Stagecoach has confirmed that it does not plan to re-open the Travel Shop on Lancaster Bus Station.
The shop closed in March at the start of lockdown imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although this was a time of much uncertainty regarding bus services and what timetables were actually operating, the company felt that the need to keep passengers informed was outweighed by considerations for the safety of staff and customers in what was a very small space, albeit one which had only recently been re-configured and re-fitted. Since then, the shop has displayed notices saying that it is closed "until further notice". Now, however, in an email to the Bus Users' Group a senior company manager has confirmed that it will not re-open.
The main income from the shop came from sales of multi-journey tickets and in particular scholars season tickets and "Unirider" tickets for students at the city's universities. Normally, at this time of year the shop would have been very busy as students queued to buy them.
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| The queue for Unirider tickets last year. |
This year, however, Stagecoach has made all these tickets available on-line only, depriving the shop of its major source of income. National Express ticket sales, which made up a much smaller part of that income, have also been hit as there have only been sporadic coach services through Lancaster since March.
But the shop had other functions. It was an outlet for the company's popular timetable leaflets and promotional brochures such as that for buses in the Lake District. After some prompting from BUG it also stocked the Dales Bus brochure and timetables for summer Sunday buses to Malham and Richmond. Many visitors and local people needing to make an unfamiliar journey also used it as a point for service enquiries whilst it was also a handy place to ask about - and retrieve - lost property, which the writer can confirm!
Most importantly, it gave Stagecoach a public presence in the bus station and acted as a point of contact between the company and its passengers. Of course, these activities don't bring in much in the way of revenue - except of course for the fares paid for journeys that now won't be made because potential passengers can't find out about the bus they need. But that doesn't seem to matter to Stagecoach - or at least to the accountants that run it - people memorably described as "knowing the price of everything - and the value of nothing"!
Oh!, and if anyone thinks the shop was too small to operate "Covid-safely" then surely the similarly-sized tea bar at the other end of the concourse has the simple answer - prop the door open and stick a table in the opening to maintain social distancing and continue to provide a safe and much-valued service to the public.
