Stagecoach June Scunthorpe Town Services Changes

Stagecoach are amending Scunthorpe Town Services 10 and 13 in June. From VOSA:

PB0001484/15 - LINCOLNSHIRE ROAD CAR CO LTD, PO BOX 15, DEACON ROAD, LINCOLN, LN2 4JB

Variation Accepted: Operating between Scunthorpe High Street` and Scunthorpe Bus Station given service number 13 effective from 01-Jun-2015. To amend Route and Timetable.

 

PB0001484/170 - LINCOLNSHIRE ROAD CAR CO LTD, PO BOX 15, DEACON ROAD, LINCOLN, LN2 4JB           

Variation Accepted: Operating between Scunthorpe Bus Station and Scunthorpe Bus Station given service number 10 effective from 01-Jun-2015. To amend Timetable.

Humber Fastcat Early Morning Changes

North Lincolnshire Council report that the early morning services on the 350 Humber Fastcat between Hull, Barton and Scunthorpe will be revised from 1st June. I think this will be the first timetable change since November 2011. The service is jointly operated by Stagecoach and EYMS.

It will be interesting to see just what the changes are, as due to the involvement of both Hull and Scunthorpe depots in operating the service, Stagecoach's November 2011 change to early morning services required a balancing change to the early evening service, however no such evening change is indicated by North Lincolnshire Council. (In 2011 the early morning Hull-Barton and return and Scunthorpe-Barton and return services became through journeys, with one early evening service in each direction removed from the timetable)

EYMS May Changes

EYMS are making changes to various services from 24th May.

Variations registered with VOSA:

• 45/46 Bridlington to Driffield
• 45/46/46A Driffield to Pocklington, some journeys via Market Weighton
• 45/45A/46/46A Market Weighton to York via Pocklington
• 121 Hull to Nafferton via Beverley and Driffield
• 121 Longcroft School to Nafferton (from 1st June)
• 121 Driffield to Bridlington
• 121 Bridlington to Scarborough via Filey
• 220/221/920 Hull to Hornsea
• 230 Hull to Hornsea
• 240 Hull to Hornsea
• 246 Hull to Hornsea via Beverley
• X4 Hull to Market Weighton via Brough and South Cave
• X4 Market Weighton to York
• X46 Hull to Pocklington via Beverley and Market Weighton
• X46 Market Weighton to York via Pocklington
• X47 Hull to Market Weighton via Beverley
• X47 Market Weighton to York via Pocklington

Cancelled with VOSA:

• 523 Beverley Town Service (serving the Molescroft area in the north of the town and currently interworked with services 61 and 180 I think)

And a 'new' service registered with VOSA, which appears to be at least a partial replacement for the 523 (I'm sure the 122 has existed in the past):

PB0000328/473 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS           

• Registration Accepted
• Starting Point: Hull
• Finish Point: Molescroft
• Via:
• Service Number: 122
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 24-MAY-2015
• Other Details: New Service

EYMS Bridlington Service 100

The following was posted as an anonymous comment on this post earlier today, regarding EYMS's Summer service 100 between Bridlington and Flamborough:
"From July 20th EYMS will be operating the 100 service again with extensions at both ends of the previous service operation.

The route will take in South Shore Holiday camp and John Bull Rock Factory in the south of Bridlington, and will travel to the lighthouse in Flamborough as well as Thornwick Bay holiday park.

But the big news has to be this service will be operated using a open top vehicle.
This is the first time EYMS have operated a open top in Bridlington since the use of a ex Greater Manchester Atlantean quite a few years ago."

EYMS get a share of the 124 too

Yesterday I posted about Acklams Coaches starting a Wednesday and Thursday only service 124 between Driffield and Bridlington. From Saturday (28th March), EYMS will be providing Saturday journeys on the route with financial support from East Riding of Yorkshire Council, operating to the same timetable as on Wednesday and Thursday.

Acklams new 124 Driffield to Bridlington

Acklams Coaches have started operating service 124 between Driffield, Kilham, Wold Newton, Burton Fleming, Rudston and Bridlington on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The timetable on Traveline Yorkshire lists departures from Driffield at 0905 and 1230, and from Bridlington at 1010 and 1330. Below is the VOSA registration:

PB1075166/33 - ACKLAMS COACHES LTD, BUS & COACH DEPOT, BARMSTON ROAD, BEVERLEY, HU17 0LA

• Registration Accepted by SN
• Starting Point: Bridlington
• Finish Point: Driffield
• Via:
• Service Number: 124
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 25-MAR-2015
• Other Details: Wednesday & Thursday Two runs each way

Hornsby 16/327 retimed

Hornsby Travel services 16 and 327 in Scunthorpe will have revised times from 14th April.

