the exception of the late evening service on the 15 'corridor' via the Avenues being doubled with the addition of the 16, no frequencies are increased anywhere in Hull to accomodate the loss of the LinQ service. I can only guess this reflects usage of the LinQ. Similarly those parts of East Hull who's only evening service was provided by LinQ - Ings Road and Salthouse Road - gain no replacement. Neither is the 'nightbus' element of LinQ replaced, leaving just the 15 and 51 providing a limited nightbus service in some of the areas previously served by LinQ. It seems like LinQ failed, but at least Stagecoach gave it a go.

Finally worth noting some other changes to the 15. All inbound services daily after 1400 will operate directly via Park Street to Hull Interchange, Saturday afternoon services now operate via Kingswood Leisure Park, the last departure from Kingswood Retail Park on weekdays is now 25 minutes earlier at 2310 rather than 2335, while the 'N' prefix has been dropped from the Saturday nightbus service. From Hull Truck Theatre the 0200 is dropped (last bus now 0100), and from Kingswood there is a new 0000 departure but the 0130 is withdrawn (last bus now 0030).

Greatfield and Bilton Grange Changes

Greatfield and Bilton Grange weren't excluded from Stagecoach's changes in Hull at the start of the month. The biggest change was to services 54/54A which became the 54/55. Previously these services between Hull City Centre and Bilton Grange had operated every 10 minutes weekday daytimes, every 15 minutes Saturday daytimes, half hourly Monday to Saturday evenings and Sunday daytimes, and hourly Sunday evenings. All journeys operated as service 54 via Maybury Road except for alternate Monday to Saturday daytime journeys that operated as service 54A via Marfleet Lane. Almost all services on the both the 54 and 54A started as/continued as service 43 from/to Hull City Centre via Greatfield.

The new operating pattern sees all service 54's operate as a circular with service 43, while service 55 that replaces service 54A will not operate as a circular. Service 55 will instead terminate at the Hopewell Road/Staveley Road junction, restoring services to a section of Hopewell Road that I don't think has been served since the 10 was routed via Bilton Grange.

The Monday to Saturday daytime timetable has been revised; the 55 will operate half hourly and the 54 4 journeys per hour on weekdays and half hourly on Saturdays; combined this provides a service every 10 minutes on weekday daytimes and every 15 minutes on Saturday daytimes. On weekdays the last 55 inbound from Bilton Grange is at 1350, though on Saturdays the inbound service runs all day until 1745. The first journey on weekdays from Hull is at 0910 compared to 0715 on the previous 54A. It should however be noted these cutbacks only impact parts of Marfleet Lane that do not have a recent history of frequent services from what I can recall.

Service 43 between Hull City Centre, Preston Road and Greatfield has early morning changes as part of the Workers+ initative. The 5 early morning weekday journeys that start in Bilton Grange will operate via Witham for connections to service 30 and then route via Carr Lane, Hull Royal Infirmary, Rawling Way, English Street Smith and Nephew to Hull Interchange. The N prefix is dropped for the Saturday nightbus services, as is the 0200 departure from Hull Truck Theatre; two departures at 0000 and 0100 remain.

Due to the 54A/55 changes noted above, 2 services per hour on weekday daytimes on the 43 do not operate as a circular with the 54 but instead terminate at Greatfield and return to Hull City Centre as another 43. One aspect that has confused me is that all 4 service 43's per hour on Saturday daytimes are shown in the timetable as operating as 'Bilton Grange circular' but there are only 2 54's per hour on Saturday daytimes. Are there only 2 43/54 circulars per hour on Saturday daytimes, or does the 55 operate as a circular with the 43 on Saturdays only?

13, 14 Changes

Stagecoach made some major changes to their 13 and 14 services between Hull and Orchard Park. at the start of September.

