September Service Changes

September is set to see many services in the region have alterations according to the VOSA website, mostly Stagecoach services. See the list below:

EYMS

Services 61/2
Services 151/2
Service 154
Willerby Road Services 33/34/44

Stagecoach Grimsby Cleethorpes

45 Group of Services
Humber Flyer

Stagecoach Hull

Services 1/2/N2
Service 10
Services 13/14 (and variants)
Service 15 (and variants)
Service 28
Service 30 (and variants)
Service 32 (and variants)
Services 41/2
Service 43 (and variants)
Service 51 (and variants)
Service 54

Stagecoach Lincolnshire - Scunthorpe depot

Services 101/601
Services 909/910 - it would appear that the remaining journeys on service 909 to Doncaster may be cancelled

Please note more than one service is sometimes on a single VOSA registration, so not all the services above may alter. Furthermore some changes maybe very minor.

Arriva 400/401 Changes

North Yorkshire Council report that Arriva will make changes to their 400/1 Selby-Goole services from 31st August.

Monday to Friday
The 1545 schools service from Snaith School will now divert via Drax
The 1720 service 401 Selby-Goole will terminate at West Cowick
The 1810 service 401 Goole-Selby will be withdrawn

Saturday
The 1705 service 400 Selby-Goole will terminate at West Cowick
The 1800 service 400 Goole-Selby will be withdrawn

Service 133 extra journey

Summer seasonal service 133, operated by Hutchinson's between Driffield and Malton, and new for 2010, gains an extra Saturday service from Malton at 1330 from July 17th according to North Yorkshire Council.

The full timetable is available here - Sunday and Bank Holiday journeys run between Driffield and Wharram Percy only.

Sunday Stagecoach Humber Flyer

The timetable for this year's Hull-Cleethorpes Summer Sunday service has been released. It will departs Hull at 0930 from 11th July to 5th September and return from Pleasure Island at 1715. This year the service shall divert into Barton, as the Monday to Saturday service now does, however Keelby, Laceby and Grimsby Town Centre are omitted from the Sunday service.

Stagecoach Hull Services 70/677/678 and Bus Map

The new (May) version of the Stagecoach Hull Bus Map has a couple of interesting things in it. Firstly the 350 and Humber Flyer are now shown on the map, recognising their role as local services within Hull.

But secondly and more notably the 677 and 678 Cranswick Foods workers buses are now shown and a timetable included within the bus map to start from 5th July. I take it then from this date they become available to the public?

The 677 and 678 link the Interchange with Cranswick Foods factories in Sutton Fields (678 only) and Preston, as well as serving the BP site on Hedon Road. They operate via Beverley Road, Clough Road, Sutton Road, Ings Road and Holderness Road to Preston before returning via Hedon Road. Some journeys however divert via the P&O Ferry Terminals at Hull Docks; here they will operate as existing service 70 back to Hull Interchange.

The 677 and 678 operate Monday to Friday only, in the early mornings and at peak times, roughly half hourly. The 70 has two departures from Hull Docks in the morning (0815 and 0900), and two departures from Hull Interchange in the afternoon peak (1700 and 1730). The current weekend service on the 70 is unaffected (0900 from the Docks, 1715 from the Interchange).

How successful has the Humber Fastcat relaunch really been?

As a user of the service who very much appreciates the increased frequency, it feels a bit wrong to be writing this, but it is a question that needs asking. How successful has the March 2009 Humber Fastcat relaunch been?

A snippet of information in 2009-10 Stagecoach East Midlands Annual Report made me think about this - the service is carrying 40,000 passengers a month, up 23% from last year. This increase has actually reduced from 30% as off last Autumn.

While the 'headline' increase of the 350 was from hourly to half hourly, in reality it was a less than 100% increase. Scunthorpe-Winterton was already two buses an hour for most of the daytime and Sundays only gained one extra return journey. Early mornings and evenings haven't seen a 100% increase either. However the increase in mileage is still well above 50% - at a guess around 70-80%. Yet the passenger increase is just 23%. So after a year mileage has increased probably around three times more than the increase in passenger numbers. This does raise questions over how successful the relaunch has been.

Expecting passenger numbers to rise in line with mileage is probably unrealistic. Especially when the section into Hull at least is very 'one-sided', with not many North Bank residents travelling south over the river from my observations. So some empty services at certain times of day are to be expected. Similarly the recession may have had an impact on those travelling for leisure purposes who may have decided to stay at home instead of going out. Also from my observations fare-paying commuter traffic has increased with the increased frequency and new route in Hull City Centre. However even allowing for this, a big gap between the mileage and passenger increases has to be disappointing.

Based on this it would be expected that Stagecoach and EYMS would look to change the timetable. If not a reduction back to hourly, changes to early morning, evening and Sunday services that would not affect the core frequency. Yet beyond a very minor college day change in September the timetable remains unaltered. And then in April Barton got a third bus to Hull with the diversion of the Humber Flyer into Barton.

So are the passenger increases not telling the whole story? Or are Stagecoach and EYMS hoping things will pick up and reluctant to reduce a flagship service?

