Sunday 31 March 2019

Stagecoach 99 Hull to Bridlington

As expected, Stagecoach have won the Bridlington Park and Ride contract; they have a five year deal (2019 to 2023 inclusive) with East Riding of Yorkshire Council to provide the service, which operates for 2019 between 6th April and 3rd November.

At the same time, Stagecoach are introducing service 99 between Hull and Bridlington. The service operates direct between Hull Paragon Interchange and Bridlington via the A165, serving stops along Holderness Road, and in the villages of Skirlaugh and Beeford en-route. In Bridlington the Park and Ride site is served before most services run into Bridlington Bus Station. The 99 operates on the same dates as the Bridlington Park and Ride and has between three and five journeys each way, leaving Hull Interchange at 0745, 0815 (certain dates only) 0945, 1045 and 1645 (certain dates only), and returning from Bridlington at 1315, 1715 and 1845 from the Bus Station, plus 1825 and 2110 from the Park and Ride site on certain dates only.

The 99 would appear to be vehicle and driver positioning/changeover journeys run in service, with a little bit of extra mileage to serve Paragon Interchange and Bridlington Bus Station than would otherwise be needed if run out of service, or in service by the most direct route possible. However despite the apparent reason for it's existence being 'logistical', the 99 may still be off use to Bridlington daytrippers and for that reason it makes sense for Stagecoach to try what they are doing with the 99. It will provide some competition for East Yorkshire's 121 between Hull and Bridlington, although both services use entirely different routes between Paragon Interchange and Bridlington, and also for East Yorkshire's tendered 136 between Beeford and Bridlington.

Thursday 21 March 2019

Humber Flyer/250

I don't post many VOSA registrations these days, but here is a rare exception - a variation to the HF2, the section of Stagecoach's Humber Flyer between Hull, Barton and Humberside Airport:

Registration number: PB0001484/262                                
Licence Number: PB0001484                                
Variation number: 9                                
Status: Registered                                
Service number: HU_HF2, 250                                
Service type: Normal Stopping                                
Start point: Hull Interchange                                
Finish point: Humberside Airport                                
Via:
Date received: 16 Mar 2019                                
Effective date: 28 Apr 2019                                
End date:
Supported by subsidies?: No                                
Local authorities covered by route: East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Kingston upon Hull, North Lincolnshire Council                                
TAOs covered by route: North East of England

Note the service number now includes the 250. The 250 hasn't run for a few years, but was used for much of the 2000's and early 2010's for Barton to Grimsby services via Barrow, Thornton Curtis, Wootton, Ulceby and Immingham. Currently the 'corridor' is served by the subsidised 450 between Barton and Immingham. Last year North Lincolnshire Council wanted to divert the Humber Flyer to include Barrow, Thornton Curtis, Wootton and Ulceby. Then more recently North Lincolnshire Council have proposed cutting the service to Thornton Curtis, Wootton and Ulceby to two days a week.

Maybe I'm putting two and two together and getting five, but is there going to be some sort of integration between the Humber Flyer and the Barton to Ulceby 'corridor'? There doesn't seem to be a long term future for the 450 between Barton and Immingham at the moment, in it's current form at least.

Monday 11 March 2019

East Yorkshire

Back in June EYMS was sold to Go Ahead and last week announced branding changes, including a new livery, as well as it's fleet investment plans. As part of the branding change, EYMS will be known instead simply as 'East Yorkshire'.

Going forward the label used on this blog will therefore be 'East Yorkshire (Buses)' rather than 'EYMS'. I've added (Buses) on the end to help avoid confusion with the county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, which is sometimes referred to as East Yorkshire.