Previously service 13 had operated from Hull Interchange via Spring Bank, Chanterlands Avenue, Bricknell Avenue, Fairfax Avenue and Hall Road to Orchard Park Tesco. The service had operated every 10 minutes on weekday daytimes, every 15 minutes on Saturday daytimes, half hourly on Monday to Saturday evenings and Sunday daytimes, and hourly on Sunday evenings. Half hourly Monday to Saturday daytime journeys and hourly evening and Sunday services had operated as service 13A via Hotham Road Shops instead off Fairfax Avenue.

Now the main service 13 route has been routed via Hotham Road Shops, and Fairfax Avenue is served by a new 13b variation. The combined frequency remains every 10 minutes weekday daytimes and half hourly in the evenings. Saturday daytimes, unlike some other services in Hull, have an increased frequency, now operating every 10 minutes before a half hourly evening service. Sundays retain a half hourly daytime and hourly evening service. Monday to Saturday daytimes alternate journeys shall operate as service 13b via Fairfax Avenue, otherwise all journeys operate as service 13.

Service 13 has for quite some years formed a circular with service 14 between Hull City Centre, Beverley Road, Greenwood Avenue and Orchard Park, and still does. Since the start of the month the 14 has however had it's Monday to Saturday daytime frequency cut from every 15 minutes to every 20 minutes. Monday to Saturday evenings and Sunday daytimes remain half hourly and Sunday evenings hourly. Beverley Road, parts of Greenwood Avenue and Orchard Park are well served by other services so this is not a major cutback.

Most service 13b's not operate as a circular, apart from afternoons. Services from Hull Interchange to Orchard Park Tesco will not return as a service 13b after the 1345 from Orchard Park, after which time the 13b will only operate in one direction, outbound from the Interchange. From Orchard Park the frequency reduces to every 20 minutes on service 13 only. Instead services will operate as service 14b from Orchard Park Tesco to Hull Interchange direct via Beverley Road. This seems to simply be an attempt to get buses back to the Interchange via the most direct route possible, and no attempt is made to co-ordinate the 14 and 14b to provide a 10 minute even interval service.

Other changes see substantial early morning improvements. Previously on weekdays there was a 0500 and 0630 service 13 from Greenwood Avenue (not serving Orchard Park Tesco) then the main peak service started at 0703 from Orchard Park Tesco. On Saturdays the service started at 0638 from Orchard Park Tesco. Now there is a half hourly early morning service from Greenwood Avenue between 0500 (0530 on Saturdays) and 0700, that continues as a service 30 at Hull Interchange to North Bransholme as part of the Workers+ initative. What stands out here to me is that these changes include Saturdays as well as weekdays. The weekday morning frequency from Hull Interchange between 0700 and 0900 drops from every 15 minutes to every 20 minutes but on Saturdays increases from half hourly to every 20 minutes.

The inbound city centre routes for the 13 and 14 have also been revised. All services prior to 1400 daily will operate inbound via the city centre loop, except for those continuing cross-city as service 30. Those journeys, all services after 1400 will operate directly to Hull Interchange via either Park Street on service 13 or via Spencer Street and Brook Street on service 14/14b.

Extending the 110, and 30 Changes

Want to go from Castle Hill Hospital to Sutton? Since the start of the month this is now possible to do if you don't mind a 90 minute tour around the Bricknell Estate, Hull City Centre, Garden Village and North Point Shopping Centre thanks to a newly extended Stagecoach service 110. While the end to end journey is rather lengthy, and it is quicker to catch more direct services and change at Hull Interchange, the extended 110 is a rather useful combination of the previous 110, K1 and parts of the 30W.

The 110 had been providing an hourly Monday to Saturday daytime link between Hull City Centre, Chanterlands Avenue, the Bricknell Estate, Cottingham and Castle Hill Hospital, and it still does. There are some time changes in the morning peak, the last service from Castle Hill Hospital is now an hour earlier at 1650 and the service operates to/from Hull Interchange via Park Street now city centre access is provided by it's new cross-city extension.