To a end on a positive note, what could be done to boost passenger numbers? The weekly ticket prices are reasonable, and the fares did not get increased in the May EYMS fare changes. The Barton-Hull return fare is £6.30; dropping that to say £6 is unlikely to see many extra passengers while a bigger drop may not cover the operators costs. And the service is even being advertised on Viking FM.

Maybe a short term promotion to encourage new users to try the service - for example two adults travelling together get one ticket half price. Or a family ticket that could boost weekend and school holiday travel. Possibly a flexi-rider version of the Megarider Fastcat (Stagecoach's weekly ticket). An add-on to the weekly tickets for local travel in Hull or Scunthorpe would be another option, though with EYMS and Stagecoach's competing networks in Hull I doubt this would be practical.

Executive Connect 3 Grimsby re-route complaints

The diversion of the newly relaunched service 3 away from Hainton Avenue and Weelsby Road to Bargate has caused some disquiet from those residents affected. A diversion of the 51 from Louth via the two roads is being considered, though potential unreliability issues need to be addressed. The idea of using Phone n'Ride instead was not well received.

Hainton Avenue also has the Humber Flyer for journeys into Grimsby. This service is hourly - and I don't think Hainton Avenue has had a sustained period of more frequent service for quite some time. The change however did leave a relatively short part of Weelsby Road without a service.

New service 23/C

With the new ExecutiveConnect 3 timetable starting today, the last departure from Lincoln to Grimsby was moved forward from 1740 to 1710. However that is not the last bus from Lincoln to Grimsby - not that many people will know. Without any announcement that I can find a new service 23/C has been introduced following the same route as service 3. The new 23 will depart from Lincoln to Market Rasen at 1740 Monday to Saturday before continuing as a 23C to Grimsby. Postings on the Stagecoach East Midlands Yahoo Group report a change of bus will be required at Market Rasen.

Apart from the lack of publicity, the choice of service number is also odd. There is also a separate service 23 operated by PC Coaches under contract to Lincolnshire County Council. It also links Caistor and Market Rasen to Lincoln. While it follows a very different route, surely the new 23 could confuse passengers?

Interconnect 3 Changes

From Monday 7th June Stagecoach's InterConnect 3 between Grimsby and Lincoln shall be relaunched with a revised timetable. There are extra early morning services from Lincoln, and a later evening bus from Grimsby, but a reduced morning service from Grimsby and an earlier last departure from Lincoln. This is in connection with the service being wholly operated by Lincoln depot. The route shall also nover operate via Bargate as opposed to Hainton Avenue within Grimsby. Many services shall work through from Lincoln to Newark as new service X3 'Executive Connect'.

The changes shall also mean a better timetable between Laceby and Grimsby, with a 23 minute as opposed to a 5 minute gap between the 3 and the Humber Flyer.

Sunday Hull-Cleethorpes service returns

Nothing too exciting, but it looks like the Summer Sunday and Bank Holiday link from Hull to Cleethorpes will return this year. As it is operated by Stagecoach Hull, as opposed to Stagecoach Grimsby Cleethorpes who operate the Monday to Saturday service, a separate registration with VOSA has to be made. Stagecoach Grimsby Cleethorpes operate under the Grimsby Cleethorpes Transport license and Stagecoach Hull use the Cleveland Transit license. The Humber Flyer is split into two sections to enable operation under domestic (as opposed to EU) driving hour rules.

PB0001987/286 - CLEVELAND TRANSIT LTD T/A STAGECOACH NORTHEAST, ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, NORTH BRIDGE STREET, SUNDERLAND, SR5 1AQ

Registration Accepted

• Starting Point: Hull Interchange
• Finish Point: Humberside Airport
• Via:
• Service Number: HF2
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 11-JUL-2010
• Other Details: Sundays & Bank Holidays - One journey each way

PB0001987/287 - CLEVELAND TRANSIT LTD T/A STAGECOACH NORTHEAST, ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, NORTH BRIDGE STREET, SUNDERLAND, SR5 1AQ

Registration Accepted

• Starting Point: Humberside Aiport
• Finish Point: Cleethorpes Pleasure Island
• Via:
• Service Number: HF1
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 11-JUL-2010
• Other Details: Sundays & Bank Holidays - One journey each way

Hull Circular Changes

The troubled Hull Circular (service 10) operated by Stagecoach saw changes on Tuesday, reducing mileage and providing quicker journeys between key areas.

The service continues to serve Chanterlands Avenue, the Bricknell Estate and Orchard Park, however after serving Greenwood Avenue it now operates directly to Sutton Park, omitting Kingswood. After continuing to serve Bransholme's North Point Shopping Centre, the 10 now operates via Church Street in Sutton Village to Salthouse Road, rather than Leads Road, Cavendish Road, Ings Road and Bellfield Avenue. The final change is the omission of the Longhill Estate and Asda Bilton from the route, though Bilton Grange, Greatfield and Preston Road continue to be served.

