North Lincolnshire Services 96 and 97 Update

Earlier this year I covered the launch of two new bus services in North Lincolnshire; the 96 from Barton to Brigg and the 97 from Garthorpe to Wroot via Crowle and Epworth. In both cases I suspected the provision could be over ambitious. The Local Democracy Reporting Service recently reported the following after speaking to the North Lincolnshire Council Cabinet Member for Connectivity:

Cllr Mitchell indicated the Brigg to Barton bus route through the low villages had been successful with passenger numbers. However, the piloted Isle of Axholme service, that ran east to west across the Isle, had not had as many passengers yet, 

"We just need to do a bit of tweaking to the route and timetable," he said. But he urged people to use the route to ensure it continued."We have just got to think very carefully how we spend taxpayers' money on this. But also in recognition that some of these routes have huge social and economic value. We can't really put a price on tackling social exclusion."

Saturday Improvements in the Isle of Axholme

The Stagecoach operated Saturday tendered services in the Southern Isle of Axholme are revised from Saturday 7th October.

Presently there is the 291 from Owston Ferry to Doncaster via Epworth and Westwoodside with two daytime journeys each way, and the 399 from Scunthorpe to Westwoodside via Epworth and Owston Ferry with four journeys each way. From next month the 399 will have six journeys each way between Scunthorpe and Westwoodside, with two extended to Doncaster, presumably replacing the 291. Two morning journeys from Scunthorpe to Westwoodside will run 'fast' omitting West Butterwick and Owston Ferry, which is reasonable enough at 0645, and at 0915 when there is a 0900 service as well (the 0900 goes to Doncaster, whereas the 0915 is a 'positioning' service for the 1000 Westwoodside to Scunthorpe).

With the exception of the small village of Low Burnham served by the 291, this is excellent news. There are two more journeys overall between Scunthorpe and Westwoodside, and in terms of 'useful' journeys - as opposed to 'in service positioning journeys' - there will be three useful departures from Scunthorpe back to the Isle of Axholme at 1300, 1620 and 1735, as opposed to two at 1320 and 1735 presently.

In addition there will be greater consistency between the Monday to Friday and Saturday services. Most Monday to Friday services are run by Hornsby on what I think is a part commercial/part council funded basis. Currently the only consistency is the final 399 round trip from Scunthorpe to Westwoodside (run by Stagecoach 6 days a week). From next month the 0645, 0900, 1300, 1620 and 1735 from Scunthorpe will be consistent Monday to Saturday (during college holidays at least), as will the 0728, 1725 and 1845 from Westwoodside and 1245 and 1545 from Doncaster. 

East Yorkshire Bridlington Changes

East Yorkshire are amending their local services in Bridlington from tomorrow - Sunday 3rd September. The changes are to make services "more reliable", which should happen as running times are slightly increased. However it seems little or no extra resource is being added to the network, so out goes clockface timetables largely consistent between weekdays and Saturdays, and in comes harder to remember times and notable differences on a Saturday. I understand that extra resource for clockface timetables and consistency probably can't be justified, but the new timetables aren't very user friendly. 

On service 2 to the south of Bridlington, the 1420 and 1530 circulars from Bridlington Bus Station no longer operate Monday to Friday during school holidays. Most Saturday journeys operate 5 minutes later than Monday to Friday.

For service 3 to the West Hill Estate, the 1515 from Bridlington Bus Station no longer operates Monday to Friday during school holidays. The service remains mostly hourly, but journey times are slightly extended, and vary from journey to journey, and between weekdays and Saturdays.

The 4 and 4A to New Pasture Lane Estate are amended from operating hourly each for a combined half hourly frequency to a combined frequency of between every 20 and 45 minutes Monday to Saturday mornings and early afternoons. School Holiday weekdays are reduced to hourly, as already occurs on schooldays, though clockface half hourly departures return from Bridlington Bus Station on Saturday afternoons.

The 5 and 5A to the north of Bridlington retain some semblance of a clockface timetable from Bridlington Bus Station in the morning and early afternoon at least, running hourly each for a combined half hourly frequency. However the first service of the day at 0800 from Bridlington Bus Station is cancelled, as is the 1200 leaving an hours gap. Following that the 1230 is a 5A Monday to Friday but a 5 on Saturdays, the 1300 a 5 Monday to Friday but a 5A on Saturdays and there is then a 1325 5A Monday to Friday and a 1330 5 on Saturdays. The late afternoon service gains a 100 minute gap Monday to Friday from Bridlington Bus Station, previously just a 60 minute gap schooldays only.

On Service 6 to the North of Bridlington, the 1445 circular from Bridlington Bus Station is withdrawn Monday to Friday, leaving a 130 minute gap. Otherwise an hourly service remains (with two 65 minute gaps on Saturdays), but again with slightly extended journey times, times varying slightly from journey to journey, and between weekdays and Saturdays.

Finally service 14 from Bridlington to Flamborough is also slightly revised with extended running times and slight variations at timing points depending on the day of the week - for example 1430 from Flamborough to Bridlington Monday to Friday, 1433 Saturday and 1431 Sunday.

Improved Weekday Service for the Isle of Axholme

The Hornsby Travel part-subsidised service 399 between Scunthorpe, the Isle of Axholme and Doncaster, operating Monday to Friday, will be revised and improved from next Monday, 4th September.

From Scunthorpe:

• The 0645 'fast' from Scunthorpe to Graizelound is diverted to Westwoodside.
• The 0830 from Scunthorpe to Doncaster will operate at 0900.
• The 0910 from Belton to Westwoodside will operate at 0920.
• A new 1100 'short' from Scunthorpe to Epworth is added.
• The 1230 from Scunthorpe to Westwoodside is amended to become a 1300 from Scunthorpe to Doncaster.
• The 1605 (College Days)/1620 (College Holidays) from Scunthorpe to Graizelound is terminated at Westwoodside.

To Scunthorpe:

• The 0725 from Graizelound to Scunthorpe becomes a 0728 from Westwoodside to Scunthorpe.
• The 0930 from Westwoodside to Scunthorpe will operate at 0938.
• A new 1136 from Epworth to Scunthorpe is added.
• The 1215 from Doncaster to Scunthorpe will operate at 1245, and also incorporates the withdrawn 1335 Westwoodside to Scunthorpe.
• A new 1545 Doncaster to Scunthorpe is added.
• The 1730 Graizelound to Scunthorpe becomes a 1725 Westwoodside to Scunthorpe.

Overall there is an extra journey to/from Doncaster, an extra journey between Scunthorpe and Epworth each way, simplification from removing the Graizelound extension and at certain times, a move towards an even interval frequency.

To cover Graizelound, a new 499 from Misterton to Scunthorpe is added on college days, operating from Misterton via Graizelound and Low Burnham to Epworth and then acting as a duplicate on the 399 to/from Scunthorpe. There is no replacement to Graizelound during college holidays, and I suspect Graizelound may have only been served by the 399 during college holidays to avoid too much variation to the timetable.

There are no changes to Stagecoach journeys for now, but redacted decision records on North Lincolnshire Council's website indicate that amendments maybe coming, and also to service 291.

Stagecoach September Changes in Hull

Stagecoach are amending most, but not all, of their Hull services from next Sunday - 3rd September. Not for the first time, no commentary or explanation has been provided, not even for the enhancements. So apologies if I miss anything, it's a case of doing lots of timetable comparisons to work out what has changed. Overall there appears to be more good than bad.

Services 1 and 2 from Paragon Interchange to the Boothferry Estate appear largely unchanged, except for some additional early morning journeys from the City Centre; on service 1 at 0656 Monday to Friday and at 0541, 0611 and 0641 Saturday (first service currently 0711) and on service 2 at 0715, 0745 and 0815 on Sundays (first service currently 0845). All these journeys seem to be 'positioning moves' for current early morning services back into Hull City Centre. 

Service 3 from Paragon Interchange to Orchard Park is one of the big winners, doubling from every 20 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes to every 10 minutes, and also increasing on Saturdays from every 20 to every 15 minutes. A very welcome enhancement from the current provision. 

On the other hand service 4 from Paragon Interchange to Orchard Park doesn't come out of these changes well. The new Stagecoach Hull map shows it is re-routed away from Cranbrook Avenue to it's more traditional route, using Beverley Road as far north as Greenwood Avenue - so one positive is an increased service for the section of Beverley Road between Cottingham Road and Greenwood Avenue. Otherwise the every 20 minute frequency Monday to Saturday daytime is reduced to half hourly, putting the route in the unusual situation (away from tourist areas) of having the same frequency 7 days a week. 

Monday to Friday the first service from Orchard Park moves from 0545 to 0610, but on Saturdays moves from 0700 to 0610. The final 2330 departure from Paragon Interchange is moved earlier to 2255, but with 2330 departures on services 5, 6 and 8 - which between them cover about 99% of the service 4 route - this is perhaps a good move rather than the negative it appears to be at first sight.

Also of note is that the Monday to Saturday peaktime hourly Mizzen Road extensions move from service 5 to service 4, retaining an 'A' suffix. Unlike the 5A, were the route operates 'over and above' the standard frequency, the 4A is a simple extension from Orchard Park of the main service. In the evening peak Mizzen Road gains 'counterflow' services back into Hull City Centre. I know the Hull Royal Infirmary link would be lost, but could the 4A operate all day, replacing the 1C at an improved hourly or half hourly frequency? It might give the 4 a bit more purpose.

The change of the 4 away from Cranbrook Avenue might sound negative, but it's not as service 5 from Paragon Interchange to Orchard Park and Kingswood via Cranbrook Avenue gains a major frequency uplift from the current service. Monday to Friday daytimes see the current every 20 minute service from Paragon Interchange to Kingswood supplemented by Interchange to Orchard Park shorts every 20 minutes, for a combined 10 minute frequency on this section, and doubling the Stagecoach service along Princes and Newland Avenue. On Saturday daytimes a different approach is taken, with the every 20 minute frequency from Paragon Interchange to Kingswood increased to every 15 minutes across the whole route - it makes sense that Kingswood with it's Retail and Leisure Parks can justify a slightly higher Saturday frequency, although it does mean 2 buses an hour less for Cranbrook Avenue when taking the 4's re-route into account. Monday to Saturday evenings increase from hourly to half hourly, and the last bus from Kingswood will be at 2332 rather than 2247 currently.

Service 7 from Paragon Interchange to North Point sees the Monday to Friday 1400 and 1430 from North Point withdrawn, leaving a 90 minute gap, but gains a Monday to Friday 1520 from the Interchange, partly filling a 90 minute gap. It is worth remembering the 7 is essentially a 'part-route' service 8, so there are no 90 minute gaps when allowing for both routes. On Saturday mornings departures from North Point will start at 0600 rather than 0900 - first journey opportunity currently the 0745 service 8.

