Little Change in the Lakes This Summer - Except the Fares?

 

Bus companies are often criticised - and sometimes rightly so - for failing to give passengers sufficient notice of changes to timetables. That's a criticism that cannot be levied at Stagecoach however, at least as far as its services in and to the Lake District are concerned.

Despite the summer timetable not coming into force until 2nd April this year, the Summer 2022 edition of "The Lakes by Bus" - a comprehensive guide to Stagecoach buses in the Lakes, complete with timetables, maps and some details of tickets and fares, as well as suggestions for places to see using the bus, is already available online.  Printed copies will no doubt follow shortly.

The Lake District network is fairly stable and once again few changes are proposed. Two routes link the Lancaster District with the area:  Service 555  Lancaster - Kendal - Ambleside - Grasmere - Keswick and the 755 Heysham - Kendal - Bowness-on-Windermere, both running seven days a week.

Service 555

Service 555 in Kendal

As has become usual during the summer months, the standard hourly service that leaves Lancaster via the A6 is supplemented by hourly journeys that run via the M6 and consequently reduce the journey time to Kendal and places north by no less than 40 minutes, overtaking the buses on the standard route that leave Lancaster 10 minutes before them and arriving in Kendal and points north thirty minutes earlier. This year the extra journeys will run on Saturday throughout the summer until 6th November and on Monday to Friday from 4th July to 30th September, which is one week less than last year.  As has also come to be expected in the summer, the last two departures on Monday to Saturday from Lancaster, at 18.50 and 20.40, continue through to Grasmere all week (except Sunday) rather than just on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Sunday service from Lancaster remains at two-hourly, with buses leaving for Keswick at 0915, 1115, 1315 and 1715. Southbolund buses leave Kendal at 0915 and then Keswick at 0930 1130 1330 and 1530.  The extra motorway buses at 0830 from Kendal to Lancaster and 1845 return, which operated last year, are not in this summer's timetable.

Missing Link?

Whilst the 555 is a valuable service and a key part of Lancaster's bus network, the Bus Users' Group can't help but feel that one failing it has is the lack of a later return journey from Keswick on a Sunday, the day when most people are free to enjoy a full day out in the Lakes. The last bus south, at 1530 from Keswick, is a full two hours earlier than during the week, reducing the scope for our residents to enjoy a full day's walking or sightseeing in the Lakes.

Service 755

Service 755 at Windermere (with a confusing destination!)

Last year's extension of the service to start at Ocean Edge Holiday Park was obviously a success, as not only was it continued over the winter, but this year it enjoys extra buses. The 08.10 from Heysham, Combermere Road to Kendal, which runs whenever the schools are closed, is extended to start at Ocean Edge at 0805, whilst buses that currently run empty to take up service there will now run in service at 0902 and 1002 from Euston Road, with return trips at 1655 and 1955 to Heysham Towers, where connections are available on service 1A to Morecambe and Lancaster.

Copies of the Lakes GuideSummer 2022 can be read and downloaded here.

Fares Increase?

Until the Summer 2020 edition, the Guide included full details of the various Day Rider and Explorer tickets available, ranging in price from £4.30 for a Young Person's West Cumbria Day Rider to £65 for a North West megarider GOLD Group ticket, as well as a range of special "bus and boat" offers for travel on certain lake boat trips.  

One of the conditions of the government funding that all bus companies were offered to help them maintain services during the pandemic was that fares were frozen for an indeterminate period and perhaps because of this, Stagecoach removed all price data from the relevant sections of the Guide. Whenm the rule came into force, Stagecoach fares had not been increased since March 2019 and those fares still apply.

The future of government funding, and fares control, is still uncertain, with the latest round due to end in April, although it is likely that at some stage bus companies will regain the right to set fares. The 2022 Guide still contains no details of ticket prices, but does now include a QR code for readers to scan to see the ticket prices - a neat way for Stagecoach to increase fares without reprinting the Guide. A handy solution in the cufrrent situation, but we hope it doesn't become the new standard!

More Details on Lune Valley Changes in April

 

Service 581 will continue to provide the link between Lancaster, Settle and Skipton

Following our post on forthcoming changes to bus services between Lancaster, Kirkby Lonsdale and Ingleton from April (read again here) we have more news to report.

School Buses to Wray and Wennington

The initial proposed timetable for services 81 and 82 meant that there would be no bus available to take children from schools in Lancaster home to Wray until 16.45 leaving them with the option of waiting over an hour for a bus in the city or walking the 2.6km along the narrow and twisty B6480 to get home. Under the current service, the 1525 service 82 from Lancaster is diverted to meet that need.