That cross city extension takes the service along George Street and up Stoneferry Road (useful for connections onto the 30 group of services) before serving Chamberlain Road, replacing service 30W. The 110 then serves part of James Reckitt Avenue (not the part previously served by the 30W) before operating along Gillshill Road, already well served by the 31 and 32, Sutton Road and Leads Road. Instead of operating direct along Midmere Avenue to North Point, the 110 serves Dorchester Road en-route to North Point, replacing the K1. After North Point a clockwise loop is operated along Noddle Hill Way, Kestral Avenue, again replacing the K1, Howdale Road in the Spring Cottage area, replacing the re-routed service 10, and Sutton Village back to North Point. The 110 also operates hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes in East Hull, albeit with no peak time service to Kestral Avenue and Howdale Road.

The new 110 is essentially a like for like replacement for the 30W along Chamberlain Road. As far as replacing the K1 is concerned there are losses and gains; the K1 had provided a weekday only service but the 110 also operates on Saturdays; the K1 had provided direct links to Kingswood which are now lost, but the 110 provides new direct links to the City Centre. Plus while the end-to-end journey time may be unattractive, for journeys such as Spring Bank to Gillshill Road the cross city link may be attractive.

The 30W suffix was originally intended for journeys serving Wawne, but recently had been used to denote services operating via Chamberlain Road. With the 110 now serving Chamberlain Road, the 30W variation has been withdrawn. The weekday daytime  service on the 30 ‘corridor’ between Hull City Centre, North Point and North Bransholme retains 6 buses an hour, alternating between the 30 and 30A variant; previously one 30A an hour had been operated by the 30W. On Saturday the previous daytime pattern had been a 15 minute frequency alternating between the 30 and 30A, plus an hourly 30W; now the pattern is just the 15 minute 30/30A, though the 110 does partially replace the 5^th frequency.

Wawne retains an hourly daily daytime service, plus a limited late evening service from Hull City Centre, operating as extensions of the 30 or 30A. Also as a result of the 30W withdrawal, all services now serve Bodmin Road.

Elsewhere on the 30 corridor early morning services are substantially improved. From Hull Interchange the weekday morning peak 30b short journeys to North Point are extended through to North Bransholme, and the 30X variant via Sutton Fields now runs until 0855, the previous last journey had been at 0625. In the reverse direction, weekday early morning services will operate from Brook Street in Hull City Centre via Ferensway, Hull Royal Infirmary, Rawling Way and English Street Smith and Nephew to Hull Interchange. On Saturdays the first service from Hull Interchange is now at 0610 rather than 0710 and a new 0630 service 30 from North Bransholme to Hull is added. On Sunday mornings there is a new 0840 from Hull Interchange and 0830 from North Bransholme.

All weekday early morning and Saturday daytime journeys on service 30 shall now follow the evening and Sunday variant via Leads Road and Sutton Road. The section of Holwell Road between Leads Road and Sutton Road is now only served by service 30 every 20 minutes on weekday daytimes (plus limited service 101). Should all service 30’s be routed via Leads Road and Sutton Road, or are there good reasons why the weekday daytime service sticks to Holwell Road?

Overall with the withdrawal of the 30b and 30W, the corridor is simplified into the 30 omitting Leads Road, the 30 via Leads Road, the 30A and the 30X.

[Sorry for the dodgy formatting on this post; I typed it on word and for some reason after copying it into blogger, I can't get the font to be the same size throughout)

Enterprise Coaches 155 to last 7 Sundays?

On Sunday Enterprise Coaches start operating the tendered Sunday service on route 155 between South Cave, Gilberdyke, Howden and Goole. However today they have cancelled the registration with VOSA from the end of October. If it is not reregistered then Enterprise Coaches operation will be for just 7 Sundays.

 

PB0004003/5 - GEORGE TIMOTHY JAMES MILLS T/A ENTERPRISE COACHES, TOCKI HOUSE, HULL ROAD, EASTRINGTON, GOOLE, DN14 7XL

• Cancellation Accepted: Operating between SOUTH CAVE MARKET PLACE and GOOLE NORTH STREET given service number 155 effective from 29-Oct-2014.

