More Improvements
We have to assume that Lancashire has been searching down the cracks in their corporate sofa; or maybe they have found a few long lost piggy banks in a unused office. Or maybe they are selling off their palatial offices ...
... to become a five star luxury resort and spa in picturesque and sun-drenched Preston?
Whatever! The politicians seem to have changed their protracted poverty pleas in favour of spending money on public transport. Yesterday we saw an improved tender for services 5, 5A, 25 and 25A which included a reinstated (?) Sunday service. (SHOCK! AMAZEMENT!).
For some weeks now Transdev (Burnley and Rosso) have been teasing on Twitter with pictures of Mellor midibuses in a distinctive orange and cream livery ...
... usually accompanied by a genial gleefully grinning MD, Alex Hornby.
The Lancashire Telegraph tells us all about it.
The investment by Transdev will involve a fleet of 23 buses supplied by Rochdale manufacturer Mellor in partnership with Lancashire County Council - 18 of which will operate on the new Ribble Country bus network across the county.
The network will start operations on May 2 and will travel between Burnley, Pendle and the Ribble Valley.
Mellor’s Strata Ultra bus design will be reminiscent of the old Ribble Motor Services company, whose red buses used to serve the North West, from Liverpool to Carlisle.
Ahem! fbb's memory many not be quite as hyper acute as it once was but he cannot reminisce about anything like a Mellor Strata in the fleet of the once great company which straddled the whole of the north west!
There was the pre-deregulation (just!) Fleetwood Minilink ...
... and Ivecos from Stagecoach ...
... but they weren't real red Ribble roadsters!
Transdev CEO Alex Hornby said: “As part of our new multi-year partnership with Lancashire County Council, we are thrilled to unveil the Ribble Country brand in tribute to the transport heritage of the area we are so proud to serve. A new look and expanded network needs the right bus for the job and we’re delighted to have chosen Mellor, a proudly local North West company, with our order for its class-leading Strata Ultra product which offers us the quality, reliability and flexible performance we need."
The new brand was revealed at Ribble Country ...
... yet another Ray Stenning job to create desire.
fbb had intended to do a direct comparison between old and new timetables, but by the timer he began his research at the end of last week some of the old tables had already been removed from Traveline and, only in a few cases, were both still in place.
We can start at Clitheroe.
64, 66 and 67 were operated by Pilkingtons until this weekend and it does seem cruel that the work is summarily transferred to Transdev, presumably to save a few quid. Or maybe Pilkingtons felt that the new increased network was too much for them to take on. We will never know because these things can be subject to "commercial confidentiality".
Service 4 is a Clitheroe town service (obvious from the map).
It joins servuce 2, every 30 minutes, operated by Holmeswood Coaches and service 3, every two hours, by Pilkingtons.
Now Pilkingtons have lost all the other services to Cltheroe, you might think that a two hourly town service is no longer viable as a stand alone. It looks like Ribble Country's service 4 runs off the 66 and 67.
It would have been useful to have all of the Clitheroe town services under one roof, as it were.
Service 64, every hour from Burnley via Padiham is DOUBLED to hourly with a two hourly Sunday service introduced.
Services 66 & 67 each run every two hours giving a combined hourly frequency for most sections.
A Summer Sunday service is introduced.
And so to Burnley itself.
The Burnley Colne and Nelson joint committee (BCN) ran along many of the routes now served by Transdev Burnley Buses.
Routes 14 and 15 are town services now part of the Ribble Country tender. The latter is seen back in the days of the BCN.
A preserved single decker reminds us of those far off municipal days when the buses were a service, provided by local people for local people.
Service 14 is DOUBLED in frequency and has gained a Sunday Service.
Service 15 ...
... remains half hourly but had also gained a Sunday service.
Service 6 - the wiggly way to Nelson and Colne ...
... is a significant revision of route 95, previously operated by Holmeswood Coaches.
It is increased to every half hour and gains a Sunday service between Nelson and Colne.
Service 65 runs from Burnley to Nelson via Padiham ...
... and remains unchanged in frequency but with route adjustments.
Services 68 and 69 are major rejigs and improvements to former service 95A. fbb is not really familiar with what ran before, but, again these represent significant enhancements.
What matters is that the County and the operator have come together to produce an attractive and enhanced bus service for the good folk of Ribble Country. Surely this is the way it SHOULD be done?
How about asking your candidate in Thursday's local election how they intend to develop bus services, reduce car dependence and thus improve the environment and mindfulness. All the parties claim to be doing this sort of altruistic thing; but when pushed they may not have much idea of what they might actually develop as realistic policies?
fbb's local Tory candidate extols the virtues of reducing the Council's carbon footprint ...
... and wants better, safer roads ...
... but is blissfully silent on the massive contribution that public transport can make. Like Chipping in yesterday's blog, subsidised bus services are essential for East Devon, a largely rural area; yet tenders have been cut back somewhat and are always under threat.
Of course, we know that it is never quite as simple as the above illustration - but if the politicians are really serious about the environment, global warming and Greta Thunberg, it is challenges like the above that should be taken seriously.
Will Marcus have a policy? He is a shoo-in for the election!
And couple of pictures of Ribble Country vehicles in Ribble country.
Nice!
Quiz answers and more : Thursday 6th May
Lancashire received £750,000 from the DfT "Better Deal for Bus Users" fund last year and subsequent increased its own budget by a similar amount. However it is still spending less on buses than it did in 2016 when the previous administration made very significant cuts. The council still refuses to subsidise evening services that were withdrawn then and not all Sunday buses have been restored.
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