Some Positives, Some Negatives

From Monday 2nd July, North Lincolnshire Council subsidised service 94 between Brigg and Kirton in Lindsey was substantially revised and mostly improved on weekdays, incorporating the 354 Kirton Town Service, and associated service 95 was replaced by the new X4. The 94/X4 are, and the 95 was, operated by Hornsby Travel, whilst the 354 had been operated 'in-house' by North Lincolnshire Council. This post covers the weekday arrangements only, for Saturday services, now provided by the C4, see here.

The 94 had been linking Lime Sidings, Kirton, Redbourne, Hibaldstow, Scawby and Brigg, with three 'full route' journeys from Lime Sidings to Brigg, and two in the other direction, plus a 'one-way' Kirton to Brigg journey and one Redbourne to Brigg journey in each direction. With the new timetable the service is now roughly every two hours, with six journeys in each direction between Brigg and Kirton. Scawby is omitted on the first two morning journeys from Brigg, whilst The Nookings in Hibaldstow is served by four journeys between Kirton and Brigg, and two from Brigg to Kirton, compared to two journeys in each direction with the old timetable. There is a new evening peak service from Brigg at 1730. The small settlement of Gainsthorpe/Lime Sidings is no longer served, with most of the old 354 Kirton Town Service route incorporated into the 94 instead. Kirton Garden Centre from 354 route is no longer served however, and if the Traveline East Midlands route map is correct then Richdale Avenue and East Dale Drive in the north western part of Kirton may no longer be served. The 354 had operated on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday with five morning/lunchtime journeys so the 94 trades morning/lunchtime frequency on those three days for a five day a week service that operates for longer and runs through to Brigg.

Most journeys on the 94 had previously continued as/started as a 95 between Brigg and Scunthorpe, via Scawby, Greetwell Crossroads, Lakeside Retail Park and Brigg Road, a function which has now switched to the new X4 that operates direct via Lakeside Retail Park and Brigg Road (i.e. not serving Scawby or Greetwell Crossroads). This is a faster more direct route between Brigg and Scunthorpe, and avoids the need for Hibaldstow and Redbourne passengers to/from Scunthorpe to travel through Scawby twice. For Scawby however the withdrawal of the 95 means the end of direct (i.e. not via Brigg) off peak services to Scunthorpe, and a frequency reduction between the village and Brigg. The 95 had provided four Brigg to Scunthorpe services in each direction, and one Brigg to Lakeside one-way service that then extended to the Hornsby depot in Ashby. The 1735 95 from Scunthorpe has been partially replaced by diverting the 1730 service 4 from Scunthorpe via Scawby. It is also worth noting that the first through 94 to X4 service is the 1022 from Kirton, arriving into Scunthorpe at 1125, compared to a first 1004 arrival on the old 94/95 - this is quite late but with suitable returns from Scunthorpe at 1300/1500/1700 a usable shopping service remains.

When Two become One

Until Saturday 30th June, North Lincolnshire Council (NLC) had funded two Saturday 'shopper' services which served both Brigg and Scunthorpe - the 94/94 from Redbourne and the 366 from Goxhill - using two buses. From Saturday 7th July new Saturday only route C4 partially replaced these services, using just one bus - and with one bus trying to replace what two did before, the rather predictable result was a reduced service. The old 94/95 and 366, and new C4 were/are operated by Hornsby Travel.

The Saturday service 94/95 had comprised a single service each way between Redbourne and Scunthorpe via Brigg. The route operated as service 94 between Redbourne and Brigg, serving Hibaldstow and Scawby en-route, before using the 95 number between Brigg and Scunthorpe, serving Scawby again as well as Lakeside Retail Park. A quirk on the old Saturday 94, which still continues on the new C4, was/is the use of Pyewipe Farm in Redbourne as the terminus, south of the village centre, as opposed to the village itself. This is a legacy of when the Saturday 94 started at Bishop Norton and was partly funded by Lincolnshire County Council (LCC). When the LCC funding went, the service was cutback back to the NLC boundary, in this case a farm.