Turning to circular service 8, and firstly the clockwise timetable. Monday to Friday the 1400 and 1530 from Paragon Interchange to Wilberforce College become full circulars and now depart at 1405 and 1535, in line with the standard pattern. Anti-clockwise the Monday to Friday 0852 from Wilberforce College to Paragon Interchange is now a 0835 circular from Paragon Interchange, whilst the Monday to Friday 1430 and 1600 Paragon Interchange to Wilberforce College 'shorts' are withdrawn, with the 1405 circular from Paragon Interchange moved to 1435. The gaps at 1405 and 1605 are somewhat covered by service 83, now operating year round rather than just college days; the 83 has 1400 and 1600 departures from Paragon Interchange which follow a similar route to Sutton Park. In addition new service 111 (more below) has a 1400 departure college days and a 1555 departure Monday to Friday from the Interchange.

On service 10 from Paragon Interchange to North Bransholme, and on some journeys Wawne, the Monday to Friday evening peak frequency from North Bransholme into Hull City Centre is reduced from every 20 minutes to half hourly, but three extra 'shorts' from North Point are added to give a 15 minute frequency from 1640 to 1810. In the opposite direction early evening services are better spread out from the Interchange; the present 1737, 1757. 1817, 1842 and 1942 Monday to Friday become 1737, 1807, 1837, 1912 and 1942. On Saturdays there are new journeys from North Bransholme at 0505 and 0535, current first service 0605, but the 0732 from Wawne will start at North Bransholme (0702 and 0802 from Wawne remain). A 1912 from Paragon Interchange is also added on Saturdays, keeping the half hourly frequency going an hour longer.

For service 14 to Greatfield, the 2330 final departure from Paragon Interchange moves to 2251 Monday to Friday but not Saturday.

I don't normally cover college routes, but here is an exception as it is linked with service 11 and seems to have one journey which runs year round. New service 111 is to commence from Beverley to Paragon Interchange via Wilberforce College. From Beverley it operates via Woodmansey and Dunswell to Kingswood Retail Park, then as per service 11 to Paragon Interchange except for taking the service 8 diversion via Wilberforce College in East Hull. There are two morning departures from Beverley at 0740 and 0900 college days only, which operate 'over and above the half hourly service 11, likewise with the 1400 from Paragon Interchange. The oddball journey is the 1555 from Paragon Interchange which operates Monday to Friday and replaces the 1550 service 11 - is there really going to be demand for a one-way service 111 during college holidays between Kingswood and Beverley? Anyway, it's good to see the 111 as it does provide some extra journey opportunities for the general public. For the record, previous Beverley to Wilberforce College service 81 will serve Wawne instead.

There are also minor changes to routes 12, 16 and 33. The 3B and 15 also have new timetables, but I can't see any change at all.

Swapping Danby for Helmsley

I'm almost too late with this, since the service finishes for the year on Monday, but East Yorkshire's peak Summer Sunday and Bank Holiday ME1 'Moors Explorer' service from Hessle, Anlaby, Willerby, Hull, Cottingham and Beverley to Malton, Pickering and the North Yorkshire Moors has been revised for 2023. Firstly it now serves Flamingo Land theme park between Malton and Pickering, whilst secondly the service now terminates in Helmsley rather than Danby.

Acklams Coaches end final bus services

As expected, Acklams Coaches have exited the local bus service market. They gave up their Beverley and Driffield area work last October, and ceased operating their final services on Friday 14th July - the tendered 131 and 504 in Bridlington. The 131 is a workers service from Bridlington to the Carnaby Industrial Estate, whilst the 504 is an off peak service from Bempton, Buckton and North Bridlington into Bridlington Town Centre; both services operate Monday to Friday only.

From Monday 17th July, East Yorkshire took over both services, with the timetable looking to be unchanged on each route. 

Acklams Coaches continue with their extensive coaching operation, as well as school and college contracts and a Hull City football service. 

Summer Saturday X90

From Saturday 24th June to 2nd September inclusive, Stagecoach are operating a new X90 Saturday Only service from Lea (just south of Gainsborough) to Cleethorpes, via Gainsborough, Hemswell Cliff, Glentham, Middle Rasen, Market Rasen, Nettleton and Cabourne. The service leaves Lea at 0840, arriving in Cleethorpes at 1005, before departing from Cleethorpes at 1445 and getting back to Lea for 1615.

The X90 is funded by the North Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire Community Rail Partnership (NNLCRP) and is intended to act as a partial replacement for the withdrawal of the Saturday Cleethorpes to Sheffield Northern Rail service via Brigg, Kirton Lindsey and Gainsborough back in May. This service had three journeys in each direction, so was relatively useful for Saturday leisure travel, but was replaced by a much less useful single daily Monday to Friday service. The X90 is therefore a welcome mitigation, albeit the restoration of the Saturday train service would be much better! It should be noted the X90 is timed to connect from/to Sheffield to Lincoln rail services at Gainsborough Lea Road Station.

I'm sure I've read that NNLCRP can't fund a service which overlaps entirely with a rail service, hence why it can't serve Brigg. That's a big shame because Brigg would benefit far more than Market Rasen from the X90. Market Rasen already has public transport access to Cleethorpes on a Saturday via a limited through rail service, including a 0857 departure, supplemented by the ability to connect via bus or train at Grimsby. Brigg on the other hand has no eastbound timetabled public transport on a Saturday, so trips to Cleethorpes either require the use of a demand responsive bus service to Barnetby Station, or catching a bus in the wrong direction to Scunthorpe for a connection there.

Additionally, I'm also surprised the service doesn't operate an hour or two later in each direction - it's an early arrival and departure in and out of Cleethorpes for a Saturday daytrip.

Brigg Town Service May 2023 Revision

The Hornsby operated Brigg Town Services, provided under contract to North Lincolnshire Council, were amended from 15th May. The routes operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Service 91 to the Springbank and Churchill Avenue areas of the town was split out into service 91 for Springbank and service 92 for Churchill Avenue, the opposite way round to the pre-July 2018 timetable. The Aldi and Lidl extensions were withdrawn at the same time. Timetable wise there is now a two hour gap late morning, but there are afternoon improvements; the last service to Springbank is now at 1430 rather than 1330 Sat/1410 Tue+Thu, whilst the last Churchill Avenue service is at 1445 rather than 1330.

Elsewhere what was the 92 to Howsham and Cadney was renumbered back to the 93 as it was until July 2018. The 1345 'short' to Brigg Garden Centre was retimed to 1400.

Bus Service Improvement Plan in North East Lincolnshire

A bit late with this, but back on Sunday 7th May, Stagecoach introduced changes to most services in North East Lincolnshire, linked to the area's successful Bus Service Improvement Plan bid. As I've already posted the 250 lost out, but local services had more mixed fortunes. There are some further changes from Sunday 3rd September, which I also cover below.

Service 3 between Laceby Road Morrisons, Nunsthorpe, Grimsby and Cleethorpes saw some minor Sunday evening improvements in May, and from September gains a new 0500 from Morrisons Monday to Friday (first bus currently 0530) whilst the last service from Morrisons daily will be at 2315 rather than 2245. Service 4 from Laceby Road Morrisons to Laceby Acres, Grimsby and Cleethorpes saw some minor evening improvements in May, whilst September sees some further changes; most last evening buses will be half an hour earlier, except for Grimsby to Morrisons which will be half an hour later.

The 'core' of service 5 between Grimsby and Immingham has remained but with changes 'around the edges'. In May the first 3 services to Immingham Monday to Saturday mornings were cut back to start from Grimsby rather than Cleethorpes. On Sundays the extensions to/from Cleethorpes Pier were withdrawn in favour of a daytime extension to Tesco Extra at Hewitt's Circus, operating via the service 50 route along Ladysmith Road; a somewhat oddball extension but I presume driven by operational reasons to allow interworking with service 10, which in turn maintains an indirect through service to Cleethorpes Town Centre. September's changes add some extra early morning journeys between Grimsby and Immingham, including the first service from Immingham Monday to Friday now operating 20 minutes earlier at 0535 rather than 0555.

Service 6 from Wybers Wood to Grimsby was extended in May to Cleethorpes Town Centre via Ladysmith Road and Clee Road, replacing service 7 along the former and the 250 along the latter. This provides new Monday to Saturday links from Wybers Wood and the Willows Estate to Cleethorpes (and maintains a direct Sunday daytime service), as well as giving Ladysmith Road a direct Cleethorpes service plus a new Sunday service (along with the 5), whilst Clee Road goes from an hourly to half hourly service Monday to Saturday daytimes and also gains a new Sunday daytime service. Overall lots of positives here.

In contrast service 7 was very substantially reduced. The route had operated half hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes from the Grange Estate to North Sea Lane via Bargate, Grimsby Town Centre, Ladysmith Road, Curzon Avenue and Hewitt's Circus Tesco Extra; peak time services started at/extended to Laceby Village. Since May however, the 7 has been reduced to an off peak hourly service from Grimsby Town Centre to the Curzon Avenue area only.

Looking in more detail and Laceby Village received no replacement services, leaving it with the 53 and 250; the first service from the village into Grimsby is now the 0754 53 rather than a 0622 service 7.

For the Grange Estate off peak service 12 from Bradley Park to New Waltham via the Grange Estate, Littlefield Lane, Grimsby and Cleethorpes was doubled from hourly to half hourly between Bradley Park and Grimsby Town Centre as a partial replacement. Great news for Bradley Park and Littlefield Lane, whilst half hourly does seem a fair service for the Grange Estate. There are however two problems; firstly the 12 serves some roads in the Grange Estate in one direction only, meaning a walk or trip via Bradley Park, and secondly the limited operating hours - 0911 to 1411 into Grimsby from the Grange Estate, and 0917 to 1417 from Grimsby Town Centre. 

Ideally the 12 would operate for longer each day solving at least one of those problems. Assuming any extra journeys are deemed unviable though and the only service which could easily be diverted is the 250 providing a 60-90 minute frequency during the peaks and late afternoon. Short of cutting Bradley Park off the route, no easy answer to the one-way routing in the Grange Estate unfortunately. 

Whilst on the subject of the 12, the May change saw the 0705 from Waltham to Grimsby withdrawn and the 1740 return cut back to terminate at New Waltham. The 1400 from New Waltham to Grimsby Monday to Saturday became a Saturday only 1410 departure. 

Returning back to the 7, and I doubt the service is missed too much along Bargate between the Grange Estate and Grimsby Town Centre, which is already very well served with buses. Elsewhere Ladysmith Road gained the 6 as a replacement - unless passengers were heading to the Colleges or Tesco Extra, the 6 is probably more useful with it's direct Cleethorpes link. Meanwhile in Humberston, the 9 and 10 were extended from North Sea Lane to Hewitt's Circus, providing for a more frequent local link every 15 minutes, albeit less attractive for journeys into Grimsby.

