Happenings At Holymoorside
Holymoorside is a small "dormitory" village lying just off the Chesterfield to Bakewell Road. It was once served by Chesterfield Corporation route 20 ...
... but currently has an hourly service provided by Stagecoach.
The village has a very un-church looking church ...
... a good selection of traditional stone buildings ...
... now augmented by newer properties from various decades.
The village takes pride in its Derbyshire heritage, notably with the annual Well Dressing.
But from next weekend, Stagecoach 91 vanishes, to be replaced by Hulleys 84 - and fbb has no idea why the route number is changing; possibly part of the campaign to Build Buses Back Better - but with more confusion.
With barely a week to go, no timetable has yet appeared on the Derbyshire web site, on Hulleys web site or ...
... Traveline. Stagecoach will continue to run some evening journeys which they have revealed.
One week later, Hulleys take over the 55a (Sundays and presumably tendered).
You might guess that the timetable will not change, but only outline publicity has made it to Hulleys web site.
The company has graciously released details of its new X72 service.
This is, effectively an X71 to Bakewell which then turns south and runs to Matlock. Interestingly, in todays public transport climate, this is offering a genuine evening service!
The publicity blurb has a pop at "other operators" by stating that the the X72 runs "later than the X17", which is the Stagecoach route running direct between Matlock and Chesterfield.
Hmmm? Later TO Matlock, maybe, but not later FROM! But quicker.
What about the "promised" X1 from Ashbourne to Macclesfield and Manchester Airport? Or the "promised" revised times on the X57 between Sheffield and Manchester - both due from 5th September?
Good question!
The latter have appeared on the Travel South Yorkshire web site - but not Hulleys!
Back On Track - Prophetically!We have seen the advert; not we read the "hype".
The Rail Delivery Group (used to be ATOC when fbb was much younger and quite a bit thinner) has issued this encouraging press release.
And there's more.
But, hang on a sec! When is the Bank Holiday? It is Monday 30th inst with Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th constituting the weekend.
So how can they KNOW the level of ticket sales as they prepare a press release to be issued on Friday morning 27th?
fbb has been able to obtain an exclusive picture of Andy Bagnall, C E O of R D G ...
... in full prophetic mode and costume earlier this week.
Impressive predictions; maybe we will be told if they come true!
Equally Unpredictable?
Much excitement on Merseyside as the first of their new class 777 trains has been handed over to the PTE so they can play with it. The mayor is thrilled.
Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has announced the official handover of the first of 53 new trains for the Liverpool City Region, which will own the new fleet.
To celebrate the handover, the Mayor is inviting people to step on board and see for themselves how journeys will look in the future, when the train goes on public display next month.
The new fleet will include pioneering sliding step technology, providing step free access for all, on board Wi-Fi, improved passenger information screens, and more space for wheelchairs, bicycles and prams.
But not to fast, young Steve!
There is still no indication of when the new £460m fleet will enter public service.
Members of the public will be invited to view the train next month, but that is the closest they will get, with still no date for the introduction of the fleet which should have been rolled-out, belatedly, last year.
Platforms throughout the Merseryail network were lengthened and raised to accommodate the new trains, but problems still remained in 2019,with longer peak-hour trains overlapping the signalling system at some stations.
The fleet is a key part of the Mayor’s plans for a London-style transport network that seeks to make it as quick, easy, and reliable for people to travel around the region by taking greater local control of public transport and linking different modes of transport together.
Hmmmm?
Some Holiday Snaps
Electrical equipment ...
... some metalwork ...
All just snippets of the work (the VERY lengthy work) being undertaken to upgrade the Island Line in preparation for its new trains.
And they DO fit through the tunnels at Ryde!
South Western Railway (First Group) is still quoting a start date at the end of October.
But which October?
Bedfordshire P S
It was quite a struggle to sort out buses in Potton for a recent blog. Of course once upon a time you could obtain a bus timetable book and everything was there, printed and accessible without tedious on-line searches.
At one stage only a few years ago there was even a booklet for Sandy and Biggleswade.
To what extent has a lack of easily accessed information contributed to the steady decline in passenger numbers in rural areas? Today's complex multi-operator so-called "networks" are far harder to examine on-line than they are in a booklet.
Staff Shortages - An Alternative View
A newspaper report suggests that staff unrest is a significant factor.
But then he would say that wouldn't he?
Whatever the reason, it is not good news for the passengers.
Tomorrow we return to the daftness in Cornwall - amongst other things.
Goodbye To An Old Friend
Stockport bus station closes tonight to be replaced by a new bus station on the same site.
There will be more about this farewell later.
Next Variety blog : Sunday 29th August
Obviously true so many quit Stagecoach as so many buses are cancelled all over place despite all supervisors out driving, remaining drivers confirm numbers & getting hassle from public. It has lowest pay in Plymouth area so no surprise!
ReplyDeleteWith ridership at barely two thirds of pre pandemic levels and no longer increasing, and the government funding coming to an end being replaced by a fraction of its current levels, where do people think the money is going to come from? The free market would reduce service levels accordingly. Not saying this is right just pointing out the simple mathematics of the situation
ReplyDeleteYou can't expect staff in any sector to work for peanuts to provide you with a cheap product. Perhaps you earn too much?
DeleteRe Hulley's:
ReplyDeleteThe 84 timetable is now on the travel updates page of their website - the times are different to the current 91.
According to my most recent Derbyshire book (Nov 2018!), the 55A is a tendered service. Stagecoach Chesterfield's update page says that there will be no change to that timetable.
Two operators run during the day between Bakewell and Matlock, so that's who Hulley's could more justifiably have a pop at. A quick look shows that Trent haven't run in the evening since before 2009, whilst High Peak's evening round-trip from Buxton to Derby was withdrawn when its subsidy was, between 2015 and 2018. This used to run north from Matlock at 22.37, so the X72 is a belated replacement.
Derbyshire are struggling to keep their website up to date as they are busy with their BSIP, which needs to be negotiated with no less than eight neighbouring authorities.