These changes remove links from Chanterlands Avenue, the Bricknell Estate, Longhill, Bilton Grange and Greatfield to Kingswood, and the link betwen Greatfield, Bilton Grange and Asda Bilton. However I can only guess these were little used. Also noteworthy is the service finishes earlier in the afternoon, and starts later on a Saturday morning. Lets hope though these changes secure the long term viability of the service, and can maybe be reversed in the future.

One significant improvement is better co-ordination with the 110 between the Bricknell Estate and Hull City Centre. Since the 110 was changed in February, departures from Hull Interchange were at 35 and 55 minutes past the hour, and at 55 and 00 past the hour from the Bricknell Estate. The new service 10 timetable means departures from Hull Interchange at 25 and 55 minutes past the hour, and at 00 and 25 minutes past the hour from the Bricknell Estate.

Bits and Pieces

A few corrections and updates:

260 Villager Changes; From next month when the timetable for North Lincolnshire Council operated service 260 'Villager' changes, the journeys to Victoria House in Barton will continue to operate, but on a Thursday rather than a Friday.

Stagecoach's Humber Flyer has been transferred from Stand D to Stand 3 in Hull Interchange, the same stand as the Humber Fastcat. However from my observations, the Humber Flyer is seeing little use for Barton-Hull traffic (apart from me).

The new EYMS X55 Petuaria Express will operate into Hull via the Clive Sullivan Way, not Boothferry Road.

X55: Petuaria Express

Details are starting to be announced about EYMS's new X55 Gilberdyke to Hull service that starts on April 26th. It will be called the Petuaria Express. While the EYMS announcement says times will be released next week, they are available on their website now.

The timetable shows the service will operate Monday to Friday only with an hourly frequency in the daytime, increased at peak times. The vehicle requirement would appear to be for 2 buses. Timing points are given at Gilberdyke, Newport, Elloughton EYMS Depot, Brough Memorial, Hull Royal Infirmary and Hull Interchange. This would seem to imply use of the A63 for large parts of the route though it is not clear if the service will use the Clive Sullivan Way or Boothferry Road/Anlaby Road into Hull City Centre. Peak time services will operate via Wilberforce Drive in Hull - I think the only other service to serve Wilberforce Drive is the 1C. This will be useful for Hull College students as well as commuters.

Journey times are, as would be expected, are quicker than the 155 which provides the current main link between Hull, Brough and Gilberdyke. Daytime X55 journeys from Hull to Brough take 32 minutes compared to 48 minutes on the 155 via Ferriby, Melton and Welton. The time savings are more significant to Gilberdyke; 51 minutes on the X55 compared to 80 minutes on the 155 via South and North Cave. Though of course the train is quicker than the X55 to both Brough and Gilberdyke (and to Brough is more frequent than the 155 and X55 combined).

From Hull the 155 leaves at 35 minutes past the hour and the X55 on the hour during the day, so good co-ordination. Though that difference is just 9 minutes by the time the two services reach Brough, and the X55 arrives 4 minutes ahead off the 155 in Gilberdyke despite leaving Hull 25 minutes later. In the reverse direction the X55 leaves Gilberdyke 15 minutes ahead off the 155 in the daytime, and leaves Brough 28 minutes ahead of the 155, so again good co-ordination here.

From the above, it would seem that very few passengers will end up still using the 155 for full length journey's between Hull and Newport/Gilberdyke when the Petuaria Express starts. However as the 155 continues as the 156 to Howden and Goole it shouldn't be empty after North Cave. And no doubt the business case for introducing the X55 has factored this in. The Petuaria Express also creates a roughly half hourly Brough to Hull frequency which is an effective doubling of the service (excluding Stagecoach's X62 which is primarily meant for travel to/from Leeds), and unlike Gilberdyke and Newport, it should complement the 155 rather than take passengers from it.

The new X55 has the potential to increase bus use on the busy A63 commuter corridor, and the initative is to be welcomed. Though what, if any, impact will this have on the train services between Hull, Brough and Gilberdyke? Any local knowledge would be appreciated. Just leave your thoughts a comment on this blog post.

Hutchinsons takeover 488 to Goole

I'm sure everyone has heard of the saying about waiting for a bus and two turn up at once. Well we wait for a Hutchinson's service into East Yorkshire, and two come at once. In addition to the new 133, Hutchinson's have registered a Wednesdays only service 488 from Hut Green to Goole with VOSA, operating Wednesdays only from week commencing 18th April.

The 488 is currently operated by Shaws Coaches, and provides a shopping link from villages including Hensall and Gowdall to Goole, via Snaith.

New Driffield to Malton Summer Service

A registration is now showing on the VOSA website for a new service 133 between Driffield and Malton, to be operated by North Yorkshire independent Hutchinsons. The service will operate at weekends and Bank Holidays. Confusingly the effective date is 22nd May but the other details section says it will operate from Easter Saturday until 26th September.

184 Swanland to Hessle: Further Information

Further to my earlier post about a new EYMS Swanland to Hessle service a commenter has directed me to the Swanland Village website which contains further information about it.

