East Riding Subsidised Bus Services, Cuts Coming

East Riding of Yorkshire Council are proposing to cut £600,000 of it's £1.3 million support for subsidised bus services.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council Press Release:

East Riding of Yorkshire Council has unveiled its proposal for the future of public transport services which it supports financially. The proposal, unveiled today (Monday 20 June), follows the most extensive review of bus and passenger services ever carried out in the East Riding.  The nine-month survey involved the council working together with town and parish councils to discover what people’s transport needs actually are across the East Riding. The survey also involved the community in shaping the way forward.  

Now, subject to approval by the council’s Cabinet on Tuesday 28 June, an eight-week public consultation will begin to seek residents’ views on the proposal, starting on Wednesday 29 June and running until Sunday 28 August.  

Due to a significant reduction in the funding it receives from the Government, East Riding of Yorkshire Council has had to make major savings to its budget. Since 2010 the council has made savings of £118million across the whole of its budget. It still needs to save a further £60million over the next four years.  

But despite the challenging financial times, East Riding of Yorkshire Council believes it is vital that residents have a public transport system that meets their needs and that essential bus services need to be protected.

The council is proposing to reduce the financial support it gives to some bus journeys by £600,000.  The vast majority of bus services will be unaffected by the proposal. There are almost six million bus journeys taken by passengers in the East Riding every year. Less than 5% of those will be affected by the proposed changes.  

Most of the changes would see some passengers travelling at a different time or on a different bus service. The council will be working closely with bus operators and community transport groups and every effort will be made to provide alternatives if services are reduced.  

The council has already helped to generate £1million worth of external funding for the area’s community transport groups and it has pledged to help secure further funding to boost their fleet and the amount of journeys they can offer the public.  

Paul Bellotti, head of housing, transportation and public protection services at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “The council faces significant financial pressures across all services that we can’t ignore. Many other councils have been forced to make similar savings in the cost of bus subsidies, some have cut subsidies all together.  

“A great deal of work has gone into finding out what people’s transport needs are, and then using that information to produce a proposal which minimises, as much as possible, the impact on bus users.  

“In most cases, where there will be changes, it may mean passengers travelling on a different bus, at a different time, or on a different day, and we will do our best to ensure no community is left without a bus service.  

“We are working closely with community transport groups and bus operators to make sure as best we can alternatives will be available for journeys that may be lost.  

“Communities, passengers and operators have all been given the chance to get involved and help shape our proposal. “Now we want to hear from the public how the proposed changes might affect them before any decisions are made. “I would urge anyone who cares about public transport to take part in our consultation and let us know their views, so we can secure the best outcome for residents for the future.”  

The council currently provides financial support through a public subsidy to 10% of the East Riding’s overall bus network. It gives financial support to 90 bus contracts at a cost of £1.3million. Those contracts include full journeys, parts of journeys and diversions off existing bus routes. Without council funding these are deemed not commercially viable to run.  

The proposed changes  

In most cases the council’s proposal may only affect bus services at one particular time during its full day’s timetable. Passengers could still catch the same bus, or an alternative one, at other times during that day. For example:  

•Service 45 (York-Pocklington-Driffield-Bridlington Monday to Friday service) – The council currently pays for the 14.30 departure from Pocklington to Bridlington, which under the proposal would cease. But passengers could travel instead on the same 12.30 or 16.30 journeys from Pocklington to Bridlington operated commercially by EYMS.  

•Service 75 (Withernsea-Patrington-Burstwick-Hull Sunday service) – The council currently pays for four Sunday journeys to divert to the village of Burstwick. These will stop under the proposal. But passengers could still catch any of the other 24 other Service 75 journeys which run through Burstwick on Sundays, which are operated commercially by EYMS.  

•Service 80 (Hull-Hedon-Hull Monday to Friday service) – The council pays for this bus to visit the Westfield Estate, in Hedon, at 9.24 and 11.43 each morning. This would stop under the proposal. However, the nearest bus stop is a short walk away on New Road, the main road through Hedon.  

There may be an opportunity for bus operators to take on some of the services affected under the proposal, and run them on a commercial basis, but the council understands the financial pressures facing the bus industry.  

Transport survey  

To help create an up-to-date picture of residents’ public transport needs in all towns and villages across the East Riding, the council launched a major survey in September 2015, working together with town and parish councils, ward members and key local groups.  

All 168 town and parish councils were invited to take part in the process. Parish representatives were given the task of carrying out surveys in their local communities to find out if the current services provided met people’s needs, if there were any needs not currently being met, and how best to use the current services. The needs of elderly and disabled people were especially researched and were taken into consideration during the survey and the proposal. Council staff also met with protected groups.  

A total of 3,398 responses were collected from members of the public. They have all been analysed and those results form the basis of the new bus consultation. Information on any unmet transport needs identified through the survey have been passed on to local bus operators. Town and parish councils will continue to promote the use of buses in their local communities and to seek out sources of possible funding for pilot bus schemes.  

‘Dial-a-ride’ community transport  

Community transport in the East Riding is a huge success, with 100% coverage across the area. These are ‘dial-a-ride’ bus services run by local volunteers which residents can ring to book a seat. They provide door-to-door journeys for residents who may find it difficult to use conventional buses or where no conventional bus services exist.  

Three local community transport groups – HART (Holderness Area Rural Transport), Goole GOfar and Beverley Lift – together carry 121,000 passengers per year. Other groups include Bridlington Dial-A-Ride and the Nafferton Millennium Community Minibus.  

Paul Bellotti said: “These groups will play a greater role in meeting the transport needs of communities, especially those with smaller passenger numbers. “These services are often wrongly seen as being solely for the elderly and disabled, when in fact they are potentially open to everyone.”  

The council also runs Medibus services in the Beverley, Bridlington, Driffield, Goole, Hornsea, Pocklington and Withernsea areas, transporting people to local hospitals, GP surgeries, clinics and dentists. Passengers can also use the service to visit friends and relatives in hospital.  

Total Transport  

East Riding of Yorkshire Council is leading force in the Government’s Total Transport initiative. The aim of the initiative is to get public sector bodies working together to share vehicles and journeys to ensure residents have greater access to transport for health services, shopping, education and employment. The council is talking with local organisations, including health trusts, to try to pool more transport resources.  

One good example involves a bus allocated to take passengers to an adult day centre which, rather than laying empty in the depot, now provides a shopping journey during the day time which would not otherwise exist. The council’s proposal outlines hopes to take advantage of more opportunities like this, particularly with patient transport.  

The Total Transport scheme also aims to secure alternative sources of funding to allow bus operators and community transport groups offer more local services.  

Journey planning help provided  

If the council’s proposals are given the go-ahead following the consultation, anyone who has trouble accessing public transport to travel to their job will be offered personal journey-planning assistance from the council.  

The journey-planning service will also be available to people who rely on public transport because of a disability.  

Have your say  

As part of the eight-week consultation residents will be encouraged to have their say by completing a questionnaire which will be available from Wednesday 29 June. The questionnaire, together with the full proposal, will be available on the council’s website www.eastriding.gov.uk and also via email and post on request.  

A series of 11 drop-in sessions will also be held across the East Riding through July and August to give residents the chance to meet transport officers to discuss the proposals.  

At the end of the consultation process all questionnaires and views will be taken into consideration before any decision is made.

Cleethorpes to Scarborough Experience further details

Community Rail Humber have issued further details about the Cleethorpes to Scarborough Experience.

The organisation which oversees community rail activities in the Humber region has won a top award from the Department of Transport.

Community Rail Humber Ltd (CRH), which works. in partnership with the Barton Cleethorpes Community Rail Partnership and the Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership, has won a Heritage and Community Rail Tourism Innovation Competition award.

The £31,000 award will enable CRH to develop the Cleethorpes to Scarborough Experience.

`We will create a web-based Heritage and Tourism Trail that starts from Cleethorpes in North East Lincolnshire stretching all the way to Scarborough in North Yorkshire,’ said Community Rail Officer Gill Simpson.

` It will identify all points of interest along the way, highlight connectivity with other forms of public transport and community services such a cycle hire and walking routes,’ she said.

