Hull to Gunness

Stagecoach service 350 between Hull, Barton and Scunthorpe had some significant changes introduced on Monday 1st September, most notably at the Scunthorpe end of the route.

The 350 was initially given a revised direct route into Scunthorpe via Winterton Road and Brigg Road to Scunthorpe Bus Station, rather than serving Mannaberg Way, Normanby Road and Frodingham Road. As a result, Mannaberg Way became unserved and Normanby Road was left with only a very limited service. However this specific routing was amended on 3rd November due to "customer feedback" to instead operate via Mannaberg Way, Normanby Road, Glebe Road and Brigg Road - i.e. a mix of old and new.

Additionally (since September) from Scunthorpe Bus Station, daily daytime journeys have been extended to Gallagher Retail Park/Tesco Extra (technically in the parish of Gunness, hence the blog title) via Scunthorpe Hospital and Doncaster Road. This provides new direct connectivity from Roxby, Winterton, Winteringham, South Ferriby, Barton and Hull to both Scunthorpe Hospital and the Retail Parks west of Scunthorpe, as well as new access from Doncaster Road in Scunthorpe to Hull. It also means there is now a Hull Royal Infirmary to Scunthorpe Hospital service.

One consequence of this extension is that the morning peak extension of one service to Scunthorpe Station, and of another on college days only to the Scunthorpe Colleges has ended.

There were also two changes in Barton. Most significantly the route around Barton has been reversed. For many years, possibly since the Humber Bridge opened in 1981, services to/from Hull have operated direct to Barton Interchange via Ferriby Road and Fleetgate, whilst services to/from Scunthorpe have operated to the Interchange via Ferriby Road, the Market Place, Pasture Road and Butts Road. Now however the opposite applies, with Scunthorpe bound services operating direct and Hull bound services via the Market Place. The logic here is presumably consistency with the 250 which routes to/from Hull via the Market Place, Pasture Road and Butts Road to the Interchange before continuing to Barrow and Grimsby - the road layout in Barton doesn't allow a service from Hull continuing towards Barrow to route directly from Hull to the Interchange and then serve both the Market Place and Butts Road. So changing the long standing 350 route is sensible and welcome. It also enables improved timetable co-ordination between the 250 and 350 from Barton to Hull. 

Also worth noting is that the 350's remaining Wren Kitchens diversions in Barton were withdrawn as part of these changes; Wren's 'The Nest' facility in Barton is now served by the 255 only, with the 250 available on nearby Falkland Way.

Whilst the headline frequency remains half hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, approximately hourly Monday to Saturday evenings and two hourly on Sundays, there were some welcome improvements to the timetable. From Scunthorpe Bus Station the first departure to Hull Monday to Saturday is now at 0530 not 0615, arriving into Hull for 0640, previous first arrival 0730. Rather than two fifty minute gaps in morning peak departures from Scunthorpe, there is now just one forty five minute gap, whilst from Hull the previous forty five minute gap in the morning peak is eliminated completely. 

Departures from Hull move from 10 and 40 minutes past the hour to 15 and 45 minutes past, improving Hull to Barton co-ordination with the 250 that leaves on the hour; so a 15-30-15 minute interval rather than 10-30-20. In the evening peak and early evening there are more departures from Hull; rather than 1610, 1645, 1725, 1755, 1835, 1950 and 2050, it is now 1615, 1700 then half hourly to 2000 followed by 2050 - i.e. the daytime frequency applies until 2000.

There is also a new one hour later last departure from Scunthorpe Bus Station at 2220 Monday to Saturday. Monday to Friday this service terminates in Barton, with the vehicle and driver then going on to work the 2320 service 255 from Wren Kitchens; on Saturdays the 2220 runs through to Hull.

For anyone interested, the Monday to Saturday daytime service has gone from three Hull depot and three Scunthorpe depot workings to two Hull depot and five Scunthorpe depot workings; Hull has however gained an evening Scunthorpe service.

On Sundays, the main development was the addition of a 0750 Scunthorpe Bus Station to Barton Interchange and 0824 return, providing a 30 minute earlier Barton arrival but more significantly a two hour three minute earlier Scunthorpe arrival. Otherwise Sunday services have been slightly retimed to provide a perfect hourly service between Barton and Hull when combined with the 250, rather than the previous approximately hourly service.

One final change to the 350 involved stands at both Hull Paragon Interchange and Scunthorpe Bus Station. For whatever reason the 350, plus the 250/255/256, were moved at Paragon Interchange from Stand 10 - near to all the other Anlaby Road/Boothferry Road services - to Stand 34 - in between the 14 to Greatfield and the 75/78/79/X7 to Hedon and Withernsea.

If you are wondering about Frodingham Road in Scunthorpe, a daytime only replacement has been provided (increased to hourly on Sunday daytimes) by revised Scunthorpe Town Services 7 and 8. These no longer serve Scunthorpe Hospital - arguably a swap here with the 350 - instead serving Frodingham Road. The 7 then routes via Ferry Road and Avenue Vivian (replacing the 8) to pick up it's old route on Doncaster Road, whilst the 8 continues it's old route via Foxhills Road.

Personally I would have kept the 350 along Frodingham Road and extended to Gallagher Retail Park via Scunthorpe Station and Church Lane, providing a much improved service for the Station, Church Lane and the southern side of Scunthorpe Hospital, whilst also allowing the 7/8 to continue serving the Hospital. However, overall this package of changes is clearly an improvement, especially with the relatively quick change in November to reinstate a service to Mannaberg Way.