EYMS Bridlington Town Service 3

Last month EYMS halved their service to the West Hill Estate in Bridlington. Until Saturday 5th May, routes 505 and 506 had each provided an hourly Monday to Saturday daytime service to the estate and back again from Bridlington Bus Station, together providing a half hourly service, although with a 22-38 minute interval at their West Hill timing point. The 505 operated via the Health Centre whereas the 506 took the more direct Hilderthorpe Road route; around West Hill the 505 operated anti-clockwise and the 506 clockwise. Both routes also included Bridlington Hospital.

Since Tuesday 8th May EYMS's only West Hill service has been on new hourly Monday to Saturday daytime route 3, operating from Bridlington Bus Station via the Health Centre then clockwise around West Hill to Bridlington Hospital and back to the Bus Station via the Health Centre. Hilderthorpe Road remains served by out of town services 45/45A/121/130/136, with the 45/45A/121 also covering Bessingby Road/Bridlington Hospital.

Another consequence of the change is that the first service from West Hill to Bridlington is now at 0919 rather than 0847, and the last departure from Bridlington Bus Station is at 1715 rather than 1735.

With EYMS seemingly struggling in West Hill, would it be worthwhile diverting either the 45/45A or the 121 via the estate to supplement the 3 without needing any extra resource? The journey time penalty would be small if it was instead off rather than as well as Bridlington Hospital - and that is why I say one route or the other to keep a Driffield-Bridlington Hospital service. As well providing an extra link between West Hill and Bridlington Town Centre, it would also provide West Hill with access to Driffield and either Hull/Beverley or York, and potentially some earlier/later and Sunday services.

EYMS Bridlington Town Service 2

EYMS revised and simplified their Bridlington Town Bus network from Tuesday 8th May. One of the least impacted areas was south Bridlington. Here the 503 had been the main service until Saturday 5th May, routing from Bridlington Promenade via the Health Centre/Rail Station and Cardigan Road to Belvedere Parade before returning via Avocet Way, Kingsgate (A165), George Street, the northern part of Cardigan Road and the Health Centre/Rail Station to Bridlington Bus Station.

With the new network this part of Bridlington is now served by new service 2. It starts as well as finishes at Bridlington Bus Station, and from comparing maps seems to omit George Street and part of Cardigan Road inbound in favour of serving more of Kingsgate. Otherwise it's the same route as the 503 in south Bridlington.

The timetable is fairly similar as well. The 503 departed Bridlington Promenade hourly between 0925 and 1525 Monday to Friday and between 0825 and 1525 Saturdays. The 2 departs Bridlington Bus Station hourly between 0920 and 1420 Monday to Saturday, then 1530 and 1630, albeit with the 1420 and 1530 not running on schooldays.

Kingsgate is also served by EYMS service 130 between Hornsea and Bridlington and Busking's 136 between Driffield and Bridlington. The 136 also serves Avocet Way on it's 1700 and 1815 departures from Bridlington Bus Station.

The 503 also served parts of north Bridlington. I will cover these routes in more detail in future posts, but the 6 now covers the 503 along Queensgate and Hustler Road, the 12 and 13 along parts of Marton Road, the 5 along Bempton Lane and revised service 504 replaces the 503 around Darwin Road.

240 and 246 Changes

EYMS revised their two main Hornsea to Hull services on Sunday 6th May. The 240 is the direct service via Skirlaugh, whilst the 246 takes the longer route via Beverley.

For service 240 the main change is that all services now include Brandesburton, which the 240 previously just served on the journeys that included Hymers College, and in the evening. Otherwise the service remains hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, along with a limited evening service into Hull and a reduced Sunday service of three return journeys, down from four previously. A previous two hour gap from Hornsea to Hull on Saturday afternoons between 1510 and 1710 is filled.

Service 246 has been increased from hourly to half hourly between Beverley and Hull Monday to Saturday daytimes. There is an extra service from Hornsea to Beverley in the evening peak Monday to Saturday, with previous 1630 and 1915 departures replaced by 1700 (1655 Sat), 1755 and 1855 services. A limited evening service from Hull to Hornsea remains Monday to Saturday, as does the 2300 Hull to Beverley on Sunday.

However service 246 has lost it's Sunday and Bank Holiday service between Hornsea and Beverley. Four return journeys were provided, three of which received financial support from East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) until the end of March. Interestingly EYMS pulled the interworked Sunday 220 service immediately, but these 246 journeys 'hung on' for a further five Sundays, plus Easter Monday. The combined Sunday and Bank Holiday 220/246 carried an average 7 passengers per journey, 4313 passengers a year, at a subsidy of £1.84 per passenger journey, according to ERYC's 2016  'Review of Bus Services in the East Riding'. With the Sunday 240 continuing and now serving Brandesburton, only Routh and Tickton have lost their Sunday services entirely.

Both services have a revised route in Brandesburton, now using New Road rather than Main Street due to 'badly parked cars'. It is also worth noting that almost all journeys on both services have new times.