The service is being funded by East Riding of Yorkshire Council following representations by both North Ferriby and Swanland Parish Councils. Starting on 10th May it will be reviewed after six months. There is one departure each way; from Swanland at 0930 and Hessle at 1200. Journey time is 25 minutes operating via North Ferriby.

The Swanland Village website also reveals unhappiness about retimings to service 153 made last month.

Hull City Circle (Service 10) May Changes

The VOSA website todays has details that from Tuesday 4th May Stagecoach's Hull City Circular, service 10, will have a new route and timetable. The route was originally cancelled from next Monday, but has been reregistered and will continue to the current route and timetable until the change in May.

Service 910 to Garthorpe

Earlier this month I posted that the 909 was being reduced to three journeys only to/from Doncaster with a new service 910 maintaining a roughly hourly Brigg to Scunthorpe services. Now Stagecoach have released their timetable showing that service 910 will extend to Crowle and Garthorpe, incorporating service 356. This will retain the current roughly two hourly service between Scunthorpe, Crowle and Garthorpe and along with the 909 maintain an hourly Stagecoach service between Brigg, Scunthorpe, Gunness and Althorpe.

Who would have thought you could travel between Brigg and Garthorpe on the same service! Seriously while it is a shame to see the 909 reduced, at least Stagecoach have taken the opportunity to create some new through links.

Grimsby services 13/14 notes

To update this earlier post, from the 5th April Stagecoach services 13/14 in Grimsby and Cleethorpes will remain every 10 minutes on weekday daytimes. The frequency reduction to every 15 minutes on Saturdays still appears to be happenning however. Also daily daytime services will now Cleethorpes Sea Road again.

The 45B and 45H aren't quite dead yet!

Following on from my post last week about the new arrangement for the 45 group of services, the new Stagecoach timetable reveals some corrections.

The new core half hourly Monday to Saturday daytime Grimsby to South Killingholme service will be numbered as service 45, not 45K. However the 45B and 45H are not dead yet. The 45H remains a weekday peak time service from Habrough, and also Ulceby, to Grimsby. The peak time link from Habrough has existed for a number of years, though the extension to Ulceby is new. The 45B must have developed some commuter traffic from Ulceby in the past few months.

While the 45H makes sense, the remaining 45B is more curious. There will be one departure at 1740 on weekdays. However there is no morning inbound service for commuters on either the 45B or 250. So unless the plan is to take home some late Grimsby shoppers this journey seems rather strange.

New Sunday service to Grange Estate, Grimsby

From Sunday 5th April Stagecoach Grimsby Cleethorpes will introduce a new hourly Sunday daytime service to the Grange Estate in Grimsby on service 7. The rest off route 7 between Grimsby and North Sea Lane remains Monday to Saturday only.

The Humber Flyer via Barton

From Tuesday 6th April, Stagecoach's Humber Flyer (recently saved again) between Hull, Humberside Airport, Grimsby and Cleethorpes will be diverted via Barton. This gives Barton a 3rd hourly bus to Hull (it was just 1 bus an hour until a year ago), retains the hourly link to Grimsby lost when the 45B is axed, and creates new bus links to Humberside Airport, Grimsby College and Cleethorpes.

As a Bartonian who travels to Hull a lot by bus, and who sometimes visits Humberside Airport (don't forget www.freewebs.com/airhumberside ) I should be happy about this. But it appears a very curious change to the Humber Flyer.

On one hand it could add extra passengers to what it obviously a struggling route. The section between Melton Ross and the Humber Bridge is a long one with no bus stops, and now the Humber Flyer has the chance to pick up custom in Barton, including the few passengers who may have used the 45B from Barton to Grimsby. Some new custom could also be attracted. And by serving another town, politically the route becomes even more important.

However my fears are twofold. Firstly the diversion into Barton does slightly increase the journey time - it's almost two hours from Hull to Pleasure Island in Cleethorpes. This could put some people off. Not those that need to travel, possibly to work, but say a family with young children wanting to go to Pleasure Island. A two hour bus journey is far from ideal. The service has had to become a partly local service to try and make it more financially viable, but the balance away from being an express service could swing too far.

And is the diversion into Barton worth it? Interestingly the Stagecoach announcement makes no mention that the diversion will provide extra links between Barton and Hull, just the links to the airport and North East Lincolnshire. Now there will probably be some limited passengers on these flows, such as maybe a few Grimsby College students, or OAP's who can't travel free on the train. But are these flows enough to make the diversion worthwhile, or will the diversion have to rely on Hull travellers?

This leads onto my second concern. I am concerned about the effect on the Humber Fastcat (350). Since it's relaunch and frequency increase almost a year ago, passenger levels do seem to have increased. However while some services are almost full, others are rather empty. While a quiet late afternoon service into Hull is to be expected, overall it does mean the average loads across the bridge don't seem spectacular from my observations. So adding a third hourly service between Hull and Barton could only serve to reduce average loads on the Fastcat and potentially threaten the viability of the current half hourly frequency.

