Service 277 Morning Reductions (but done with some thought)

On Monday 5th September, East Yorkshire revised their service 277 between Hedon, Preston, Sproatley, Bilton and Hull. It's a reduced service in the mornings, but some care has been taken to minimise the impact for commuters into Hull City Centre.

The morning peak 0720 departure from Hedon to Hull was replaced by a 0652 (Mon-Fri)/0705 (Sat) Hedon to Asda Bilton, from where the service continues as a 57 into Hull City Centre. Journey times are increased due to the 57's slightly less direct route, but if the 277 can't justify a dedicated morning peak bus, then this arrangement is the next best thing. 

Withdrawn entirely was the Monday to Friday only 0855 from Hull to Hedon, which means the first arrival into Hedon from Bilton and Sproatley is at 1110 rather than 0940. Preston does have an 0927 arrival on route 78. 

Most other 277 journeys were also retimed.

78/79 Minor Reductions

East Yorkshire withdrew three journeys across associated services 78 and 79 between Hull, Victoria Dock and Hedon from Monday 5th September, due to 'low levels of usage'. The 78 and 79 are broadly hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, two hourly on each route, and combined with the hourly 75 and X7 to offer three buses per hour between Hull and Hedon. As can be seen below the withdrawals are relatively minor.

The only journey from Hull withdrawn was the 0815 service 79; there is an alternative service 75 journey at 0830 Mon-Fri/0810 Sat between Hull and Hedon, and a service 78 at 0850. For the small village of Paull, served only by the 79, Monday to Friday they now have no link into Hedon between 0725 and 1018, and on Saturdays no Hedon service until 1018. 

The return 0855 service 78 from Hedon to Hull was also cancelled. There is a X7 from Hedon into Hull at 0847 Mon-Fri/0852 Sat, and a service 79 at 0930. Villagers in Preston, served by the 78 but not the 79, have the 0942 service 277 as their 'closest' alternative service into Hull. 

Finally the Monday to Friday only 1620 service 79 from Hedon to Hull was removed. There is a now a gap between 1530 and 1805 on service 79, similar to Saturdays; from Hedon to Hull there is an alternate service 75 at 1612.

I should also point out that between Hull and Victoria Dock there is additionally the hourly Stagecoach service 16, apart from during the current strike when it has been suspended. 

Consistent 66B

On Monday 5th September, East Yorkshire introduced a consistent route to their Monday to Friday peak service 66B between Hull Paragon Interchange and Bridgehead Business Park in Hessle. Previously morning journeys had operated as an extension of service 66 between Paragon Interchange, the Boothferry Estate and Hessle Square, whilst the single afternoon journey operated from Bridgehead Business Park direct via Boothferry Road and Anlaby Road into Paragon Interchange, omitting Hessle Town Centre and the Boothferry Estate - or in other words, the afternoon 66B was effectively a 'short' journey on the service 55 route.

Since last month's change the afternoon service 66B - at 1715 from Bridgehead Business Park - follows the morning 66B route via Hessle Square in reverse. Consistency does have a drawback in this case though - journeys times into Hull City Centre increase by 10 minutes.

Small Improvements between Hull and York

East Yorkshire amended their X46 (and X47 variant) between Hull, Beverley, Market Weighton, Pocklington and York on Sunday 4th September.

A new 0515 Hull to York journey was added Monday to Friday, an hour earlier than the previous first service from Hull and offering a York arrival just after 0700. Also new was a Monday to Friday 0605 from Beverley to Hull. From York departures to Hull at 0632 and 0854, along with the 0805 Pocklington to Hull and 0920 Beverley to Hull were replaced with three York to Hull journeys at 0642, 0734 and 0834, offering an improved service from York. One negative was the withdrawal of the Monday to Friday 0635 Hull to Pocklington (for a York connection on service 46); this journey had operated as an extra over and above the standard hourly service, and it's removal appears to be as a consequence of the new 0515 Hull to York and improved York to Pocklington morning peak service. Overall a clear improvement which is good to see amongst many negative changes elsewhere on the East Yorkshire network.

On Saturday mornings the first journeys were revised to operate slightly earlier; at 0605 rather than than 0620 from Pocklington to York (X47 variant), at 0620 rather than 0645 from Hull to York, at 0625 rather than 0640 from Pocklington to Hull and at 0647 rather than 0702 from York to Hull.

Sundays saw the 0910 X46 Pocklington to York replaced by a 0800 X46 from Hull to York, offering almost an hour earlier first arrival into York from Hull. A new 0910 from Pocklington to Hull was also commenced, previous first service at 1038.

Daytime times were extensively revised on all days of the week. The Monday to Saturday 1910 X46 from Hull to Pocklington became a 1905 departure operating as the X47 variant via Cottingham. Meanwhile one oddity was the retiming of the 2330 Sunday to Thursday X47 from Beverley to Hull to operate at 2340, whilst the Friday and Saturday 2205 York to Hull continues to depart Beverley at 2330.

