Saturday 29 December 2018

Interconnect 51 Afternoon Improvements

Starting on Monday 7th January, Stagecoach will revise the timetable of generally hourly Monday to Saturday Interconnect service 51 between Grimsby and Louth. The 51A Louth school service is also withdrawn at the same time.

In the morning, the 0855 departure from Louth moves to 0905, increasing the current 90 minute gap after the 0725 departure to 100 minutes.

With the new afternoon timetable, the 1440 departure from Grimsby will be replaced by 1410 and 1510 departures, which also eliminates the current 95 minute gap between 1440 and 1615. On schooldays the 1510 will not serve Grimsby Hospital grounds, but will serve Toll Bar School. In the reverse direction from Louth, the 1600 departure from the Bus Station on Saturdays and in School Holidays will depart instead at 1555, but is withdrawn on schooldays. There is a new 1630 departure from Louth however, Monday to Saturday; on Saturdays and in School Holidays this eliminates a 90 minute gap in departures from Louth. Overall one extra service from Grimsby, and one extra service from Louth on Saturdays and in School Holidays.

Wednesday 26 December 2018

Interconnect 53 Timetable Change

Stagecoach will revise the timetable of Monday to Saturday Interconnect service 53 between Grimsby, Caistor, Market Rasen and Lincoln from Monday 7th January. The 1540 departure from Grimsby will now operate at 1610, and the final 1750 departure from Lincoln will also depart 30 minutes later, at 1820.

Tuesday 25 December 2018

Stagecoach 25 to serve Market Rasen

From Tuesday 8th January, Stagecoach service 25 between Ludford and Grimsby will be extended to start/finish in Market Rasen. The route operates on Tuesday and Friday, providing a shopping link into Grimsby. As a result the service shall now leave Market Rasen at 0930, arriving into Grimsby at 1050, as opposed to 1025 currently, with the return departing Grimsby Riverhead Exchange slightly earlier at 1330 rather than 1340. In Ludford the service shall serve a new stop on Bain Rise, where the bus will turnaround, as opposed to existing stops by the Black Horse pub.

Market Rasen's main service to/from Grimsby is the Monday to Saturday 53. There is a 0942 departure from Market Rasen, arriving into Grimsby at 1037, so the morning 25 is unlikely to get much use for Market Rasen to Grimsby travel. In the return direction, the 1330 departure from Grimsby sits nicely in a gap in service 53 departures between 1240 and 1440. I presume though the Market Rasen extension is primarily to support schoolday interworking with a De Aston School service?

Sunday 23 December 2018

Christmas and New Year Bus Services 2018/2019

Below is the annual summary of Christmas and New Year bus services in the Humber region. Operators covered are:
  • Arriva Yorkshire
  • CallConnect services in North Lincolnshire
  • EYMS
  • First South Yorkshire
  • First York
  • Hornsby Travel
  • Isle Coaches
  • Stagecoach
  • Transdev York
Services provided by these operators outside of the region are not covered in this post. If anyone has information for other operators, please post a comment and I will update this post. Please check exact details before travelling as this is only a summary.

Christmas Eve:
  • A Saturday service with an early evening finish will be provided by First South Yorkshire, First York and Stagecoach
  • Stagecoach 260 (Barton Villager) will operate a normal Monday service
  • A normal Monday service with an early evening finish will be provided by Arriva Yorkshire, EYMS, Hornsby Travel (except CallConnect) and Isle Coaches.
  • CallConnect's demand responsive service in North Lincolnshire will operate a Saturday service (between 8am an 6pm). The 'timetabled' weekday CallConnect 59 service between Wroot and Blaxton will not operate
  • Transdev York evening service 10 to Stamford Bridge will not operate
Christmas Day:
No Services

Boxing Day:
Limited daytime services will operate on certain routes only in the Hull Area (the same provision as 2017 except for service 64 renumbered to service 63 following service changes earlier in the year):
 