Having said that the Humber Flyer is quite well timed to compliment the Humber Fastcat in both directions apart from at peak times (there are now two buses from Hull to Barton at 0725, and two from Barton to Hull at 1730 and 1830). The Humber Flyer also appears not to serve Barton Market Place, and uses a stand some distance away from the Fastcat stand in Hull Interchange. This will partially mitigate the effect on the Humber Fastcat. Though if these measures do that and the Barton diversion has to rely on North East Lincolnshire traffic, is it worth doing, as discussed above?

The best thing to do will be to see what happens next month. If the Barton diversion is well customised by passengers to Grimsby and Cleethorpes and/or helps grow the market to Hull, then great. But if not then I hope Stagecoach will remove the diversion quickly to ensure the Humber Fastcat remains viable.

Finally a couple of side notes - I guess the service 1 registered between Grimsby and Keelby will be cancelled? And the first morning bus from Grimsby to Hull will not serve Barton - yet on Saturdays at least if it did it could restore the early morning bus to Hull axed in 2006.

The new 250 timetable

The drip feed of information with regards to the Stagecoach April service changes on the South Bank continues. Now the new service 250 timetable between Barton, Immingham and Grimsby is available on the Traveline East Midlands website. The 250 will be reintroduced to replace the 45B, which had replaced the 250 last September. The new timetable will commence on Tuesday 6th April.

The new 250 timetable provides three service a day between Barton and Grimsby Monday to Saturday, along with 1 short journey from Barton to Ulceby, and 2 short journeys from Ulceby to Barton. The services are well spread out to maintain basic links for shopping etc in Barton and Grimsby, and a basic peak service to /from Barton remains. Although the peak service appears not to serve Barrow Haven, New Holland and Goxhill as it currently does. If this is the case, the last bus from Barton to New Holland and Goxhill will be just after 4pm (though there is also the train).

The service appears to be interworked with service 450 between Barton and Brigg. This was once common place but under the 45B was limited to just one weekday service each way, with a change of bus being required at all other times.

While the new 250 timetable appears to be adequate, it is the worst service between Barton and Grimsby via Ulceby for a number of years. The hourly 45B seems to have been too much and before it was introduced last year the 250 ran every two hours or so. Going to be before the 2006 cutbacks the 150 and 250 combined operated hourly between Barton and Grimsby; the 250 via Ulceby being the route taken by most services. Prior to that I seem to recall there was the 21 and 250, which I think was about every two hours.

And what must have been at least 10 years ago, the X21 used to provide a service every two hours or so on the corridor, but starting in Hull and extending through to Cleethorpes. Plus the 21 providing a few extra journeys.

Villager Changes in May

From 17th May, the 260 'Villager' service between Barton, Barrow, New Holland and Goxhill will be revised on Thursdays and Fridays according to a timetable on the Traveline East Midlands website. The service is operated directly by North Lincolnshire Council.

The Friday service appears to revert to the Monday to Wednesday timetable (which is unaltered), with the extensions to Victoria House in Barton dropped. These were introduced before the Barton Town Service was converted to low floor operation, and as I think the town service serves Victoria House, the extensions to the Villager would appear to be no longer required.

However the Thursday morning service is revised to include East Halton, which would appear to be the replacement for service 253 between East Halton and Barton. There is an overall reduction of one round trip on Thursday mornings, and the timetable is different to the rest of the week, but it does replace the 253 without needing extra resources. And at a time with pressure on the North Lincolnshire Council bus budget, such measures need to be taken.

Stagecoach Scunthorpe Area Easter 2010

In the Scunthorpe area, Stagecoach will operate services as follows this Easter:

Good Friday - normal Friday service
Easter Saturday/Sunday - normal services
Easter Monday - Sunday service

Stagecoach Hull Service Changes March 2010

From 29th March 2010, Stagecoach Hull will make minor alterations to services 38 and 38A between Hull, Garden Village and Bransholme. Service 38, and service 38A towards Hull will now stop at Foredyke Pub rather than the Shopping Centre at North Point in Bransholme. Also the 1715 departure from Hull on service 38A appears to be dropped on a Saturday.

Positive changes in East Hull as the 41/42 to Greatfield will be operated by low floor buses (displaced Dennis Dart SLF/ALX 200 from the 1/2?) while the Friday and Saturday evening service 52C to Salthouse Road will be replaced by an hourly Friday and Saturday evening service on routes 52 and 53, which will also gain a Sunday daytime service.

Stagecoach Grimsby Cleethorpes Easter 2010

Stagecoach Grimsby Cleethorpes services will operate as follows this Easter:

Good Friday - Sunday service except on services 3, 25, 51, 150 and Humber Flyer which will operate a normal Friday service. On the Grimsby-Immingham-Barton corridor a Saturday service will operate on service 45B alongside a Sunday service on route 46.
Easter Saturday - normal service
Easter Sunday - normal service
Easter Monday - normal service to the new timetables being introduced this weekend

Stagecoach Hull Easter 2010

This is nice and simple!