In terms of route amendments, the biggest change was in York where arrivals now run via Rougier Street to terminate opposite the railway station, instead of operating a loop via Nunnery Lane to terminate outside the station. Saturday afternoon inbound buses in Hull City Centre now use the City Centre loop, which remains omitted Monday to Friday afternoons.

To maintain coordination between Market Weighton, Pocklington and York, the 46 between Holme on Spalding Moor, Market Weighton, Pocklington and York was also retimed, along with the single daily service 45 between Bridlington, Driffield, Market Weighton, Pocklington and York and the peaktime 145 between Market Weighton, Driffield and Bridlington. Frequency on the 46 remains hourly between Market Weighton and York, with five services a day from/to Holme on Spalding Moor. The small number of short York to Pocklington journeys were extended from the East Yorkshire bus depot in Pocklington to 'The Balk' Roundabout south of the town, so as to serve a new housing estate.

East Yorkshire go Saturday only on the 142 (temporarily)

After operation on Friday 2nd September, East Yorkshire withdrew from the 142 between Cherry Burton and Beverley Monday to Friday, leaving just their Saturday 142 between Middleton, Cherry Burton and Beverley. East Yorkshire had provided one morning journey from Cherry Burton into Beverley at 0810 schooldays/0818 school holidays, plus a schooldays only 1520 Beverley to Cherry Burton and a 1730 every weekday Beverley to Cherry Burton. As a result of this change, Cherry Burton lost it's only peaktime bus service.

A week on Monday (24th October), East Yorkshire will be back on the weekday 142 replacing Acklams Coaches off-peak service - but more on that in a later post.

Beverley Locals Evening Service Withdrawn

In September 2021, East Yorkshire revamped it's Beverley town services with new routes B1 and B2, operating under 'Beverley Locals' branding. One aspect of these changes was the introduction of a Friday and Saturday evening service, with journeys provided approximately every 90 minutes on each route. 

Sadly, after a year, East Yorkshire 'pulled the plug' following service on Saturday 3rd September, and the B1 and B2 became daytime only services. East Yorkshire stated the change was "due to low levels of usage". Disappointing, but at least East Yorkshire tried something that hadn't been available in Beverley for a number of years, and they gave it a full year to try and become established. 

Evening services cut north of Leconfield Sunday to Thursday

East Yorkshire withdrew the Sunday to Thursday evening service on route 121 (Hull-Beverley-Leconfield-Driffield-Nafferton-Bridlington) between Leconfield and Nafferton from Sunday 4th September, stating this was due to "very low levels of usage". Friday and Saturday evening services are unaffected. Northern Rail do offer an alternative though for the three largest settlements impacted - Hutton Cranswick, Driffield and Nafferton - which are the only settlements of any notable size on the section of route concerned.

In detail this means the 1935 and 2135 from Hull to Nafferton have been truncated at Leconfield Sunday to Thursday, with the last bus from Hull now at 1730 5 days a week. In the opposite direction, the 2051 from Nafferton to Hull has been withdrawn between Nafferton and Beverley Monday to Thursday and entirely on Sundays, whilst the 2251 from Nafferton to Beverley has been withdrawn Sunday to Thursday. 

On the plus side a new 1835 from Hull Paragon Interchange to Beverley has been added Monday to Saturday, as have 2030 and 2230 journeys from Beverley to Hull on Sundays. Away from the evenings and the 0653(Mon-Fri)/0703(Sat) Driffield to Hull now start in Nafferton, whilst all weekend afternoon journeys now serve the Hull City Centre loop inbound (remains omitted on weekday afternoons). 

New early morning Withernsea to Hornsea service.

East Yorkshire revised service 129 between Withernsea and Hornsea on Sunday 4th September. The route operates Monday to Saturdays plus Summer Sundays with financial support from East Riding of Yorkshire Council. In some ways the 4th September was an odd date to revise the 129, whilst it did coincide with East Yorkshire's other changes, it was also the last Summer Sunday service 129 of the year, meaning a new timetable for the final Sunday of the season. 

Firstly a new Monday to Saturday 0710 from Withernsea to Hornsea was added to the timetable, previous first service at 0845. The new 0710 omits Aldbrough Cliffs and unlike all other service 129's, serves and terminates in the Hornsea Freeport grounds. From here it continues in service around Hornsea as town service 550, with passengers able to stay onboard. I suspect the new 0710 is simply running the positioning journey for the 550 'in-service', with only a little extra mileage en-route. Hopefully it's useful to some, and if not I doubt the marginal cost is significant so worth a try.

Secondly the previous two hourly frequency during the daytime has been replaced with a 2 hour 15 minute frequency, enabling the daytime service to be worked by one vehicle and also providing a slightly longer operating day. The 0845, 1045, 1245 and 1445 from Withernsea become 0830, 1045, 1300 and 1515 departures (the later not schooldays), with the 0952, 1152, 1352 and 1552 from Hornsea becoming 0935, 1150, 1405 and 1620 departures (again the later not schooldays). The final 1610 Withernsea to Sand Le Mere Holiday Village 'short' remains when the holiday village is open.