Service 366 had been a Saturday only service in recent years, partly acting as a Saturday service for the 68 Wolds Villager route between Ulceby and Brigg, but also doing more than that. One return journey was provided between Goxhill, New Holland, Barrow, Thornton Curtis, Ulceby, Wootton, Croxton, Kirmington, Melton Ross, Barnetby, Wrawby, Brigg, Lakeside Retail Park and Scunthorpe, along with an Ulceby to Scunthorpe 'short' in each direction; this 'short' wasn't much use for travel to/from Scunthorpe but was useful for Brigg shoppers. All but one journey also served Scawby (the one that didn't was due to the 95 operating at a similar time).

The new C4 officially runs between Kirmington and Redbourne, but is effectively two separate interworked services; Kirmington to Brigg and Redbourne to Brigg. Between Kirmington and Brigg the C4 uses the X4 route, which unlike the 366 also includes Humberside Airport and Tunnel Road in Wrawby, partially replacing the 91 Brigg Town Service in this part off Wrawby. Four services are provided each way between Kirmington and Brigg, though two services from Brigg operate direct, omitting Wrawby Tunnel Road, Barnetby and Humberside Airport. Compared to the 366 this is slightly better than the two journeys each way provided on this section of route. Between Redbourne and Brigg there are two journeys each way, one which follows the same route as the 94 including Hibaldstow The Nookings and Scawby, and a direct 'in service positioning journey' that omits The Nookings and Scawby.

So whilst looking in isolation at what the C4 replaces, the service is the same or slightly improved, there is quite a lot which the C4 doesn't replace. Goxhill, New Holland, Barrow, Thornton Curtis, Ulceby and Wootton no longer have a service to Scunthorpe and need to use the 260/450/train/CallConnect to Barton to catch the 350 instead. Goxhill and New Holland need to do likewise for travel to Brigg from Barton/Barrow on service 450, whilst Barrow, Thornton Curtis, Wootton and Ulceby are also on the 450 route to Brigg, but from Ulceby and Wootton in particular the 450 via Barton is a rather long way round to get to Brigg. Croxton is left without a traditional bus service. (These notes ignore school & college day only services).  It is worth reminding that the Tuesday and Thursday 68 Wolds Villager extension to/from Ulceby, Wootton and Croxton was not replaced either when the 68 was withdrawn at the end of June.

Kirmington, Melton Ross, Barnetby and Wrawby have lost their Saturday Scunthorpe link as well, though do now have a regular Monday to Friday through service on the X4, and can connect on Saturdays from the C4 onto service 4 at Brigg to reach Scunthorpe (0820 C4 from Kirmington connects onto the 0900 service 4 Brigg to Scunthorpe arriving at 0954, return service 4 from Scunthorpe at 1300 to connect onto the 1405 C4 from Brigg to Kirmington). Barnetby also has a rail link to Scunthorpe, but the location of Scunthorpe Station isn't ideal for the main shopping area.

Redbourne and Hibaldstow are also now without a Saturday Scunthorpe link but retain through Monday to Friday services on the 94+X4. Scawby is now without a Saturday daytime Scunthorpe link as well, and it's Saturday daytime Brigg service is cut from four services into Brigg/three from Brigg across the 94/95/366 to just one each way on the C4. It does keep it's weekday services on the 4/94+X4, and also it's Saturday evening service on route 4 though ... which offers 23 minutes in Scunthorpe Bus Station before the last service home.

Ideally NLC would still be funding two Saturday buses. One could operate on service X4 between Kirmington and Scunthorpe, with the first and last journey at least starting in/extending to Goxhill, and the other could operate on service 94+X4 between Redbourne and Scunthorpe, perhaps with some Brigg to Scunthorpe 'shorts' in between Redbourne journeys. This would restore most of what was lost, and be more consistent with the weekday network. Something for the future maybe?

Brigg Town Service Changes

From Tuesday 3rd July, the Hornsby Travel operated Brigg Town Services were significantly revised. They operate every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - in a rather efficient arrangement which sees the services operate on different days to the Barton Town Service. The Brigg Town Services used to have a different timetable each day, I think the bus was used for a day centre service in Hibaldstow on a Tuesday for part of the morning, whilst the service operated slightly longer into the afternoon on a Thursday than on the other two days.