Good Friday - Sunday service except the Humber Fastcat (350) and Humber Flyer which will operate a normal Friday service
Easter Saturday and Sunday - normal services
Easter Monday - Sunday service on all routes

Johnsons Service 253 - East Halton to Barton

NL Johnson have registerted with VOSA to cancel the Thursdays only East Halton to Barton service 253 from 13th May. I am unsure if this is a tendered service or commercial operation.

The 253 was introduced a short while after the 2006 cutbacks by North Lincolnshire Council to tendered bus services. Until September 2006 the 150 ran between Barton, East Halton and Grimsby 6 days a week, however it was then cut back to link East Halton and Grimsby only, removing the link from East Halton to Barton. A few months later (late 2006, early 2007?) the current 253 was started to restore link for East Halton shoppers to Barton once a week.

Is this related to East Halton's enhanced service to Grimsby from April, or unconnected? And will the 253 continue?

Enhanced 150 from April

It would appear that there are winners as well as losers in the April service changes as service 150 from East Halton to Grimsby changes from a mostly Wednesday and Friday only service to operate Monday to Friday with a new timetable. I am guessing the main reason for this enhancement is to replace the 45H to Habrough. Currently Habrough has an hourly service (with some gaps on weekday afternoons) Monday to Saturday to Immingham and Grimsby.

(Source, Traveline East Midlands website)

Stagecoach South Bank April Service Changes update

A few further updates:

• The new timetable for the 450 Barton to Brigg is now on the Traveline East Midlands site. The service has been retimed to irregular intervals but with the exception of the weekday evening peak service all current journeys remain. Curiously the VOSA registration shows the 450 as operating through to Ulceby but the Traveline site doesn't show this.
• The 10, 150 and 327 has also been reregistered by VOSA. Along with the 450 their future had been at risk until earlier this month
• Looks like the 250 between Grimsby and Barton will return acording to the VOSA website. The would fit in with the 45 group of services appearing to no longer operate beyond South Killingholme as posted earlier in the week
• The 30 in Scunthorpe is axed - introduced last year it operates from the colleges in Scunthorpe to Scunthorpe Bus Station in the afternoon

EYMS Easter Bus Services

This Easter EYMS will run it's services as follows:

Good Friday service operate to a Sunday timetable except the 350 Humber Fastcat and Goole Town Services which will run to a weekday timetable.

Normal services Easter Saturday and Sunday with Sunday services on Easter Monday

(Please note some Scarborough and District Services are different)

New Swanland to Hessle service

A new registration has appared on the VOSA website from EYMS for a new Monday to Saturday service 184 between Swanland Main Street and Hessle Square from 10th May. It will be a normal stopping service.

I wonder if this is another new shopping service, like the Ferriby-Beverley and Hedon-Beverley services introduced last year?

(I would copy and paste the registration but for some reason my computer won't let me do it today).

Orange Stagecoach Volvo's

From my personal sightings and information on the Stagecoach East Midlands Yahoo group three Volvo's at Stagecoach's Scunthorpe depot, two Paladin bodied examples and 1 Volvo B10M/Alexander (20414) have been repainted in allover orange - the same orange as used on the Humber Fastcat Livery. One of the Paladin's was in use on the 350 Humber Fastcat yesterday, and 20414 has been in use on the route today. Also a Dennis Dart SLF/East Lancs Spryte has been in use on the 350 both yesterday and today.

So this raises two questions - why has only one out of the four Scunthorpe Depot MAN/Enviro 300's bought to operate the 350 been in use on the service so far this week? And why do Scunthorpe depot now have three step entrance Volvo's in orange livery?

As a side note worth pointing out that Hull's 2 MAN/Enviro 300's are operating as normal on the 350 this week, and that Hull will be seeing a lot more MAN/Enviro's soon as new examples takeover the 1/2 Boothferry Estate routes.

Stagecoach April Changes - Grimsby Area and 909

Some of the Stagecoach changes in the Grimsby area from April 5th/6th (Easter weekend) are now showing on the traveline east midlands site. Not all changes appear to be loaded onto the site yet so probably best not to draw any conclusions until the full details are released though at this stage it would seem many of the changes are cutbacks.

A new service 1 will operate generally hourly between Grimsby, Laceby and Keelby and Monday to Saturday daytimes.

There appear to be some changes to intermdiate times on services 9 and 9A between Cleethorpes and Waltham, while evening journeys will operate slightly later and the Sunday daytime service switches from service 9 via Freeman Street to operate as a service 9A via Tesco on Victoria Street and the Stagecoach depot instead.

Services 13 and 14 between Bradley CrossRoads, Grimsby and Cleethorpes will be reduced from every 10 minutes in the daytime to every 12 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes on Saturdays.

Service 16 between Wybers Wood and Grimsby appears to have it's weekday frequency reduced from every 12 to every 15 minutes.

The 45 group of services is showing as being principally a half hourly 45K between Grimsby, Immingham and South Killingholme, supplemented by some 45M's and 46's which appear largely unchanged. 45B's to Barton and 45H's to Habrough are showing as cancelled at the moment.