So apart from Brandesburton, between Beverley and Hull, and on Sundays, not much change, which in the context of Hornsea depot closing is surprising. On weekdays there are seven pre 9am departures from Hornsea, but only one arrival. On Saturdays there are five pre 9am departures but no arrivals. In the evening Monday to Saturday Hornsea has six arrivals but only three departures. The residual Sunday 240 service starts and finishes in Hornsea. When EYMS's Hornsea depot was open this made sense, but there seems to be six 'out of service' buses running from Beverley and/or Hull to Hornsea on a weekday morning, and five on a Saturday. Likewise there appears to be a number of evening 'dead runs', and one each way on a Sunday.

This amount of dead running, to an outsider like me, seems to be very costly. Could some or all of it be run 'in service' - if necessary these journeys could runs direct between Sigglesthorne and Skirlaugh on the 240 and omitting Brandesburton and Leven on the 246? Even if only one or two passengers were carried it would be better than none.

EYMS Sold to Go Ahead

EYMS Press Release:

Hull-headquartered East Yorkshire Motor Services (EYMS), including Scarborough and District Motor Services, have been acquired by award-winning bus operator Go North East, part of the international transport organisation Go-Ahead Group Plc.

Established in 1926 and owned and operated for the last three decades by the Shipp family, EYMS transports over 17 million passengers annually, has a workforce of 700 staff and runs over 300 buses and coaches throughout Hull, East Riding and the North Yorkshire Coast.

For over 100 years, Go North East has run bus services connecting the region's towns and villages with the cities of Newcastle, Durham and Sunderland. Currently operating across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and into Tees Valley, it is one of 10 regional subsidiary bus companies within the Go-Ahead Group.

“We are excited to welcome the EYMS team into the Go-Ahead family,” says David Brown, Group Chief Executive of Go-Ahead. “Like Go North East, the company is well established in the local communities it serves and shares the same values of excellent customer service and strong employee engagement.

“Bringing companies like EYMS into the Group draws us ever-closer to our vision of a world where every journey is taken care of, while meeting our strategic objective of building a sustainable business that meets the needs of our customers and communities.”

Peter Shipp, Owner and Chairman of EYMS who has been with the company for 38 years, commented: “At the age of 74 and after 56 years in the bus industry I think it is time for me to handover the business and I am delighted to be doing so to an organisation with such a strong reputation caring for its people, customers and communities. It has the scale required to invest in the assets, both people and buses, to take EYMS forward in a healthy and successful way.”

EYMS will operate as a stand-alone company within Go North East, overseen by the Go North East executive director team.

EYMS end 220/221, but not quite the end of the 220

EYMS operated service 220 between Hornsea, Aldbrough and Hull for the final time on Saturday 5th May, with service 221 between Aldbrough and Hull having operated for the final time the day before. Service 220 operated via Mappleton between Hornsea and Aldbrough, and after Aldbrough served Flinton, Humbleton Moor Corner, Sproatley and Bilton en-route into Hull. Service 221 followed the same route except for serving Garton rather than Flinton and having a different route in Humbleton.

The weekday frequency was one morning peak 220 from Hornsea into Hull, two daytime Aldbrough to Hull services in each direction, plus two evening peak 220's from Hull back to Hornsea. The daytime Aldbrough to Hull services operated as 220's for all journeys on Tuesday and Thursday but on Monday, Wednesday and Friday one service operated as a 221 in each direction to give Garton a link to Hull and Asda at Bilton. Saturday's followed the Tuesday and Thursday pattern but with a daytime journey starting/finishing in Hornsea in each direction.

I believe that since the Sunday and Bank Holiday service was withdrawn on Good Friday, the 220 has been entirely commercial. The 221 diversion via Garton however had received East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) funding; ERYC's Review of Bus Services report in 2016 reported an average zero passengers per journey/97 passengers per year at a cost of £8.79 per passenger journey. Somewhat staggeringly after consultation the 221's funding was retained, and still for a three day a week service.

I guess the closure of Hornsea depot ultimately sealed the 220/221's fate with EYMS, but looking at the populations of some of the villages served, I can see why the 220 may have been struggling:
Mappleton Parish - 342
Aldbrough Parish - 1269
Humbleton Parish (includes Flinton) - 208
Sproately Parish - 1350
Bilton Parish - 2220
The above doesn't take into account how likely residents may or may not be to use a bus service, nor does it factor in visitors. However it does show the 220/221 served some small communities. I've ignored Hornsea as it's main Hull service is on route 240, and also any local traffic within Hull as EYMS cover that via the 56/57/240/277.

In addition, Sproatley and Bilton also have the 277 into Hull and Hedon Monday to Saturday plus the 242 Monday to Saturday and 243 Monday to Friday to Beverley. Humbleton has the 243 into Beverley Monday to Friday while Mappleton, Aldbrough and Garton are served by the 129 Monday to Saturday plus Summer Sundays between Hornsea and Withernsea. Apart from Flinton all communities served have alternative services at least for shopping, even if they aren't all to Hull or Asda Bilton; the 220/221 didn't have the 'bus market' to itself in these villages.