Previously there were three routes as part of the Brigg Town Services - the 91, 92 and 93. The 91 served the Churchill Avenue in the east of Brigg on all journeys, with some journeys also serving Woodbine Avenue. The neighbouring village of Wrawby was served on two journeys, essentially one journey into Brigg and one back. In Wrawby the service ran via Tunnel Road and Vicarage Gardens. The 92 routed to the north of Brigg Town Centre, serving Redcombe Lane, Grammar School Road, Springbank and Poplar Drive. The 93 meanwhile served Brigg Garden Centre and the nearby villages of Howsham and Cadney, operating as a circular to/from Cary Lane.

Now there are just two routes, the 91 as the sole 'true' town service, and the 92 is the new number for the 93.

The new 91 takes the 92 route from Brigg Cary Lane (the main town centre bus stop) up to the Springbank/Poplar Drive area in the north of Brigg and then either returns back to Cary Lane, or operates via Hawthorn Avenue to Woodbine Avenue and the Churchill Avenue areas in the east of Brigg (i.e. the old 91 area), before returning to Cary Lane. Wrawby is no longer served, with the new X4 and C4 now providing Monday to Saturday services for Tunnel Road in Wrawby, but Vicarage Gardens does not have a replacement service.

The new 91 has three full route journeys Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, three journeys to Springbank/Poplar Drive and then direct back to Cary Lane Tuesday and Thursday, plus one on Saturday, and also one Churchill Avenue to Cary Lane 'short' on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The 'old' 92 to Springbank/Poplar Drive provided three Tuesday, six Thursday and four Saturday journeys, and the 'new' 91 provides six Tuesday/Thursday journeys and four on Saturdays - so a significant Tuesday improvement. The 'old 91' provided Churchill Avenue with four Tuesday, six Thursday and five Saturday journeys, with the 'new 91' providing four Tuesday and Thursday journeys and three on Saturdays - a bit of a drop on Thursday and Saturday.

The main feature of the new 92 compared to the old 93 is an extra early afternoon short between Cary Lane and Brigg Garden Centre. There remains one 'full route' journey each way around the circular route. The new 92 has the same number of journeys on all three operating days.

The new X4 (incorporating the 68 Wolds Villager)

New service X4, operated by Hornsby Travel, was added to the North Lincolnshire bus network on Monday 2nd July 2018, operating direct between Scunthorpe and Brigg via Brigg Road and Lakeside Retail Park, before either extending via Wrawby, Barnetby and Humberside Airport to Kirmington, or operating as a service 94 to/from Kirton (more on the 94 in a future post). The X4 operates Monday to Friday only, hourly between Scunthorpe and Brigg and mostly two hourly between Brigg and Kirmington.

The X4 serves a number of purposes. Looking first at the core Scunthorpe to Brigg section it provides a much faster service than the main service 4 between the two towns. Weekday daytime journeys times on the 4 between Scunthorpe and Brigg are 45 minutes, but on the X4 are just 25 minutes. Part of the reasoning for the X4 being started was a North Lincolnshire Council (NLC) desire to provide a "service more attractive for young people, thereby encouraging them to make greater use of the service and improving their opportunity to be both economically and socially active". However for many teenagers at least, the one day of the week when the X4 would be off most use for being 'socially active' during school and college term times is a Saturday, when the X4 doesn't run! For traditional office hour commuting the X4 maybe useful, but the last bus back from Scunthorpe is at 1700; anyone coming home later will need to revert to service 4. I won't be overly critical however as it is a significant improvement for weekday travel between Scunthorpe and Brigg. The 4 and X4 combined offer half hourly departures from both towns. It's also worth noting that the X4 replaces the 95 along Brigg Road in Scunthorpe.

Every two hours, though hourly in the morning peak, the X4 extends to/from Kirmington, incorporating the weekday 68 'Wolds Villager', which had been operated by Hornsby Travel until withdrawal on Friday 29th June.