There are tourist information resources currently available but this project will create a complete journey that has been tried and tested for its quality and reliability by the volunteers working for the Community Rail Partnerships and will be updated as part of their future work.

The project will be completed in time for the launch of Hull City of Culture, sharing the success of the City with its surrounding towns and villages. It will encourage people to come and stay in the area all year round rather than just being a seasonal: day or short stay visitor, as is most common now.

Gill added: `By creating a journey planner of this size we will be able to highlight features of the most commonly known attractions in the area such as Bridlington Spa whilst making people aware of the smaller less know but equally interesting venues, such as Julian’s Bower turf-cut maze in Alkborough.

`The journey planner may be used in conjunction with ticketing and reservation systems, or just to provide scheduled information. The volunteers will test journeys to validate transport links and connectivity incorporating multimodal solutions and taking in to consideration seasonal changes.’

Cleethorpes to Scarborough Experience

The Humber region will be one of the beneficiaries of Department for Transport Rail Tourism funding:

Community Rail Humber Ltd: the Cleethorpes to Scarborough experience - £31,700. The project will create a heritage and tourism trail that starts from Cleethorpes in north-east Lincolnshire and stretches all the way to Scarborough in North Yorkshire.

Further details of the 'experience' are awaited. I presume it will be at least in part a marketing campaign for existing tourist venues along the routes of the Cleethorpes-Grimsby-Barton line and Hull-Beverley-Driffield-Bridlington-Filey-Scarborough route.

Community Rail Humber "provides help, advice and support to the two community rail partnerships in the region" - the Yorkshire Coast Community Rail Partnership and the Barton Cleethorpes Community Rail Partnership.

Stagecoach Scunthorpe Changes

After operating today (Saturday 7th May), Stagecoach are withdrawing Scunthorpe Town Service 40, which had linked Scunthorpe Bus Station, West Common Lane/John Leggott College, the Westcliff area (Plymouth Road, Bristol Road, Swinburne Road, Lichfield Avenue), Scotter Road and Tesco. The service operated half hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, but with morning peak, late afternoon and most evening peak journeys not operating on college days. Apart from parts of Lichfield Avenue and a very small part of Scotter Road, the rest of the route has other services into Scunthorpe Town Centre.

Instead from Monday (9th May), Stagecoach are diverting town circulars 31 and 32 via Tesco, except for weekday morning peak and late afternoon journeys. The 31 and 32 each operate every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes (Evening and Sunday services 31A and 32A already serve Tesco). This provides access to Tesco from far more areas of Scunthorpe than the 40 served, and maintains the links from Westcliff area to Tesco that the 40 had provided. While the 31 and 32 will serve Tesco, the surrounding area is also home to a relatively new out of town retail park that includes Marks and Spencer and Debenhams, making it an increasingly important shopping destination rivalling Scunthorpe Town Centre.

Stagecoach will also be revising intermediate times on town circulars 33 and 34 from Monday, while the Monday to Saturday 1840 Westwoodside-Epworth-Scunthorpe will operate 5 minutes later.

Stagecoach North East Lincolnshire Changes

The start of May (Sunday) sees Stagecoach introduce changes to it's local services in North East Lincolnshire.

Services 3 and 4 between Laceby Road Morrisons, Grimsby and Cleethorpes unfortunately see their Monday to Saturday evening frequency after 2100 drop from half hourly to hourly. The last journey on service 3 from Cleethorpes will be at 2245 rather than 2315, while on service 4 the last full route departure from Cleethorpes will be at 2215 rather than 2245; the 2315 'short' from Cleethorpes to Grimsby remains. Some weekday early morning journeys are also retimed.

Daily evening journeys on service 5 between Immingham, Grimsby and Cleethorpes will be diverted via Wybers Way Top; other than a very limited 'Europarc workers' service on route 20, Wybers Wood does not currently have an evening bus service.

Services 7 between Grange Estate, Grimsby and North Sea Lane, 8 between Grimsby, New Waltham and North Sea Lane and services 9 and 10 between Waltham, Grimsby and Cleethorpes have revised timings but no changes to their frequency.

Finally new service 11 will be introduced between Grimsby Town Centre, Grimsby Hospital and Scartho Top, operating via Bargate and Scartho Road before serving Matthew Telford Park. I'm not familiar with that area of Grimsby but a quick look on Google Earth shows it has seen a lot of new housing development. Service 11 will operate hourly Monday to Saturday mornings and early afternoons.

Proposed York Bus Cuts

City of York Council are currently consulting on reducing subsidies for bus services in the city council area, including some services that extend into the East Riding of Yorkshire which are discussed below. The council intends to implement the cuts from 28th August 2016.

Service 10 from Stamford Bridge to York and Poppleton is proposed to have it's subsidised Sunday to Thursday mid to late evening service, currently operated by Transdev, withdrawn. This service currently costs City of York Council £36,000 per year. The daytime operator, First, provides early evening journeys commercially, and Transdev provides a commercial Friday and Saturday evening service - however the consultation document warns that they "may decide to withdraw this service when the Sunday to Thursday evening is withdrawn".

There is less certainty surrounding the plans for Monday to Saturday daytime service 36 from Sutton on Derwent to York, and peak time service X36 from Pocklington to York. City of York Council state they are "currently considering what level of service (and times of operation) to include in the specification for a new contract". With respect to the X36, funding from parish councils has now ceased and City of York Council are working with East Riding of Yorkshire Council to consider if the service should continue. Service X36 currently costs City of York Council £12,000 a year. Service 36 and weekday service X36 is operated by Transdev, with EYMS operating the X36 on Saturdays.

There is however some good news to end on - EYMS have advised City of York Council that they are willing to operate the evening service on route 18 between York and Holme on Spalding Moor without financial support. The service would likely have been proposed for withdrawal otherwise, in line with all other supported evening services in York.

EYMS Bridlington Area Changes

Monday (11th April) sees EYMS make changes to 3 services in the Bridlington area. Weekday service 131 to the Carnaby Industrial Estate has a revised afternoon timetable to improve punctuality while town service 503 is rerouted and slightly retimed due to "badly parked cars" causing delays - as a result it will no longer go around Bempton Oval. Finally on service 510 to Flamborough, all journeys will now serve North Landing (and Thornwick Bay Holiday Centre when open), increasing the frequency from 2 hourly to hourly.

Last Wednesday also saw EYMS take over operation of the Wednesday and Thursday journeys on service 124 from Acklams Coaches - the service runs between Bridlington and Driffield via various villages including Burton Fleming. When operated by Acklams Coaches the service provided two journeys in each direction, offering 3 hours 35 minutes in Bridlington and 1 hour 20 minutes in Driffield. The new timetable has one Ruston Parva-Bridlington journey on a Wednesday, providing 2 hours 40 minutes in Bridlington, and one Boynton-Driffield journey on a Thursday, offering 2 hours 45 minutes in Driffield. A search on Traveline Yorkshire brings up no results for the Saturday service that Acklams Coaches had also previously operated, indicating this may have been withdrawn.

New EYMS 124 timetable

Scunthorpe Service 16 passes to Stagecoach

On Friday (1st April), North Lincolnshire Council tendered Scunthorpe Town Service 16 passed from Hornsby Travel to Stagecoach. The service runs from Parklands Caravan Site and Brumby Wood Lane to Scunthorpe Bus Station on Tuesdays and Fridays, and to Ashby on Thursdays.

Hornsby Hospital Service 9

On Friday (1st April), the Scunthorpe Hospital Park and Ride service from Glanford Park was replaced with use of a Scunthorpe Town Centre car park, and passengers then using Hornsby service 9 to the Hospital. As a result the weekday timetable for service 9 now starts at 0700 from Scunthorpe Bus Station rather than 0755, and finishes with an 1850 departure from Church Lane as opposed to a 1727 last departure (a later journey is also available on service 4). The weekday daytime frequency remains every 20 minutes.

New Service 9 timetable

Hornsby Saturday Reductions in Scunthorpe

Hornsby Travel have introduced reduced Saturday timetables on two town services in Scunthorpe from today (2nd April).

