One Service becomes Three Services

Scunthorpe tendered service 10 passed from Stagecoach to Hornsby on Monday 6th October (2025) and underwent significant changes at the same time.

Since Spring 2024, the 10 had operated Monday to Fridays from Burringham to Scunthorpe Bus Station via Ashby Parklands, Burringham Road, Ashby High Street, Lakeside Retail Park, Queensway, West Common Lane, Glover Road, Kingsway and Brumby Wood Lane. Departures left Burringham at 0930 and 1250, and Scunthorpe Bus Station at 1200.

From week commencing 6th October, the 10 only operates Tuesdays and Fridays and from Ashby Parklands to Glover Road runs direct via Scotter Road and West Common Lane. The 1200 from Scunthorpe Bus Station is retimed to leave at 1218, with the 1250 from Burringham withdrawn. 

Ashby and Lakeside Retail Park are now served on Thursdays only (Ashby Market day) as the 10a, operating as per the revised 10 to Brumby Wood Lane then straight down Ashby Road to Ashby High Street and Lakeside Retail Park. The 10a departs Burringham at 0930, returning from Lakeside at 1213.

Monday and Wednesdays see new service 10b introduced, operating as per the 10/10a to Kingsway, then via Gallagher Retail Park (Tesco Extra) to Skippingdale Retail Park. The 10b departs Burringham at 0930 and Skippingdale at 1213.

If some of this sounds familiar, until those Spring 2024 improvements, the 10 only served Scunthorpe Bus Station on Tuesdays and Fridays and Ashby on Thursdays. It's not quite a return to these arrangements as there was no Lakeside served back then, and Burringham only on Fridays, and no service either on Mondays and Wednesdays or to Gallagher and Skippingdale Retail Parks. However the new 10/10a/10b arrangements have certainly taken inspiration from previous long standing service patterns. If the standardised Monday to Friday 10 wasn't working, then the 10/10a/10b seems like it is worth trying.

The 10/10a/10b also says a lot about how dispersed retail destinations have become, both in Scunthorpe, and generally across the country, and demonstrate how it is often very hard to serve them all with a single service.

Grayscroft Tender Wins

North East Lincolnshire's bus network has been a near monopoly for Stagecoach ever since they bought Lincolnshire Road Car (and they have been the largest operator since buying Grimsby Cleethorpes Transport). Flashback a year ago and the only non-schools/college service not operated by Stagecoach was the weekly Grayscroft 'shopper' route 28 from Sutton on Sea, Mablethorpe and Louth (plus Alford during school term time) to Grimsby. 

21 Transport gained a minor presence on 6th May last year when they won the 260 tender to Immingham. Just twice a day into North East Lincolnshire Monday to Saturday, but enough to become the area's number two.

However Grayscroft Coaches once again became the 2nd largest 'service bus' operator in North East Lincolnshire on 1st September 2025 when it won two Lincolnshire County Council tendered services from Stagecoach:

-25 Market Rasen-Grimsby - One journey each way Tuesday and Friday

-50 Saltfleet-Grimsby - Monday to Saturday. The service was reduced from three to two journeys each way, with the 0620 from Grimsby and 1845 from Saltfleet withdrawn. These were effectively 'in service positioning journeys' from Stagecoach's Grimsby depot to/from Saltfleet, but Grayscroft are based in Mablethorpe, south of Saltfleet, ending the need for the 0620 and 1845 to exist.

Of course whilst this is a big expansion for Grayscroft, Stagecoach retain their near monopoly of the North East Lincolnshire bus network, their dominance is only very slightly eroded with these tender losses. 

Scunthorpe-Crowle-Goole Improvements

In September 2024, Stagecoach took over operation of tendered services 360 and 361 between Scunthorpe and Goole from East Yorkshire. The previous timetable was optimised for working the services from the Goole end of the route, rather than the Scunthorpe end as Stagecoach are doing. 