The 68 had operated from Brigg Town Centre (the leisure centre in the afternoon) via Wrawby (sticking to the A18 in the village), Barnetby, Melton Ross, New Barnetby, Humberside Airport, Kirmington, Croxton and Wootton to Ulceby. There were many part route journeys, and most journeys omitted New Barnetby. In total there were eight Barnetby/Wrawby to Brigg journeys, leaving Barnetby between 0750 and 1630, and six in the return direction leaving Brigg Cary Lane between 0955 and 1615 (one less each way on schooldays). Three journeys were provided from Kirmington into Brigg between 0919 and 1438, with two return journeys from Brigg Cary Lane at 1155 and 1410. Croxton, Wootton and Ulceby had a single journey to/from Brigg on Tuesday and Thursdays only.

Service X4 doesn't run into the Ancholme Leisure Centre car park as the 68 did in the afternoon, but does serve Scawby Road outside the Leisure Centre all day. From Brigg it runs via Tunnel Road in Wrawby, serving more of the village than the 68 did, and along with the new Saturday C4, allowing the removal of the Brigg Town Service from Wrawby. (More on the C4 and Brigg Town Service in a future post). It seems to be no change in Barnetby or Melton Ross, but New Barnetby is no longer served. Then Humberside Airport and Kirmington are served as the 68 did. Croxton, Wootton and Ulceby are unserved; combined with the Saturday 366's withdrawal Croxton is left without a traditional bus service whilst Wootton and Ulceby no longer have a direct link to Brigg. It should be noted however that both New Barnetby and Croxton are very small settlements, and have Call Connect, whilst Wootton and Ulceby still have a through bus to Brigg six days a week on the 450, albeit the 'long way' via Barton.

There are seven services a day from Kirmington, Humberside Airport, Melton Ross, Barnetby and Wrawby into Brigg and Scunthorpe, leaving Kirmington between 0720 and 1720, and to a memorable clockface timetable unlike the 68. In the opposite direction there are two morning X4's that start at Lakeside at 0645 and 0745 and which run direct from Brigg to Kimington omitting Wrawby Tunnel Road, Barnetby and Humberside Airport, followed by five 'normal' services leaving Brigg between 0825 and 1625. This is a substantially improved service for Kirmington, though a slight reduction between Barnetby and Brigg. It also ends the hourly late morning service between Brigg and Barnetby is favour of a more evenly spaced service throughout the day. For Wrawby to Brigg it depends what part of the village you are in, around Tunnel Road it's a very substantial improvement from a limited service three days a week on the Brigg Town Service.

The other substantial positive for Wrawby, Barnetby, Melton Ross and Kirmington is the provision of a regular, and direct, weekday service through to Scunthorpe, even allowing for the loss of a such link on Saturdays after the 366 was withdrawn. (Barnetby of course does have a daily hourly train service to Scunthorpe as well). There is an oddity though in that a morning peak service to Scunthorpe is provided from these villages, but the last return bus from Scunthorpe is at 1600 (and Brigg at 1630). Also the two early morning service from Lakeside are a missed opportunity for Humberside Airport commuters in not serving the airport terminal (unless you travel via Kirmington), and in not starting back at Scunthorpe Bus Station; the 1725 from the airport provides a useful evening commuting service for any '9-5' workers at the airport or neighbouring business park, but the first arrival at the airport from Scunthorpe and Brigg is at 0900.

Those X4 journeys that do not extend beyond Brigg to Kirmington extend to Kirton as service 94, providing a partial replacement for service 95 between Brigg, Scawby and Scunthorpe. This means that all X4's are not just reliant on Scunthorpe to Brigg custom, but can also tap into 'beyond' Brigg custom as well - all the more useful as the X4 will have only a little en-route custom between Scunthorpe and Brigg (along Brigg Road in Scunthorpe and at Lakeside Retail Park).

Overall plenty to be positive about, but some negatives and 'room for improvements'. There are a few more negatives sadly as well when looking at Saturday provision in a future post. NLC have a desire for the X4 to eventually become a fully commercial operation, but I suspect it will need some 'tweaks' between Brigg and Kirmington at least for that to happen.

Hornsby 4 July Changes

On Monday 2nd July, many Hornsby Travel services in the Brigg area were amended, including the Monday to Saturday Hornsby operated journeys on service 4 between Scunthorpe, Ashby, Lakeside Retail Park, Broughton and Brigg.