EYMS:
34: Hull-Willerby - Hourly
56: Hull-Longhill-Asda Bilton - Hourly
63: Hull-Cottingham-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly
66: Hull-Hessle - Hourly
115: Hull-Avenues-Cottingham-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly (circular with 154)
154: Hull-Willerby-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly (circular with 115)
Stagecoach:
1: Hull-Boothferry Estate - Hourly
2: Hull-Boothferry Estate - Hourly
3: Orchard Park-Hull-Greatfield - Half Hourly
4: Orchard Park-Hull-Bilton Grange - Hourly
5: Hull-Orchard Park-Kingswood - Half Hourly
8: Hull-Sutton Park-North Point - Hourly
10: Hull-North Point-North Bransholme - Hourly
11: Hull-North Point-Kingswood - Hourly
12: Hull-North Point - Hourly
13: Hull-North Point - Hourly
14: Hull-Greatfield - Hourly


Thursday 27th:
  • A Saturday service will be provided by Arriva Yorkshire, EYMS, First South Yorkshire, First York, Stagecoach and Transdev York
  • EYMS 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe) will operate a normal Thursday service
  • EYMS service 63 will have an extra journey from Hull to Castle Hill Hospital at 0615, returning at 0702
  • EYMS Saturday only service Nightbus 106 will not operate, nor will Monday, Wednesday and Saturday only service 143.
  • EYMS Friday and Saturday evening only journeys on routes 18, 45, 46, 75, 121 and X47 shall not operate (i.e. a normal Thursday evening service will operate)
  • Stagecoach 10 (Scunthorpe Town Service), 161 (Market Rasen-Brigg-Lakeside) and 260 (Barton Villager) will operate a normal Thursday service
  • A normal Thursday service will be provided by Hornsby Travel (except CallConnect) and Isle Coaches
  • CallConnect's demand responsive service in North Lincolnshire will operate a Saturday service (between 8am an 6pm). The 'timetabled' weekday CallConnect 59 service between Wroot and Blaxton will not operate
Friday 28th:
  • A Saturday service will be provided by Arriva Yorkshire, EYMS, First South Yorkshire, First York, Stagecoach and Transdev York
  • EYMS 88 (Rawcliffe Bridge-Goole), 197 (Pocklington Town Service) and 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe) will operate a normal Friday service
  • EYMS service 63 will have an extra journey from Hull to Castle Hill Hospital at 0615, returning at 0702
  • EYMS Saturday only service Nightbus 106 will not operate, nor will Monday, Wednesday and Saturday only service 143.
  • Stagecoach 10 (Scunthorpe Town Service), 25 (Ludford-Grimsby) and 260 (Barton Villager) will operate a normal Friday service
  • A normal Friday service will be provided by Hornsby Travel (except CallConnect) and Isle Coaches
  • CallConnect's demand responsive service in North Lincolnshire will operate a Saturday service (between 8am an 6pm). The 'timetabled' weekday CallConnect 59 service between Wroot and Blaxton will not operate, nor will the Friday only 'timetabled' CallConnect 55 (Appleby-Scunthorpe) and 58 (Wroot-Epworth) services
Saturday 29th:
Normal Saturday Services. (As a side note this means the Saturday CallConnect 260 will be the only 'timetabled' CallConnect service in North Lincolnshire over the Christmas/New Year period).

Sunday 30th:
Normal Sunday Services

New Years Eve:

  • A Saturday service with an early evening finish will be provided by Arriva Yorkshire, EYMS, First South Yorkshire, First York and Stagecoach
  • EYMS 88 (Rawcliffe Bridge-Goole), 143 (North Ferriby-Beverley) and 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe) will operate a normal Monday service
  • EYMS service 63 will have an extra journey from Hull to Castle Hill Hospital at 0615, returning at 0702
  • Stagecoach 260 (Barton Villager) will operate a normal Monday service
  • A normal Monday service with an early evening finish will be provided by Hornsby Travel (except CallConnect) and Isle Coaches
  • CallConnect's demand responsive service in North Lincolnshire will operate a Saturday service (between 8am an 6pm). The 'timetabled' weekday CallConnect 59 service between Wroot and Blaxton will not operate
  • Transdev York evening service 10 to Stamford Bridge will not operate
New Years Day:
No Services

Wednesday 2nd January:
Back to normal, except for First South Yorkshire who will operate a Saturday service on Wednesday 2nd, Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th January, before resuming normal services on Saturday 5th January.

