We left things Stockbridgean with Stagecoach service 57 every hour from Sheffield Interchange, not via the main Manchester Road but via Worrall.
Note in passing that First Bus runs some tendered journeys early morning at evening. Also note that, although the routes are identical, First uses a different "point time" at Hillsborough - typical outworking of the highly impressive (NOT) Sheffield Bus Partnership.
Note also that neither operator uses the most sensible stop, viz Hatton Road, which is in full view of the Interchange.
The whirly lens on top of the Streetview Noddy Car makes it look much further than it is but you can espy a bus turning in to the Interchange in the misrepresented near distance.
The route via Worrall used to have its very own bus service, route 18 to Oughtibridge ...
... later 65 and 68.
Meanwhile you could continue through Hillsborough by tram to Middlewood and there hop on the Supertram Link bus, SL1 or SL1A. This connected with the 12 minutes tram frequency ...
... running alternate ways round a Stocksbridge loop to the Elysian heights of East Whitwell Cedat Road.
Because it is at the extremity of the loop, East Whitwell has a bus every 12 minutes - the best frequency of any part of Stocksbridge ever, well, since the tram reduced from 10 to 12 to improve the service.
fbb does not know where West Whitwell might be!
fbb does not know where West Whitwell might be!
Then comes that horrid virus and bus companies decide to run a Sunday service seven days a week. For the 57 that means that First Bus replaces Stagecoach with an hourly service.
The SL1 becomes hourly and the SL1A is withdrawn.
Two further viral changes, occur neither of them particularly attractive to the few passengers that needed a bus.
The hourly 57 was withdrawn totally.
An old peoples/shopping route 58, four journeys, Mondays to Saturdays, serving places where other buses don't reach ...
... notably along a back road between Oughtibridge and Wharncliffe side ...
... was diverted via Worrall to compensate. (sorry that's a poor quality rambling sentence!)
The SL1 became two hourly and a two hourly SL1A filled the gaps. A mess.
Neither service was well used (well it wouldn't be in lockdown) - in fact passengers were something of a rarity.
Then comes the partial unlockdown and Stagecoach published (quite well hidden on line) its list of improved (ha, jolly ha) services.
The SL1/1A are withdrawn completely and replaced with an "improved" 57 and 57a.
Both run via Worrall (so that IS an improvement, a doubling of frequency) BUT ...
Nothing runs through to the city centre
There is no well-appointed connection with the tram at Middlewood
Connections are at Hillsborough - less convenient
Thorough ticketing tram to SL1/1A and vice versa is gone
fares immediately become more expensive
The service at Stocksbridge is confusing;
the far and of Stocksbridge (dotted lines on map) is badly served.
First Bus still runs odd tendered journeys but using the old routes.
The locals were up in arms as reported in the local paper.
Passengers have responded angrily, saying it will leave rural communities even more cut off at a time when hundreds of new homes are being built or planned there.k
A spokeswoman for Stagecoach Yorkshire said it was pleased to be expanding its network and that passengers in Stocksbridge would be able to use an ‘enhanced’ number 57 service, providing two buses an hour to Hillsborough, where tram and other bus links are available.
Expanding its network? six buses an hour (5 SL1/1A plus one 57) are replaced by two buses an hour, one 57 and one 57a,
But Miriam Cates, the MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge said she was ‘very disappointed’ by the latest changes.
“Not only will it mean longer and more inconvenient journey times for many users, but discontinuing the Tramlink single ticket will significantly increase costs for people who need to get into central Sheffield and beyond at a time when household budgets are already stretched,” she added.
“The fact that these changes have been pushed through with no public consultation and no thought for the needs of local residents is unacceptable, and I have written to Stagecoach and the Sheffield City Region to ask them to reconsider their decision.”
Of course, young Miriam chooses to forget that buses are a business and no longer a "public service", so Stagecoach is not obliged to consult anyone about the products it may choose to sell.
The SL1/1A withdrawal has been widely criticised on Twitter, with one passenger asking ‘is this some sort of bad joke?’.
It's not a joke - it is business. Only time will tell if it is good business!
This new service pattern is, beyond a doubt, a much poorer service for Stocksbridge and compares unfavourably with what has been provided hithertofore.
Perhaps Stagecoach rather hoped they could bury bad news in the good news of increased services as lockdown unlocks.
In this they have failed.
More Disappointing Shed News
It does just fit in a very small back yard, if you don't mind climbing in through the window. If the shed were a model of his neighbour's micro shed, it would fit nicely.
Maybe Church Terrace at Peterville needs a smaller shed - or a larger back yard.
The greenhouse, not yet assembled, is even bigger.
More from Stagecoach blog : Thursday 4th June
Oh how I chuckle. The good folk of Stockbridge were desperate for a tram feeder (infact in truth they wanted the tram but how a tram could serve the terrain of the housing estates is beyond me). They got their feeder which was always going to have less operating costs of First's traditional through service to Sheffield. First decided to walk away and a lot of residents cheered. 10 years on they are left with no direct bus to Sheffield. Be careful what you wish for springs to mind. Only time will tell if a direct service will ever reach Stockbridge again. Personally I never get the idea of tram feeders as surely a direct service is much more desirable but at the time of introduction it proved there wasn't enough passengers to sustain two operators. Now Stagecoach are left with the political fall out for a change instead of that nasty First Bus, Mainline, SYT or whoever the local MP's decide to address them by.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Stagecoach are just reacting to SYPTE's announcement that they will take the tram in house from 2024.
ReplyDelete30 years ago, after deregulation and before the tram, Stocksbridge had two buses an hour to Sheffield, although with extrAs at peak hours.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime Stagecoach have tried to develop patronage with the Supertram Link services. It seems they may not have succeeded but they shouldn't be criticised for trying.
Ideally I'm sure most residents of Stocksbridge would prefer a through bus to the city centre, but at least by running to Hillsborough rather than Middlewood Stagecoach offer twice as many trams to connect with as well as direct buses via Langsett Road and West Bar.
In any case further improvements may be in the pipeline as services slowly return to something like 'normal', so the present pattern may not be the final picture.
The 65 beyond Tideswell IS on Stagecoach's site, but (like the registration) it's in two parts. Not ideal, but to say it's absent is incorrect.
ReplyDelete