Welcome Back to the Brough Town Service

The Brough and Elloughton Town Service returned on Monday 8th April, operated by East Yorkshire Buses as service 558 under contract to East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) and funded with Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus funding.

The Brough Town Service had last operated just over six years previously as service 158, finishing on Saturday 31st March 2018. It was axed as part of ERYC's significant cuts to bus subsidies at the time. According to ERYC's 2016 'Review of Bus Services in the East Riding', the 158 carried an average 4 passengers per journey at a subsidy of £4.34 per passenger journey. Annual passengers were 19618.

When the 158 finished in March 2018, it was operating approximately every 40 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes - I don't have the final timetable to hand, but in September 2014 the first journey was at 0810 Mon-Fri/0935 Sat, with the last journey at 1655. 

The final route of the 158 was from Elloughton Bus Depot via Beech Road and Hunter Road to Brough Crossroads then via Welton Road (serving Morrisons) to Myrtle Way in East Brough. From here the 158 retraced it's route to Brough Crossroads before operating a loop via Skillings Lane, Saltgrounds Road, Station Road and Welton Road back to Brough Crossroads. It was then back to Elloughton via Hunter Road and Beech Road before a final brief loop from Elloughton Bus Depot to Stockbridge Park just west of the depot. Three journeys Monday to Friday also included a trip from Elloughton to Welton and Melton, a legacy from when these villages only had a two hourly service between Hull and Brough.

The new 558 operates hourly Monday to Saturday, with a first departure at 0940 and a last at 1340. This service is much more focused on key shopping times - maybe for the best with the low average usage of the old 158. 

Once again, Elloughton Bus Depot is the starting point and once again the service operates via otherwise unserved Beech Road and Hunter Road to Brough Crossroads and then along Welton Road past Morrisons. Myrtle Way is once again served, now joined by nearby Loxley Way, and the new Aldi south of the railway line. Initially the 558 served these destinations in one order on every journey, but since 13th May, the 558 alternates between Loxley Way/Myrtle Way first and Aldi first, so as to permit two way journeys between Loxley Way/Myrtle Way and Aldi. The 558 then retraces it's way to Elloughton.

The 558 does a good job of linking the residential areas it serves with Aldi, Morrisons and what little town centre there is in Brough around the Crossroads. A shame though that the Skillings Lane area isn't served this time around - say a large Brough Crossroads-Loxley Way-Myrtle Way-Aldi-Skillings Lane-Crossroads loop, served in alternate directions every hour? 

Three journeys - the 0940, 1040 and 1140 also run from Elloughton to South Cave and back - I presume to provide a link from South Cave to Aldi, as the 55 provides an hourly service from South Cave to Elloughton, Brough Crossroads and Morrisons.