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 The 1200 from Scunthorpe Bus Station is retimed to leave at 1218, with the 1250 from Burringham withdrawn.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.

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.

All day service for Clough Road

A very significant increase in buses along the 'mixed-use' Clough Road in Hull took place on 31st August. Stagecoach weekday morning service 7X from Hull Paragon Interchange to Bransholme North Point Shopping Centre (in this direction only) via Beverley Road, Clough Road, Holwell Road, Sutton Road and Sutton Park was replaced by all day daily service 7C, operating in both directions and serving West Carr Lane and Stockholm Road in Sutton Fields Industrial Estate rather than Holwell Road and Sutton Road.

The improvement has been facilitated by reducing the frequency on service 7 between the Interchange and North Point via Beverley Road and Sutton Park, although given the shared sections of route, the only frequency decrease is on Beverley Road between Clough Road and Sutton Road, and on Sutton Road between Beverley Road and Ennerdale Leisure Centre. Service 7 had operated every 15 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes, every 20 minutes Saturday daytimes, every half hour Monday to Saturday evening and Sunday daytimes and every hour Sunday evenings. The 7/7C now operate a combined every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes (half hourly each) and combined half hourly Monday to Saturday evenings and Sunday daytimes (hourly each). Sunday evenings remain an hourly 7 with no 7C. Note that Saturday daytimes increased from every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes over the shared sections of route. All early morning/morning peak departures from North Point operate as a 7, likewise on Monday to Friday evenings. 

Interworked service 8 between Hull Paragon Interchange and North Point via Holderness Road, Salthouse Road, Bellfield Avenue and Spring Cottage was also amended at the same time. Any journey that continues at North Point as a 7C has been renumbered to 8C; the same doesn't apply in the other direction making the 8C a 'one-way' only route.

The Saturday daytime frequency on service 8/8C has also been reduced from every 20 minutes to half hourly, although the 8 is timed to offer a 15 minute frequency over common sections of route with the 11 and 111. Positively, later Saturday evening journeys have been added to service 8 at 2150 and 2250 from Paragon Interchange. On Sundays the 8/8C has been reduced from every half hour to hourly.

Finally the 'closed door' service C241 from North Bransholme to Heron Foods at Melton became a public service renumbered to 7M. It follows the 255/256 route from North Bransholme to Boothferry Road Costello Stadium via Bodmin Road, North Point, Sutton Park, Beverley Road, Paragon Interchange, Hull Royal Infirmary and Fiveways, which is also the same route as the 7 between North Point and the Interchange. From Costello Stadium the 7M operates via Boothferry Estate, Hessle Square and North Ferriby. To show the range of services now available from North Bransholme, Bransholme, Sutton Park and Beverley Road to Hull Royal Infirmary, the MKM Stadium and Fiveways, there is now a Humber Transport summary timetable available here.

Better Links for Kingswood

Stagecoach service 12 in Hull was significantly revised on Sunday 31st August. The route had previously operated between Hull Paragon Interchange, Holderness Road Shops, Gillshill Road, Sutton Village, Noddle Hill Way, Wawne Road and Bransholme North Point Shopping Centre every 15-20 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes, every 15-30 minutes Saturday daytimes, every half hour Sunday daytimes and hourly daily evenings.

Now the 12 has been extended beyond North Point via Bude Road, Kingswood Retail Park, Runnymede Avenue, Barnes Road and Richmond Way to Kingswood Health Centre. New variant 12A has also been added, running from Paragon Interchange to Noddle Hill Way as per the 12, then via a northern part of Wawne Road to Pioneer Way and Kingswood Health Centre. Almost all journeys run as a circular, either a 12 to Kingswood Health Centre returning as a 12A, or vice versa - although based on my observations at Kingswood Retail Park last week, maybe that should be the 12/12A terminus. having the 12 going in two directions seemed to be confusing some passengers.