16 Parklands Caravan Site-Scunthorpe (Tuesday and Friday):
0910 and 1135 from Parklands Caravan Site will depart at 0940 and 1215
1120 from Scunthorpe Bus Station will depart at 1200

16 Parklands Caravan Site-Ashby (Thursday):
0910 and 1135 from Parklands Caravan Site will depart at 0940 and 1215
1120 from Ashby Broadway will depart at 1200

327 Dragonby-Scunthorpe (Friday):
0925 and 1155 from Scunthorpe Bus Station will depart at 1015 and 1245
0940 and 1210 from Dragonby will depart at 1030 and 1300

Times taken from Traveline East Midlands

Stagecoach 110 Change

Stagecoach are making some quick changes to their Hull cross city service 110 between Cottingham, the City Centre, North Point and Spring Cottage. On 23rd February, the service was revised in the Spring Cottage area, omitting part of Howdale Road previously served and leaving the section between Dunvegan Road and Robson Way without a bus service. 2 weeks later, tomorrow (Monday 9th March), the 110 is being rerouted back onto this section of Howdale Road. Unlike the pre 23rd February route, Sutton village is not served, with Robson Way instead being used to return to North Point. There are some minor timetable changes as a result.

Scarborough and District 120 returns for Summer

Yesterday (Saturday 7th March), EYMS's Scarborough and District operation restarted their Summer service 120 between Bridlington, Filey and Scarborough, which provides a daily hourly service between March and early November, complementing the year round 121 and fellow summer only service X20 between Scarborough and Filey. For 2015 the only change to the 120 sees the 1805 from Scarborough to Bridlington terminate short at Reighton Sands Holiday Village, and the 1940 Bridlington to Scarborough withdrawn. The 121 provides a last journey from Scarborough to Bridlington at 1825, and from Bridlington to Scarborough at 1910.

EYMS Hedon Changes

On Monday (8th March), EYMS are amending their Hull to Hedon services 78, 79 and 277. There will be some retimings to improve punctuality, however the major change sees the withdrawal of the Monday to Saturday 1715 service 277 from Hull to Hedon and the 1800 service 78 from Hedon to Hull, due to "very low passenger numbers". Alternative 277 departures from Hull are at 1630 or 1940, while the villages of Bilton and Sproatley are served by service 220 departures from Hull at 1705 and 1805. Alternative service 78 departures from Hedon are at 1715 and 2019.

New EYMS 66B

From Sunday 8th March, EYMS are amending their service 66 between Hull City Centre, the Boothferry Estate and Hessle. The main change sees two weekday morning services from Hull Interchange at 0725 and 0805 extended from Hessle Square to the new Bridgehead Business Park, near the Humber Bridge roundabout, operating as service 66B. In the evening peak, two return service 66B's operate at 1715 and 1745 from the Bridgehead Business Park to Hull Interchange directly via Darleys Roundabout, omitting Hessle and the Boothferry Estate. Cross-river services Humber Fastcat (350) and Humber Flyer also run close to the business park.

Additionally times on service 66 are revised slightly to improve punctuality. The weekday morning 'contra-peak' service from Hull Interchange to Hessle is reduced from every 15 to every 20 minutes, though the first departure is now 10 minutes earlier at 0625.

(Edited 7th March 2015, see below comments for details)

Barton Line to the East Midlands franchise: Questions Arising

As part of Friday's publication of the Invitation to Tenders (ITT) for the Northern and TransPennine Express franchises, it was announced that Northern Rail's Cleethorpes to Barton service will transfer to the East Midlands franchise when it is relet in 2017, along with most stations on the route and one Class 153 DMU (see ITT pages 87 and 95). As I explained last year, I am not in favour of this, and the consultation response document has done nothing to address my concerns; Below is the relevant extract in relation to the Cleethorpes-Barton service from Page 25:

4.11  In the consultation document, we sought views on the future franchise responsibility for the route from Cleethorpes and Grimsby to Barton-on-Humber. Since the previous ‘remapping' in 2004, this service has been operationally separated from the rest of Northern, making it difficult for the operator to develop the service strategically and for it to handle service disruptions.

4.12  We set out the two different options that would resolve these difficulties. The first option was that the issues would be resolved if the main South Humber service between Sheffield and Cleethorpes was transferred to Northern, as a result of the potential splitting of the existing Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes through service. The second option was to transfer the route from Cleethorpes and Grimsby to Barton-on-Humber to the East Midlands franchise.

4.13  Consultation respondents presented a wide range of views on this issue. Some did not have a strong opinion on who should operate the route, as long as train services were retained. Many agreed with the proposals to transfer the route to the East Midlands franchise, unless the main Sheffield to Cleethorpes service was going to be operated by Northern as a result of the remapping proposal mentioned above. Others suggested the possibility of transferring responsibility of the route to the TPE franchise instead.

As the suggested remapping of the Sheffield to Cleethorpes portion of the Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes route is not going ahead, we will be proceeding with the second option of transferring the route from Cleethorpes and Grimsby to Barton-on-Humber to the East Midlands franchise. The franchise operates other local and regional services in Lincolnshire, and the route appears to fit better in its portfolio than in TPE’s. We expect this to happen when the East Midlands franchise is re-let in 2017.

And from Pages 100-1:

NTSR5: What are your views on retaining the route from Cleethorpes and Grimsby to Barton-on-Humber within the Northern franchise? What evidence do you have to support your views?  

There were a variety of responses to this question, including:  

• Transfer the route to the East Midlands franchise; 

• Retain with Northern; 

• Transfer to TPE; 

• Close the line; and 

• Both operators should run the line, to provide competition.

Several respondents stated that the service should be run by whoever is operating the adjacent services, taking a ‘no fragmentation’ approach. This would improve reliability, due to operators being more able to replace faulty trains or unavailable staff. 

Comments were received from some LAs that supported the proposals to retain the route from Cleethorpes and Grimsby to Barton-on-Humber within the Northern franchise. One LA stressed that there remains a requirement to maintain a reasonable level of connectivity between services to ensure access to wider destinations, regardless of which franchise operates the service; Northern currently provides train crew through other TOCs via inter-operator agreements. It was argued that having services reliant on another operator’s staff may lead to increased unreliability, particularly at times of disruption or other service interruption such as disputes.

Our Response

As the proposed remapping of the Sheffield to Cleethorpes portion of the Manchester Airport to Cleethorpes route is not going ahead, we will be proceeding with the second option of transferring the route from Cleethorpes and Grimsby to Barton-on-Humber to the East Midlands franchise. The franchise operates other local and regional services in Lincolnshire, and the route appears to fit better in its portfolio. We expect this to happen when the East Midlands franchise is re-let in 2017.

What stands out to me is that despite a wide range of responses being received, and despite some local authorities (I presume North and North East Lincolnshire Council's) wishing to retain the route within the Northern franchise, the Department of Transport (and Rail North?) fail to justify their decision to transfer the route to the East Midlands franchise. They continue to use the "appear to be a better fit in its portfolio" phrase that was used in last year's consultation document that clearly some local authorities and others are not convinced by.

There are a number of questions which I think arise following Friday's announcement:

• Is it intended that the East Midlands franchise will operate the Barton service using Cleethorpes or Lincoln based crew?
• Is it intended to stable a DMU overnight at Cleethorpes for the Barton line, or would stock be required to return to Lincoln overnight?
• Considering that almost all East Midlands franchise services currently terminate at Grimsby Town, not Cleethorpes, how is it intended to swap stock, and if needed crew, between the Barton line and the rest of the East Midlands franchise?
• As only one DMU is to be transferred to the East Midlands franchise, how is it intended to resource the early morning Barton line service that requires a second DMU?
• Is it intended that any timetable alterations will be required to facilitate the transfer from the Northern franchise to the East Midlands franchise?
• What is the future of the 0600 Scunthorpe to Cleethorpes service operated by Northern Rail, which serves Barton line stations between Habrough and Cleethorpes?
• During disruption how is the East Midlands franchise, with it's nearest maintenance depot in Nottingham, any better positioned to respond to service disruption than the Northern franchise?
• What analysis has been conducted to support the belief that the Barton line "appears" to better fit in the portfolio of the East Midlands franchise?
• What relevance is the East Midlands franchise operation of services in Lincolnshire, when the Barton line does not enter the Lincolnshire County Council area?
• How does the transfer support the Barton Cleethorpes Community Rail Partnership, which works with the Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership, whose train operator will remain the Northern Rail franchise?
• Why is a service wholly within the Yorkshire and Humber region, and wholly within the area of two Rail North authorities, being transferred to the East Midlands franchise?

As a final note, if the management of Habrough station is moved from Northern, then this could be an opportunity to add it to the TransPennine Express franchise, and to develop it as a railhead for Immingham and surrounding villages. Such a move would support investment in the Immingham area, such as the Able UK development at Killingholme, and could maybe even take some pressure off car parking at Barnetby.

Lambwath Road regains bus service

Lambwath Road in Hull regains a bus service from Monday 9th March, as EYMS operated service 50 between Hull Interchange, Laburnum Avenue, James Reckitt Avenue, Jalland Lodge and Morrisons and Holderness Road is re-routed at the request of Hull City Council, whom EYMS operate the route under contract too. Service 50 operates Monday to Saturday daytimes to an irregular timetable with 4 journeys from Hull (5 on Sat) and 5 journeys into Hull (6 on Sat) pus one extra 'short' journey.. Lambwath Road has been unserved since the Stagecoach 53 was withdrawn in late August last year after Hull City Council withdrew their funding due to extensive housing demolition in the area. However remaining residents in the area did submit a petition to Hull City Council about their loss of bus services, and this would appear to be the City Council's solution.

The new route will see a small section of James Reckitt Avenue omitted (also served by the 110) in order to serve Lambwath Road and Gillshill Road. As a result the service 50 timetable is revised, with the loss of one journey each way, and a revised timetable for the remaining journeys. The 'short' journey at 0920 from Jalland Lodge to Morrisons is extended to start back at Holderness Road/Mount Pleasant however at 0910 (Jalland Lodge now served at 0930).