The remnants of the 7 now leave Grimsby via Hainton Avenue rather than Ladysmith Road, providing an off peak replacement for the 250. It then operates via Weelsby Road before providing a one-way loop via Windsor Road, Curzon Avenue, Warwick Road, Brian Avenue, Middlethorpe Road, Taylors Avenue and Humberston Road. Departures leave Grimsby hourly between 0857 and 1357 Monday to Friday and from 0857 to 1657 on Saturdays. A basic shopping link from Windsor Road, Curzon Avenue, Warwick Road, Brian Avenue, Middlethorpe Road and Taylors Avenue into Grimsby, with the peak time service not replaced, and no indirect through service to Cleethorpes Town Centre as used to be provided by service 7 interworking with the 9 or 10 at North Sea Lane. It should be noted the 4 and 12 do also operate in the broader area.

Things do get slightly better from the September Changes. The Windsor Road to Middlethorpe Road section will be served in both directions, with most of Humberston Road (that has no stops on the section concerned) omitted. A new loop is also added via Belvoir Road and the Humberston Road side entrance to Hewitt's Circus Tesco Extra; Belvoir Road is also served by the 12 so hopefully the 7 won't abstract from the 12 here. Timetable wise, there are two extra late afternoon services Monday to Friday, last departure from Grimsby Town Centre to be 1640 rather than 1357.

Turning next to service 8, which previously operated between Grimsby Town Centre, Grimsby Hospital, New Waltham, Humberston and North Sea Lane, where it then interworked with the 9 or 10 to Cleethorpes (and beyond). Since May that interworking has stopped with the 8 extended to Cleethorpes Town Centre via the more direct service 17 route avoiding the Thrunscoe Estate. Also the 8 has been diverted via Westward Ho and Chelmsford Avenue to better serve Franklin College.

Whilst these changes might sound good news, I'm not convinced. Taking the Franklin College diversion, most students could walk quite easily to Nuns Corner and the diversion could be omitted, helping to keep journey times low. The diversion could be more use if there was a stop nearer to where it skirts the Grange Estate, but one hasn't been provided according to bustimes.org.

Along with the 9/10 there are now six buses per hour Monday to Saturday daytimes between Humberston Church Avenue Roundabout, North Sea Lane and Cleethorpes Town Centre, which feels a bit like over-bussing. Personally I would have kept the 8 terminating at North Sea Lane, interworked with either the 9 or 10 for Cleethorpes Town Centre. The other service out of the 9 and 10 could have run to Hewitt's Circus Tesco, reducing another perhaps over generous frequency. 

Focusing on service 9 and 10 between Waltham, Grimsby Hospital, Grimsby, Cleethorpes and North Sea Lane and the main change in May was the already alluded to extension beyond North Sea Lane to Hewitt's Circus Tesco Extra. Timetable wise extra Monday to Friday early morning journeys were added, partially replacing the early morning service 5 Cleethorpes extensions mentioned earlier. Daily evening services were withdrawn between Cleethorpes Town Centre and North Sea Lane, leaving the Thrunscoe Estate without an evening service, but this section of route, extended to Tesco, will be reinstated in September.

Finally, one longer distance change from May that isn't worth a separate post, the 1440 and 1540 service 51 journeys from Grimsby to Louth were merged into a single 1515 journey Monday to Friday; Saturday times were not affected, so there is still a 1440/1540 from Grimsby.

Overall there have been some welcome improvements from the Bus Service Improvement Plan, and September's changes make things slightly better, but it's certainly not been all good news.

250 - 'Down' but not 'Out'

Back on Tuesday May 9th, Stagecoach service 250 got a new, reduced, route and timetable as part of changes linked to North East Lincolnshire's Bus Service Improvement Plan. Unfortunately the 250 seems to have 'drawn the short straw', and from a route and timetable perspective, it's the opposite of improvement.

The 250 was truncated from operating between Hull, Barton, Grimsby, Clee Road and Cleethorpes to instead just operate between Hull, Barton and Grimsby. It's probably no coincidence that this change occurred at the same time service 6 was extended from Grimsby to Cleethorpes via Clee Road every half hour Monday to Saturday daytimes, compared to the 250's hourly service. The service 6 enhancement, in isolation at least, is positive, increasing frequency and adding new Monday to Saturday daytime links from Wybers Wood and the Willows Estate in Grimsby to Cleethorpes. However the 250 may well have been 'one bus too many' down Clee Road, so it's been cut back in favour of more local links within North East Lincolnshire.

The ideal option would be to find another route to Cleethorpes instead, but that hasn't been taken. The service 12 (and previous X1 from Hull to New Waltham) route from Grimsby to Cleethorpes via Wellington Street, Queen Mary Avenue and Brereton Avenue could benefit from the 250 with it's longer operating day. However the 250 as well as the 12 maybe too much, and if the 250 replaced the 12 here, the remnants of the 12 would potentially suffer, with Bradley Park and the Grange Estate no longer linked to Cleethorpes, and parts of Cleethorpes and New Waltham no longer linked to Grimsby. Grimsby Road doesn't need any more buses, so the options for an alternative direct Grimsby to Cleethorpes route are difficult. 

For the record the 6 doesn't serve Hainton Avenue like the 250 did, but Ladysmith Road. Former Ladysmith Road service 7 now serves Hainton Avenue instead on a reduced hourly off peak only frequency; Hainton Avenue does also retain the two hourly 53. I will cover the local changes within North East Lincolnshire in more detail in a future post.

Returning to the 250 and Hull to Cleethorpes was a four hour round trip using four vehicles for an hourly frequency Monday to Saturday daytimes (with some longer gaps between services at peak times). Hull to Grimsby is around a 3 hour 15 minute round trip, meaning an hourly frequency would require long layovers or a shorter route - the former is unproductive, the latter would potentially mean less passengers; the Hull to Grimsby link has got stronger over recent years by being less direct and serving more places en-route. The solution - introduce two 90 minute gaps into the service during the daytime so only three vehicles are needed. Efficient, only means a reduction of one round trip per day, but it does mean the clockface hourly off peak service has gone, as has the consistent thrice hourly Barton to Hull provision.

I sometimes see the 250 in Barton and on Saturday mornings earlier this year the 0950 from Cleethorpes to Hull (1015 from Grimsby) would often arrive into Barton (on Falkland Way) with standees. If anything more capacity was needed, not less. Of course one high demand journey a week - with the support of the government funded bus fare cap - can't be used to determine the full six day a week frequency, but it does seem at odds with the cutback timetable, especially as there is now a 90 minute gap from Grimsby between 0915 and 1045.

The new timetable also undermines the off peak co-ordination between the 53 and 250 from Grimsby to Laceby. Previously the 250 left Grimsby at 15 minutes past the hour, and the 53 at 40 minutes past the hour, every other hour. Now the morning/lunchtime service is 0915, 1040, 1045, 1145, 1240, 1245 and 1415. There is better co-ordination between the 53 and 250 from Laceby into Grimsby in the afternoon now, but in that direction at that time off day, demand is probably quite low.

I forget where, but back in April/May when the changes were first announced I recall reading some concern as well about the impact on students at Hessle High School, returning to the South Bank at the end of the day. The previous 1455 from Hull Interchange was well timed for the 1450/1455 school finish, but now it's the 1510 350 for Barton or the 1555 250 for Barrow and beyond - the former an irritation, the latter a much bigger inconvenience. Would North East Lincolnshire Council have considered school flows from the East Riding of Yorkshire to North Lincolnshire - probably not. Stagecoach should have, so hopefully the affected students are only travelling to Barton. 

One other feature of the change is that the 0715 from Hull no longer serves Wren Kitchens in Barton. In one sense an odd change, considering the very short diversion was used by commuters, but at the same time only a short walk from Falkland Way to the Wren Kitchens gatehouse.

Amid all this negativity, you may think Stagecoach are loosing interest in the 250. Thankfully they do appear committed to the route; the previous 2014 vehicles with Humber Flyer livery have been replaced with newer 2019 vehicles in new 'two fifty' livery. Vehicle replacement and/or withdrawal of the Humber Flyer branding would have been an ideal time to revert to fleet livery, so the fact this hasn't happened indicates to me that the 250 might be 'down', but it's not 'out'.

New Isle of Axholme Local Service 97

The second new route launched by North Lincolnshire Council on Tuesday 2nd May was service 97 in the Isle of Axholme, specifically operating between Garthorpe, Luddington, Eastoft, Crowle, Ealand, Belton, Epworth, Sandtoft and Wroot. Like the 96, it is operated 'in-house' by the council under a Section 22 Community Transport license with funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

In detail the 97 operates Monday to Friday daytimes only with three journeys from Wroot to Garthorpe at 0830, 1100 and 1350, two journeys from Garthorpe to Wroot at 0945 and 1240 plus a Garthorpe to Epworth 'short' at 1505, returning from Epworth to Garthorpe at 1600. The 97 returns a timetabled bus service to Sandtoft and Wroot for the first time since early September 2020, and restores the link between Crowle and Epworth for the first time in I think 10 years. It also nicely supplements the 399 between Belton and Epworth. 

Disappointingly the first 97 of the day from Garthorpe at 0945 is just 11 minutes before the East Yorkshire operated 361 also provides a journey from Garthorpe to Crowle, whilst similarly there is a 1149 97 from Crowle to Garthorpe followed by a 1204 361. Do Garthorpe, Luddington and Eastoft need links to Epworth, because for Crowle the 361 already provides a service? Could the time be better spent elsewhere, such as restoring a Wroot to Blaxton service for Doncaster connections, or perhaps reinstating a service to Lockwood Bank in Epworth? 

The 97 is a welcome addition to the bus network, reinstating a number of lost links on a substantially better basis than before - the previous 58 and 358 local services in the Isle of Axholme operated between 1 and 3 days a week mornings and early afternoons only. A bit like the 96 though, is it over ambitious? 

New Service 96 between Barton and Brigg

On Tuesday 2nd May, two new 'pilot' services were launched in North Lincolnshire, operated directly by North Lincolnshire Council - a service 96 between Barton and Brigg, and a service 97 between Garthorpe, Crowle, Epworth and Wroot.

The routes will use funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and operate under a Section 22 Community Transport license. Somewhat surprisingly to me, the accompanying decision report refers to "where the market cannot sustain traditional 57 seater busses" - there are plenty of buses operated by commercial bus operators with less than 57 seats! It also states the "two main bus operators" in North Lincolnshire have "no concerns" - I'd have thought both Stagecoach and Hornsby would have been very interested in two new tendered routes, and both have small vehicles in their fleet. In addition the 96 at least could be ideal for both East Yorkshire and PC Coaches, and again both have small vehicles in their fleet. Maybe it's the pilot status of the routes that is off putting, with four weekly updates to be provided to the relevant cabinet member to "determine continuation" - i.e. the routes could be withdrawn at short notice?

