Monday 25 January 2016

Stagecoach to Continue Some Services After Subsidy Ends

Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancs has advised Lancaster District Bus Users' Group of some of its plans for local services after 2 April, when Lancashire County Council withdraws all subsidies.

On Service 5  Overton - Morecambe - Carnforth, where evening and Sunday buses currently receive a subsidy, the company will continue to run a Sunday service until early evening and will also extend its commercial daytime service to include some early evening trips.

Service 80  Lancaster - Ingleton will continue to operate approximately every two hours in the off-peak, although morning and evening peak journeys will finish.

Service 81  Lancaster - Kirkby Lonsdale, where all evening and Sunday buses and most journeys north of Hornby are subsidised, will in future run approximately every two hours on Mondays to Saturdays with all journeys operating via Melling and Tunstall. Wray and Wennington wil be served only by service 80 (see above) whilst the only service through Gressingham, Arkholme and Whittington will be the school buses to QE School at Kirkby Lonsdale.  Services 80 and 81 will together provide an hourly headway between Lancaster and Hornby.
There will be no evening or Sunday journeys,

The company confirmed that it has no plans to continue any of the other subsidised services it operates, these being:
Service 5B at Caton: One more for the chop!

5B  Brookhouse - Morecambe
5C  Carnforth - Morecambe
7   Marsh - Lancaster - Vale (Evenings and Sundays)
10 Lancaster - Ridge (Evenings and Sundays)
51  Carnforth - Silverdale  (Daytime service between Lancaster and Carnforth will continue)

Service 89 Lancaster - Knott End on Sea is operated by Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancs, which has no plans to continue it after 2 April.  Following an approach by the Bus Users' Group Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancs has agreed to look into the possibility of providing a partial replacement.

Stagecoach is also planning some changes to commercial services from the same date.
Service 7  Marsh to Vale will be re-linked as a Marsh to Ridge service.  Vale will be served by a service every 20 minutes running through to George Street in the city centre.  Stagecoach says this is to improve reliability.  For the same reason the company will introduce new timetables on services 40/41 Morecambe - Preston and 555 Lancaster - Keswick, which will also necessitate re-timing of service 55 Lancaster - Carnforth to retain an even headway.

All the above is subject to being registered with the Traffic Commissioner on or before 4th February.