Sunday 16 December 2018

CallConnect 25A to be withdrawn

The 'fixed'/'timetabled' CallConnect service 25A between Binbrook and Waltham will be withdrawn after operation on Friday 21st December. (Lincolnshire County Council list the withdrawal as effective from Wednesday 2nd January, but as CallConnect will largely be operating a Saturday service between 24th and 31st December, the actual end date is earlier). Service 25A was introduced in July to replace the previous peak time service 25 between Binbrook and Grimsby, and operates on weekdays only, connecting to/from service 10 at Waltham for travel to/from Grimsby. The morning journey leaves Binbrook at 0740, with a 1755 return from Waltham. Lincolnshire County Council simply advise passengers to instead 'Book with CallConnect!' (i.e. the main demand responsive CallConnect service).

Sunday 2 December 2018

simplibus North Lincolnshire

On Monday 29th October, the local bus network in Scunthorpe was relaunched as 'simplibus North Lincolnshire'. This follows on from Stagecoach launching the simplibus concept of 'low' route numbers and new branding/marketing in Grimsby/Cleethorpes, Hull, Lincoln and Newark. simplibus in Scunthorpe has two interesting differences however - it's name, and the involvement of a second operator.

Until Scunthorpe, the simplibus network has been named after the main town(s) or city being served, even if the network extends outside of the main urban area. For example the 5 in the simpibus Grimsby and Cleethorpes network extends to Immingham, a separate town not part of the same urban area, and onwards to the village of South Killingholme in North Lincolnshire, in a different council area to Grimsby and Cleethorpes. In Lincoln the simplibus network covers outlying villages such as Welton. However there is no simplibus Scunthorpe, it's simplibus North Lincolnshire, and as explained below it's not as if the network extends into multiple parts of North Lincolnshire, it's contained within the Scunthorpe urban area apart from one route to Brigg and some occasional extensions of another route to East Butterwick. In that sense it's very similar to simplibus Grimsby and Cleethorpes. In many ways it doesn't matter if it's simplibus Scunthorpe or simplibus North Lincolnshire, but the name caught my attention.

Hornsby Travel are also involved in the new network, despite simplibus being a Stagecoach brand. Hornsby and Stagecoach (and Road Car before Stagecoach) have co-operated for some time within Scunthorpe, with mutual ticket acceptance and a joint town service leaflet, and by working together it presents a joined up cohesive network to customers and potential customers despite there being two operators of town services in Scunthorpe. 'simpli' it's a logical approach, and it doesn't prevent competition, for example along Spilsby Road and Angerstein Road in the Riddings estate.

The revised network contains 13 services numbered 1 to 12 and 1A. The Scunthorpe town network had been a 'mish-mash' of routes from two previous network recasts last decade, and some routes added or changed at other times.

Route 1 - Stagecoach

The 31 (anti-clockwise) and 32 (clockwise) circulars that cover Scunthorpe Bus Station, Frodingham, Ashby, parts of the Riddings estate, Westcliff, Tesco, Scunthorpe Hospital and Scunthorpe Bus Station, operating every 20 minutes in each direction Monday to Saturday daytimes, are now known as service 1 and use the same number in each direction. Other than the renumbering there are no major changes, there are some minor retimings, and a new later last anti-clockwise departure from Scunthorpe Bus Station at 1755 rather than at 1735 as previously.

Route 1A - Stagecoach

The 1A is the Monday to Saturday Evening/Sunday replacement for the 31A/32A circulars, that like their daytime counterparts now use the same number in each direction. The route is unchanged from the 31A/32A, covering most of the Monday to Saturday daytime 1 plus some additional areas, and so is the frequency, off hourly daily evenings, half hourly Sunday daytimes, in each direction.

Monday to Saturday evening clockwise departures from Scunthorpe Bus Station however change from 1800/1830/1930/2030/2130/2230/2330 Fri and Sat only to 1810/1910/2010/2110/2210/2310 - a slightly reduced early evening service and an earlier last bus Friday/Saturday but a later last bus Monday to Thursday. The Monday to Saturday evening anti-clockwise service is also slightly reduced from 1800/1830/1930/2030/2130/2230/2330 Fri and Sat only departures from Scunthorpe Bus Station to 1840/1940/2040/2140/2310 departures, again the positive is a later last departure Monday to Thursday. For Riddings and Ashby these changes do provide a half hourly service to/from Scunthorpe Bus Station as the journey time is approximately the same whichever way round the circular you travel. Sunday daytime services are retimed, while Sunday evenings are similar to the new Monday to Saturday evening timetable, but omit Tesco.

