Cambridge Comparison Cacelled

Poor Map Prevents Positive Perusal

The cunning plan was to use Cambridge as a source of comparison between today's network and the 1970 routes as shown in Keith Shayshutt's book.

But Stagecoach's extremely weedy Cambridge map made comparison too challenging for the old bloke still trying to recover from an overrunning heavy Scottish cold. 

Ditto Peterborough.

So we have to go to the home of Colman's Mustard and the River Wensum, where First Bus have superb maps.

The Niceties Of The Norwich Network

But - Norwich is complicated! Most routes were cross-city and, as was commonplace back in the day, most routes and frequencies were somewhat complicated. To add to the challenge of a "Contrast and Compare" blog the cross city linkings are different in 2023 from 1970, as are all the route numbers.

Unless fbb's readers are in the queue for dying of boredom or confusion or a mixture of both, a review of everything is just too much. (Which is why fbb originally plumped for Cambridge.)

So you may get only one end of a cross-city combo. But you can buy Mr K's book and do your own research.

The Horrors Of Hartsease

So in 1970 we have the 92 and 92A forming a small "circular" loop to Springfield Road,

Each runs every 20 minutes giving a ten minute headway via Plumstead Road into Norwich King Street and beyond. The other ends of the coss-city are two well separated termini with not a lot in common. The link is operational rater than serving a significant passenger flow.

The other services are 94 / 95 via Plumstead Road ...

... and  97 / 97A via Salhouse Road.

A bus every 30 minutes splits to serve the two termini, each every hour.

And So To 2023

There is now just one route, helpfully numbered 23, 23A and 23B, these variations being for whatever is happening on the other sid of the city centre. From the point of view of Heartsease, the timetable is simple, running every 20 minutes and striving to serve all the wiggles of the estate.

The 24 and 24A gather up bits of several 1970s routes which fbb may return to after he has taken his pills.

Note hat the 20 minutes combined 24/24A splits into two routes each running every 40 minutes, a frequency that is designed to put people off travelling, as they simply cannot remember when the buses run.

But the 23/24 combo take us quite nicely to another area of investigation.

The Confusion Of Costessey

The 13s are reasonably understandable.

There is a half hourly headway to Costessey Church (13A) and an hourly frequency on the other two legs. Eagle eyes readers will spot a possible error somewhere. The map shows 13 and 13B but the timetable shows 13B for both. The latter is probably right at service 13 runs to East Dereham via Dereham Road.

The 13s are joined by a short working numbered 81.

So why use 13 at all. There are two possible reasons. Either it is historical as they developed as variants of the 13 to East Dereham OR the company simply ran out of numbers.

Whatever, there is a quirky happening here. ALL buses into City and Thorpe station are numbered 81. This does ensure that passengers aiming for a departing train only have to grasp the one frequent route number, namely 81, rather than a mixture of 13s, some of which terminate in the City.

And So To 2023

Firstly note that the service to Costessey Church has gone. The Church lies at the top of the maps, above the word "Costessey".

It never really was AT Costessey!

The former Ringland Road and Richmond Road areas are partially covered by the 23 and 23A variants, although only at that infuriating every 40 minute frequency each. Here is the timetable again to save lots of scrolling.

The services now have a new purpose, created by development that wasn't there in the 1970s.

There is a retail park which is, as blog readers know, one of fbb's favourite destination whenever he visits a new location. (Snorts of derision) ...

... and a new housing estate, Queens Hills.

Despite what the timetable tells you, all buses serve the retail park ...

...with half going on to the estate.

So, depending on how you measure it, there is a bus every tem minutes to the retail park and a reduction to the inland bits of Costessey itself.

But not bad for 50 years of bus decline. Thank goodness for Retail Parks!

Reepham Road Revision

This gets fbb's vote as the most complex concoction of the 1970s. We have three routes via the Reepham Road.

In the lower section of this badly photographed extract we have a bus every hour to Drayton Wood Road (86A), every 20 minutes to Parkway or Park Way (84/86) and every 20 minutes to Windsor Road (85/87). On the western side of the city centre these run through from another set of three destinations which fbb will quietly ignore.

And So To 2023
The map of the Reepham Road area is barely recognisable!

Parkway (off Woodland Road) and Windsor Road (off Middletons Lane are sered by the loop of the 37 ...

... and Drayton Wood Road is off Repham Road where the various 36s zoom off to more rural destinations.

A typical ploy of the modern bus network is to use a country service or a longer distance route to absorb some of the former town network as ere with part the 36 set.

Now we look at the timetable. Thankfully First have chosen to keep the four bits of purple separate.

The 36 runs every 30 minutes straight along Reepham Road.

The 37 is also every 30 mins  round its loop.

The 38 Ives Road, not really part of the 1970 collection ...

... and the 39 Miles Cross ditto each also run every 30.

The original 1970 group had a bus up to every six minutes on the common sections of route. The  2023 equivalent purples manage only every 15. The 38 and 39 do improve the service nearer to the city centre.

And A Conclusion

Unless you have a Retail Park or Regional Hospital to serve there is a good chance your bus route will be less frequent, more complex and less direct than in 1970. We also know that (except at the £2 present), it will cost you a higher price (often three times higher compared with inflation) than yoiut fare in 1970.

Again fbb concludes that, if we really want to get cars off the road, the current bus business model is likely to be ineffective.

 Next Variety blog : Saturday 14th October