On weekday daytimes, Hornsby had been providing up to two buses an hour, but to a rather irregular timetable, however the service is now hourly. The new timetable is far more memorable/clockface, and when combined with new service X4 (more of which in a future post), provides half hourly departures from Scunthorpe to Brigg and vice versa via Lakeside. In many ways an improvement, but it is a cut for Broughton and Ashby.

Off note in the weekday evening peak/early evening period is that the last service from Scunthorpe to serve South View and Town Hill in Broughton is now at 1630, as opposed to 1750 previously, but from Brigg is at 1830 rather than 1740. Later journeys serve other parts of Broughton. The 1730 from Scunthorpe now includes Scawby, previously only served by the 4 in the evening period - this replace the 1735 service 95 journey (again more of which in a future post). The previous gap in departures from Scunthorpe Bus Station between 1750 and 2010 reduces to a gap between 1830 and 2010.

Weekday early morning and evening services, plus the weekday limited daytime extensions to/from Foxhills Industrial Estate/Normanby Enterprise Park remain. Also largely unchanged is the Saturday service, which operates hourly daytimes via Timberland, along with a limited early/mid evening service. The Sunday service operated by Stagecoach was unaltered.

Stagecoach May Changes in Grimsby and Cleethorpes

From Sunday 13th May, Stagecoach made some changes to local services around Grimsby and Cleethorpes. The main change saw the interworked 3 and 4 services between Cleethorpes, Grimsby and Laceby Road Morrisons reduced on weekday daytimes from an every 10 minute frequency to an every 12 minute frequency. Not a huge change, but not good news either.

Evenings see a variety of changes on services 3 and 4. Starting with service 3, the weekday 1755 Cleethorpes to Morrisons terminates at Grimsby Riverhead Exchange, but there is a new weekday 1830 Cleethorpes to Grimsby 'short', filling a gap between 'full route' departures at 1815 and 1845. The Monday to Saturday 2045 Cleethorpes to Morrisons also terminates at Riverhead Exchange, but the Monday to Saturday 2145 departure from Cleethorpes is replaced by 2115 and 2215 departures. On Sundays the 1845 from Cleethorpes to Morrisons terminates at Grimsby Riverhead Exchange, with the 1945/2045/2145/2245 operating half an hour earlier. Daily there is also a new 2315 Cleethorpes to Grimsby short; the previous last service had been at 2245 (the 2245 remains Monday to Saturday).

In the opposite direction, on Saturdays the 1755 from Morrisons terminates at Grimsby Riverhead Exchange rather than running through to Cleethorpes. Monday to Saturday the 2035 Morrisons to Cleethorpes terminates at Grimsby Riverhead Exchange, but the 2135 and 2235 departures are replaced by 2105, 2205 and 2255 departures. On Sundays the 1804 Morrisons to Grimsby Riverhead Exchange is now a 1805 Morrisons to Cleethorpes, the 1834 Morrisons to Cleethorpes is withdrawn and the 1934/2034/2134/2234 Morrisons to Cleethorpes services now operate at 1905/2005/2105/2205 along with a new 2255 Morrisons to Cleethorpes.

On service 4 the Monday to Saturday 2115 and 2215 departures from Cleethorpes move to 2145 and 2245, with the 2315 Cleethorpes to Grimsby short withdrawn. On Sundays the 1815 from Cleethorpes to Morrisons terminates at Grimsby Riverhead Exchange, there is a new 1845 Cleethorpes to Morrisons, with the 1915/2015/2115/2215 retimed to 1945/2045/2145/2245 and the 2315 Cleethorpes to Grimsby short withdrawn.

From Morrisons on service 4, the Monday to Saturday 2055 to Cleethorpes terminates at Grimsby Riverhead Exchange, with the 2155 and 2255 to Cleethorpes retimed earlier to 2125 and 2225 and a new 2325 Morrisons to Grimsby Riverhead Exchange added. The last service from Riverhead Exchange to Cleethorpes is now at 2245 rather than 2315. On Sundays the 1827 Morrisons to Grimsby Riverhead Exchange becomes a 1825 Morrisons to Cleethorpes, the 1855/1955/2055/2155/2255 become 1925/2025/2125/2225 departures along with a 2325 Morrisons to Grimsby Riverhead Exchange short.

