Selby Area Changes

Monday (10th April) sees changes to Selby area services operated under contract to North Yorkshire County Council, which also impact services into the East Riding of Yorkshire; it's these particular changes which are covered below.

The weekday 0730 Bubwith to Selby via Hemingbrough and 1625 Selby to Hemingbrough via Bubwith journeys on Thornes Independent service 1 will be replaced by new service 4A between Hemingbrough and Selby, not serving Bubwith and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Monday and Friday only shopping journeys on service 1 remain.

The Monday and Friday 486/487 services pass from Utopia Coaches to Thornes Independent with a reduced timetable. Currently the 486 provides departures from Selby Bus Station at 0930 and 1300 operating an anti-clockwise circular via Hensall, Great Heck, Pollington, Gowdall and Snaith back to Selby, while the 487 provides a single clockwise journey around the same loop, departing Selby Bus Station at 1045.

Under the new timetable the Snaith part of the route is no longer served and the 487 is dropped. Instead one journey will depart Great Heck for Selby at 0956, operating via Pollington, Gowdall and Hensall. A return journey leaves Selby at 1255 for Hensall, Great Heck, Pollington, Gowdall and Hensall (again). The reduced timetable maintains connectivity into Selby for those places without any other option, but removes the option to make a brief morning trip to/from the small town of Snaith.

Wednesday service 488 also passes from Utopia Coaches to Thornes Independent. This service currently operates from Selby at 0930 via Hensall, Great Heck, Pollington, Gowdall and Snaith into Goole, returning at 1300, but will change to operate between Great Heck and Goole only; Brayton, Burn, Chapel Haddlesey and Hensall will no longer have a service to Goole.

The 486 and 488 receive a contribution from East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC), which was under threat when their original proposals for cuts to bus subsidies were published last Summer. These contributions were saved last December when revised proposals were published, thanks to a "cost reduction", presumably these changes. ERYC documents state an average 20 passengers per journey on service 486, at a subsidy of 43p per passenger journey; service 488 has an average 17 passengers per journey at a subsidy of £2.47 per passenger journey. With healthy usage figures it is good to see the main parts of services 486 and 488 continue.