Service Seventy Shambles

Here we go again ...

Travel South Yorkshire [TSY], who back in Novenber 2010 rejected fbb's offer of help in favour of a re-iterated commitment to "sustainable" computer generated information delivery  (Ha, jolly ha!), have done it again.   It is all getting rather boring.   So, here goes:-

On 27th March service 70 (Chesterfield - Eckington - Killamarsh) is "revised". The service barely scrapes into South Yorkshire around Halfway Tram terminus,

but dutifully delivers a revised leaflet from TSY.

And here is what TSY tell us is happening - incidentally nearly three weeks after the equivalent timetable appeared on Derbyshire's website.

So we have a NEW 71, operated by Stagecoach and NOT running on Sundays.   Seems pretty clear.   And we are reminded of the slashing of the Sabbath service again at the foot of the timetable:-

But fbb is wise to the weird ways of TSY and seeks the comfort of corroboration.    A  dekko at Derbyshire's version is revealing and potentially baffling, because we read:-

And sam-salabim, saprisiti (etc) we have a Sunday service 71 operated, not by Stagecoach as might be expected from their take-over of the evening Monday to Saturday journeys , but by our good friends T M Travel.

Travel South Yorkshire, NO Sunday buses : Derbyshire, every hour. fbb is loath to apportion blame for this discrepancy - indeed is unable to apportion blame, because both the Stagecoach and the T M Travel web sites are as silent as Trappist monks on the matter of the forthcoming changes.

Whilst looking at the NEW Sunday service 71, however, our reader may be interested in the OLD Sunday service 70 ...

... spot the difference.  Well done, have a shiny penny!   The NEW service 71 is actually the SAME as the OLD service 70 (evening and Sunday variant), same route, same frequency but with slightly different times. Would it not have been better, less muddling for the worthy residents of Woodthorpe, if the explanation simply said "evening (and Sunday if you get your information from Derbyshire) journeys have slightly different times and will show 71 instead of 70."

Now for the next TSY blunder.   Look at the Derbyshire offering above and you will see that buses operate via a large loop in Killamarsh, from Bridge Street via Rowan Tree Road, High Moor, Norwood and back to Bridge Street.   TSY's map shows this, amazingly ...

... but guess what?   TSY's timetable shows buses terminating at Bridge Street with no loop!

So, if Derbyshire is the fount of all knowledge, Cinderella CAN catch the bus to the ball - sorry the Bull (and Badger) - on Cherry Tree Drive;

 

but over the border in sunny South Yorkshire she will have to walk (14 minutes!) from Bridge Street; here confirmed by the ever-accurate traveline.

 

If you want times for the loop you have to look at TSY's return journey towards Chesterfield, and, of course, there they are.   For the record, the Derbyshire version of the timetable (see above) shows the loop, correctly, for travel both to and from Killamarsh.

One further failure of the father figures of Travel in South Yorkshire. Their web site has a page for "NEW" services - which past experience has shown doesn't mean new services (!) - it means services with NEW route numbers.  So we have a NEW route number 71 from 27th March.   Does it appear as a "new service"?

    

What do you think, dear reader?   Well, it's mainly in Derbyshire and "they folk down there" are a bit "weird". Shockingly, they usually get their timetables right.   Very disturbing.   fbb waits with eager anticipation for a message to confirm that TSY is right and it is Derbyshire that is wrong.   A long wait?

A short wait : now confirmed by email to fbb from Derbyshire County Council that the Sunday service 71 IS operated by TM Travel under contract to them - so they ought to know.   Shall we tell TSY?


(North) Home Town : Northampton [2]
  will be published on 12th March