Stagecoach 51 Changes

Since last Monday (1st September), Stagecoach service 51 between Hull City Centre, Holderness Road, Spring Cottage, North Point and Kingswood has been running to a revised timetable and route. The service now only serves the Retail Park at Kingswood and not the Leisure Park (with one exception), while it routes to/from the city centre via Alfred Gelder Street and Drypool Bridge rather than George Street, North Bridge and Witham. This provides easier access to the Old Town area of the city centre.

The main timetable change sees the Saturday daytime frequency reduce from every 20 minutes to half hourly, the same as the evening and Sunday daytime frequency. Associated service 52, which has also seen the same Saturday daytime frequency cut, combines with the 51 to provide a 15 minute Saturday daytime frequency over common sections of route covering parts of Bellfield Avenue and Spring Cottage.

Other timetable changes see the first departure from Hull City Centre on Saturday mornings at 0653 withdrawn; the first departure is now at 0723. On Sunday mornings the first departure from Kingswood is now at 0700 rather than 0745. The last departure from Kingswood Sunday to Friday moves from 2315 to 2330.

The Nightbus N51 suffix has been dropped for the limited Saturday night service. The previous 0000, 0100 and 0200 departures from Hull Truck Theatre on Ferensway become 0000, 0030 and 0100. From Kingswood the previous 0021 becomes an 0022, the only service on route 51 to still serve Kingswood Leisure Park. The 0121 from Kingswood is withdrawn.

The 51 is also featured in Stagecoach's 'Workers+' and 'Leisure+' initatives. The 5 weekday early morning journeys into Hull that start at North Point will follow the normal route to the Old Town then operate via Carr Lane, Hull Royal Infirmary, Rawling Way, Smith and Nephew on English Street and Ferensway to Hull Interchange as part of the 'Workers+' network. An interesting side note is that the first journey from Kingswood is an hour earlier on Saturdays (0557) than on weekdays (0657). All evening services will continue as/start as service 15, allowing same bus journeys through Hull Interchange to the Avenues as part of the 'Leisure+' network.

28A becomes 29

Since Monday 1st September, Stagecoach service 28A in Hull has been renumbered service 29; it continues to link Hull City Centre, Beverley Road, Sutton Park, North Point and Kingswood, operating via Bodmin Road between North Point and Kingswood instead off Kingsbury Way as the 28 does. Combined the routes provide a service every 15 minute minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and half hourly Sunday daytimes, alternating between the 28 and 29. Monday to Saturday evenings receive a half hourly service and Sunday evenings an hourly service.

To quote Stagecoach, the timetable for the 28/29 has also been "simplified" which translates as some minor retimings, removing the Monday to Saturday peaktine Kingswood Leisure Park extensions (partially replaced by changes to the 31) and altering the Monday to Saturday evening service from half hourly 28/28A combined to half hourly service 29 and the Sunday evening service from hourly 28 to hourly 29, therefore removing evening services from Kingsbury Way; I believe this is because Hull City Council subsidy has been withdrawn.

As part of Stagecoach's changes to routes in Hull City Centre, all inbound services will use the city centre to loop until 1400 daily, then operate inbound using the more direct route via Spencer Street and Brook Street. Previously this direct route was only used between 1500 and 1800 Monday to Saturday. As part of the Workers+ initative, the weekday early morning services that start at North Point will extend beyond Carr Lane on the city centre loop to Hull Royal Infirmary, Rawling Way and English Street for Smith and Nephew before operating to the Interchange via Ferensway.

 

Now a 'True' Circular

The 10 and it's predecessors have often been referred to as the Hull city circular service as it provides cross city links across Hull. However while it has been possible to travel cross-city via North Hull it never has been possible to travel across Hull City Centre on the same vehicle (at least not in recent times); a change has been required in the city centre. Therefore for journeys like Orchard Park to Wilberforce College the 10 has been very useful, but for journeys like Chanterlands Avenue to Holderness Road, the 10 didn't have much of an advantage over catching the 13 to Hull Interchange and changing onto say the 51.

