Goole + Howden Hopper

On Tuesday 7th May, a new bus service launched in Goole and Howden, the 'Goole+Howden Hopper', also known as the 'J36'. The route is operated by Sweyne Coaches and funded by the Goole Town Deal. It is an initial two year pilot to "gauge demand". The principle aim of the route is to link Goole with Howden Station - previously unserved by a bus service - and to better improve access to the large employment area west of Goole known as Capitol Park; it's in this area that the new Siemens Mobility train factory is located, as well as various other employers such as Guardian Glass (who have regular railfreight deliveries of sand). Capitol Park is otherwise only served by the Goole Town Service Monday to Friday peak times, which is designed to connect the residential areas of Goole to employment, not for rail connections.

Operating Monday to Saturday, the service operates from Howden Station, via Howden Town Centre, Airmyn Village and Glews Services (by Junction 36 of the M62) to Tom Pudding Way in Capitol Park. From Tom Pudding Way a large loop is then operated via Andersen Road (Lidl), Rawcliffe Road, Boothferry Road (Morrisons and Tesco), Goole Interchange, North Street (Town Centre) and the southern part of Andersen Road back to Tom Pudding Way, Airmyn and Howden. 

The frequency is every 25-50 minutes for much of the day, with the occasional longer gaps; I presume the lack of an even interval frequency is to optimise train connections at Howden Station. First service from Goole is 0605, with a last departure at 2200. From Howden the first departure is at 0615 with a last service at 2235. The timetable is written as Howden to Goole Interchange and Goole Interchange to Howden, so at certain times of day, a trip from Lidl, Morrisons or Tesco back to Airmyn or Howden may involve a wait in Goole Town Centre.

Also worth noting, is that a flat £1 fare is in operation, along with a £5 weekly ticket - a good job the 55 between Goole and Howden and the 88 between Goole and Airmyn are tendered, as that £1 fare plus the significantly more frequent timetable must be abstracting passengers from these services.

The Town Deal report that in the first month "almost 3,000 passengers made use of the service. More than 2,000 of these passengers paid the standard £1 flat fee, there were 589 concessions and a further 101 people paid £5 for a weekly ticket, giving them unlimited use. In June, as awareness of the new service increased further, the total number of passengers jumped to almost 4,500, with 3,281 people paying the standard £1 flat fee, 966 concessions and 136 £5 weekly tickets sold. These weekly tickets were used 723 times in total".

I wish the service well. It's maybe not the Goole Town Deal's major concern, but Howden is set to undergo a significant expansion in the coming years and the 55 on it's current timetable - every two hours, no peak service - is already poor and would be totally inadequate in the future. The new 'Hopper' will certainly help here. Add in the new rail connections and vastly improved service for Airmyn and Capitol Park and there is a lot to support here.

My only note of caution is that the service seems rather 'disjointed' from the rest of the bus network. I know the 'Hopper' is only a two year trial, but on Friday and Saturdays both the Hopper and the 55 have 2000 and 2200 departures from Goole to Howden as an example. The 88 diverting via Airmyn is rather pointless with the Hopper. Plus maybe it would be an idea to route more existing services via Capitol Park (with or without the Hopper); the 401 to Selby (Goole's only commercial bus service I think) could divert with only a minor time penalty. Maybe the peak service 360 to/from Eastoft could run as a 361 and also serve Capitol Park?