The 150 and 450 are showing as cancelled in their entireity still, despite last week's news, which makes me think further updates will be made to the information on the Traveline East Midlands site. Also despite the new service 1 showing, the Humber Flyer appears unchanged as off the time off writing.

Also showing are major changes the 909. The Scunthorpe to Doncaster part of the service appears to be reduced to just three journeys a day from the current hourly frequency. On the Brigg end roughly hourly services appear to continue, though some services are showing as new service 910. (The 910 sort off isn't new, as it operated between Hull and Grimsby in the old 909 days, and remained for a while after as a Summer Sunday Hull to Cleethorpes service. However it never served Scunthorpe or Brigg).

Praise for EYMS Staff

EYMS have published some comments from customers about their staff on their website.

North Lincolnshire Bus Cuts not hapenning

More good news, the potential threat to 4 bus services operated by Stagecoach under contract to North Lincolnshire Council has been lifted after a solution was agreed - sadly the online article on this does not elaborate further. Stagecoach had been unhappy about planned reduction in reimbursement levels for concessionary fares.

The services under threat were:
10 - a Scunthorpe Town Service
150 - East Halton to Grimsby
327 - Dragonby to Scunthorpe
450 - Barton to Brigg

There has also been reports that the issue of concessionary fares may also lead to the cutting of the largely commercially operated 45B and 45H from Barton and Habrough to Grimsby. The Scunthorpe Telegraph article linked to above does not refer to the 45B or 45H but incorrectly reports the 450 as running between Grimsby, Barton and Brigg. So does this mean the 45B/H are safe or not?

UPDATE Tuesday - a comment (see below) advises that a full retendering will take place in September and that timetable changes will be made in April

Scunthorpe Hospital Shuttle becomes commercial operation

A little less pressure on council bus subsidies for once; Hornsby Travel have agreed to takeover operation off the service 9 between Scunthorpe's Bus Station and Hospital on a commercial basis. Until recently they operated the service with subsidy of £10,900 per year from North Lincolnshire Council and the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Humber Flyer saved

Late last year threats around the future operation of the Humber Flyer between Hull and North East Lincolnshire were raised again due no funding being available from local councils and Humberside Airport. Now North East Lincolnshire Council have said they will continue their annual £10,000 subsidy for the next three years which seems to have saved the service for now. However talks with the other funders will take place soon to find an extra £20,000 off subsidy to meet the levels of financial support Stagecoach say they need to continue operation of the vital service.

New EYMS X55?

From VOSA today:

PB0000328/360 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS

• Registration Accepted
• Starting Point: Hull Interchange
• Finish Point: Gilberdyke, Village
• Via:
• Service Number: X55
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 26-APR-2010
• Other Details: Mondays to Fridays.

Just guessing but a new peak time express service?

EYMS take on Goole Town Service 8th March

A bit later than originally posted, EYMS have confirmed they will takeover the Goole Town Service from First South Yorkshire starting Monday 8th March. The only major change will be a diversion of the peak time services via Capitol Park.

North Lincolnshire Bus Cuts: Council Position

Apologies for only posting this now - I have only come across this today. On 12th January North Lincolnshire Council made a statement regarding Stagecoach cuts to bus services in North Lincolnshire. Stagecoach have said this is due to reduced concessionary fare payments from the Council that will cause losses of £75,000 compared to last year.

The council say this cut is based on recommendations from independent consultants, who used data from Stagecoach in their work. In the January statement North Lincolnshire Council were standing by their decision believing their proposed rate should not leave Stagecoach worse off.

The North Lincolnshire Council statement also states that Stagecoach have an issue with the reimbursement rate in North East Lincolnshire, something that I have not posted on this blog before.

North Lincolnshire Council also said they were in talks with other operators and "will be doing all we can to keep the services running or find alternatives".

As a final side note though, North Lincolnshire Council are still referring to the Grimsby to Barton service as the 250, despite the fact it became the 45B last year.

Stagecoach Grimsby Area Changes April 2010

There are various entries on the VOSA website indicating changes in the Grimsby area from Stagecoach on April 5th. I have summarised these below, but I would advise caution until any officially announcement is made from Stagecoach about changes:

Services 25 (Grimsby-Ludford)/51 (Grimsby-Louth)/366 (Goxhill-Brigg/Scunthorpe) have been re-registered from the Lincolnshire RoadCar license to the Grimsby Cleethorpes license.

Changes will be made to Grimsby/Cleethorpes local services 7, 9, 13, 14 and 16.

An application has been made to cancel one license for service 45 between Grimsby and Barton, and the vary another between Grimsby and South Killingholme. This may link into unconfirmed reports from an anonymous commenter that Stagecoach will cease the 45B and 45H. If this happens, it would remove the link between Barton and Immingham, and the villages in between, and it would be highly likely North Lincolnshire Council would have to fund a replacement.

Talking of North Lincolnshire Council, in today's VOSA entries Stagecoach have cancelled tendered services 10, 327 and 450 as threatened to do so last month. The date for withdrawal has been moved from 29th March to 5th April if the VOSA entries are correct.