Moving onto the specifics of the routes and I will cover the 97 separately - so what is route 96? It's the return of the 450 between Barton Interchange and Brigg Cary Lane via the Low Villages. The 450 ended in August 2020, since when Horkstow, Saxby, Bonby, Worlaby and Elsham have been without a scheduled bus service. The 450 had provided four services per day Monday to Saturday immediately prior to it's withdrawal whereas the 96 will provide four full route services per day Monday to Friday plus a South Ferriby to Brigg 'short' in each direction at peak times (South Ferriby is where the bus starts and ends it's 'in-service' day). Overall the timetable appears designed for one driver all day and provides options for travellers to visit both Barton and Brigg for shopping and leisure purposes. It's not well designed for onward connections to/from Scunthorpe at Brigg but a day out in Hull via Barton is more viable due to the frequency of the Barton to Hull bus service.

The 96 is a very welcome addition to the bus network and I hope it's a success. However my concern is that it could be an over ambitious offering. The harsh reality is that passenger numbers between Barton and Brigg have historically been minimal outside of school times (I've had some experience of travelling myself on this route in the noughties); an evening peak service from Brigg wasn't provided for the final few years of the 450 so that element of the service really is 'starting from scratch'. The South Ferriby (Blacksmiths) to Barton section of the route has the 350 as a half hourly alternative, the Wrawby to Brigg section has the 4 as another option. 

If North Lincolnshire Council had decided to provide the 96 Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday and the 97 Monday/Wednesday/Friday I would feel more confident of success. I know that is a lot more restrictive for accessing medical appointments, and would effectively 'kill-off' the attempt at a South Ferriby to Brigg commuting service, but it would provide a service better aligned with likely demand. My fear is that passenger numbers per journey are very low and the whole 'pilot' gets pulled. Consolidate most of those passengers - those who are travelling for discretionary purposes or who can delay their trip for a day - onto fewer journeys. 

Stagecoach Hull April 2023 Changes

Back on 30th April, Stagecoach made changes to most of their services in Hull, and sadly mostly negative amendments, especially on Saturdays. Apologies if I've missed anything major - no explanation was provided (at least not online) about what changed, so it's been a case of comparing timetables and maps. Any corrections/omissions, please post a comment.

As part of the changes, there was one renumbering - service 4b between Hull Paragon Interchange and Bilton Grange became the 15. This is far more logical now that the 4 no longer operates cross-city and the 15 number fits in far better with other East Hull service numbers.

Kingswood and parts of Bransholme saw their service restructured and reduced, with the 7 no longer operating between Bransholme North Point Shopping Centre and Kingswood Leisure Park, severing the links from Sutton Park to Kingswood and (other than the limited 255) from Bodmin Road to Beverley Road. Service 7 now operates just between Hull Paragon Interchange and North Point. The section from North Point to Kingswood Retail Park was transferred to service 11 in place of it's previous routing between the two shopping centre's, which has reduced journey times from East Hull to Kingswood as it's a far more direct routing.

As a partial replacement for service 11 in Kingswood, service 6 was amended to serve Kingsbury Way. Rather than routing via Pioneer Way in both directions between Kingswood and North Bransholme, the 6 was revised to operate a clockwise loop along Pioneer Way to North Bransholme before routing back to Kingswood via Kingsbury Way. This has shortened journey times from Kingsbury Way to Hull City Centre; an inbound off peak journey to the Interchange now takes 47 minutes rather than 63 minutes.

Service 11 was not replaced along Tiverton Road in Bransholme nor along Richmond Way, Barnes Way and Runnymede Avenue in Kingswood; these are all now unserved. The link from the residential areas of Kingswood to North Point was also lost. It should be noted Tiverton Road passengers only have a fairly short walk to Bodmin Road or Bude Road for the 10 or 11, and the unserved parts of Kingswood have a lot of larger, more expensive homes, whose occupants may not be natural bus passengers - even still these changes are clearly unwelcome.

Service 16 from Paragon Interchange to Morrisons in East Hull was also re-routed in a change that feels overwhelmingly positive. Between Newbridge Road and Morrisons the 16 no longer operates direct via Holderness Road but instead serves Southcoates Lane, Bilsdale Grove, Exeter Grove, Preston Road, Marfleet Lane and Maybury Road. This maybe a longer route, but Bilsdale Grove, Exeter Grove and Marfleet Lane were previously unserved, Southcoates Lane and Preston Road had no Morrisons link and Maybury Road no Hull City Centre service. In terms of the timetable there is a new Monday to Saturday 0843 from Morrisons (first 'shopper' service into Hull previously 0943) and a two hour afternoon gap in the hourly frequency is plugged on Saturdays along with a new late afternoon 'short' from the Siemens Factory to Paragon Interchange Monday to Friday. On the negative side, the morning peak service is withdrawn on Saturdays as is the last service between Morrisons and Siemens Monday to Friday.

The Priory Park 'Park and Ride' service 20 was amended in Hull City Centre; inbound services route via Paragon Interchange whilst rather than serving Lowgate and the Fruit Market, the 20 is diverted to The Deep instead. Monday to Friday peak and late afternoon journeys were reduced from every 20 minutes to half hourly, but not on Saturdays leading to the peculiar situation of Saturdays having a better peak time service. First service from Priory Park changed from 0630 to 0700 Monday to Saturday, with the last service Monday to Friday brought forward from 1900 from Hull Truck Theatre to 1820 from Paragon Interchange.

Another rerouting was the Monday to Friday morning peak 8X variant via Clough Road and Stockholm Road in Sutton Fields Industrial Estate being withdrawn and replaced by 'standard' service 8's. Instead service 7 gained new variant 7X via Clough Road, Holwell Road and Sutton Road during the Monday to Friday morning peak. As part of these changes, Monday to Friday the 7/7X now starts at 0520 rather than 0720 from Paragon Interchange and at 0530 rather than 0700 from North Point. Service 8 does have it's North Point to Paragon Interchange via Sutton Park 'shorts' at 0540, 0610, 0640 and 0710 withdrawn.

On the negative side, the 7 now finishes earlier; from North Point at 1530 Mon-Fri/1630 Sat rather than 1830, whilst from Paragon Interchange the final 1820 departure Monday to Saturday is withdrawn (alternative service 8 at 1805 or 255 at 1830 Monday to Friday).

Service 8, which for most of the day is a circular between Paragon Interchange, Sutton Park, North Point, Salthouse Road and Paragon Interchange also has some Monday to Friday cuts which make some sense on Wilberforce College days, but also appear to apply during college holidays. In the morning the 0835 'anti-clockwise' service 8 from Paragon Interchange now starts at Wilberforce College on Salthouse Road at 0852, whilst in the afternoon the 1400 and 1530 'clockwise' journeys from Paragon Interchange now terminate at Wilberforce College. In all three instances service 85 provides a similar timed college day alternative to the withdrawn section. The 1435 and 1605 'anti-clockwise' departures (now 1430/1600) from Paragon Interchange now terminate at Wilberforce College; service 83 on college days provides an alternative as far as Sutton Park.

Service 10 between Hull Paragon Interchange and North Bransholme, Service 12 from Paragon Interchange to North Point and Service 15 from the Interchange to Bilton Grange were all reduced from every 20 minutes to half hourly on Saturday daytimes (Wawne extentions on service 10 remain hourly). Similar reductions during the Saturday morning peak also impacted routes 1 and 2 between Paragon Interchange and the Boothferry Estate, routes 3 and 4 between Paragon Interchange and Orchard Park, route 5 from the Interchange to Kingswood, route 13 from Paragon Interchange to Bilton Grange and route 14 from Greatfield to Paragon Interchange. Service 1 also saw frequency reduced from every 20 minutes to half hourly on Saturdays post 1700.

First services on Saturdays were moved later on many routes, though it is worth noting that very early Saturday morning journeys on many services were only introduced in the past few years:

• Service 1 from Boothferry Estate: From 0533 to 0626
• Service 1 from Paragon Interchange: From 0511 to 0711
• Service 2 from Boothferry Estate: From 0510 to 0610
• Service 2 from Paragon Interchange: From 0508 to 0631
• Service 3 from Orchard Park: From 0425 to 0610
• Service 3 from Paragon Interchange: From 0525 to 0635
• Service 4 from Orchard Park: From 0547 to 0700
• Service 4 from Paragon Interchange: From 0700 to 0725
• Service 5 from Kingswood: From 0516 to 0600
• Service 5 from Paragon Interchange: From 0505 to 0715
• Service 7 from North Point: From 0700 to 0900
• Service 7 from Paragon Interchange: From 0720 to 0920
• Service 8 from North Point via Salthouse Road: From 0450 to 0607
• Service 8 from North Point via Sutton Park: From 0540 to 0745
• Service 8 from Paragon Interchange to North Point via Sutton Park: From 0535 to 0805
• Service 10 from North Bransholme: From 0425 to 0605
• Service 10 from Paragon Interchange: From 0512 to 0717
• Service 11 from Paragon Interchange: From 0505 to 0720
• Service 12 from North Point: From 0550 to 0620
• Service 12 from Paragon Interchange: From 0611 to 0711
• Service 13 from Bilton Grange: From 0440 to 0611
• Service 13 from Paragon Interchange: From 0506 to 0700
• Service 14 from Greatfield: From 0550 to 0625
• Service 15 from Paragon Interchange: From 0620 to 0723

In positive news, some minor enhancements were made to Monday to Saturday evening services. Service 3 gained a new 1905 journey from Paragon Interchange, in between the existing 1835 and 1935 services. From Kingswood on service 5 the last departure is now at 2247 rather than 2157. On service 11 a new 2250 service is added from Paragon Interchange to Kingswood, slotting in between existing 2150 and 2330 departures, whilst from Kingswood post-1800 departures increase from 1800, 1830, 1920, 1950, 2050, 2150 and 2310 to 1812, 1843, 1913, 1935, 2035, 2135, 2235 and 2330.

One other notable change is to service 4 on Sundays, with departures from Paragon Interchange now between 0802 and 1802 rather than 0842 to 1842.

Hornsby April 2023 Changes

During April Hornsby Travel have made some minor amendments to their network. 

From Monday 3rd April the evening peak X4 from Brigg to Scunthorpe at 1745 Monday to Friday was truncated 'short' at Lakeside Retail Park - there is a 1740 service 4 from Brigg to Scunthorpe. On the 'flip side', the 1750 service 12 'short' from Ashfield to Ashby at 1750 is extended to Scunthorpe Bus Station Monday to Friday only "due to customer requests". There were also some very minor retimings to service 6 between Scunthorpe and Ashby and service 399 between Scunthorpe, the Isle of Axholme and Doncaster.

Then from Monday 17th April new service X399 was introduced between Scunthorpe Bus Station and Doncaster Frenchgate Interchange, stopping only at Scunthorpe Tesco Extra. There is one journey each way Monday to Friday at 0630 from Scunthorpe, returning from Doncaster at 1740 with a journey time of 40 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes in the evening. 

A fast Scunthorpe to Doncaster service might seem like an opportunity with the current state of Transpennine Express rail services between the two locations and maybe that has played a part in Hornsby's thinking with the X399. However during college terms times the X399 is probably intended to primarily function as a positioning journey for service 'JLC 3' between Doncaster Frenchgate Interchange and the Scunthorpe Colleges. There is a little bit of effort by not just running direct between the Ashby depot and Doncaster, and certainly a bigger commitment is being made to the X399 by running it during college holidays - I can't regard the X399 with one journey each way as a significant attempt to offer a rail alternative though. Let's hope some people find the X399 useful however.

