The Stagecoach network of services that link Lancaster with the University, Morecambe and Heysham has in recent years been relatively stable, with routes identified by a simple series of service numbers: 2,2X, 3,4,5 and 6A. (The 5 linked Heysham and Morecambe with Carnforth where it met its cousins the 55 and 555.
But last October Stagecoach wanted to make some changes. The old network rather strangely lacked a "service 1" so the planners created one. The new 1 was made up of part of the 3 and part of the 2.
Part of the new 2 stayed the same as the old 2, but the rest of it was made up of that part of the 3 that hadn't become part of the 1.
The 2X, that used to be linked to the old 2 and followed part of the same route as it to Heysham became linked to the new 2, that used to be the 3, and followed the route of the old 4 instead. Service 3 and 3A disappeared.
The 4 stayed the same at the University end but was diverted to Lancaster Railway Station to replace the 3A (The 3A that ran from Lancaster University to the Railway Station, not the other 3A than went from Lancaster to Heysham). Some of the rest of the 4 became part of the 2, other bits of it became part of the 2X and the rest of it disappeared altogether.
The 5 stayed the same; and the 6A doubled in frequency whilst passengers on the rest of the network tried to work out which bus went where.
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| SIMPLES! |
In January, Stagecoach came back for more. The new 2, part of which was the same as the old 2 and the rest of which used to be the 3 was diverted in part to follow the route of the 1, which just happens to be part of the old 2. Extra journeys were added to service 7 to replace the part of the old 3 that had become the 2 before it was diverted to follow the 1.
But that's not all.
Before the 2 became the 1 there was also a "2A". Between Morecambe and Heysham the 2 followed one route and the 2A the other with the different service numbers helping to distinguish them to the passenger. But when that part of the 2 became the 1 the "A" suffix disappeared leaving buses on both routes showing "1"
The Stagecoach view was that the destination indicators could be used to identify the route taken by a particular bus and "via Heysham Road" and "via Fairfield Road" were added to the displays.
But passengers, being the awkward so-and-so's that they are, still didn't seem to find it very easy to work out whether the approaching bus was going their way and drivers (being the ever helpful souls that we know they are) were getting fed up of having to explain. Perhaps the images (right) show that the passengers had a point?
So, as from 14th April Stagecoach will resolve all remaining confusion by renumbering journeys via Heysham Road as "1A", whilst buses "via Fairfield Road" will continue to show service 1.
BUT - Having finally made it easier for passengers to work out which bus goes where, Stagecoach is about to ADD to their confusion by renumbering service 2.
Details in our next post!