And a potentially concerning development with regards to the Humber Flyer; the section between Humberside Airport and Cleethorpes has been cancelled, but an application has been made to vary a service I didn't even know about, numbered service 1, between Grimsby and Keelby.

Finally not in the Grimsby area, but changes to the 909 between Brigg, Scunthorpe and Doncaster are also planned.

Most service 28 journeys to operate via Hull City Centre Loop

From Monday 28th February, Stagecoach in Hull will divert most inbound service 28's from Bransholme, Sutton Park and Beverley Road to operate via Princes Quay instead of Brook Street in the City Centre. Buses will continue to operate via Brook Street for part of the afternoon. This means the 28 has the same city centre route as most other local services from Beverley Road.

This has been a much requested route change, though at the October 2009 Hull Bus Forum, it was stated that at the time Stagecoach where not prepared to make the diversion until they had received comments from Councillor Carl Minns (Leader, Hull Cuty Council) about a bus priority scheme. So I presume progress has been made on such a scheme?

Stagecoach reroute 110

In a correction to a previous post, the 109 around Cottingham will cease after operation on Saturday. Instead from Monday 8th February, Stagecoach shall re-route hourly service 110 to act as a partial replacement thanks to funding from East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Based on the timetable released, It shall now serve New Village Road and St Margaret's Avenue in Cottingham. Cottingham Rail Station shall now also be served, to replace changes to service 154.

Again seems like a sensible change to replace the 109. Also I wonder if EYMS will continue to two-hourly service 60 via New Village Road, now the 110 will provide an hourly link into Hull? Could be an opportunity to simplify the 60/60A/61/62/64 group of services?

Stagecoach takeover 41

From Monday 8th February Stagecoach will takeover service 41 (Hull-Greatfield), currently operated by EYMS. It's future was under doubt after EYMS planned to withdraw it.

The new 41 will follow the same route around Greatfield as the 42, but continuing to serve the Newbridge Road area rather than Holderness Road shops. The 42 shall be reduced in frequency Monday to Saturday daytimes. Currently it operates every 12 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes on Saturdays, but from the 8th it shall operate every 20 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes on Saturdays.

The 41 shall have the same frequency, and on sections of the route shared with service 42, weekdays shall see an extra bus every hour - Saturdays maintain the current frequency on common sections of route. This means a slight reduction in Saturday frequency on the 41 from EYMS's 20 minute service to Stagecoach's half hourly but I can't see this being a huge issue.

These changes do not require any extra vehicles from Stagecoach and seem a sensible solution to maintain daytime buses for Newbridge Road.

Posted edited 3rd February

Some other EYMS Hull service changes

Overshadowed by other changes, services 56/57 (Longhill-Hull-Hessle), 66 (Hull-Hessle), 105 (Hull-Cottingham) and 151/2/3 (Hull-Anlaby-Willerby/North Ferriby) shall see revised timetables from 7th February. There will be extra daytime journeys between Longhill and Hull City Centre.

Introducing Twenty-Ten

Last month I posted about EYMS service changes in the Willerby and Cottingham area. Timetables have been released, with no major differences to my original post.

Worth noting is that the 64 shall continue to extend from Castle Hill Hospital to Willerby in the evenings (daily) to maintain evening Willerby to Cottingham links not provided by the 115/154. The Willerby services shall be numbered 64C, and continue to operate back into Hull via WIllerby Road, as at present, though as a 44C rather than the current 47. A sensible arrangement for relatively quiet time off day.

Also two morning peak journeys on service 44 from Hull to Willerby shall operate as service 44A via Willerby Parkway; the 35 will not serve Willerby Parkway at these times.

The new network has been branded Twenty-Ten. This is based around the core services in the network operating every 20 minutes, Monday to Saturday daytimes. For key places, such as Cottingham and Willerby, two services combine to offer a 10 minute frequency into Hull City Centre. A nice piece of marketing in my opinion.

EYMS Twenty-Ten guide.

Who will takeover the 41 and 109?

As previously reported, Hull City Council has agreed to continue to fund operation of services 1C and 41. Service 1C (Sibelius Road-Hull-Kingswood) will continue to be operated by EYMS, but not the 41 (Hull-Greatfield-Bilton Grange) from 7th February onwards. Sadly from a passenger perspective they do not say who the new operator will be. The same also applies to East Riding of Yorkshire Council contracted route 109 (Bricknell Estate-Cottingham), which will continue to operate, despite also being under threat.

So if anyone knows the new operators, please leave a comment. Stagecoach maybe? But nothing on their website as off 11.30 on Friday 22nd. CT Plus? But would anyone award them a contract after the park and ride debacle? Or an independent - Lords Coaches? Ellie Rose? Jim Bell?

EYMS will cease to operate Priory Park Park and Ride from 1st February

As also mentioned in a comment, EYMS have now confirmed from Monday 1st February they will no longer operate the Priory Park Park and Ride. CT Plus are the new operator ... if they are ready. If they are not, then who knows?