1). Less than helpful road closure information from Stagecoach and the County Council
Warton Road in Carnforth is closed until 4 November for "utility works" to be carried out, which means that buses on services 49 and 55 (Stagecoach) and 51 (Travellers Choice) are unable to follow their normal route.
On being altered to this by a resident the Bus Users Group contacted the operators and the County Council seeking details of alternative arrangements for bus passengers in Warton, the Yealands and Silverdale who are all affected.
No resposes were received at the time but today the following was posted on the "Service Updates" page of Stagecoach's website:
05 Sep 2016 to 04 Nov 2016
From Monday 5 September to Friday 4 November 2016 or until completion of the works, whichever is sooner, Warton Road in Carnforth will be closed to allow utility works to be carried out.
During the closure, bus services 49 & 55 will terminate at Carnforth.
So there are no buses between Carnforth and Warton and passengers should do what, exactly....?
The County Council has been a little more helpful and has posted this notice at Lancaster Bus Station, and perhaps other stops along the route.
The County Council's notice is more helpful although not entirely so. It expalins what is happening to the third (non-Stagecoach) service affected and also - unlike Stagecoach - tells you what the alternative is - a temporary - and FREE - service 55X; although if you want to know when that runs you'll have to contact a third operator, Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire on 01524 733831.
The BUG will do that and if we recieve anything useful we will post it here.
2). Less than helpful service information at the bus station
This was the normally very useful electronic departure screen at lancaster bus station early this evening.
Note the frequent (every 20 minutes) service 3 to "Cartmel College" (Lancaster University) (whilst trying to ignore that it would surely be better described as "Lancaster University, Cartmel College" or even "Lancaster University, Alexandra Park", which is what is shown on the front of the bus.
But whatever it's called, you'd wait a long time for a number 3 tonight, or any other night until the "University Terms" service starts at the end of September. Until then, the journeys shown at 1850, 1910, 1930 and so on throughout the evening just do not run!
A similar mistake was discovered on the roadside timetable displays at the start of the summer and when reported to the County Council by the Bus Users Group it was swiftly corrected. Did no one think to check the bus station display?