Service 12 from Scunthorpe Bus Station to Ashfield is reduced from a half hourly daytime service to a largely hourly service. The occasional extensions to Burringham and East Butterwick are unaffected. Between Ashfield and Ashby Town Centre, the 12 largely follows the route of Stagecoach's 31/32 services which operate every 20 minutes on Saturday daytimes. Between Ashby and Scunthorpe Town Centres, the 12 follows the same route as Stagecoach's hourly circular services 33/34. From Scunthorpe Bus Station the 34 leaves at :00 minutes past the hour and the 12 at :30 minutes past the hour, however from Ashby the 33 leaves at :07 past the hour and the 12 at :10 past the hour.

Service 22 from Scunthorpe Bus Station to Lakeside is reduced on Saturday mornings from half hourly to hourly, matching the afternoon frequency.

New Hornsby 12 Timetable
New Hornsby 22 Timetable

Hornsby 35 Revised

Today (Friday 1st April), Hornsby Travel have introduced a new timetable on North Lincolnshire Council tendered service 35 between Scunthorpe, Keadby and Amcotts. The previous hourly Monday to Saturday daytime service now operates every 75 minutes, with some slightly shorter and longer intervals between certain journeys. Journey times are extended, so I guess this change maybe driven by punctuality issues?

New Hornsby 35 timetable

Hornsby 94/95 Changes

Tomorrow, Friday 1st April, sees changes introduced to the weekday timetables on Hornsby Travel services 94 and 95, which are operated under contract to North Lincolnshire Council. The 94 operates from Kirton and Gainsthorpe/Lime Sidings to Brigg via Redbourne, Hibaldstow and Scawby, where most journeys continue as a service 95 to Scunthorpe via Scawby, Greetwell Crossroads and Lakeside Retail Park.

Until today on service 94 only one weekday journey to Brigg and one schoolday journey from Brigg served Kirton, however in the new timetable there are 4 journeys from Kirton to Brigg and 2 journeys from Brigg to Kirton. Traveline East Midlands shows the Kirton Klipper local service is no longer serving Lime Sidings, Redbourne or Hibaldstow, so increasing the number of service 94's to Kirton would appear to be a replacement for this, though the timetable from Redbourne and Hibaldstow requires nearly five hours to be spent in Kirton between arrival and departure. The timetable change also enables Kirton to Brigg shopping trips.

As a result of these changes the 94 timetable is retimed, as is the 95, but with no changes to the number of journeys. The 1805 service 95 from Brigg to Lakeside is extended to the Hornsby depot in Ashby. The single Saturday journey each way on the 94/95 from Redbourne to Scunthorpe is unchanged.
New 94/95 Weekday Timetable

Substantial Saturday Improvements to Grimsby 1/2/20

These days improvements to tendered services are rather rare, but on Saturday (2nd April) that will happen in North East Lincolnshire, as the 1/2/20 group of services operaed by Stagecoach gain an improved Saturday service. The routes provide a link to the Europarc Industrial Estate on the edge of Grimsby, and also serve residential areas in West Marsh and around Victor Street.


On weekdays the 1 and 2 each operate hourly during the daytime; the 1 between Grimsby Town Centre, Lord Street, Gilbey Road, Europarc and Wybers Wood Top and the 2 between Riby Square, Victor Street, Grimsby Town Centre, Corporation Road, Gilbey Road and Europarc. Service 20 provides a limited early morning and evening link between Cleethorpes, Grimsby Town Centre, Corporation Road, Europarc and Wybers Wood Top, to meet the needs of Europarc commuters.


Until last week the Saturday service had been far more basic, with the 1 operating hourly between Grimsby Town Centre and Europarc only, and the 20 only in the early morning. However from this week the weekday timetable will also apply on a Saturday, so the 1 will extend through to Wybers Wood Top, the 2 gains a Saturday service, and the 20 gains a limited evening service. The introduction of the 2 on Saturdays is arguably most significant as Victor Street gains a Saturday bus service, and Corporation Road gains a Saturday daytime service.

Humber Flyer New Timetable, and a look at co-ordination with other services

Recently the weight restriction on Melton Ross railway bridge on the A18 in North Lincolnshire was lifted, enabling buses to use it once again, instead of having to divert via Croxton. The main service to benefit is Stagecoach's Monday to Saturday Hull-Barton-Humberside Airport-Grimsby-Cleethorpes Humber Flyer, which has had a temporary timetable since 29th September 2014. While the diversion via Croxton was quite short, on a fairly tightly timed long distance route it was enough to require an extra vehicle and revised timetable to maintain an hourly service.

Tomorrow, Monday 14th March, the Humber Flyer reverts back to it's pre-September 2014 timetable with the Croxton diversion removed. There are however a couple of enhancements and amendments to the service being made at the same time. The first morning journey from Grimsby to Barton is extended to Hull, and there is a new later 1910 journey from Hull to Grimsby (1800 last departure pre-September 2014, 1820 in the temporary timetable). The first morning journeys continues to leave Grimsby at 0555 as happened in the temporary timetable, rather than revert to it's pre-September 2014 0605 departure time. The evening peak timetable from Hull is heavily revised with a 90 minute gap after the 1450 departure until 1620, then 1720, 1810 and the new 1910. It appears there are 40 minute layovers in Hull for two journeys late afternoon, I guess to ensure evening peak departures from Hull leave on time.

It is also worth checking intermediate times, as some have changed from the pre-September 2014 timetable.

The new timetable does not see one journey a day divert into Barnetby; this is due to the construction of a roundabout causing a road closure until the Summer, though there is no explanation of this in the new timetable.

The co-ordination between Barton and Hull on the Humber Fastcat and Humber Flyer is good (though not excellent) for most of the day. The morning peak from Barton has departures at 0640 (Flyer), 0650 (Fastcat), 0740 (Fastcat), 0810 (Fastcat), 0810 (Flyer) and 0900 (Fastcat). During the day departures are at :00 (Fastcat), :10 (Flyer) and :30 (Fastcat), while in the evening the Flyer departures at 1730 and 1830 are at the same time as the Fastcat. From Hull the 0715 Flyer operates in between the 0655 and 0725 Fastcat (better than the 0720 Flyer departure pre-September 2014), then departures during the daytime are at :05 (Fastcat), :35 (Fastcat) and :50 (Flyer). In the evening peak departures from Hull are at 1620 (Flyer), 1635 (Fastcat), 1710 (Fastcat), 1720 (Flyer), 1740 (Fastcat), 1810 (Flyer), 1825 (Fastcat), 1910 (Flyer) and 1925 (Fastcat). Not entirely perfect, especially in the morning from Barton to Hull, but Barton-Hull co-ordination will not be the only factor in determining timetables.

One of those other factors is Laceby to Grimsby co-ordination of the Humber Flyer with the 7 and 53. In the morning peak journeys leave Laceby at 0630 (7), 0700 (7), 0730 (7), 0800 (7), 0804 (53), 0825 (Flyer) and 0909 (53). During the daytime Laceby departures are at :00 (Flyer) plus 1009, 1159, 1359 and 1559 (not schooldays). Non-existent co-ordination. From Grimsby to Laceby things are much much better though, with the Humber Flyer leaving at :10 during the day, and the 53 at 0840, 1040, 1240, 1440 and 1540. In the evening peak departures from Grimsby are at 1630 (Flyer), 1710 (53), 1730 (Flyer), 1740 (7), 1740 (53). Worth noting that among the factors at play here is co-ordination of the 53 with other services between Lincoln and Dunholme/Welton.

North Lincolnshire Concessionary Fare Changes Deferred

The North Lincolnshire Council Neighbourhoods Cabinet Member has decided to defer the introduction of a revised concessionary fare reimbursement scheme from 2016/17 to 2017/18. A decision to change the scheme was made in January, but the option of deferring it's introduction was published last week. It's introduction could have resulted in commercial services being cut and tendered services being surrendered back to the council.

The cabinet member also noted that the decision "would require future reports on savings proposals to fund the one year saving if the costs cannot be contained within the service area’s budget".