Thornes 'hand over' Service 1 after 71 Years

East Yorkshire took over operation of the tendered Thornes operated journeys on service 1 between Holme on Spalding Moor, Bubwith, North Duffield, Hemingbrough and Selby last Monday - 17th April (Arriva operate on service 1 on college days as well, but to a different route). Thornes had been providing a Monday 0930 Holme to Selby journey followed by a 1020 Selby to Hemingbrough 'short' and a 1300 Selby to Holme; the same provision was also offered on a Friday except the Holme services were truncated to operate between Bubwith and Selby only.

With the new timetable East Yorkshire will be offering a Monday and Friday 0930 from Holme to Selby and 1300 return, providing a new Friday link from Holme to Selby. I say will, as due to temporary restrictions at Bubwith Bridge, East Yorkshire services are currently operating between North Duffield and Selby only. The 1020 Selby to Hemingbrough 'short' has ended, presumably a depot positioning service for Thornes that is no longer required.

Whilst on one hand this is just routine retendering, it does end 71 years of Thornes operation on service 1 - a detailed history has been written up by Bus and Coach Buyer.

Hull to York now every half hour

In contrast to my previous, rather downbeat, post about East Yorkshire services within Hull and the immediately adjoining areas of the East Riding, one long distance 'corridor' from Hull operated by East Yorkshire saw a very significant increase from Sunday 2nd April (or more accurately the timetable changed on the 2nd, but the 3rd saw the big increase). That 'corridor' is the one to York via Beverley, Market Weighton and Pocklington which has been increased from hourly to half hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes. A welcome but 'bold' move in the current climate, although it should be noted the increase in frequency is only on the Hull to Market Weighton section.

Prior to these changes the X46 operated hourly between Hull and York Monday to Saturday daytimes, diverting to serve the three towns of Beverley, Market Weighton and Pocklington en-route, but otherwise operating directly between the two cities. Service X47 provided a limited evening service, with later journeys operating Friday and Saturdays only and unlike the X46, the X47 additionally served Hull University, Cottingham, Barmby Moor and Wilberfoss. Then on Sunday daytimes the X46 and X47 each operated two hourly for an approximately hourly service combined.

Monday to Saturday daytimes the X46 remains hourly, but is now joined by an hourly X47, albeit no longer serving Hull University and Cottingham; serving Barmby Moor and Wilberfoss villages is the only differentiator between the two routes now. Towards York the X46 is 7 minutes quicker, but due to layover in Pocklington there is no difference in journey times in the opposite direction; presumably East Yorkshire want even interval departures from York and on the Pocklington to Hull section. Evenings and Sundays remains largely as previously, but with the X47 following it's new route omitting Cottingham and some minor retimings.

Looking in more detail and I mentioned earlier the frequency increase was only between Hull and Market Weighton - that's because the new Monday to Saturday daytime X47 replaces the 46 between Market Weighton and York. The 46 had operated hourly between Market Weighton and York via the X47 route other than within York were it served the University of York and Heworth before terminating in York City Centre on Station Road rather than at the Station itself. In many respects the X47 is an improvement, with it's links to Beverley and Hull plus it's more direct route in York and serving York Station - however it means the loss of links to the University. The University link has been around a number of years so it's a minor disappointment in a largely positive set of changes. This should be the norm and not noteworthy, but credit to East Yorkshire in their service change announcement for referring University customers to a connecting First service - route 67 from Hull Road in York. Likewise they have also signposted their Heworth passengers to First and Yorkshire Coastliner for travel into York City Centre. 

The 46 hasn't been entirely axed however - five trips a day had extended to/from Holme on Spalding Moor and the 46 survives as a Market Weighton to Holme on Spalding Moor local service, reduced to four services each way and timed to connect with the X46 or X47 at Market Weighton. Considering there is also the 18 between Holme on Spalding Moor and York (albeit currently impacted by the Bubwith Bridge closure), this seems a fair service. However taking the 46 in isolation, there seems to be a lot of spare time in the schedule - 0732 to 0930, 1002 to 1130, 1202 to 1420 and 1437 to 1735 - and nothing obvious to interwork with other than schools services. Could the 46 vehicle and driver be more heavily utilised? Maybe not between Market Weighton and Holme on Spalding Moor, but perhaps extend the 18 to Market Weighton and add a second vehicle (from the 46) to the service? A Monday to Saturday Market Weighton-Holme-Selby service, or perhaps reinstate an all-day Monday to Saturday Market Weighton to Driffeld service?

Talking of Market Weighton to Driffeld, and the last remnant of the 45 between Bridlington, Nafferton, Driffield, Market Weighton, Pocklington and York was 'killed off' as part of these changes - the 1635 from Bridlington and 1905 return from York Monday to Saturday. The X46/X47 replace between Market Weighton and York, there is a 1640(Mon-Fri)/1625(Sat) service 121 from Bridlington to Driffield and on Friday and Saturdays only a 2032 121 from Driffield to Nafferton. Service 145 between Driffield and Market Weighton gains an additional 1650 departure Monday to Friday. 

Between Hull and Beverley, the new Monday to Saturday daytime X47 restores a fourth service per hour, with the four routes involved - 23, 121, X46 and X47 timed to operate every 15 minutes combined. Hull to Beverley frequency has fluctuated between three and five services per hour in recent years, so maybe four per hour is about right?

What has struck me though is that now half the services - X46/X47 operate through open countryside between Hull and Beverley via the A1079 - whilst 'only' half operate through the villages of Dunswell and Woodmansey were there is very little open countryside. There is very little time benefit to the A1079 route, only 3 minutes compared to the 23 off peak. I get that East Yorkshire want the X46/X47 to be as similar as possible, but personally I would swap the X46/X47 with the 23, to send the X46/X47 via Dunswell (and Flemingate), with the 23 covering Victoria Road in Beverley and the A1079 (it could still serve Flemingate).

Whilst focusing on the southern end of the X47, the re-routing away from Cottingham removes the only evening and Sunday service into Beverley, as well as the ability for a Sunday dayout in York. This is another minor disappointment, but I do understand the rationale. Routing via Cottingham added an extra 5 minutes on Sunday daytimes compared to the A1079 (potentially more Monday to Saturday daytimes), and retaining just on evenings and Sundays would mean a third route variant between Hull and York.

Finally then to the Beverley to Market Weighton section, and this is where the 'bold' move has really been made by East Yorkshire - almost 20 minutes, or just over 10 miles, of open countryside other than one intermediate village at Bishop Burton. In the context of the wider Hull to York route it's a small section, but still significant. East Yorkshire will need to grow the traffic from Hull and Beverley to Market Weighton, Pocklington and York for this enhancement to work; as the pre 2nd-April arrangements show us there are alternative ways to supplement the X46 on the more densely populated sections between Hull and Beverley and from Market Weighton to York. 

Whilst you can maybe tell I have some skepticism that this is 'too bold' an increase, especially in the current environment, good luck to East Yorkshire. I hope my skepticism is misplaced and it is a success. 

Even Intervals Eroded

On Sunday 2nd April, East Yorkshire revised timetables on a number of routes "to improve timekeeping". In some instances this has meant that 'clockface timetables' or 'even intervals' have disappeared for parts of the day. It's not unusual to see that happening at peak times or even late afternoons, but this is starting creep into morning and early afternoon timetables on some routes.

What has struck me on reviewing the new timetables is how on Saturday's, but not weekdays, services in the Hull area have been particularly affected by this. 

Take the 54 between Hull Paragon Interchange and Willerby, generally half hourly but with 35 minute gaps from Paragon Interchange between 1015 and 1050, then between 1150 and 1225 followed by 1255 to 1330; similar gaps also exist in the opposite direction. The 56/57 combined from Paragon Interchange to Asda Bilton are every 15 minutes from 0815 to 1145, then 1205, 1220, 1235, 1250, 1310, every 15 minutes to 1425, 1445 then every 15 minutes to 1830. Service 66 between Hull and Hessle comes off particularly badly - every 20 minutes, but 25 minute gaps from Paragon Interchange between 0910 and 0935, 0955 and 1020, 1120 and 1145, 1245 and 1310, 1410 and 1435 and 1615 to 1640

Elsewhere there are 35 minute gaps in half hourly services 63, 104, 105 and 154 between Hull and Cottingham and 65 minute gaps in hourly services 152 (Hull to Anlaby) and 153 (Hull to Swanland).

I do have some understanding of the situation being faced by East Yorkshire - rising costs, passenger numbers not recovered post-COVID, driver shortages. Adding extra resource just to maintain the 'status quo' is not an easy proposition. We must also remember that some of these services share parts of their routes with other services; Anlaby Road for example maybe hit by the gaps in the 56, 63, 66, 152, 153 and 154 but collectively there are still plenty of services between those routes and also the 55, 350 and Stagecoach services. 

However these new timetables aren't going to help get passengers back on the buses, or attract new ones. Not only are 'non-clockface' timetables a 'harder sell', there are now notable differences between Monday to Friday and Saturday daytime timetables on many routes. Take for example Setting Dyke mid-morning into Hull on route 63; it was 0950/1020/1050/1120 Monday to Saturday, 1021/1121 Sunday. Now it's 0944/1014/1044/1114 Monday to Friday, 0936/1007/1037/1107 Saturday and 1019/1119 Sunday. 

These changes combined with various frequency reductions over the past three years from both East Yorkshire and Stagecoach and local services within Hull and the immediately adjoining areas of the East Riding have taken a 'battering'. Reducing all day bus lanes back to peak times only isn't going to help though, if anything it will make things worse...

Improved service between Hornsea and Bridlington

East Yorkshire introduced some small but welcome improvements to daily service 130 between Hornsea and Bridlington last Monday (3rd April).

Firstly a new 0815 from Bridlington to Hornsea (arriving 0920) has been introduced at weekends and on weekdays during school holidays. Whilst this is probably just a positioning journey being run 'in-service', it does make morning or full day trips into Hornsea possible - previous first arrival into Hornsea was at 1150.  

Secondly the weekend 1230 from Hornsea and 1345 from Bridlington - now retimed to 1445 - are no longer 'dated' services operating between July and September only, so are presumably now year round journeys. The 1230 is useful for those returning from morning trips into Hornsea, or looking to make afternoon trips to Bridlington. Meanwhile the 1445 gives the option of spending 4 hours 10 minutes in Bridlington rather than 6 hours 40 minutes, which was the previous requirement from October to June. 

Lets hope these extra journeys are a success.

Beverley Locals B1/B2 to be withdrawn

After operation on Saturday 1st April, East Yorkshire's Beverley Town Services B1 and B2 will cease, bringing an end to commercially operated town services in Beverley. 

