Service 1C returns

After a retendering exercise by Hull City Council, East Yorkshire operated services 21 and 51 were withdrawn on Saturday 27th February, and replaced by Stagecoach operated services 1C and 5A on Monday 1st March.

Service 21 had operated between Hull Paragon Interchange, Wilberforce Drive, Freetown Way, Caroline Street, Cannon Street, Bridlington Avenue, Fountain Road, Beverley Road, Mizzen Road, Compass Road and Kingswood Retail Park. The 21 operated every 90 minutes off peak Monday to Saturday increasing to hourly at peaktimes, but omitting Kingswood.

Meanwhile service 51 linked Hull Paragon Interchange, Hull Royal Infirmary, Rawling Way, Hessle Road, Boulevard, Selby Street, St Georges Road, Hessle Road, Hawthorn Avenue, Boothferry Road, Fiveways, Pickering Road, Anlaby Road, Anlaby Park Road North and Sibelius Road. The 51 operated every 90 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes, peak and off peak.

The principle replacement for the 21 and 51 is the Monday to Saturday offpeak 1C, which apart from some variations in Hull City Centre and not serving Kingswood, is a merger of the 21 and 51; not serving Kingswood is unfortunate but would require either a lower frequency or increased vehicle requirement. In Hull City Centre the 1C operates from Sibelius Road direct to Paragon Interchange then as per the 51 route, whilst from Mizzen Road the 1C operates from Alfred Gelder Street via Carr Lane, not serving Bond Street or Paragon Interchange. The 1C number has been used before between Sibelius Road and Compass Road (and Kingswood), back in EYMS days, although arguably in West Hull the current 1C routing has more in common with Stagecoach's service 2 than service 1.

Service 1C operates every two hours but with some extra journeys, departures from Sibelius Road are at 0900, 1000 (to Paragon Interchange only), 1100 and 1300 along with an extra 1435 from Paragon Interchange to Compass Road. From Mizzen Road the 1C departs at 0900, 1000, 1200 and 1400. The 1C requires one vehicle all day and a second first thing in the morning and again mid-afternoon, a reduction from the 21 and 51 each requiring a vehicle all day.

There is no peak time replacement for the 21 along Bridlington Avenue, or for the 51. Parts of the 51 route along Rawling Way, Hessle Road, Boothferry Road, Anlaby Road and Anlaby Park Road are served by other services, and some other sections of route are within walking distance of these roads. Mizzen Road and Compass Road are served by new service 5A, which is a variant of existing service 5 'shorts' between Hull and Orchard Park extending to Compass Road rather than Orchard Park Tesco. Based on the 8th March timetable, departures leave Paragon Interchange at 0730, 1534, 1634 and 1734 Monday to Friday and 0730, 1533, 1633 and 1733 Saturdays. From Mizzen Road the 5A departs at 0715 and 0810 Monday to Friday and 0713 and 0803 Saturdays. 

The 5A appears to use 'slack' in peaktime timetables to serve Compass Road without increasing the peak vehicle requirement. Sadly such 'slack' does not appear to be available off peak at the moment, as in order to serve Mizzen Road and Compass Road, Hull City Council are subsidising the 1C along most of Beverley Road that is otherwise very well served by commercial routes. This subsidy could be used instead to increase frequency between Sibelius Road and Bridlington Avenue, or to serve unserved or underserved roads such as North Road and Askew Avenue in West Hull.

Overall, whilst there maybe hourly rather than 90 minute frequencies for parts of the day and there is through connectivity provided from Beverley Road to Hull Royal Infirmary, these changes are a reduction in service. Hull City Council were considering reducing services to 4 days a week however, so it could have been worse.

New East Hull Services 40 and 41

Hull City Council tendered service 50 was withdrawn after operation on Saturday 27th February, following around 25 years of operation across various routes, but always including Hull City Centre and East Hull. It was initially numbered service 70 and also briefly had a spell as service 58. The 50 latterly was operated by East Yorkshire and linked Hull Paragon Interchange, Holderness Road Shops, Laburnum Avenue, James Reckitt Avenue, Ings Road, Maybury Road, Jalland Lodge, Maybury Road again, Broadway Drive and Holderness Road Morrisons. Four journeys were provided in each direction on a 90 minute frequency Monday to Saturday mornings and early afternoon.

Following retendering the contract was won by Stagecoach and two new services were introduced as a replacement - 40 and 41. I say replacement, but the 40 doesn't do much to replace the 50, rather it reinstates useful links that haven't been provided recently.

The 40 operates as a circular from Holderness Road Morrisons. Going anti clockwise it serves Ings Road, Cavendish Road, Lambwath Road, James Reckitt Avenue (Garden Village), Mount Pleasant and Holderness Road shops. There are four anti-clockwise and three clockwise journeys Monday to Saturday daytimes. The section of Ings Road between James Reckitt Avenue and Cavendish Road has been unserved apart from the 677 Cranswick Foods workers service since the 9 was withdrawn early in the COVID-19 pandemic last year, whilst Lambwath Road has been unserved since then. The section of James Reckitt Avenue served by the 40 also has service 12a, but unlike the 12a, the 40 offers links to the main Holderness Road shopping area and to Morrisons, so has a clear purpose alongside the 12a.

The 41 also operates from Holderness Road Morrisons, via Portobello Street to Broadway Drive then back onto Portobello Street and as per service 14 before replacing the 50 along parts of Staveley Road, Marfleet Lane (Jalland Lodge), Maybury Road and Broadway Drive back to Morrisons. An hourly service is provided Monday to Saturday daytimes, with one 90 minute gap. For Jalland Lodge, Maybury Road and Broadway Drive, through links to Hull City Centre and Holderness Road shops have been traded for increased frequency and a slightly later afternoon service - connections are available to other services on Holderness Road.

The section of James Reckitt Avenue between Ings Road and Gillshill Road is now unserved, as is Laburnum Avenue. James Reckitt Avenue passengers will need to walk to either Ings Road, the stops near the James Reckitt Avenue and Gillshill Road junction, or through East Park to Holderness Road. Laburnum Avenue passengers will need to walk to James Reckitt Avenue or Holderness Road for alternative services.

There are clearly a few positives here, probably more than the negatives. Maybe the 50 could have been retained on a Saturday though, with the 40 and 41 operating weekdays only. That would have avoided any roads becoming unserved and retain all previously provided through links. My other suggestion would be that as the combined 40 and 41 timetable has 17 minutes layover per hour, the 40 could perhaps make a 'double run' along currently unserved Chamberlain Road, using the roundabout at the junction with Stoneferry Road to turnaround - something the 50 and 70 used to do earlier in their history.