Route 2 - Stagecoach

New route 2 is largely the replacement for service 34 between Scunthorpe Bus Station, Westcliff, Riddings, Yaddlethorpe, Ashby and Lakeside, but now operates as a circular back to Scunthorpe Bus Station. It uses the same route number in both directions.

In the Westcliff estate the 'loop' around Plymouth Road and Bristol Road is dropped, leaving Plymouth Road to service 1 and Bristol Road unserved. Rather than serving Swinburne Road along with service 1, the 2 now serves Scotter Road and Lichfield Avenue, previously unserved (apart from the 16?). Taken together all the overlap between the 31/32 and 33/34 that previously existed in Westcliff is removed with the new 1, 2 and 3 services.

The other major change is to the eastern part of the service. Service 34 operated from Ashby via Fulbeck Road and Bellingham Road to Lakeside, whereas the 2 operates from Ashby via Fulbeck Road and then direct to Lakeside, before serving Bellingham Road and extending to/from Scunthorpe Bus Station via Queensway, Ashby Road and Station Road. This change provides a far more direct service from Bellingham Road and Fulbeck Road into Scunthorpe, restores a regular service to Station Road, and provides more options for travel to Scunthorpe Bus Station for those in the centre part of the circular route. Personally I would have used the old service 10 route however via Healey Road and Sandhouse Crescent, the unique sections of which remain unserved, rather than Queensway, which I don't think has any bus stops on it.

The frequency of service 2 is mostly hourly Monday to Saturday, off peak matching what the 34 offered, but less frequent at peak times - this is covered by the new service 3 however.

Route 3 - Stagecoach

The 3 replaces services 11 and 33, but with a new bit in the middle! Service 11 had operated from Scunthorpe Bus Station via Ashby Road, Ashby Town Centre, Bottesford Road and Cambridge Avenue to Yaddlethorpe where it covered Ogilvy Drive and Valley View Drive in Bottesford before returning to Ashby and Scunthorpe. The 33 were Scunthorpe to Westcliff 'shorts' of the 34.

New service 3 is a circular, following the service 2 route from Scunthorpe Bus Station through Westcliff, Bridges Road, Manor Farm Road, Manby Road and Quebec Road before diverging to pick up most of the service 11 route via Ogilvy Drive, Messingham Road, Valley View Drive, Cambridge Avenue, Bottesford Road, Ashby and Ashby Road back to Scunthorpe Bus Station. Two small parts of the old 11 route are unserved, Moorwell Road between High Leys Road and Messingham Road, and Manor Road between Messingham Road and Valley View Drive.

Service 3 operates hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes. For Westcliff the 2/3 provide an off peak bus every half hour rather than every 20 minutes on the 33/34, but for everywhere else it's positive or no change. Bridges Road, Manor Farm Road, Manby Road and Quebec Road go from hourly on the 34 to half hourly on the 2/3, and from Quebec Road at least when accounting for the possibility of using the circular both ways it could be considered there are now 4 buses an hour to/from Scunthorpe Bus Station. Similarly when accounting for the possibility of travelling in either direction, the frequency from Ogilvy Drive and Valley View Drive is now two buses an hour into Scunthorpe Bus Station, compared to hourly on service 11.

Route 4 - Hornsby Mon-Sat, Stagecoach Sun

Existing service 4 between Scunthorpe, Ashby, Broughton and Brigg is included in the network with no change to it's times or route. Whilst superficially an 'out of town' service, it does have some use for local travel within Scunthorpe as well, starting far earlier in the morning than any other service on weekdays, serving Foxhills Industrial Estate, linking Ashby Road to Lakeside Retail Park, serving Timberland on a Saturday, and providing the only evening service and part of the limited Sunday service along Ashby Road.