The B1 and B2 were launched in September 2021, incorporating East Yorkshire's previous 520 and 521 town services, plus part of the former Acklams Coaches tendered 522 town service. The B1 operates from Molescroft to Beverley Town Centre, then performs a clockwise loop via the Swinemoor Estate (including the East Riding Community Hospital), Minster Way, Morrisons and Normandy Avenue back to Beverley Town Centre; the B2 operates the same route in reverse. Both routes operate hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, reducing to two hourly Monday to Friday peaks. A Friday and Saturday evening service was provided until September 2022.

East Yorkshire say "regrettably the services have not delivered the growth needed to sustain the current level of service provided". I will give East Yorkshire some credit here for making a significant effort to relaunch their Beverley Town Services in 2021 and for giving new links a 'go', such as from Swinemoor to Morrisons. However it is disappointing that they don't consider any aspect of the B1/B2 to be 'salvageable'. 

Thanks to East Riding of Yorkshire Council stepping in with three new tendered services - the 525, 526 and 527 - very few parts of Beverley will be left unserved, other than Minster Way which is largely surrounded by fields. The 525, 526 and 527 will be operated by East Yorkshire, and will operate Monday to Saturday from Monday 3rd April. Together the three routes appear to require one vehicle. 

Looking in detail and most of the Molescroft to Beverley section of the B1/B2 is also served by the hourly Monday to Saturday daytime 23 between Molescroft, Beverley and Hull (and to a lesser extent by the 142). Perhaps two buses an hour was one too many? Parts of Molescroft are also served by the 121. Focusing on roads served only by the B1/B2 - St Leonard's Road (B2 only) is left unserved, whilst the 526 provides a basic replacement for Copandale Road and Scrubwood Lane. The 526 will operate Beverley Bus Station-Copandale Road-Scrubwood Lane-Beverley Bus Station with three departures at 1000, 1200 and 1400 and a total round trip time of 10 minutes.

It's unfortunate the 23 hasn't been routed via Copandale Road and Scrubwood Lane, or if that wasn't an option, the 142 could have been given this short diversion. If either of these happened then the 526 wouldn't be needed and the time could be spent enhancing services elsewhere in Beverley. 

The Swinemoor Estate - including the East Riding Community Hospital - retains an hourly service between 0930 and 1530 (plus a 1600 journey) on new circular service 525, which covers the B1 route from Beverley Bus Station to Swinemoor. the Hospital and Holme Church Lane before returning to the Bus Station via Flemingate. 

I appreciate East Riding of Yorkshire Council have needed to act quickly here so maybe this is one for the future, but the other tendered town service to Swinemoor - service 5 - leaves Beverley Bus Station at 1020, 1120 and 1320. This is poor co-ordination with the 525. Could the 5 and 525 be worked by the same vehicle to improve co-ordination and provide half hourly departures, at least in some hours - with the 142 interworked with the 526 or 527 instead of the 5?

Anyone needing to access the Lidl store to the south east of Beverley will need to use the 23 instead of the B1/B2.

Finally to Normandy Avenue and Morrisons which will be covered by the new 527 operating from Beverley Bus Station via Lincoln Way (also served by the 25) to Morrisons and then back to the Bus Station via Normandy Avenue. Departures from the Bus Station are at 1100, 1300 and 1500. Like the 526, a basic shoppers services, but certainly better than no service at all. 

There aren't any easy alternative options here. Maybe the X46 and/or X47 could operate via Lincoln Way and the 25 switch to Normandy Avenue, but the X46/X47 are meant to be direct interurban services between Hull, Beverley, Market Weighton, Pocklington and York so diverting via Lincoln Way wouldn't be ideal. 

Overall, thanks to East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the B1/B2 withdrawal isn't a disaster for bus services in Beverley. It's still not good news though.

Service 99 Returns for Summer 2023

Stagecoach service 99 between Hull and Bridlington returns for Summer 2023 on Saturday 1st April - the first time since 2019 it has started in April; there was no service I believe in 2020, whilst the 2021 and 2022 services commenced in late July at the start of the school Summer holidays.

The 2023 timetable provides between one and four journeys each way from 1st April to 5th November, operating direct between Hull and Bridlington via Skirlaugh and Beeford as usual. Unlike in previous years however the 99 does not serve Bridlington Bus Station - instead terminating at the Park and Ride site to the south of the town before continuing as a service 88 between the Park and Ride site and Bridlington Harbour.

East Yorkshire Coaster Summer 2023 Reductions

East Yorkshire commenced the Summer timetable on their 'Coaster' services between Bridlington, Filey and Scarborough yesterday (Saturday 11th March). This involves changes to the year round service 12 and reintroduction of seasonal service 13 via the various coastal holiday villages.

Compared to Summer 2022, the biggest change is that the hourly daytime 'short' service 13 journeys between Scarborough and Filey don't operate on Sundays and Bank Holidays, just Monday to Saturday. The hourly 12 and hourly 13 journeys between Bridlington and Scarborough remain seven days a week.

Also off note is that the evening service has been reduced Sunday to Thursday, with the 2040 and 2140 from Scarborough to Bridlington plus the 2200 Bridlington to Scarborough service 13 journeys no longer operating; instead the last services on these days are at 1940 from Scarborough and 2105 from Bridlington. Friday and Saturday evenings are unaffected (other than some minor retimings).

HART 243 Revised

Whilst I haven't seen a formal announcement anywhere, using a combination of 'Notices and Proceedings' from the Office of the Traffic Commissioner, as well as bustimes.org, it seems Holderness Area Rural Transport (HART) service 243 between Withernsea and Beverley was revised last Tuesday (21st February). The service was introduced last September. 

The service now appears to omit Flinton, Aldbrough and Withernwick, operating between Sproatley and Skirlaugh via New Ellerby instead. This revised route has reduced the end-to-end journey time from 90 to 60 minutes, with the service continuing to operate on Tuesdays only, departing from Withernsea at 0930. However the return from Beverley now departs at 1330 rather than 1315, giving passengers 3 hours rather than 2 hours 15 minutes in the East Riding County Town.

Barton Wren Kitchens services reduced

Today - Sunday 19th February - has seen reductions to Stagecoach's Barton Wren Kitchens services 255, 355 and 455. These follow changes to Wren shifts, most notably Wren no longer seem to have Saturday factory and warehouse shifts. The three routes are open to the general public, but very much designed around the needs of Wren workers.

Service 255 from North Bransholme to Wren via North Point, Sutton Park, Beverley Road and Hull Paragon Interchange has lost all it's weekend services, namely:

• 0345 Barton to North Bransholme
• 0430 (Sat Only) North Bransholme to Barton
• 0520 (Sat Only) North Bransholme to Barton
• 0545 (Sat Only) Barton to North Bransholme
• 0710 (Sat Only) North Bransholme to Barton
• 0720 (Sat Only) Barton to Paragon Interchange
• 0850 (Sat Only) Barton to Paragon Interchange
• 1335 (Sat Only) Paragon Interchange to Barton
• 1450 (Sat Only) Barton to North Bransholme
• 1530 (Sat Only) Beverley Road to Barton
• 1705 (Sat Only) Paragon Interchange to Barton
• 1710 (Sat Only) Barton to North Bransholme
• 1750 (Sat Only) Barton to North Bransholme
• 2235 (Sat Only) Paragon Interchange to Barton
• 2320 (Sat Only) Barton to North Bransholme (2345 from Hull Truck Theatre)

From the perspective of non-Wren passengers most of these services either operate at times of low demand and/or there are similar timed journeys on other routes. Perhaps the most unfortunate withdrawals are the evening services, with the last Hull to Barton service on a Saturday now at 2030 and from Paragon Interchange to Sutton Park and North Bransholme at 2330. Presumably though there were not enough non-Wren passengers using these journeys to justify their continuation. 

Most Monday to Friday journeys on the 255 are unaffected, other than the withdrawal of the 0345 from Barton to North Bransholme and 1530 from Beverley Road to Barton. There are no alternatives for the 0345, but I can't imagine it got much use by the general public at that time in the morning. With the 1530 withdrawn, it would be good if Stagecoach could add a 1625/1630 from Paragon Interchange to Barton as an 'in-service positioning journey' for the 1710 from Barton, which would fill a 35 minute gap in the Hull to Barton service.

Turning to the 355 from Scunthorpe to Wren and the daily 0345 from Barton to Scunthorpe is withdrawn, as are the 0455 from Scunthorpe and 1710 from Barton on Saturdays only (continue to operate Monday to Friday). Again no alternatives for the early morning journeys.

Finally the 455 from Cleethorpes to Wren via Grimsby and Immingham has lost it's Saturday services, now operating Monday to Friday only. Withdrawn are the 0415 from Cleethorpes and 1450 and 1710 from Barton. 

There are no changes to the 250 and 350 journeys that operate via Wren Kitchens, including those that serve Wren on Saturdays.

I have also observed a new Stagecoach C256 in Barton recently, which as far as I can tell from bustimes.org is operating from North Bransholme via the 255 route to Wren's new factory in Barton, next door to their current site that the 250/255/350/355/455 serve. It appears to be a 'closed door' service in contrast to Stagecoach's other Wren serves, which seems a bit odd - but with at least one C256 operating at almost the same time as a 255, it maybe doesn't make much difference. 

Stagecoach Hull November 2022 Changes

Back on 20th November last year, Stagecoach amended most of their city services in Hull, shortly after the conclusion of strike action that took place in October and early November. The changes were significant, most notably:

• Frequency reductions on the highest frequency routes Monday to Saturday daytimes
• The end of most cross-city links
• Some 'erosion' of the Simplibus numbering scheme for city services

Service 1 between Hull Paragon Interchange and the Boothferry Estate via Hessle Road was reduced from every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes pre-strike to every 20 minutes post-strike, with evening and Sunday frequencies unchanged. The first bus from the Boothferry Estate is now at 0533 rather than 0433 pre-strike. As a comparison, immediately pre-COVID the 1 operated every 15 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes and every 20 minutes Saturday daytimes, supplemented by the 20 along Hessle Road (including the main shopping area) every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes for a total of 7-8 buses per hour. Until November 2019 - perhaps a fairer comparison given that the November 2019 changes had little time to 'settle-in' - the 1 had operated every 10 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes and every 15 minutes Saturday daytimes. 

Service 2 between Wawne/North Bransholme and the Boothferry Estate via the City Centre and Hull Royal Infirmary has been split in the City Centre, severing a through connection introduced in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Personally the old 10 route from North Bransholme seemed an odd choice for a through link to Hull Royal Infirmary, given it spends quite a lot of time travelling through an industrial area - the 12 might have been a better choice? Now though the 2 returns to operating just between Paragon Interchange and the Boothferry Estate with the 10 returning between Paragon Interchange and North Bransholme/Wawne.