Monday to Saturday daytimes the 12 and 12A each operate every half hour. Over the combined section of route a 15 minute even interval frequency is maintained from Paragon Interchange, but 12-18 minute intervals exist from Noddle Hill Way back into Hull City Centre. On Sunday daytimes each route operates hourly, with a half hourly combined frequency from Paragon Interchange and a 29-31 minute interval from Noddle Hill Way in the other direction. Daily evening service are an hourly 12 from Paragon Interchange, returning as a 12A - i.e. a one-directional loop around Bransholme and Kingswood.

There are a lot of positives from these changes, with a standardised four buses per hour Monday to Saturday daytimes between Paragon Interchange and Noddle Hill Way, new links to Kingswood from Summergangs Road, Gillshill Road, Sutton Village and Noddle Hill Way, new North Point links from Kingswood and new services for previously unserved Runnymede Avenue/Barnes Road (along with the re-routed 11/111), Richmond Way and parts of Bude Road. 

Customers wanting North Point on the common service 12/12A section of route however now have a detour around Kingswood on approximately half the timetable, as do passengers between Wawne Road and Hull City Centre. The 1941 departure from Paragon Interchange on Saturdays has also been withdrawn without replacement, meaning the hourly evening frequency now begins at 1915 not 2011. Overall there seems to be more gains than losses.

At the same time as the 12A was introduced to Pioneer Way, service 6 was withdrawn from Pioneer Way; rather than operating a Kingswood Health Centre-Pioneer Way-North Bransholme-Kingsbury Way-Health Centre loop, the 6 now operates from the Health Centre to North Bransholme via Kingsbury Way in both directions.

45 Minute Gaps in a Half Hourly Frequency

In recent years, Stagecoach putting sporadic 15 minute gaps in a 10 minute frequency, or 30 minute gaps in a 20 minute frequency Monday to Friday daytimes has become a feature of some timetables in Hull. Presumably this cuts the vehicle requirement down by one and saves a driver or two whilst just about maintaining 'headline' frequencies? 

Stagecoach took things one stage further in their 31st August service changes - 45 minute gaps in otherwise half hourly services on routes 4 to Orchard Park and the 6 to Kingswood. To provide an example, from Orchard Park Tesco the 4 departs at 0900, 0930, 1000 then 1045, half hourly to 1315, then 1400. Again these apply Monday to Friday only - the 4 remains a consistent half hourly frequency on both Saturday and Sunday daytimes, as does the 6 on Saturday daytimes.

Saturday only commuter service?

Here is a little curiosity to come out of Stagecoach's 31st August service changes in Hull. On service 16, the 0730 Paragon Interchange to Siemens 'short' was withdrawn Monday to Friday (first journey now at 0908), but retained on Saturdays. Seems rather odd that a morning peak service to Siemens is being provided on a Saturday only? There is a Monday to Friday only 0700 East Yorkshire service 79 from the Interchange that serves Siemens - is the 0730 a Saturday replacement for that? Or is the explanation something else?

Service 677 Withdrawal

Stagecoach service 677 between Hull Paragon Interchange and Preston Cranswick Foods was withdrawn after operation on Friday 29th August last year "due to low passenger demand". The service offered two journeys from the Interchange at 0500 and 0530 and three from Preston at 0550, 0620 and 1820 - all Monday to Friday only. Services routed via Beverley Road, Clough Road, Leads Road, Ings Road, Holderness Road and Bilton.

Service 33 Extended

Stagecoach extended service 33 between Hull Paragon Interchange, Garden Village, Malet Lambert School, Ings Road, Leads Road, Sutton Village, Howdale Road, Kestrel Avenue, Biggin Avenue and North Point Shopping Centre on 1st September. At peak times only, the 33 now extends via Bude Road and Bodmin Road to Kingswood Retail Park (service 11/111 route), then to Kingswood Medical Centre via Runnymede Lane (service 6 route) and finally to the North Bransholme Hilltop Farm roundabout via the otherwise unserved Diversity Drive in one of the new sections of residential Kingswood.