North Lincolnshire Concessionary Fare Scheme Update

A report to the North Lincolnshire Council Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods offers an alternative option to the new concessionary fare reimbursement scheme approved in January. The new scheme, based on a Department for Transport (DfT) model, would mean a lower reimbursement rate for operators, which Stagecoach and Hornsby indicated could cause tendered services to be handed back, and commercial services to be cut.

The alternative option is to defer the proposed to changes for one year. A "review of the use of concessionary services by eligible customers" would still result in savings of £115,000, while a year's delay would allow further consideration of bus operators concerns, and allow for the Call Connect network across North Lincolnshire to be established during this year. Bus operators provided assurances that retaining the current reimbursement scheme would seem them "continue with the existing transport routes", albeit before the savings of £115,000 were found.

The issue caused by the alternative option is that the savings are less than the £200,000 expected with the DfT model, and less than the £250,000 savings target in the council's budget. Therefore savings in other budgets will be needed regardless of the reimbursement scheme chosen, but these will be £85,000 higher if the DfT model is not introduced.

CB3 Hedon Shuttle

On Tuesday (1st March), a new service starts from Burton Pidsea and Roos into Hedon, operated by Holderness Area Rural Transport (HART). The CB3 Hedon Shuttle will operate on Tuesdays and Wednesdays providing 2 journeys in each direction. It will serve the main shopping area in Hedon, as well as doctors' surgeries and the Netto Supermarket, and provide connections onto EYMS service 76 into Hull. The Inmans Estate in Hedon is also served.

The service is initially a pilot, operating until 26th October, and has been organised by the Burton Pidsea Better Transport Group. It is funded through the Tedder Hill and Burton Pidsea Wind Farm Funds, with Roos Parish Council also a partner. East Riding of Yorkshire Council have provided advice and support.

One of the reasons for launching the CB3 is to respond to a 2014 service withdrawal - however this seems very odd to me as the service withdrawal in 2014 was the weekday commuter services 174/175, that served a very different purpose, and the 174 didn't even serve Hedon! If anyone can correct me, please post a comment.

Regardless of the 'backstory' to the service, good luck to it. Links from Burton Pidsea and Roos into Hedon are only available on Saturdays at present, so the CB3 fills a gap in service provision. As well as the Saturday EYMS 173 into Hedon and Hull, Roos and Burton Pidsea are also served by Pearsons Coaches 76C to Withernsea, East Riding of Yorkshire Council's 243 to Beverley, and Roos by EYMS's 129 between Withernsea and Hornsea.

Hedon Blog Article
HU12 Online Article
CB3 Hedon Shuttle Leaflet

EYMS New 23 - New Details

Hull City Council have released details about EYMS's new Hull service 23, which starts on 11th April. It will operate from Paragon Interchange via Spring Bank, Chanterlands Avenue, Fairfax Avenue, Cottingham Road, Chanterlands Avenue North, Chanterlands Avenue and Spring Bank back to Paragon Interchange. The service will operate approximately hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, departing Paragon Interchange between 0935 and 1525 on weekdays (the 1525 as far as Cottingham Road only) and between 0935 and 1725 on Saturdays. Both Fairfax Avenue and Chanterlands Avenue North are currently without a bus service.

Lincolnshire Bus Cuts

On Friday (19th February), Lincolnshire County Council will announce a decision on subsidies for 'traditional' fixed bus services - the demand responsive Call Connect service is not impacted. It currently fully or partially supports 148 routes at an annual cost of £2.8 million, but wishes to save £2.2 million from it's public transport budget. Helpfully the council has detailed exactly what it funds at the moment, and the full list can be found on this page. Below are the cross-boundary services into North and North East Lincolnshire that receive financial support from Lincolnshire County Council, and which could be at threat from withdrawal or reductions.


North Lincolnshire


Stagecoach 103: Lincoln-Scunthorpe - Monday to Saturday 0645, 1100 and 1300 from Scunthorpe, and 1030, 1430 and 1755 from Lincoln, plus diversions via RAF Scampton
Dents 161: Market Rasen-Brigg-Lakeside - All journeys (1 Thursday journey in each direction)
Stagecoach 367: Gainsborough-Kirton - All journeys (Schools service)
Dents 9811: Brigg-Lincoln - All journeys (1 Friday journey in each direction)
Barnards N93S: Kirton-Scotter - All journeys (Schools service)


North East Lincolnshire


Stagecoach 25: Ludford-Binbrook-Grimsby - All journeys (1 weekday peak journey in each direction between Binbrook and Grimsby, one Tuesday, Friday and Saturday daytime journey in each direction)
Amvale 50: Saltfleet-Grimsby - 0735 from Saltfleet and 1725 from Grimsby on Saturdays and School Holidays, 1030 from Saltfleet and 1400 from Grimsby on Schooldays
Stagecoach 51: Louth-Grimsby - 1815 Monday to Saturday journey from Grimsby to Louth only
Stagecoach 53: Lincoln-Grimsby - 'Various journeys to boost frequency'
Stagecoach 104: Tollbar-Holton Le Clay - Afternoon Schools journey

EYMS New 23

A rather intriguing registration with VOSA today:


PB0000328/488 - EAST YORKSHIRE MOTOR SERVICES LTD, 252 ANLABY ROAD, HULL, HU3 2RS

• Registration Accepted
• Starting Point: Hull Interchange
• Finish Point: Fairfax Avenue
• Via:
• Service Number: 23
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 11-APR-2016
• Other Details: New Service

CallConnect comes to North Lincolnshire

The network of demand responsive CallConnect services set up by Lincolnshire County Council comes to North Lincolnshire from Monday 15th February (CallConnect currently does offer the ability to travel into Brigg, but is not designed for use by North Lincolnshire residents). The first service will cover the 'Brigg, Caistor and Ridge' areas - these are the areas of Lincolnshire around Caistor currently covered by the 53C CallConnect, plus large parts of southern North Lincolnshire, stretching from Kirmington in the east to Messingham in the west, including Barnetby, Bonby, Broughton and Kirton in Lindsey. The service can be used for local journeys within the area covered, including local journeys within Brigg, and to Brigg Garden Centre, to connect with traditional bus services at Caistor (53), Humberside Airport (Humber Flyer), Brigg and Messingham (100), or to connect with rail services at Barnetby. CallConnect operates between 7am and 7pm on weekdays, and from 8am to 6pm on Saturdays.


Later this year CallConnect will extend to cover all other rural parts of North Lincolnshire, with three further new services. One is described as covering 'Ferry Ward' - the area around Barrow, Ulceby and South Killingholme - but will also cover Barton (would be very silly if it didn't) plus Brigg, Wrawby, Barnetby, Humberside Airport and Kirmington. Another is described as covering 'Burton Upon Stather and Winterton', but as well covering the area north of Scunthorpe extends east to Barton. The third covers the Isle of Axholme, while the North Lincolnshire village of East Butterwick will be served by the existing Gainsborough CallConnect service. There is a map available on this page.

The new services are operated in co-operation with Lincolnshire County Council saving North Lincolnshire Council the need to set up a demand responsive operation themselves, and allowing for service boundaries to reflect geography rather than administrative boundaries.


Taken in isolation, CallConnect is a welcome addition to the public transport provision in North Lincolnshire. It offers far more flexibility than traditional bus services, both in terms of where you can travel between, and at what times. There will now at least be some bus connections to rail services at Barnetby. However it does come with two 'barriers' compared to a traditional bus service; firstly users must register to use CallConnect, and then they need to book journeys in advance. This maybe acceptable for those without their own transport, who would otherwise need to book a taxi, ask a friend/family member or use options such as the voluntary car scheme - however it seems unlikely to me to be attractive for those with access to a car.


Unfortunately CallConnect is not being introduced in 'isolation', it is being launched as part of 'Connecting Rural Communities' that will also see fewer traditional bus services, and then there is the impact of North Lincolnshire Council concessionary fare reimbursement rates being cut to consider. This will surely impact on hopes that the more popular traditional tendered bus services will be taken on commercially. If CallConnect leads to the cutting of lightly used traditional tendered bus services then that might be hard to complain about, but if CallConnect is used to make cuts to fairly well used traditional tendered bus services more 'acceptable' then it would be a very retrograde step. CallConnect would provide a 'safety net' against isolation, but to me, not much else. It seems unlikely to grow the market and provide an attractive alternative to the car. I'm looking at the North Lincolnshire bus network rather nervously at the moment, hopefully that nervousness turns out to be unwarranted.