The 2 is cut down from every 15 minutes pre-strike to every 20 minutes post-strike Monday to Saturday daytimes, with evening and Sunday frequencies unaltered. Compared to pre-COVID, the 2 is reduced from every 7-8 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes and every 10 minutes Saturday daytimes when including the short-lived 2S between Paragon Interchange, the Boothferry Estate and Sainsbury's. Until November 2019 the 2 had operated every 10 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes and every 15 minutes Saturday daytimes. 

The 10 is also reduced from every 15 minutes pre-strike - and also pre-COVID - Monday to Saturday daytimes between Paragon Interchange and North Bransholme to every 20 minutes post-strike, with hourly extensions remaining to Wawne. Again evening and Sunday frequencies are unchanged compared to pre-strike, though the Sutton Park route variations are withdrawn, partially replaced by a new one-direction only hourly Monday to Saturday evening service on route 8 from Paragon Interchange to North Point via Sutton Park. 

Service 3 between Orchard Park, the City Centre, Greatfield and Bilton Grange was also split in the City Centre, with the 3 now operating just between Orchard Park and Paragon Interchange and new service 13 picking up the Paragon Interchange to Bilton Grange section. The new 3 and 13 each operate every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes, down from every 10 minutes Monday to Friday daytimes and every 15 minutes Saturday daytimes both pre-strike and pre-COVID. The Monday to Saturday evening frequency on the 3 but not the 13 is reduced from half hourly pre-strike to hourly, with Sundays unchanged on both routes.

Another split service is the 4 between Orchard Park, the City Centre and Bilton Grange. The Orchard Park to Paragon Interchange section remains as the 4, with the Paragon Interchange to Bilton Grange section becoming the 4B - a very curious choice of number compared to how the eastern part of the 3 became the 13. I know that the number 14 is already taken, but 15 for example is available. 

Pre-strike the 4 had operated every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and every half hour Sunday daytimes (plus a 2330 from Paragon Interchange to Bilton Grange Monday to Saturday). These daytime frequencies also matched the pre-COVID provision, Now the 4 and 4B both operate every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and remain every half hour Sunday daytimes. The 4 has however gained an hourly Monday to Saturday evening service compared to pre-strike, but the 2330 from Paragon Interchange to Bilton Grange hasn't survived - there are alternative journeys at 2330 on service 11 for Holderness Road and service 13 for Bilton Grange.

Service 5 which had operated a circular from Paragon Interchange via Orchard Park, Kingswood, North Point, Spring Cottage and Ings Estate was split at Kingswood, with the Orchard Park section remaining as the 5 and the eastern half of the route returning to operate as service 11.

The new service 5 operates every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes, half hourly Sunday daytimes and hourly daily evenings between Paragon Interchange and Kingswood, with peaktime extras Monday to Saturday between Paragon Interchange, Orchard Park and Mizzen Road. Pre-strike the 5 had operated every 15 minutes between Paragon Interchange and Orchard Park Monday to Saturday daytimes and every half hour to Kingswood, with Mizzen Road served by some peaktime Orchard Park 'shorts'. Monday to Saturday evenings were half hourly Paragon Interchange to Orchard Park and hourly to Kingswood, whilst Sundays were half hourly daytimes and hourly evenings between Hull and Kingswood.

Pre-COVID the 5 had operated every 7-8 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes between Paragon Interchange and Orchard Park, and every 15 minutes to Kingswood. Evenings were half hourly to Kingswood and every 15 minutes to Orchard Park when accounting for the u5 variant (reducing to half hourly in the late evening Monday to Thursday). Sundays were half hourly all day between Hull and Kingswood with extra daytime journeys between Hull and Orchard Park for a 15 minute frequency. Until November 2019 the 5 was every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes between Hull and Orchard Park and every 20 minutes to Kingswood. It should also be noted when comparing the pre-COVID offering to now, that the 4 now serves Cranbrook Avenue, somewhat compensating for reductions to the 5 over this particular section of route.

Turning to service 11 and it operates every half hour Monday to Saturday daytimes and every hour evenings and Sundays, broadly in line with the pre-strike provision on the 5 in East Hull. This is down though from every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and every half hour evenings and Sundays pre-COVID, although the re-routing of the 8 via Bellfield Avenue partially mitigates on the Ings Estate, and the 8, which serves much of the same route as the 11 between North Point and Paragon Interchange has also gained an hourly Sunday service since the start of the COVID pandemic.

Both the 12 from North Point to Paragon Interchange via Noddle Hill and Sutton and the 14 from Greatfield to Paragon Interchange are reduced from every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes both pre-strike and pre-COVID to every 20 minutes post-strike, with evening and Sundays retaining their pre-strike frequencies. On service 12, the half hourly Monday to Saturday daytime 12A variant via Garden Village is no longer operating and replaced by all 12's operating the main route via Summergangs Road along with new service 33 in Garden Village (see below). The first service 12 from North Point Monday to Saturday is now at 0550 rather than 0445 pre-strike.

Finally there were some major changes to lower frequency services in East Hull. The hourly Monday to Saturday daytime 16 between Paragon Interchange, Victoria Dock, Newbridge Road, Morrisons, Ings Road, Leads Road, Sutton, Howdale Road, Kestrel Avenue, Biggin Avenue and North Point was truncated to operate between Paragon Interchange and Morrisons only, but is now interworked with the 40 and 41 local services. The hourly Monday to Saturday daytime 40 from Morrisons to the main Holderness Road shopping area, Garden Village, Lambwath Road, Ings Road and back to Morrisons is revised so that all journeys operate clockwise, rather than the previous mix of clockwise and anti-clockwise journeys; on arrival at Morrisons the 41 then continues as an advertised through service on route 16 to the City Centre.

The section of the 16 between Ings Road and North Point is now covered by new service 33 between Paragon Interchange, Garden Village, Ings Road and North Point. Sounds somewhat familiar? It has similarities to the old service 9 which used the same route between Paragon Interchange and Leads Road pre-COVID, so I'm surprised that the number 9 hasn't been reused, especially as the number 33 doesn't 'fit in' with any other Stagecoach services in Hull. The 33 operates hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes, matching the 16's old frequency, with a 12 minute journey time reduction from North Point to Paragon Interchange; for Garden Village though it's a drop from half hourly on the old 12A.

(Any services not mentioned were either unaffected or just had minor time changes).

Bridlington 4 gains a Variant

Following "feedback", East Yorkshire are introducing a 4A variant to their Bridlington Town Service 4 from 9th January.

The 4 currently operates half hourly Monday to Saturday daytimes from Bridlington Bus Station to the New Pasture Lane estate via Quay Road, Brett Street, Broadland Road, South Back Lane and Westgate.

From next week the 4 is reduced to hourly and the 4A introduced hourly as a replacement, with a co-ordinated half hourly service over common sections of route. The 4 will operate the same route as present from Bridlington Bus Station to the New Pasture Lane estate, but then return via Marton Road, Watsons Avenue, Sewerby Road, Kirkgate and St John Street - for Aldi - before picking up it's old route via Quay Road back to Bridlington Bus Station. The 4A will follow the same route in reverse. The new section of route is already served by either the 5A or 12/13, so I guess this change is very much about improving links to Aldi, and from Marton Road to the Health Centre near Quay Road. Not good news for the Brett Street, Brookland Road, South Back Lane and Westgate areas though who have their service halved into Bridlington Town Centre.

Hunts Coaches withdraw Tuesday Grimsby service

After operation on 6th December 2022, Hunts Coaches withdrew their Tuesday only service 44 from Skegness to Grimsby via Ingoldmells, Chapel St Leonards, Alford and Louth Bypass. The 44 had departed Skegness at 0900, arriving in Grimsby at 1045, before departing Grimsby at 1300 to get back into Skegness for 1445.

Alford has an alternative Tuesday Grimsby 'shopper' service on Grayscroft service 28.

For The Record: No more Nightbuses in Hull

Suspended at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hull's last nightbuses, operated by East Yorkshire, never returned. Following a change just before suspension, they comprised:

• A University Term Time Only Saturday service 106S from Inglemire Lane (departing 2250) to Spiders Nightclub on Cleveland Street via Cottingham Road, Beverley Road and Bond Street in Hull City Centre
• Three year round Saturday evening/Sunday morning service 106 journeys from Hull Old Town (departing 2330/0030/0130) to Cottingham Burton Road via Bond Street, Beverley Road, Cottingham Road, Cottingham Green and Cottingham Green Lane
• One year round Sunday morning service 106 journey from Spiders (departing 0215) to Cottingham Road via Freetown Way and Beverley Road
• One University Term Time Sunday morning service 106 journey from Spiders (departing 0245) to Cottingham Road via Freetown Way and Beverley Road
• Four University Term Time Thursday morning service 107 circular journeys from Hull University Asylum Nightclub (departing 0115, 0145, 0215 and 0310) via Newland Avenue, Princes Avenue, Spring Bank and Beverley Road back to Asylum

There is a Saturday 2330 service 63 from Hull Paragon Interchange to Cottingham Green and Green Lane which acts as a partial replacement for the 2330 106 journey, but no alternatives post midnight.

Driffield Regains a Friday Town Service

After I posted yesterday about the 530 Driffield Town Service being reduced from Monday to Friday to Tuesday and Thursday only operation in October, a comment left brings good news - a Friday service will be restored from January 6th. More details here.

The 530 is operated by Holderness Area Rural Transport (HART) for Driffield Town Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council. 

Additionally I should note that it appears bustimes.org is not showing the complete service 530 timetable, and that the final 1418 afternoon journey is still running. Again thanks to this comment for pointing this out.

Acklams Coaches cease local bus service operation in Beverley and Driffield

After operation on Saturday 22nd October, Acklams Coaches ceased operation of most of their local bus services, and it's associated BusKing operation ended bus service operation entirely. 

The commercially operated Beverley Town Service 5 and part-commercial/part-tendered service 142 between Beverley and Middleton have been replaced by an East Yorkshire operated combined service 5/142 tender, which commenced on Monday 24th October. Under Acklams operation the 5 and 142 appeared to be largely interworked and were able to use one vehicle across both services other than on Monday to Friday mornings for one journey; East Yorkshire did also have their own service 142 on a Saturday only. Now however one vehicle is used to service both the 5 and 142 all day Monday to Saturday - unsurprisingly that does lead to a slightly reduced level of service overall.

Beverley Town Service 5 operates as a circular from the Bus Station up Norwood before diverting to serve the otherwise unserved Highfield Road and Lilac Avenue areas. It then operates into the Swinemoor Estate, largely also covered by East Yorkshire's commercial B1/B2 services, before routing back to the Bus Station via Sample Avenue and Mill Lane where it is the only service. Acklams service 5 departed Beverley Bus Station at 0930, 1030, 1130, 1330 and 1430 Monday to Saturday, plus an extra 1000 departure on Saturdays, but the new East Yorkshire operated tender has only three journeys at 1020, 1120 and 1320 Monday to Saturday. 

The 142 used to be a fairly complex operation under Acklams Coaches. There was a morning journey from Bainton into Beverley via Middleton, Etton and Cherry Burton at 0920 Monday to Friday, which started back at Kilnwick on Wednesdays. Monday to Saturday there was then a 1100 Beverley-Cherry Burton-Etton-Beverley circular before a 1210 (1200 Wed) Beverley to Bainton service via Cherry Burton, Etton, Middleton and on Wednesday only, Kilnwick. Following this was a 1250 Bainton to Beverley Monday to Saturday, omitting Middleton and a final 1500 Beverley to Etton 'short' via Cherry Burton Monday to Saturday.

On top of this on Saturdays were four East Yorkshire operated journeys. An 0925 'fast' from Beverley to Middleton, a 0945 from Middleton to Beverley, a 1600 Beverley to Middleton and finally a 1638 from Middleton to Beverley that omitted Lockington but still served all other villages en-route. Off note is that the East Yorkshire 142 didn't serve Bainton, leading to the rather strange situation of Bainton only having a lunchtime 142 on Saturdays.

The new 142 timetable is much simpler. There is a Saturday only 'fast' from Beverley to Middleton at 0910, then a Monday to Saturday 0930 Middleton to Beverley via Bainton, a Monday to Saturday 1150 Beverley to Beverley circular via Middleton and Bainton, a Monday to Saturday 1350 Beverley to Bainton via Middleton and finally the Saturday only 1600 Beverley to Middleton and 1638 return omitting Lockington remain. There are actually some improvements here, with the new 1350 departure from Beverley providing an extra service to South Dalton, Holme, Lockington, Lund, Middleton and Bainton. Bainton gets a usable Saturday service and Middleton gets a Saturday afternoon service into Beverley. Cherry Burton and Etton do see a slight reduction in service however and the small village of Kilnwick is now unserved.

BusKing's tendered 135 has passed to East Yorkshire, but has lost it's Monday to Friday peak journeys at 0721 from Wetwang to Driffield, returning at 1710. The Tuesday and Thursday 'shoppers' journeys between Driffield, Wetwang and Sledmere remain however.

East Yorkshire has also gained the tendered 124 between Driffield, Ruston Parva, Boynton and Bridlington from Acklams. Whilst the Wednesday service between Ruston Parva and Bridlington remains unchanged, the Thursday Boynton to Driffield service now operates on Fridays - bad for visiting Driffield market which is held on a Thursday, but presumably good for cost and allows use of the same vehicle that does the 135 on a Thursday.

Leaving the biggest change to last, and BusKing's tendered 530 Driffield Town Service has passed to Holderness Area Rural Transport and reduced from a Monday to Friday operation to Tuesday and Thursday only. Going by bustimes.org, the final 1418 trip around the town has also been dropped. Rising costs are 'blamed' for the reductions to the service, which is equally funded by Driffield Town Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council. 

All that remains of Acklams Coaches bus network is the 131/504 tender in Bridlington, which going by this tweet, I get the impression they don't intend to rebid for when their contract ends in September 2023. Acklams Coaches have an extensive coaching operation, as well as school and college contracts and a Hull City football service, so they retain significant operations - just not local bus services.

Quietly Suspended and Never Returned

Last month I mentioned how East Yorkshire's 122 between Hull, Beverley and Molescroft was suspended due to driver shortages in September 2021 and never returned. That fate was also bestowed on the 103 between Hull Paragon Interchange and the Hull University area. The 103 had operated every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and every half hour Monday to Saturday evenings and Sunday daytimes from Paragon Interchange via Princes Avenue and Newland Avenue before operating a one way loop via Cranbrook Avenue, Inglemire Lane, Hall Road and Cottingham Road.

In many ways the 103's withdrawal is not a major issue. Other than Inglemire Lane, everywhere else has an alternative; Inglemire Lane does not have a continuous history of bus services and it's passengers can walk to alternatives on Cranbrook Avenue, Hall Road or Cottingham Road instead.

What is striking though is how much overall frequencies are reduced in the area. Pre-COVID, East Yorkshire had nine buses per hour to the University area Monday to Saturday daytimes - the 103, the 104 every 20 minutes via Cranbrook Avenue and the 105 every 20 minutes via Cottingham Road. Now it's five per hour - the 104 every 20 minutes and the 105 every half hour. The 105's frequency reduction is another driver shortage change that has quietly become the new normal - I wish I had now kept better track of what were meant to be only temporary changes.

Stagecoach are now the main operator in the University area, with six buses per hour along Cranbrook Avenue between the 4 and the 5. That's only down two per hour from the eight buses per hour on the 5 pre-COVID - and that frequency was only introduced in November 2019; previously the 5 had been six buses per hour.

Whilst Stagecoach have fared better on Cranbrook Avenue thanks to the diversion of service 4, both them and East Yorkshire have significantly reduced along Newland and Princes Avenue. In October 2019 there were twelve buses per hour (six on each operator across the 5, 103 and 104). Immediately pre-COVID there were fourteen buses per hour (eight Stagecoach/six East Yorkshire). Now it's six buses per hour (three on each operator) with the 5 reduced and 103 withdrawn. 

(There will be more on Stagecoach's post-strike reductions soon).

Christmas and New Year Bus Services 2022/2023

Time for the annual summary of Christmas and New Year bus services across the Humber Region. The following operators are included, but not their services outside the region:

• Arriva Yorkshire
• CallConnect
• East Yorkshire (excluding JustGo)
• First South Yorkshire (Doncaster Area)
• First York
• Grayscroft Coaches
• Hornsby Travel
• Stagecoach - with a caveat that Stagecoach publicity indicates services to Wren Kitchens in Barton have not been confirmed

Please check exact details before travelling as I have only summarised here, or for any occasions were publicity is incorrect (it's happened before!). Not much luck finding definitive information for many of the region's independent operators sadly this year, but if you have any information for other operators, or to correct any details listed below, please post a comment.

Christmas Eve:

Normal Saturday service with an early finish between approximately 1800 and 2000. 

Christmas Day:

No services.

Boxing Day:

No services, apart from a limited daytime provision operated by East Yorkshire on the following routes:

• 23: Hull-Beverley-Molescroft - Hourly 
• 56: Wymersley Road-Hull-Asda Bilton - Hourly
• 63: Hull-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly
• 66: Hull-Hessle - Hourly
• 75: Hull-Withernsea - Every two hours, with an extra morning journey to Hull and an extra afternoon journey from Hull.
• 104: Hull-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly
• 154: Hull-Castle Hill Hospital - Hourly

Compared to 2021, this is a somewhat reduced offering overall. The 23 is new for Boxing Day, but acts as a replacement for the two hourly 121 between Hull, Beverley and Bridlington and the two hourly X46 between Hull, Beverley and York that operated last year. Good for Dunswell, Woodmansey and Molescroft, but not so good for places like Driffield, Bridlington, Pocklington or York. One interesting quirk is that parts of Beverley and Molescroft will have the 23 on Boxing Day, but no service on the 27th and 2nd as the 23 doesn't operate on a Sunday. Elsewhere the 56 is reduced from half hourly to hourly (it's historical Boxing Day norm; the half hourly frequency was only introduced last year).

At least East Yorkshire are providing a Boxing Day service though. For the second year running there are no Stagecoach services in Hull on Boxing Day (last provided in 2020), and as per normal, no service South of the Humber.

Bank Holiday Tuesday 27th December:

A Sunday service will be provided. 

Last year East Yorkshire provided a hybrid Saturday/Sunday daytime and Sunday/Monday evening service on Bank Holidays 27th/28th, but this year it's a standard Sunday service. Whilst in most instances the impact is on frequencies, start and finish times, it does mean no service between Hessle and Beverley on the 25 and between Hull and Gilberdyke on the 55.

Wednesday 28th December:

Predominantly a Saturday service, with the following exceptions:

• Hornsby Travel will operate a normal Wednesday service.
• East Yorkshire services 124 (Ruston Parva-Bridlington) and 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe) will operate as normal.
• Stagecoach services 35 (Amcotts-Scunthorpe), 60 (Whitton-Scunthorpe), 90 (Crowle-Scunthorpe) and 260 (Barton Villager) will operate as normal (and presumably the 399 between Scunthorpe and Westwoodside, given that Hornsby are operating a normal service).
• Stagecoach service 291 (Owston Ferry-Doncaster) will not operate (wouldn't usually operate on a Wednesday and will be covered by the normal weekday service on Hornsby's 399)
• East Yorkshire services 18/25/54/63/75/121/X47 Friday and Saturday only evening journeys will not operate (normal Wednesday evening journeys on the 54/63/75/121/X47 will however).

Going by Stagecoach's publicity I would have to assume the usually Saturday only 173 between Withernsea and Hull will be operated Wednesday to Saturday for one week only. Passengers on the East Yorkshire operated 142 between Middleton and Beverley will also benefit from an extra afternoon journey on the Saturday timetable, compared to the standard weekday service.

Thursday 29th December:

Predominantly a Saturday service, with the following exceptions:

• Hornsby Travel will operate a normal Thursday service.
• East Yorkshire services 135 (Driffield-Sledmere), 150 (Swanland-Hessle), 196 (Allerthorpe-York) and 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe) will operate as normal.
• Stagecoach services 10 (Ashby Parklands-Ashby), 35 (Amcotts-Scunthorpe), 60 (Whitton-Scunthorpe), 90 (Crowle-Scunthorpe) and 260 (Barton Villager) will operate as normal (and again presumably the 399 as well).
• East Yorkshire service 143 (North Ferriby-Beverley) will not operate (wouldn't usually operate on a Thursday).
• Stagecoach service 291 (Owston Ferry-Doncaster) will not operate (wouldn't usually operate on a Thursday and will be covered by the normal weekday service on Hornsby's 399)
• East Yorkshire services 18/25/54/63/75/121/X47 Friday and Saturday only evening journeys will not operate (normal Thursday evening journeys on the 54/63/75/121/X47 will however).

Friday 30th December:

Predominantly a Saturday service, with the following exceptions:

• Hornsby Travel will operate a normal Friday service.
• East Yorkshire services 124 (Boynton-Driffield), 183 (Hessle Town Service) and 360/361 (Goole-Scunthorpe) will operate as normal.
• Stagecoach services 10 (Burringham-Scunthorpe), 25 (Market Rasen-Grimsby), 35 (Amcotts-Scunthorpe), 60 (Whitton-Scunthorpe), 90 (Crowle-Scunthorpe) and 260 (Barton Villager) will operate as normal (and again presumably the 399 as well).
• East Yorkshire service 143 (North Ferriby-Beverley) will not operate (wouldn't usually operate on a Friday).
• Stagecoach service 291 (Owston Ferry-Doncaster) will not operate (wouldn't usually operate on a Friday and will be covered by the normal weekday service on Hornsby's 399)

New Years Eve:

Normal Saturday service with an early finish between approximately 1800 and 2000. 

New Years Day:

No services (train services will be operating however, in many instances to a normal Sunday timetable apart from early morning services and engineering works related disruption).

Bank Holiday Monday 2nd January:

A Sunday service will be provided.

Tuesday 3rd January:

Services return to normal.