There were also minor retimings to some journeys on routes 1/2/20 between Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Europarc and Wybers Wood.

Tried and Failed: The N125

Catching up on the last of Stagecoach's April changes in Hull, and this time it's a total withdrawal, of the N125 nightbus from Hull to Beverley via the Avenues, Dunswell and Woodmansey. The N125 had only begun in September 2017, offering three services from Hull Monument Bridge at 2320, 2350 and 0050 on Saturday nights/Sunday morning, as well as a single 0015 departure from Beverley. These ran for the last time on Saturday 28th April.

There is a 2320 service 5 from Hull Old Town up to the Avenues area and the top end of Beverley Road, but nothing later. EYMS's 106 nightbus does briefly 'intersect' with the N125's old route on Cottingham Road. In terms of services from Hull to Dunswell, Woodmansey and Beverley, the last service reverts to being EYMS's 2300 service 246 departure from Paragon Interchange. The single departure from Beverley is not such a loss however, as EYMS have a 0025 service 121 departure from Beverley to Hull.

It is disappointing the N125 was withdrawn, the Avenues are a key part of Hull's evening/night economy as well as the City Centre. However all other post 2330 departures from Paragon Interchange were withdrawn at the same time indicating the nightbus network just wasn't working out for Stagecoach in Hull. In addition Stagecoach have a very minimal presence in Dunswell, Woodmansey and Beverley which may have impacted on awareness of the N125. Stagecoach deserve credit for trying out a new service at least.

Priory Park Park and Ride April Changes

Back on Monday 30th April, Stagecoach made changes to the Hull Priory Park Park and Ride service. The weekday peak and Saturday daytime services were reduced from every 10 minutes to every 15 minutes, leaving a 15 minute frequency service peak and off peak Monday to Saturday, and an identical weekday and Saturday timetable. Express buses via Clive Sullivan Way remain at peak times, operating every half hour (i.e. every other service), and now operating on Saturdays as well, as part of the new standard six day a week timetable.

Finally the main 'non-express' journeys now stop along Boothferry Road between Fiveways and Anlaby Road; combined with the 350 Humber Fastcat and Humber Flyer, Stagecoach now have six to seven buses an hour Monday to Saturday daytime between this section of Boothferry Road and Hull City Centre, compared to EYMS's seven to nine an hour across routes 66, 155, 350 and X55. Stagecoach haven't, as far as I'm aware, done any publicity for this change, just quietly introduced it, presumably trying to pick up the odd extra passenger without antagonising EYMS.

When Three become Two

From Monday 30th April, Stagecoach consolidated evening services on the 3 and 4, along with most evening services on the 14, into two routes, the 3a and 4a.

Service 3 runs from Orchard Park Tesco via Hall Road, Bricknell Avenue, Chanterlands Avenue, Hull City Centre, Holderness Road, Preston Road and Annandale Road to Grange Road Roundabout in Greatfield. The 4 also runs between Orchard Park Tesco and Grange Road Roundabout, but via Ellerburn Avenue, Greenwood Avenue, Beverley Road, Hull City Centre, Holderness Road, Marfleet Lane, Staveley Road, Barham Road and Amethyst Road. Most 3's continue as service 4's, and vice versa, at both Orchard Park and Grange Road. Service 14 links Hull Paragon Interchange with Greatfield Falkland Road via Holderness Road, Portobello Street, Wingfield Road and Annandale Road.

The revised evening 3a follows the 3 route from Orchard Park to Annandale Road before diverting via Wingfield Road, to cover part of the 14, and Hopewell Road, otherwise unserved, to Amethyst Road which becomes the changeover point to/from service 4a. Of the service 3 route only Grange Road is unserved.

Service 4a however has two changes from it's daytime counterpart. From Orchard Park Tesco the 4a operates direct to Beverley Road, omitting Ellerburn Avenue and Greenwood Avenue which are left with the half hourly service 5 in the evening - a fairly significant drop from the 10 services an hour provided on Monday to Saturday daytimes (services 4 and 5, service 13 also provides an extra two services an hour on weekdays but not direct into Hull City Centre). Between Holderness Road and Staveley Road the 4a routes via Portobello Street to replace the 14 rather than Marfleet Lane on the service 4 route, which is left without an evening service.

Between them the 3a and 4a cover all of the 14 route apart from Falkland Road which is also left without a service for the vast majority of the evening. So very little left unserved/almost unserved in the evening with these arrangements, and probably some notable savings for Stagecoach, but not an ideal evening network either. It's not just three roads unserved, but it's further complexity in the 'simplibus' network. Frequency on the 3a and 4a is half hourly Monday to Saturday evenings and hourly on Sunday evenings, the same as what was previously provided on the 3, 4 and 14. The 3a from Paragon Interchange starts at 1830 Monday to Saturday despite there being a 1840 service 14.

At the end of the evening, the N4 provides a 2330 departure daily from Paragon Interchange to Holderness Road, Diadem Grove, Staveley Road, Amethyst Road, Grange Road, Annandale Road and Preston Road. The N4 had been running Monday to Saturday only, but now also runs on Sundays replacing the 2300 4 from Orchard Park (last 4a from Orchard Park now 2205). On Monday to Saturdays the 14 retains a 2330 departure from Paragon Interchange despite having no service for the rest of the evening. Other than to maintain a late evening departure to Falkland Road, Grange Road and the section of Holderness Road between Bellfield Avenue and Diadem Grove, offering the N4 and 14 at 2330 seems unnecessarily complicated, especially with a 2330 departure on service 3a Monday to Saturday from Paragon Interchange as well. Running the N4 as a 4a, extended from Amethyst Road to Falkland Road via Grange Road, and not having the 2330 14 would tie in better with the rest of the evening network, and perhaps the 'spare' bus from the 14 could run a late departure on another route. Talking of the Holderness Road, maybe on service 56 to Longhill - EYMS's last departure is at 2300, though Stagecoach did have a 2330 departure on this route some years ago before withdrawing it.

As with all other Stagecoach nightbuses, the Saturday night/Sunday morning 0000, 0030 and 0100 departures on service N4 from Hull Truck Theatre were withdrawn, leaving the 2330 N4 from Paragon Interchange as the last service.

The other 'headline' change is the halving of the Sunday daytime frequency of service 3 from every 15 minutes to every half hour. Stagecoach pointed out in their announcement at the time that the 3, 4 and 14 provide a combined service to Greatfield every 10 minutes, but the only common section of route is Annandale Road.

Other changes include slight retimings to various journeys, and an additional weekday morning service 3 from Orchard Park to Paragon Interchange at 0650. 

Service 12a

Stagecoach replaced the evening and Sunday service on route 12 between Hull Paragon Interchange and North Point Shopping Centre in Bransholme with new variant 12a from Monday 30th April, continuing to operate every half hour Monday to Saturday evenings and Sunday daytimes, reducing to hourly Sunday evenings. Service 12a follows the main service 12 route from Paragon Interchange via Holderness Road, Summergangs Road, Gillshill Road and Sutton Village before deviating to serve Midmere Avenue and Barnstaple Road (on the very edge of the North Point site) instead of operating direct to Noddle Hill Way. The 12a then rejoins the 12 route along Noddle Hill Way before extending to Kingswood Retail Park to terminate as opposed to operating to North Point via Wawne Road as the 12 does (the latter partially covered by the 8a evenings and Sundays).

I guess the aim of the 12a is to provide links to Kingswood Retail Park whilst just about still serving North Point. It's a shame there does not appear to be enough time to extend to Kingswood Leisure Park too, as in the evening I would have thought that would have been a more popular destination than the Retail Park. The Leisure Park is walkable for the able bodied from the Retail Park however. The Monday to Saturday evening timetable also only allows a maximum of three hours (and four minutes) at Kingswood, which may restrict it's use for evenings out unless passengers are prepared to change en-route for one leg of their journey.

Service 12 continues to operate Monday to Saturday daytimes every 15 minutes.