Despite my 'understanding' of why the 220/221 may have been pulled by EYMS it is still disappointing to see this withdrawal happen. It's not the end of the 220 altogether though. ERYC have funded a weekday peak service between Hornsea and Bilton, operated by Acklams Coaches, for connections into the 277 for Hull City Centre, and the BC4 Bishop Burton College service.

In addition Aldbrough Parish Council have arranged a five week trial Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday service between the village and Asda Bilton via Flinton and Sproatley, operated by Pearsons Coaches. The service departs Aldbrough at 0930, returning from Asda at 1400 Tuesday and Thursday and 1530 Saturday, giving plenty of time to go into Hull via services 56, 57 or 277. Funding comes from Aldbrough Charity Shop and Withernwick Wind Farm.

Hopefully the peak 220 and the Aldbrough Council service can be maintained as they do help fill some of the biggest gaps left behind by the EYMS 220.

Service 230 Ends

Service 230 between Hornsea and Hull operated for the last time on Saturday 5th May. It had been operated by EYMS on behalf of East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, providing a shopping link into Hull, with one journey in each direction. The main Hornsea to Hull link is provided by route 240, whilst there is also the 246 which takes the longer route via Beverley. I presume EYMS handed back the tender with the closure of their Hornsea depot.

The route incorporated Hatfield, Withernwick, Rise, Skirlaugh, New Ellerby, Old Ellerby and Coniston, plus Swine on Tuesday and Thursday only. The service had an unusual 'quirk' in that on Tuesday and Thursday the inbound service to Hull only operated as far as Ganstead where passengers needed to change to service 240, however the return started at Hull Interchange.

The only replacement ERYC have arranged is for the Holderness MiBus on Tuesday and Saturday to also incorporate New Ellerby, Old Ellerby and Swine, providing a link to Beverley if pre-booked by 1600 the day prior. MiBus also covers Withernwick and Skirlaugh, and I guess Hatfield and Rise as well? Skirlaugh and Coniston aren't a concern however as they are on the main 240 Hornsea to Hull route served seven days a week, and also have the 242/243 into Beverley six and five days a week respectively. It is Hatfield, Withernwick, Rise, New Ellerby, Old Ellerby and Swine that become unserved by 'traditional' services. For Witherwick, Hatfield and Rise the 230 ending follows the 2017 loss of service 241.

The 230 had got through the 2016 ERYC Review of Bus Services, the documentation for which reveals an average 9 passengers per journey at a subsidy of £3.04 per passenger journey. It hasn't survived ERYC needing to cover withdrawn commercial services and handed back tenders however. Would a reduction in the number of days have saved the 230 though, maybe with a route change to go Aldbrough-Witherwick-Hatfield-Rise then as before, helping to mitigate the loss of the 220/221? Hornsea was almost certainly just on the route for convenience.

York Pullman take on Tuesday Pocklington Services

East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) tendered service 195 between Allerthorpe and Pocklington passed from EYMS to York Pullman from Tuesday 8th May. En-route it serves the villages of Thornton, Bielby, Everingham, Seaton Ross, Melbourne, Sutton on Derwent and Newton on Derwent.

The 195 had operated on Tuesdays and Thursdays until this point, with one journey in each direction providing a shopping link into Pocklington, and on Thursdays a connection into the 196 at Sutton on Derwent or Newton on Derwent, for travel into York. However with the change of operator the Thursday service is cancelled. The Tuesday service is retimed to leave Allerthorpe at 1015, rather than 0930, returning from Pocklington at 1315 rather than 1235.

I guess the Thursday service was ended to fund replacements for commercial services given up by EYMS, and to cover any higher costs on retender for subsidised services. No community is left unserved by this change either. In addition to the 195, Sutton on Derwent has 'all day' services into York six days a week on the 36/X36/196, Newton on Derwent has a 'shopper' service into York on the Thursday 196, as does Melbourne on a Saturday with the 36. Whilst not much use for shopping, Bielby, Everingham, Seaton Ross and Melbourne also have the weekday peak X36 into York.

However this is still a disappointing change, especially when compared to the pre-April 2017 service that provided most of the villages with 'shopper' services to York and/or Pocklington 4 days a week. It is also perhaps worth questioning why the service runs Allerthorpe-Newton on Derwent-Pocklington as opposed to Newton on Derwent-Allerthorpe-Pocklington, now that York connections are not a consideration. Allerthorpe to Pocklington direct used to take 9 minutes, the current route takes 70 minutes. Whilst journey times from Newton on Derwent, Sutton on Derwent and Melbourne would be increased if the route was revised in this way, the increase would be nowhere near as drastic, and these are the three villages with alternative 'shopping' services.

At the same time Tuesday only ERYC tendered service 199 from Huggate to Pocklington via Warter Nunburnholme, Burnby and Hayton also passed from EYMS to York Pullman. One journey continues to operate each way, but retimed to leave Huggate at 0930 rather than 0920, and Pocklington at 1145 rather than 1125. The 195 and 199 can now be operated by the same vehicle.