Off peak, the 33 has been renumbered as 33C - these are just 'short' 33's between Paragon Interchange and North Point, but presumably the 'C' is to make this extra 'clear'. Overall frequency remains hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, rising to half hourly in the evening peak out of Hull City Centre.

This is a slightly different version of what was suggested in March 2025. At that time the 33C was planned as introduced in September, but the 33 would have operated from Leads Road via Wawne Road to Diversity Drive and Kingswood Medical Centre, then via Richmond Way and Barnes Way to Kingswood Retail Park. The originally proposed 33 would have provided a more direct service to Diversity Drive and to Kingswood more broadly, but at the expense of peak time connectivity to Kestrel Avenue, Biggin Avenue and parts of Howdale Road; North Point would also have been unserved at peak times by the 33.

It will be interesting to see if there are any further changes in Kingswood to provide an all day service to Diversity Drive. The 33 looks to be an attempt to provide an initial service in marginal time via a convoluted route; that may make sense whilst the area is being developed and struggles to justify any more extensive provision, but I'm not convinced it will be viable long term. 

At the same time the 33S schools service from Victoria Dock to Malet Lambert School - with the afternoon return extended to Paragon Interchange - became a Monday to Friday (including School Holidays) 33A between Hull Paragon Interchange, Victoria Dock, Garden Village, Malet Lambert School, Ings Road, Leads Road, Midmere Avenue and North Point, with a 0745 departure from Paragon Interchange and a 1515 service from North Point.

Associated service 34 between Hull Paragon Interchange, Garden Village, Chamberlain Road and the Stagecoach depot on Foster Street gained extra departures at 1415 and 1515 Monday to Friday from Paragon Interchange and at 1445 from Foster Street.

Changes to the 11, 80, 110 and 111

A number of small changes were made to co-ordinated Stagecoach services 11 (Hull-Ings Estate-North Point-Kingswood-Castle Hill Hospital) and 110/111 (Hull-Ings Estate-North Point-Kingswood-Beverley) from 31st August.

In the Kingswood area, both services now serve Runnymede Way, Runnymede Avenue, Barnes Road and Barnes Way, but not Kingswood Leisure Park - with the exception of the early morning and evening service 11's that start/terminate at Kingswood and which now use the Leisure Park to do so, as opposed to the Retail Park previously. Service 6 maintains an 'all-day' service to the Leisure Park.

Service 80 between Hull and Castle Hill Hospital has been renumbered as service 11A, which is very logical as it follows much of the same route as the 11. Personally I would have taken the opportunity to reroute the 11A to follow the 11's route in Cottingham; the 11A's route differences in the village are covered by East Yorkshire Buses. Maybe a good place to note that service 83, also following a similar route as the 11 and 11A/80, has become a 'closed door' service for Wilberforce College students, along with the 81, 82 and 85.

At an individual journey level, Monday to Friday the 1400 service 110 from Hull Paragon Interchange has been withdrawn, as has the Monday to Friday 1623 service 11 from Castle Hill Hospital, the later has ended in favour of the 1610 service 80 being retimed as a 1620 11A. There is a new later departure from Beverley Monday to Friday at 2325 on service 111, previous last service at 2242; the Saturday 2342 service 111 from Beverley is retimed to 2325.

Service 111 operates an hour later on Sundays, with the last departure from Hull Paragon Interchange at 1730 not 1630 (replacing the 1730 service 11 to Kingswood), and from Beverley at 1855 not 1755. Later on Sunday evenings, the 11 has gained a new 2130 journey from Hull Paragon Interchange, filling a 90 minute gap in the hourly evening service. On the negative side, the 2212 from Kingswood Retail Park to Paragon Interchange is withdrawn, leaving the last Sunday service back into Hull as the 2120 from Kingswood Leisure Park.