North Lincolnshire Concessionary Fare Changes Approved

The changes to North Lincolnshire Council's Concessionary Fares Scheme, that Hornsby and Stagecoach have indicated may lead to commercial service cuts and tendered services being handed back, have been approved by the responsible cabinet member.

North Lincolnshire Concessionary Fare Budget Cut

North Lincolnshire Council are reducing their budget for concessionary fares for the 2016/17 financial year, and a report to the cabinet member responsible gives options as to how to do this. The recommendation is to change the methodology for calculating concessionary fare payments to operators, which would lead to a lower reimbursement rate than presently provided. Consultation with Hornsby Travel and Stagecoach indicates that if this happens tendered services could be surrendered and commercial services would be under threat. Savings could also be made by removing discretionary elements of the North Lincolnshire concessionary fares scheme.

It is perhaps also worth noting that changes to bus services in North Lincolnshire are due to happen anyway next year as part of the 'Connecting Rural Communities' project that will see the launch of demand responsive services and fewer traditional tendered bus services.

North Lincolnshire has been rather protected from cuts to buses in recent years - the last major cuts were in 2006 - and has instead seen improvements - but 2016 seems set to be a year of major change.

Christmas and New Year Services 2015/16

Below is a summary of Christmas/New Year services in the Humber region provided by Arriva Yorkshire, EYMS, First South Yorkshire (who still serve the Humber region with a morning peak service from Epworth), First York, Hornsby Travel, Stagecoach and Transdev (York and Yorkshire Coastliner). Services provided by these operators outside of the region are not covered. If anyone has information for other operators, please post a comment and I will update this post. Please check exact details before travelling.

Christmas Eve - Normal weekday service with an early evening finish around 7-8pm, except First South Yorkshire, First York and Transdev who shall provide a Saturday service. Transdev service X36 shall operate a normal Thursday service.

Christmas Day - No Services

Saturday 26th - Special daytime services on certain routes only in the Hull Area:

EYMS:
34: Hull-Willerby - Hourly
56: Hull-Longhill-Asda Bilton - Hourly
64: Hull-Cottingham-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly
66: Hull-Hessle - Hourly
115: Hull-Avenues-Cottingham-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly (circular with 154)
154: Hull-Willerby-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly (circular with 115)

Stagecoach:
1: Hull-Boothferry Estate - Hourly
2: Hull-Boothferry Estate - Hourly
3: Orchard Park-Hull-Greatfield- Half Hourly (increased from hourly between Hull and Greatfield in 2014)
4: Orchard Park-Hull-Bilton Grange - Hourly (reduced from half hourly between Orchard Park and Hull in 2014)
5: Hull-Orchard Park-Kingswood - Half Hourly
8: Hull-Sutton Park-North Point - Hourly
10: Hull-North Point-North Bransholme - Hourly
11: Hull-North Point-Kingswood - Hourly (limited additional journeys provided in 2014 not provided in 2015, service 13 partially replaces)
12: Hull-North Point - Hourly
13: Hull-North Point - Hourly (new for 2015)
14: Hull-Greatfield - Hourly
Plus Football Buses to the KC Stadium
There will be no buses in Grimsby and Cleethorpes on the 26th this year.

Sunday 27th - Normal Sunday service.

Bank Holiday Monday 28th - A Sunday service will be operated.

Tuesday 29th - A Saturday service for most operators, except Hornsby Travel who will provide a normal Tuesday service. There are exceptions as follows:

• EYMS Services 134, 195, 196, 198, 199, 360, 361, S1 and S2 will operate a normal Tuesday service
• EYMS Services 106, 107, 143, 160, X36 and the Beverley Town Shopper Shuttle will not operate (these services would not usually operate on a Tuesday). Oddly the Saturday only service 173 is not stated in EYMS publicity as not operating.
• EYMS Friday and Saturday evening only journeys on routes 18, 75, 121 and X47 shall not operate (i.e. a normal Tuesday evening service will operate)
• EYMS service 135 will have normal Tuesday departures from Driffield at 0910 and 1140, however the 0655 and 1710 journeys will not operate
• Stagecoach services 1, 2, 20 and 25 in North East Lincolnshire will operate a normal Tuesday service
• Transdev York services 10 and X36 will operate a normal Tuesday service

Notable are Stagecoach services in North Lincolnshire operating a Saturday service on the normal weekdays between Christmas and New Year, rather than a normal timetable as is usually provided. However while a change from normal, on most routes the Saturday and School/College Holiday timetables are either identical or very similar, so the impact will be very small.

Wednesday 30th - A Saturday service for most operators, except Hornsby Travel who will provide a normal Wednesday service. There are exceptions as follows:

• EYMS Services 195, 241, 360 and 361 will operate a normal Wednesday service
• EYMS Services 106, 107, X36 and the Beverley Town Shopper Shuttle will not operate
• EYMS Friday and Saturday evening only journeys on routes 18, 75, 121 and X47 shall not operate (i.e. a normal Wednesday evening service will operate)
• Stagecoach services 1, 2, 20 and 25 in North East Lincolnshire will operate a normal Wednesday service
• Transdev York services 10 and X36 will operate a normal Wednesday service

New Years Eve - A Saturday service for most operators, with an early evening finish around 7-8pm, except Hornsby Travel who will provide a normal Thursday service with an early evening finish around 7pm. There are exceptions as follows:

• EYMS Services 134, 196, 360 and 361 will operate a normal Thursday service
• EYMS Services 106, 107, X36 and the Beverley Town Shopper Shuttle will not operate. Oddly the Mon/Wed/Sat only service 143, and Wed/Sat only 160 are not stated in EYMS publicity as not operating.
• EYMS service 135 will have normal Thursday departures from Driffield at 0910 and 1140, however the 0655 and 1710 journeys will not operate
• Stagecoach services 1, 2, 20 and 25 in North East Lincolnshire will operate a normal Thursday service
• Stagecoach services 5+ and 11+ in Hull shall provide a limited service until around 11pm
• Stagecoach services 2 (serving Hessle), 3 (to Greatfield and Bilton Grange but not Orchard Park), 5+ and 11+ in Hull shall provide a nightbus service, with last departures from Hull City Centre at 0200 (later than the residual Saturday nightbus service)
• Transdev York service X36 will operate a normal Thursday service

(As a result the usual Thursday variation to Stagecoach service 260 'Barton Villager' will not be provided, however East Halton will be inaccessible without a significant diversion anyway due to a level crossing closure, and residents of the Dam Road area of Barton will still have the Hornsby operated Town Service on Wednesday 30th).

New Years Day - No Services

UPDATE - Please see the comments section for details of coach services.

Stagecoach Simplibus Amendments

Sunday 1st November was meant to see all Hull City Centre buses that use King Edward Street and Jameson Street diverted via Albion Street and Bond Street due to the start of works to pedestrianise further parts of the City Centre. Before these works could begin however, roadworks were required in Albion Street and Bond Street, however sadly these have not finished on time, delaying the changes to Hull City Centre bus routes.

In September, Stagecoach introduced their Simplibus network in Hull (see here and here). Inevitably after such a major network change, further amendments are needed, and there are also issues with increased traffic congestion. Stagecoach sensibly decided to make these amendments on 1st November since they would have to change City Centre bus routes on that day anyway. That good plan hasn't worked out with the over-running Albion Street and Bond Street roadworks however the non-City Centre changes have still gone ahead as planned. Here is a round-up of the changes, some of which are fairly significant. Apologies in advance if I have missed anything, and for this post not appearing until a week after the changes.

Simplibus 3: Orchard Park-Hull-Greatfield
The first weekday departure from Hull Interchange to Greatfield operates at 0657, 10 minutes earlier than the previous 0707. On Sundays the first service 3 from Greatfield is half an hour earlier at 0730, restoring an early service that had been provided from Greatfield into Hull until September. The Sunday 1730 from Greatfield to Hull is extended to Orchard Park delaying the start of reduced hourly evening frequency.

