Lea Green : A Lesson In Priorities

Today's timetable via the year 2000 version of Lea Green station is very impressive.

From Liverpool, there are two fast Trans Pennine trains every hour (headings D and B with one calling at Lea Green, the other at nearby Newton-le-Willows.

There are two all-stops Northern Trains every hour as far as Earlestown, one turning sharp left and terminating at Warrington; the other continuing via Manchester to the Airport.

A train from Warrington gives Earlestown and Newton-le-Willows two Northern trains an hour to the Airport.

Compare this with the "good old days" of the mid sixties.

Nothing runs to a "clock-face" timetable. The main stopping service runs approximately (very!) hourly between Huyton and Liverpool only but all the other bits and pieces are sporadic throughout the day.

But, significantly, you could still get from St Helens Junction (bottom right) to St Helens Shaw Street (top left) by train.

The intermediate stations at Sutton Oak and Peasley Cross had closed in 1951 together with a limited service between St Helens and Widnes.

So, how might you get from Manchester to St Helens in 2019?

Enquire generally for "St Helens" and the national rail site will dump you at St Helens Junction ...

... with a fare of £9.80 single.

Alternatively ask for "St Helens Central" (the renamed Shaw Street) and you will be routed via Wigan ...

... taking over twice as long including a walk between the two stations in Wigan but with a saving of 60p on the fare.

Rail fare daftness rules OK!

But, of course, Network Rail offers nothing by bus. Asking Traveline for a general "Manchester" departure offers a variety, but from Oxford Road; the best being a stopper to St Helens Junction and bus 35.

Excluding the recommended 17 minute walk (?) the train plus bus takes 39 minutes. Bus 35 runs every 20 minutes ...

 ... from a stop right outside the station.

Nice and easy!

Alternatively, if you are a bit more savvy, ask for a departure from Manchester Victoria ...

 ... taking ten minutes less because you are travelling "fast" with Trans Pennine and changing at Lea Green.

You might, however, be confused by Merseytravel's map ...

... which appears to tell us that only the hourly route 156 calls at Lea Green station. Indeed it does, at a similarly straightforward stop.

But look a few yards beyond the station building and ...

... there be buses on the main road; which, according to Merseytravel, do not call "at the station". But they do; easy-peasy if you are going TO St Helen's ...

... but, avoiding the barriers, a little less convenient if you are coming from.

But there are two twenty minute services from the Marshalls Cross Road stop; service 30 operated jointly by Arriva and Halton ...

... and service 17, Halton alone.

Neither timetable mentions Lea Green Station! Of course, were this France or Switzerland or Germany (for example) the 17 and the 30 would both run into the "interchange" stop.

Commercialism trumps customer service - yet again.

But interchange at Lea Green is pretty good all round. Which brings fbb to what provoked these two blogs. A twitterer posted some piccies of the shiny new passenger information screens on Trans Pennine trains.

But as the twitterer was approaching Lea Green, he was, at first, encouraged to see this ...

... and this.

But there was not a word about buses! Encouragement turns into annoyance.

With all the wonders of today's technology, it would surely be dead easy to put "buses from Lea Green to St Helens as ..." plus the next few departure times.

But then, presumably, the "taxi" info is paid for by some deal with a taxi App provider. When will operators realise that encouraging folk to make integrated journeys is of commercial benefit to all participants?

But here, commercialism trumps customer service - as we all say.

 Next variety blog : Saturday 19th January