Decisive Derbyshire Developments (2)

All Change But No Change!

There is, currently, a block of four Monday to Saturday routes that serve the Crich area, and all four are now operated by Stagecoach - but not for long. From October 6th, the big boy is ousted and Julian Peddle's High Peak company takes over.

But High Peak are resurrecting the name of Hulleys. This will be the third new Hulleys in recent years and it will have no connection whatsoever with either of the previous two. 

Only time will tell whether using the name of an operation that failed completely leaving debts of £12 million will be a good idea. At least the new big name has an explanatory tag line.

Stagecoach pronounce themselves officially miffed at the loss of the contract.

You probably don't need to read the text, just imagine the managers and staff weeping copiously as they down their tea and a wad at Chesterfield depot after service on Saturday 4th inst!

For the record, the sub editor of the on-line news feed could only find the anonymous back of a bus, not on one of the lost routes, to illustrate the item!

fbb struggled to find timetables for these services c/o a Stagecoach web site; they were there but very well hidden; but what was definitely NOT available was a map. 

Derbyshire's all-county offering is up to date for the Crich area, but then it would be as nothing has changed.

But High Peak, a k a Amber Valley a k a Hulleys has done a super smashing cartographic job with full colour and geographical accuracy - just what is needed to explain a rather complex network.

Undaunted, as ever, by complexity, fbb will attempt to show his readers what Stagecoach didn't, namely where the buses run. So, in numerical, order, we begin with ....

  140 

This wigglesflr0pom Crich via Plaistow (yes, spelled just like the one on London). Holloway and Cromford station, then down on to the A6 for a straightforward run into Matloch via the delightful Matlock Bath.

Also on he above map extract, you can see the 141 and 143/143A at their Matlock end.

 141 

This runs from Ripley (with just a school journey from Alfreton) via a non-direct route to Crich; then performs a double run from the East serving Holloway before termination at Matlock.

Would it be clearer to the enquiring potential passenger if the stretch between Ripley and Alfreton had a dotted red line - just to warn that summat was up!

Likewise the 318 runs on schooldays only following the 141 in almost an exact copy as a short working. Should it not carry the number 141. Oh, no, shock horror, it's a different contract?

 319 

 142  142A 

 14 1422

The 142 links Alfreton, Crich and Belper ...

... where it  turns back North  to offer a local run to Nether Heage. The route number 142A is again for a school variant between Wessington and Crich; another candidate for a dotted line? A 142 variant serves Belper School bus park.

And fbb's memory was not wrong. Doyles did once9o operate at least some of this mini network as seen here en route to Belper.

 143   143A 

This appears to be the most complicated set up on the map, so maybe we need to refer to the timetable.

The 143A journeys (two in each direction) are the only journeys via Crich, so a dotted line is called for, surely?

There are other variations which add to the potential confusion as the County seeks to get the best all-round value for its tender money. But reading map and timetable in unison is a huge aid to comprehension.

Thus, cartographic nit-picking aside, High Peak seems to be keen to make an impact from next Monday, 6th October. Will they have buses in a new livery? Maybe just sticky labels initially.

Below is the complete Amber Valley map ...

... which can be enlarged.

It is VERY good!

Other operators, both large and small, please note and emulate!

  A Cornwall PS blog : Fri 3rd Oct