Simplibus 4: Orchard Park-Hull-Bilton Grange
Times for the Marfleet Lane/Barham Road timing point are amended to reduce waiting time. There is change to Stand 15 at Paragon Interchange for journeys towards Orchard Park.

Simplibus 6: Hull Kingswood
Departures from Kingswood between 0620 and 1650 will operate 5 minutes earlier due to City Centre delays. The stand used at Paragon Interchange is altered to Stand 16.

Simplibus 7 and 8: Hull-Sutton Park-Bransholme-Kingswood
Simplibus 7 arguably isn't so Simplibus anymore, as daytime, but not evening and Sunday, journeys on service 7 become a circular. Instead of operating direct in both directions between North Point Shopping Centre, Bodmin Road and Kingswood Retail Park, services to Kingswood will operate from Bodmin Road via John Newton Way, Wawne Road, Kingsbury Way, Richmond Lane and Runnymede Way to Kingswood Retail Park before returning direct to Bodmin Road and North Point.

This reintroduces daytime links between the residential areas of Kingswood and North Point lost in September, using what appears to be layover time at Kingswood. An easy and quick way to restore links but as well as giving the 7 different daytime/evening+Sunday routes it increases journey time from Sutton Park to Kingswood and the journey time from Kingsbury Way to North Point is a rather unattractive 25 minutes. More attractive solutions would be to either extend the 6 to North Point or run the 8 to Kingswood all day, but these would probably require an extra vehicle and driver(s).

Elsewhere the 3 morning peak journeys on service 8 from Kingswood will start 5 minutes earlier to improve punctuality and Monday to Saturday inbound evening services from Kingswood will depart 5 minutes later.

Simplibus 9: Cottingham-Hull-Bransholme
Simplibus 9 gains a new variation, 9k. The hourly daytime journeys between Paragon Interchange and Kestrel Avenue will adopt this variation, that sees journeys route via Lambwath Road – currently only served by infrequent service 50 – instead off the eastern part of James Reckitt Avenue and Ings Road that remains served by the ‘main’ service 9 route. Lambwath Road is a shorter route that should improve punctuality. As a result the frequency for Leads Road and Dorchester Road is no longer exactly half hourly.

Other changes see many times amended by up to 5 minutes. The eastbound Saturday only service 9 from Paragon Interchange at 1615 now operates via the peak route to Noddle Hill, rather than to Kestrel Avenue as previously. As a result the last departure from Hull Interchange to Dorchester Avenue, North Point and Kestrel Avenue is now an hour earlier at 1515, however all Saturday departures from Hull Interchange from 1545 now follow the same route. The last departure from Paragon Interchange to Noddle Hill Monday to Saturday is now at 1850 rather than 1815, as the last departure from Castle Hill Hospital no longer terminates at the Interchange.

Simplibus 10: Hull-Bransholme-North Bransholme-Wawne
3 morning peak departures from Wawne into Hull on Simplibus 10 become the x10, and omit Sutton Road and Leads Road, instead operating direct via Holwell Road; this is to improve punctuality with a slightly shorter route. Sutton Road and Leads Road remain served by all other journeys. The 0740 from Hull Interchange on weekdays no longer extends from North Bransholme through to Wawne, and the 0830 from North Bransholme on weekdays no longer starts in Wawne.

Simplibus 11: Hull-Bransholme-Kingswood
The timing point for journeys operating into Hull City Centre is moved from Bellfield Avenue to Dunvegan Road.

Simplibus 13: Hull-Salthouse Road-Bransholme-Orchard Park
The weekday peak journeys serving Hall Road will now operate as through journeys from/to Simplibus 3. The 0715 and 0745 from Hall Road will now start as service 3W from Paragon Interchange at 0650 and 0720, changing into service 13W at Hall Road. The 0700 and 0730 Simplibus 13’s from Paragon Interchange to North Point will operate at 0710 and 0740, extend to Orchard Park Tesco and then return into Hull as service 3. The 1554, 1624 and 1654 Simplibus 13’s from Paragon Interchange to Hall Road will now operate to Orchard Park Tesco then operate as service 3’s back to the Interchange via Hall Road.

There is also a new weekday 1650 journey from Orchard Park to Hull, and the 1732 from North Point to Hull now starts back at Orchard Park at 1720; previously the last journey from Orchard Park was at 1620.

The timing point for journeys operating into Hull City Centre is moved from Bellfield Avenue to Dunvegan Road.

Simplibus 16: Hull-Marfleet
Morning peak journeys operate 5 minutes earlier to remove stand clashes with Simplibus 14 at Paragon Interchange.

North Lincolnshire Council take 327 'in-house'

Since yesterday (6th November), Friday Only service 327 from Dragonby to Scunthorpe has been operated directly by North Lincolnshire Council, instead off being tendered to Hornsby Travel. Departures from Scunthorpe Bus Station are at 1015 and 1245, and from Dragonby at 1030 and 1300.

Possible move away from bus franchising in East Yokshire?

When the East Riding of Yorkshire Council jointly submitted a devolution proposal with the City of York and North Yorkshire last month, it included bus franchising:

"Responsibility for franchised bus services in the devolved geography for integrating smart ticketing across all local modes of transport, including integrated smart ticketing extension to the Transport for the North connected cities ticketing initiative."

Today there is a new Greater Yorkshire Devolution Proposal covering East, North and West Yorkshire (including Hull). It lacks support from all the areas proposed to be included and lacks many firm proposals as a result, instead spending a lot of time highlighting where 'common ground' can be found. There is however this 'ask' on public transport:

"We need a range of models that not only leads to cheap and plentiful services within in our cities and major towns, but connects with the wider hinterland and travel to work areas. We must align objectives so that both the franchising approach in CA/ITA areas and the partnership approach more appropriate to rural networks will stimulate greater workforce mobility and reduce congestion. We need plans for Transpennine electrification to be joined to up along the whole route, in order to harness the private sector commitment from Hull Trains."

To me that indicates that franchising would probably be limited to West Yorkshire, with other areas adopting a partnership model.

It is also worth noting on a pan-Humber blog that there are 'warm words' about pan-Humber co-operation:

"Equally, the value of sustaining a coherent approach to developing the Humber Estuary across both North and South Banks is a major factor in establishing a workable devolution package. With the reduction in Humber Bridge tolls and the Hull and Humber City Deal, we are seeing the benefits of massive private sector investment to deliver our global gateway and energy estuary ambitions. Sustaining a pan-Humber partnership in conjunction with a Greater Lincolnshire Combined Authority will be built into the governance arrangements from the outset."

EYMS reduce 35/35A

From tomorrow, Monday 28th September, EYMS are reducing Hull to Willerby services 35 and 35A from hourly combined to every 90 minutes combined, with journey times slightly extended to improve punctuality. The 35 and 35A serve areas such as Willerby Parkway, Maplewood Avenue and Albert Avenue not served by the main Hull to Willerby services, and also provide a Hull Royal Infirmary link from Willerby Road, Wold Road and Spring Bank West.

EYMS Hull Minor Changes

Today, Sunday 27th September, has seen EYMS divert more services around the Hull City Centre "bus loop" on their inbound journey, improving access to areas of the City Centre located away from Paragon Interchange, such as Princes Quay and the Old Town. All Anlaby Road services (excluding EYMS journeys on the 350 Humber Fastcat?) will now use the City Centre loop except between 1500 and 1800 when they will operate direct to the Interchange via Ferensway.

Also today punctuality changes have been made to West Hull services 103, 105, 115, 151, 152, 153 and 154.

EYMS York City Centre Route Change

Some EYMS York services - routes 45, 45A, 46, X4, X46 and X47 - had a minor route change in York City Centre yesterday, Saturday 26th September, to operate outbound via Piccadilly instead of Merchantgate.

