Emergency Timetables from Monday

From Monday, 23rd March Stagecoach is introducing emergency timetables with reduced services on most routes in the Lancaster area. The new times will apply "until further notice" and can be found by following this link
The new times are also shown on our EMERGENCY TIMETABLES page accessible from the links bar above.

Concessionary Travel

Lancashire County Council has announced that concessionary bus passes (NoW cards) can be used for free travel on all buses before 0930 throughout the week.

Dales Bus Services Hit by Virus - Others to Follow?

Dales Bus service 830 in Muker

Dales Bus summer Sunday services in the Yorkshire Dales have been "indefinitely postponed" and in some cases cancelled completely for 2020, following government announcements on the need for "social distancing" and  to avoid unnecessary travel as well as doubts over the connecting Dales Rail services.

Three services were due to operate from Lancaster this year.

• Service 830  "The Northern Dalesman"  to Ingleton, Hawes, Swaledale and Richmond
• Service 881 "Malham Dalesman" from Morecambe via Lancaster and the Trough of Bowland to Settle and Malham
• and a new service 832 from Lancaster to Kirkby Lonsdale, Sedbergh, Kirkby Stephen, Nateby, Keld, Muker and Swaledale to Richmond.

The 830 and 881 fall into the "indefinitely postponed" category so may run later in the year, but the 832 will not now run in 2020.

Others to Follow?

The Coronavirus epidemic is taking its toll on bus services across the country as people are asked to work at home and not make unnecessary journeys. London Buses is moving to a Saturday timetable on Mondays to Fridays and bus operators in Bristol, Manchester and West Yorkshire have either announced service reductions or are expected to do so.  The Traffic Commissioners - the industry regulator - has suspended its rule that requires a seventy-day notice period of changes to allow bus operators to react to the rapidly changing situation.

Will there be queues like this for the 555 this summer?

There has been no announcement so far from Stagecoach, which continues to advertise its enhanced summer timetables throughout the Lake District, although the BUG understands that the company is urgently reviewing its position.  The suspension of face-to-face teaching at local Universities will also have an impact on student travel.

Our other local operator, Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire, is due to re-introduce a Sunday timetable on its Lancaster to Skipton services at Easter, which although not officially part of Dales Bus are closely linked to the Dales Bus network that would have been in place. We understand that this might not now happen, but there has as yet been no annoucement from the company.

Appeal for Help

Airlines and train operators have been quick to ask for government assistance and now the bus industry is asking for £1 Billion of support to replace income that has been lost following government requests for people not to travel. There have been immediate falls of 20% or more in passenger numbers throughout the country with the situation expected to worsen over time. The BUG agrees that it is essential that the bus industry recieves this help to ensure that any service reductions are only temporary and that normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Crossing Mystery Solved

The mystery of the missing pedestrian crossing on Damisde Street, giving access to Lancaster Bus Station, has been solved.

Readers may recall that it was provided by Lancashire County Council after a lengthy campaign by the Group and County Councillor Lizzi Collinge when building work on the corner of Damside Street and Wood Street closed the two crossings that prevously provided a safe walking route. (Read again here)

But a couple of weeks ago the crossing disappeared, without notice and without any alternative safe route being provided.  Several theories were put forward by readers of our Facebook page as to why it had gone.

Some said it had been taken away because "kids had been moving it up and down the street"  and confusing drivers and pedestrians alike.

Others said, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, it had gone "because no-one used it".

But eventually, after another intervention by Councillor Collinge, the real reason emerged - although we found it hard to believe at first.

The crossing was removed because the Council wasn't prepared to pay for it!  Apparently, councils don't keep stocks of temporary traffic lights themselves, but hire them from outside contractors as and when required.  Lancashire County Council agreed to provide them on Damside Street on the understanding that the cost would be recovered from the building contractors working on the site on the Damside Street / Wood Street corner.

But with that project "having fallen into financial difficulties" (according to a Council spokesman) and with work on the site having ceased, the council decided it was unlikely to be able to recover its costs and it was not prepared to meet them itself for what could be a lengthy period of time.  Safety, it seems, comes at a price that the council isn't prepared to pay.  

Needless to say, neither the BUG nor Cllr. Collinge finds this acceptable and we have protested in the strongest terms.

The banksman (right) on duty.

The apparent failure of the project is also causing problems for Stagecoach, which is having to employ a banksman to supervise the buses entering the bus station via Wood Street due to the restricted visibility caused by the hoarding and the continuing problem of passengers attempting to enter the bus station via the vehicle entrance.  To contain costs, the Wood Street side of the station is not used after 7pm at night, with buses relocated to the opposite side of the station.

This can be done at night only because of the smaller number of buses using the station and Stagecoach has indicated that it doesn't feel it should be expected to meet the cost of the banksman indefinitely and it will be looking for an alternative solution that might even involve moving southbound services out of the bus station altogether.