Route 5 - Hornsby

This is what was service 22 between Scunthorpe Bus Station, Priory Lane, Ashby, Timberland and Lakeside Retail Park. Other than the renumbering the service is unaltered, and operates every hour Monday to Friday.

Route 6 - Hornsby and Stagecoach

If it's not broke, don't fix it! Service 6 survives a full network recast for the second time I believe, and continues to operate every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes between Scunthorpe and Ashby, split between Hornsby and Stagecoach.

Route 7 - Stagecoach

This is the old service 37 in North Scunthorpe, operating hourly Monday to Saturday daytime between Scunthorpe Bus Station, Scunthorpe Hospital, Hilton Avenue, Dewsbury Avenue, Speedwell Crescent and Skppingdale Retail Park. The main change is that services now continues as a service 8 at Skippingdale Retail Park, and vice versa. The last departure from Scunthorpe Bus Station is now at 1755 rather than 1720. A two hour gap now exists Monday to Friday in departures from Scunthorpe Bus Station between 1455 and 1655.

Route 8 - Stagecoach

The 8 is an improved version of the 38 between Scunthorpe Bus Station, Scunthorpe Hospital and Crosby, but now extended to Skippingdale Retail Park via Speedwell Crescent, giving two buses an hour to these areas. The frequency remains hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes. The last bus from Scunthorpe Bus Station is now at 1725 rather than 1755, but the 1755 service 7 from Scunthorpe Bus Station to Skippingdale Retail Park returns as a service 8 via Crosby.

Route 9 - Hornsby

Service 9 between Scunthorpe Bus Station and Scunthorpe Hospital is unchanged, operating every 20 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes and with a limited Saturday daytime service.

Route 10 - Stagecoach

The Tuesday and Friday Parklands-Brumby Wood Lane-Scunthorpe and Thursday Parklands-Brumby Wood Lane-Ashby service is renumbered from service 16 but otherwise unchanged.

Personally I wouldn't have even changed the number - 16 isn't that far out of the 'sequence' (and there is a precedent for an unused number - 15 in the simplibus Hull network), leaving service 10 for future use (there will be a need to serve the new Lincolnshire Lakes development once built for example). Also this route isn't part of the core network, but a tendered service aimed at a small number of users/potential users away from the core network - it doesn't even make it onto the network map!

Route 11 - Stagecoach

This is early morning service 13 renumbered. Again I'm dubious of the need for this renumbering, for the same reasons as noted above.

Route 12 - Hornsby

Service 12 between Scunthorpe Bus Station, Brumby, Ashby, Asda, Burringham and East Butterwick continues unchanged, operating between Scunthorpe Bus Station and Asda every half hour Monday to Friday and hourly on Saturdays, with less frequent extensions to Burringham and East Butterwick.

Saturday 1 December 2018

Shorter Shorts

Back in September, Stagecoach replaced the three Monday to Saturday Scunthorpe-Messingham-Scotter 'shorts' on service 100 with Scunthorpe-Messingham 'shorts' on service 103. I'm calling these journeys 'shorts' as the full route 100 and 103 services run Scunthorpe to Lincoln - the 100 via Gainsborough and the 103 via Kirton in Lindsey.

The 'shorts' still leave Scunthorpe Bus Station at 1000, 1200 and 1400, contributing to the half hourly Scunthorpe to Messingham off peak frequency provided between routes 100 and 103, but return from Messingham at 1024, 1224 and 1424, rather than at 1038, 1238 and 1438 as with the previous service 100 'shorts'. This somewhat spoils the usual standard 8 and 38 minute past the hour departures from Messingham into Scunthorpe. I presume the intention is to maximise 'recovery time' at Scunthorpe Bus Station. I think the 'shorts' then work the 1100, 1300 and 1500 service 103 departures from Scunthorpe to Lincoln, and used to arrive into Scunthorpe Bus Station at 1055, 1255 and 1455, giving just five minutes 'turnaround'. With the 'shorts' no longer serving Scotter they get back into Scunthorpe Bus Station seven minutes earlier, giving a longer twelve minute 'turnaround' before their next service.

This change is a reduction for Scotter from three buses every two hours back to a hourly service. It is worth noting that these 'shorts' only ran to Scotter since April 2017, when they were diverted from Kirton in Lindsey.