EDIT - This is not a route change, just a bus stop change from Merchantgate to Piccadilly. Thanks to the below comment for pointing this out

Transdev York 36/X36 minor changes

Yesterday, Saturday 26th September, Transdev York made slight revisions to service 36 between Sutton Upon Derwent, Elvington and York. Services now depart York 10 minutes later than previously with most services departing Sutton Upon Derwent 12 minutes later than previously.

This might be nothing new, but the Saturday service is now listed as "Saturdays and Bank Holidays", meaning the 36 is in the relatively unusual position of having a bank holiday service but not a Sunday service. This will be useful not just for villagers in Wheldrake, Elvington and Sutton Upon Derwent, but also for visitors to Elvington's Yorkshire Air Museum. Sunday and Bank Holiday service 18A operated by EYMS also serves the Museum, giving it a better service on Bank Holiday's than normal weekdays.

Most service 36 journeys have a 32 minutes layover in Sutton Upon Derwent, so it remains disappointing the time isn't used to enhance services to another nearby village, such as Newton Upon Derwent or Melbourne.

Transdev York weekday X36 also has a minor change to route via Piccadilly instead of Merchantgate in York City Centre.

EYMS York Services September Changes

The following EYMS services have had variations registered with VOSA appear on the VOSA website today, to take effect from 26th September:

45/46 Market Weighton-Pocklington-York (Timetable)
195/196/X36 Pocklington-York (Route and Timetable)
747 Pocklington-York (Timetable)
X4 Hull-Brough-Market Weighton-York (Route and Timetable)
X46 Market Weighton-Pocklington-York (Route and Timetable)
X47 Market Weighton-Pocklington-York (Route and Timetable)

EYMS Hull-Withernsea Changes

EYMS made some changes to their Hull to Withernsea services yesterday - Sunday 6th September. The weekday 1550 service 75 from Keyingham to Hull and 1535 service 75 from Withernsea to Hull and have been replaced by a 1512 service 75 from Withernsea. The weekday 1637 service 77 from Burstwick to Hull has been replaced by a 1612 service 77 from Withernsea to Hull. Some other journeys have been retimed to improve punctuality.

Small Improvements, Exciting Changes

Tomorrow - Monday 7th September - Stagecoach takeover the East Riding of Yorkshire Council contract for Monday to Saturday evening services on the 78 and 277 routes between Hull and Hedon from EYMS, who operate daily daytime services. There are a couple of small but very useful enhancements at the same time.

Departures on service 78 from Hull Interchange at 1810 and 2110, and from Hedon at 2019 and 2359 remain, as do service 277 departures from Hull Interchange at 1940 and 2320, and from Hedon at 1850 and 2150, however the 1850 277, 2019 78 and 2150 277 departures from Hedon will extend beyond Hull Interchange to Newland Avenue while the 2110 78 and 2320 277 departures from Hull Interchange will start back on Newland Avenue 15 minutes earlier. These extensions provide new access to the various restaurants and nightlife in the Avenues area of Hull. As a result the evening 78/277 services will now require more than one vehicle, but Stagecoach will have factored that into their bid.

There is also one further enhancement, a new 0005 Saturday night (early hours Sunday morning) journey on service 277 from Newland Avenue to Hedon. Arguably the villages of Bilton, Sproatley and Preston now have a nightbus service! I do wonder if diverting this journey via the Longhill estate would also be worthwhile as it's current last departure from Hull Interchange is at 2300 on EYMS service 56.

I'm not sure how much is Stagecoach's initiative and how much was in the East Riding of Yorkshire Council tender specification, but these changes are fantastic news for the communities on the 78 and 277 - small improvements can transform a basic evening service into something more exciting and useful. Lets hope these changes are well used and justified and similar improvements could be tried out elsewhere - some Barton Town Councillors for example want a later last service from Hull (currently 2125).

Goodbye to First in Goole, Hello larger EYMS operation

Yesterday, Saturday 5th September, was arguably the end of an era, as First operated their last services to and from Goole and truncated service 87 between Doncaster and Goole at Moorends. I'm not sure of the exact history of First, and Mainline before them, in Goole, but for many years they also operated the Goole Town Services which at one point included Sunday journeys to Swinefleet and Snaith. Now First in Goole is no more.

While Goole has lost it's bus link with Doncaster and other destinations south of Thorne, a Goole to Thorne replacement service 88 will be introduced by EYMS on Monday, ensuring Rawcliffe Bridge retains a bus service and that Goole and Rawcliffe continue to be linked by bus with Moorends and Thorne where onwards connections can also be made if required. It is also worth noting that for Goole to Doncaster travel the train is faster and more frequent that the First bus services ever where.

First 87 had provided an hourly Monday to Saturday daytime services, however EYMS 88 is less frequent with 8 weekday and 6 Saturday return journeys. The weekday service is generally every 90 minutes with first departure from Goole at 0725 and last departure at 1740. From Thorne the first departure is at 0806 and the last at 1820. This allows for commuting and the timetable has been designed to meet the needs of Goole College students as well. The Saturday timetable is clearly designed to be run with less resources, with services every 80 minutes except for a 130 minute gap at lunchtime. There is a good spread of journeys throughout the day with departures from Goole between 0850 and 1620 and from Thorne between 0930 and 1700.

The EYMS 88 timetable is far from perfect and not very memorable, especially on Saturdays, however it is a lot better than nothing and for First to have cancelled the 87 north of Moorends indicates the demand for an hourly services may not have been there. Hopefully over time the service can be improved and at least there are commuter friendly services as well as shopper and college student friendly services.

So while it's goodbye First in Goole, EYMS continue to grow their presence. From just operating services from Hull (and the Wed/Sat 160/162) at one point to operating the town service, Scunthorpe service, Thorne service and Sunday Selby service as well.

Franchising: An Opportunity mostly for Foreign Owned Operators?

Labour London Mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan is apparently proposing to set up a 'not for profit' organisation to bid against foreign owned bus operators for London bus routes, if he is elected. The Evening Standard reports he is concerned about money spent of buses going to "subsidise the cost of a bus ticket in other European cities", a reference to ownership of various London bus operators by Deutsche Bahn, Abellio and RATP Group (he is also concerned about money being spent on dividends).

This sentiment isn't new, and has been expressed before with regards to the ownership of certain rail franchises. Personally so long as British companies have equal access to foreign markets I don't have an issue with it, but many do.

I can't help but think introducing bus franchising in England outside of London will be to the benefit of foreign owned companies more so than British ones. First have exited the regulated London market, and Stagecoach did at one point; while returning since it has been kept separate from the rest of their UK operations. Clearly neither business is keen on the franchised model and are far more comfortable in a deregulated operating environment. National Express also exited the capital some years ago and even Go Ahead who are a major operator in London would prefer partnerships outside of the capital. Independent operators could see the loss of significant parts of their business if their current commercial routes are franchised and they are unsuccessful in bidding for them. It is also worth noting that in many places the incumbent operator with potentially the most to loose is British.

The big British bus groups will adapt - they will have to otherwise they would have to significantly downsize. Rotala are enthusiastic for franchising. I'm sure some British independents will embrace a franchised model while others would accept it and get on with it.

However I can see foreign owned companies being the big beneficiaries. They know the franchising model and are comfortable with it and will embrace it. If a large or medium sized independent operators wants to sell up it could be Abellio, Transdev, RATP, Tower Transit or Comfort DelGro that will purchase. They would also have the resources to set up new operations from scratch in any areas likely to have a large franchised operation. What is a threat to First and Stagecoach is an opportunity to yes Rotala, but also to Abellio, Transdev, RATP etc.

If Arriva get refloated on the London Stock Exchange by Deutsche Bahn that could change things a bit given their large London and continental European franchised operations, but even still I do wonder if the biggest winners will be overseas based companies. That is not a problem to me, but it maybe to others.

Thoughts?

Stagecoach Simplibus Hull

Tomorrow, Sunday 6th September, Stagecoach launches it's simplibus network in Hull. I've already written extensively about the changes as first announced, so this post focuses on the timetables that were released later.