Since Monday (1st September) however most journeys have become a 'true' circular, with passengers able to travel through Hull City Centre as well as North Hull without having to change vehicles. Through fares are available.

As part of this change the route between Hull Interchange and Spring Bank has been altered to operate via Park Street instead of Ferensway. While this misses out a set of stops on Spring Bank these have other services, the Park Street route is slightly quicker, and passengers from West Hull still have access to other city center stops after serving the Interchange.

The other major changes to the 10 see the service diverted via Spring Cottage instead off Sutton, replacing the 31, and gaining a hourly Sunday daytime service between Hull Interchange, Salthouse Road and Spring Cottage replacing service 53. The Monday to Saturday service remains half hourly daytimes with some minor timetable changes. The late Saturday night 2340 from Hull Interchange to North Point via Salthouse Road as been withdrawn.

Not goodbye 358

Last month I posted that EYMS were stopping their Tuesday Holme Upon Spalding Moor to Goole via Bubwith and Howden service, with no apparent replacement. The following appeared on the VOSA website today:

PB1075166/32 - ACKLAMS COACHES LTD, BUS & COACH DEPOT, BARMSTON ROAD, BEVERLEY, HU17 0LA

• Registration Accepted by SN
• Starting Point: HOLME OF SPALDING MOOR
• Finish Point: GOOLE NORTH STREET
• Via:
• Service Number: 358
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 09-SEP-2014
• Other Details: TUESDAYS ONLY AM & PM JOURNEYS

Not goodbye 358 after all.

Noddle Hill Weekend Reductions; Early Morning Improvements

Starting today, Monday 1st September, Stagecoach have introduced changes to services 32 and 52 which serve Noddle Hill Way in Bransholme, as part of their package of changes across Hull. The 32 links Hull City Centre, Sutton, Noddle Hill Way and North Point Shopping Centre, while the 52 links Hull City Centre with Spring Cottage, Noddle Hill Way and Kingswood. As already mentioned the 52 has been diverted away from Holderness Road and parts of Bellfield Avenue to serve Garden Village and Savoy Road, replacing the withdrawn 53.

The other major change is a reduction in weekend frequencies on both the 32 and 52. The 32 is reduced from every 20 minutes to every half hour on Saturday daytimes, and from half hourly to hourly on Sunday daytimes. However despite this, Stagecoach's description on their website of the change is "Timetable simplified. Only minor changes". Seems a bit more than minor to me, especially the Sunday evening reduction when the gaps between services is doubled. The first service on Sundays from North Point becomes 0720 rather than 0750, though the last service becomes 2220 rather than 2250. There are other minor changes to times throughout the week and evening services will continue across Hull Interchange to the Avenues and back to Kingswood as service 16.

On service 52 the Saturday daytime frequency is also reduced from every 20 minutes to half hourly; combined with service 32, Noddle Hill Way goes from a service every 10 minutes to a service every 15 minutes to/from Hull City Centre. The half hourly Sunday daytime service is withdrawn entirely, leaving Noddle Hill Way with the half hourly service 32 and Spring Cottage with the half hourly 51.

The early morning service on the 52 from Kingswood is significantly improved, with a first departure at 0505 weekdays and 0607 Saturdays, compared to 0642 and 0832 previously. As part of the Workers+ network, the first four weekday journeys from Kingswood will operate via Cleveland Street (for connections to Stoneferry and Sutton Fields), Carr Lane, Hull Royal Infirmary, Rawling Way and Smith and Nephew on English Road en-route to Hull Interchange, providing much improved access to employment sites. On the negative side however the last journey from Kingswood becomes 1745 weekdays, 1707 Saturdays compared to 1837 weekdays and 1930 Saturdays previously. The first journey from Hull City Centre is earlier at 0908 weekdays, 0923 Saturdays, compared to 0935 previously. There are other minor changes to times throughout the week.  All journeys on the 52 will now serve Kingswood Retail Park, but not Kingswood Leisure Park.