On Monday 1st September 2025, Stagecoach added a number of extra journeys to the services, effectively in-service positioning journeys, but many of which genuinely enhance the overall offering. Monday to Friday mornings there is a new 0615 service 360 from Scunthorpe to Goole, providing a 0721 first arrival, previously 0839 first arrival on service 361 from Eastoft or 1100 from Scunthorpe. This journey provides a replacement facility for the 0715 Swinefleet to Goole journey withdrawn in 2019.

There is also a new Monday to Friday 0705 service 361 from Scunthorpe to Eastoft, continuing as the existing 0749 Eastoft to Goole. It would be better if the two journeys were combined into one, but presumably the 0705 is commercial and the 0749 tendered and there are either contractual or financial reasons for the split? The important thing though is that this offers an earlier option for travel from Scunthorpe and Crowle into Goole. It was one of the potential additions I highlighted in 2024. A comment to that post said that my suggestions "all too often come across as frankly bus-spottery in the most contemptuous sense of that term". Seems like Stagecoach agreed with me/had the same idea as me on this particular suggestion at least.

In the other direction, there is a new Monday to Friday 1805 Eastoft to Scunthorpe 361 service, connecting out of the existing 1725 Goole to Eastoft 360 service, as well as a new Monday to Friday 1840 Goole to Scunthorpe route 360 service. This latter journey provides a replacement for the 1835 Goole to Swinefleet withdrawn in 2019. The last service from Goole to Scunthorpe was previously at 1520.

On Saturdays there is a new 0645 Scunthorpe to Eastoft service 361, which continues as the existing 0729 Eastoft to Goole service 361. In the opposite direction, the existing 1745 Goole to Eastoft service 361 continues as a new 1825 Eastoft to Scunthorpe service 361. Notably these two new service 361 journeys are the only ones on a Saturday to service Scunthorpe Hospital.

The Saturday late morning requirement for a second vehicle for the sake of half an hour continues - the 'first' vehicle of the day finishes it's 'tendered operating day' Goole at 1139, but the 'second' starts it's 'tendered operating day' in Goole at 1110. Stagecoach have however the made the associated Scunthorpe to Goole positioning journeys into publicly available service 361's, at 0945 from Scunthorpe and 1145 from Goole. Overall Saturday departures from Scunthorpe are now at 0645, 0945, 1025, 1310 and 1630, and from Goole at 0820, 1110, 1145, 1430 and 1745. 

On Sundays, new journeys have been added from Scunthorpe at 0815, previous first service at 1100, and from Goole at 1820, previous last service at 1535. Both the extra journeys operate as a service 361 meaning the Sunday service goes from three to four journeys each way. It is nice to see the extra journeys operating as a 'normal' 361, rather than taking the quicker option of the A161 between Eastoft and Swinefleet. At those times on a Sunday, it would have been quite understandable had the A161 been chosen.

Not worth a separate post, but also from 1st September 2025, Stagecoach service 90 between Scunthorpe and Crowle gained schoolday only extra journeys from Scunthorpe at 1530 and from Crowle at 1610. There were already Saturday journeys at the same time, thus creating the unusual circumstance of the two journeys now operating Schooldays and every Saturday only - but not on weekdays in School Holidays. The 1530 usefully fills a gap from Scunthorpe to Crowle between 1430 and 1640, but from Crowle runs just ahead of a 361 on schooldays.

Scunthorpe Town Circular Changes

Stagecoach amended their town circulars 1 and 1A in Scunthorpe on Monday 1st September. Previously both clockwise and anti-clockwise journeys had the same number, but now the clockwise circulars are numbered 2 or 2A, with the anti-clockwise circulars remaining the 1 or 1A. Service 2 now starts 30 minutes earlier Monday to Saturday, with a new 0630 departure from Scunthorpe Bus Station. Sunday daytime 1A and 2A journeys now also serve Lakeside Retail Park and Bellingham Road.