Simplibus 1 and 2: Hull-Boothferry Estate
The biggest changes of note are a new 0500 departure from Hull Interchange on weekdays, half an hour earlier at present, and the first four Saturday morning service 2's continuing as service 10 to North Bransholme, as happens on weekday mornings. The service 1W weekday morning variation via Smith and Nephew now starts at 0530 rather than 0645. Otherwise there are just some minor retimings and slight changes to when the 'every 10 minute' Monday to Saturday daytime frequency starts and ends.

Simplibus 3: Orchard Park-Hull-Greatfield
Not much to add. The first three Saturday morning services from Greatfield will operate via Smith and Nephew, as happens on weekday mornings. The only comment to add is that first Sunday departure from Orchard Park on service 3 is at 0800 compared to 0835 on the old service 13, while from Greatfield it is at 0800 compared to 0735 on the old service 43.

Simplibus 4: Orchard Park-Hull-Bilton Grange.
Again not a huge amount to add. The first weekday departure from Hull Interchange to Orchard Park is at 0625 compared to 0710 on the old service 14, while the last Monday to Saturday departure from Hull Interchange to Orchard Park is at 2335 compared to 2310 on the old service 14. The last Sunday departure from Orchard Park is at 2300 compared to 2230 on the old service 14.

From Bilton Grange the first Saturday departure is at 0605, 25 minutes earlier than previous service 54. On Sundays the first departure is at 0730 rather than 0830. From Hull Interchange to Bilton Grange the first weekday departure is 90 minutes earlier at 0530 rather than 0700.

Simplibus 5: Hull-Orchard Park-Kingswood
Nothing further to note other than the current Monday to Saturday evening and all day Sunday through journeys to East Hull continue (onto renumbered services 11 and 12).

Simplibus 6: Hull-Kingswood
This is the brand new service in the network, operating Monday to Saturday daytimes every half hour, with departures from Kingswood between 0620 and 1750, and from Hull Interchange between 0736 and 1806. The service will serve both the Leisure and Retail Parks in Kingswood.

Simplibus 7 and 8: Hull-Sutton Park-Bransholme-Kingswood
The first departure from Hull Interchange Monday to Saturday is at 0617 rather than 0655 on the previous service 29, and on Sundays at 0820 rather than 0855. On weekday mornings there are three service 8 departures from Kingswood, which is otherwise only served on evenings and Sundays. The first two Saturday morning services from North Point will operate via Smith and Nephew as on weekday mornings.

Simplibus 9: Cottingham-Hull-Bransholme
Only further note to add is that only hourly Monday to Saturday daytime journeys will extend beyond North Point to Kestrel Avenue; these will be the 'short' journeys that terminate at Hull Interchange rather than the journeys operating through to Cotttingham.

Simplibus 10: Hull-Bransholme-North Bransholme-Wawne
There is a new 2340 departure from Hull Interchange to Wawne, half an hour later than at present.

Simplibus 11: Hull-Bransholme-Kingswood
The first three Saturday morning journeys start at North Point rather than Kingswood, but operate via Smith and Nephew, as on weekday mornings. The first Saturday departure from Hull Interchange is 30 minutes earlier at 0655 rather than 0725.

Simplibus 12: Hull-Sutton-Bransholme
Only further item to note is the first three Saturday morning departures from North Point operating via Smith and Nephew matching the weekday timetable.

Simplibus 13: Hull-Salthouse Road-Bransholme-Orchard Park
In Orchard Park most services will operate a clockwise loop, serving Greenwood Avenue, Ellerburn Avenue, Hall Road and Beverley Road. College time journeys serve the full length of Hall Road (i.e., starting at the Cottingham Road roundabout), though seemingly on all weekdays. The last departure from North Point on Monday to Saturday is at 1732 (1730 Sat) as opposed to 1805 (1815 Sat) on previous service 10. The first Saturday departure from Hull Interchange is at 0854 rather than 0810.

Simplibus 14: Hull-Greatfield
Nothing further to note.

Simplibus 16: Hull-Marfleet
This service has seen a significant change to the initially published timetable, as it has been rerouted via Newbridge Road  to replace service 41, and therefore no longer serving Victor Street and Belmont Street. The first Saturday morning departure from Marfleet is significantly earlier at 0637 rather than the previous 0802 on service 46.

Hopefully in conjunction with my initial post that has covered everything! Please post a comment if it hasn't.

Bus Franchising Proposal for East Yorkshire

Yesterday, East Riding of Yorkshire Council submitted a joint devolution proposal with the City of York and North Yorkshire County Council (but not Hull City Council). In the proposition document, the following included:

"Responsibility for franchised bus services in the devolved geography for integrating smart ticketing across all local modes of transport, including integrated smart ticketing extension to the Transport for the North connected cities ticketing initiative."

If ticketing is the sole motivation, then franchising is using a sledge hammer to crack to a nut. The big bus groups have committed to a smart ticketing initiative and EYMS are part of the proposed Hullcard scheme - I'm sure something could be worked out voluntarily to meet the specific desires of this proposal without destroying the ability of operators to innovate and invest in a deregulated market that has given East Yorkshire an (on the whole) excellent network of services. And without the need to administrate a franchising scheme, money that could be better spent supporting enhancements to the bus network and reversing some of North Yorkshire's extensive cuts to tendered services.

There was also a Greater Lincolnshire expression of interest submitted covering North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire and Lincolnshire, which is far less well developed and references "Improving transport links regionally, nationally and internationally". Until the expression of interest becomes a more detailed proposal then it's uncertain what this could mean in practice.

A couple of final thoughts:

• Hopefully councils will take a close look at the partnerships in South Yorkshire which have potential to achieve a far more stable, co-ordinated and integrated network without removing operator's ability to innovate and develop services
• I wonder if Hull could end up regretting not pursuing a Humber approach to devolution? In the North East Lincolnshire Council statement they went as far as stating they were not bound yet to any geographical arrangement and I sense North Lincolnshire Council could have been convinced. However right now Hull has been snubbed by Leeds in it's Greater Yorkshire bid, and snubbed by York, North Yorkshire, and most significant of all East Yorkshire, with their bid that leaves Hull isolated in submitting it's Greater Yorkshire bid with no support from other Yorkshire councils. Unfortunately probably not going to happen, but it would be great to see a Humber-wide proposal emerge from the current mess.

EYMS X80 (and X46) Beverley Route Change

EYMS Monday to Saturday service X80 from Hessle, Anlaby, Willerby and Cottingham to Beverley gets a new route from Monday 7th September within Beverley. The service will now operate as a circular within the town, operating inbound via it's current route to Beverley Bus Station before leaving the town via Armstrong Way and Flemingate to serve East Riding College and the new Retail and Leisure development in the area. There are minor retimings to the service as a result. EYMS re-routed service 246 via Flemingate earlier this year when it recast it's Hull to Beverley services.

A good time to note as well that from the same date, EYMS's 0805 journey on the X46 from Pocklington to Hull will also route via Armstrong Way within Beverley to serve the East Riding College Campus.

Further EYMS September Changes

EYMS have today registered variations to various services with VOSA from 27th September:

• 33/34/35/35A/44 Hull to Willerby
• 103 Hull to Cottingham
• 105 Hull to Cottingham
• 115 Hull to Cottingham/Castle Hill Hospital (route as well as timetable)
• 151/152 Hull to Anlaby/Willerby
• 152/153 Hull to Anlaby/North Ferriby/Brough/South Cave
• 154 Hull to Willerby/Castle Hill Hospital

 

Acklams re-register the 124

Earlier this month Acklams and EYMS both cancelled their VOSA registrations for service 124 between Driffield and Bridlington. Acklams Coaches had been operating the route on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and EYMS on Saturdays.

Today VOSA re-registered the 124 with VOSA, this time including the Saturday service. The start and finish points do not reference Bridlington, but VOSA registration summaries are not always accurate/could refer to a circular service, so until further information is available I wouldn't draw conclusions one way or the other.

PB1075166/35 - ACKLAMS COACHES LTD, BUS & COACH DEPOT, BARMSTON ROAD, BEVERLEY, HU17 0LA

• Registration Accepted by SN
• Starting Point: Driffield
• Finish Point: Driffield
• Via:
• Service Number: 124
• Service Type: Normal Stopping
• Effective Date: 09-SEP-2015
• Other Details: Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday