East Hull Changes

Halloween (Monday 31st October) sees some major changes to certain services in East Hull, with a selection of good and bad news.

EYMS had won Hull City Council tendered service 16 from Stagecoach. The route links Hull Paragon Interchange with the Marina, Victoria Dock, Newbridge Road, the Preston Road Estate and Marfleet Village, operating every hour Monday to Saturday daytimes, but with a reduction to two hourly after the morning peak planned with the start of EYMS's new contract.

Now Stagecoach have registered a revised service 16 commercially. The 'new' 16 will continue to operate hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, and will now serve the new Siemens factory. The revised route will however cease to serve Hull Marina, the Humber View part of Victoria Dock and Marfleet Village. In the Preston Road Estate a clockwise circular will be provided via Preston Road, Holmpton Grove, St John's Grove, Exeter Grove and Southcoates Lane. These changes enable an hourly service to provide with one vehicle, unlike the previous timetable that was an 85 minute round trip.

To continue providing a service to Hull Marina and the Humber View area of Victoria Dock, Hull City Council are subsidising the diversion of EYMS operated journeys on service 78 between Hull and Hedon on Monday to Saturdays only to serve these areas. Stagecoach Monday to Saturday evening and EYMS Sunday daytime services on route 78 will omit Hull Marina and only serve part of Victoria Dock, as at present. These changes provide Hull Marina and Humber View with a roughly two hourly daytime service, which they would have received off peak had the originally planned cuts to service 16 taken place.

In addition EYMS are also starting services to the Siemens factory, with Monday to Saturday journeys on service 78 as well as infrequent Monday to Saturday service 79 and infrequent weekday service 80 all serving the site. Again Stagecoach Monday to Saturday evening and EYMS Sunday daytime services on route 78 will omit this new section of route.

Due to the changes to services 78 and 79, most times on these routes have changed by up to 10 minutes, as have those on associated service 277 between Hull and Hedon via Bilton.

I don't know what the net impact on Hull City Council's budget is, but good news for access to the Siemens factory and good news for the part of Victoria Dock that retains the 16, Newbridge Road and the Preston Road Estate which avoid a planned off peak frequency reduction to the 16. Bad news for Hull Marina and Humber View, though frequency cuts would have happened if the 16 was still serving these areas, bad news for Hedon and Paull to Hull City Centre travellers who will have slightly longer journey times (but if it helps improve the viability of the 78 maybe a good thing?), and very bad news for Marfleet Village whose residents will now have to walk to Hedon Road to access bus services.