Following an approach by the Bus Users' Group to the County Council, which determins the route and times of these services, the service 81 bus from Ripley School will now be retimed to 1eave at 15.30 and run via Lancaster Grammar School at 15.40 and Lancaster bus station at 15.50 before continuing to Kirkby Lonsdale via Wray and Wennington. Children from the Grammar School wishing to travel to the villages on the north-western side of the valley will be able to change to a service 82 bus, that also starts at Ripley, at the Bus Station.  This quick solution by the County Council and bus company not only restores the service to Wray but also means that children at the Grammar School will no longer have to make their own way into the city  centre to catch the bus home.

The revised version of the NEW 81 and 82 TIMETABLE  is on this LINK

Fares and Tickets

With all buses on the 81 and 82 being operated by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire, passengers, except those from Halton, will no longer have to choose between operators to get the best value fares for the journey they are makin. Those buying a return or a weekly ticket will be able to use it on every bus, meaning they will no longer have to let one bus go by because their ticket is only valid on the other service.

Single and return fares will be broadly the same as those charged by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire on service 582 at present, and the following Day and Weekly ticket prices will apply

DAY TICKET -  Services 81 and 82  whole route

Adult  £7  Under 19 £4.70

(Current Stagecoach prices for 80 and 81: Adult £7.10;  Under 19 £4.80 )

WEEKLY TICKET - Services 81 and 82  whole route

Adult £22  Under 19 £17

(Current Stagecoach prices for 80 and 81  Adult £23  Under-16 £17.40 (Note that 16 to 18 yr olds currently pay adult fares, but will be eleigible for the Under-19s ticket at £17)

WEEKLY TICKET - Valid between Caton Green and Lancaster only

Adult £18  Under-19  £13

There is no current equivalent Stagecoach ticket, so for most passengers the whole route ticket would apply,

The above tickets are valid for an unlimited number of journeys within the period of validity.

Unfortunately, passengers who currently use Stagecoach tickets to travel beyond Lancaster city centre on other Stagecoach services will no longer be able to do so. The County Council recognises that this will involve them in additional expense and that is will be a deterent to new users, but the Bus Service Improvement Plan that will start to be implemented later this year will have integrated ticketing as a top priority, so hopefully this problem will be solved before too long.

Buses to Bentham and Burton in Lonsdale

Bentham and Burton will be served by a circular service from Ingleton

The withdrawal of service 80 leaves Low and High Bentham and Burton-in-Lonsdale without a direct service to Lancaster following North Yorkshire County Council's decision not to make a joint arrangement with Lancashire to fund it.

Instead the Council has made an arrangement with Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire to utilise buses from the 81 and 82 routes to provide a basic link to the villages from Ingleton.  The Bus Users' Group recognises that all local authorities are strapped for cash, but we do wonder if this is the best use of any money that may be available.

The new service, to be numbered 583, is very much "production-led" rather than customer-focussed. That is to say it is designed around what buses hapen to be availble at the lowest cost rather than what needs and wishes potential customers may have.

The service 81 buses from Lancaster that arrive at Kirkby Lonsdale at 09.43, 11.43 and 13.43 will continue to Ingleton and then run a circular service via Burton-in-Lonsdale and Bentham before returning to Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale.  In addition there will be a bus from Bentham via Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale to get people to Lancaster for 08.17 on Monday to Friday or 09.32 on Saturday. There will also be connections to Bentham and Burton from the afternoon school buses from Lancaster again via Kirkby Lonsdale.

This service facillitates travel between the villages and allows a stay of either 55 minutes or 2hr 55 minutes in Kirkby Lonsdale. Passengers heading for a morning's shopping in Lancaster will find that not only do they have a much-extended journey via Kirkby, but unless they catch the 06.40 from Bentham they can't arrive until 12.22 and are faced with  a choice of bus back at 12.35 or 15.50!

Due to a late change in the timings of the Lancaster school buses, the service 583 timetable is still being finalised, but we will post it HERE as soon as we have it.

All Change in the Lune Valley as Stagecoach Pulls Out

 

Service 80, seen here leaving Ingleton, with end in April

Bus services between Lancaster, Kirkby Lonsdale and Ingleton are in line for major changes which will see Stagecoach withdraw its services 80 and 81 and replacements being provided by another operator. 

The changes from Monday 4th April follow Stagecoach's decision to cease operating the services concerned on a commercial basis, leaving Lancashire County Council to step in to replace them through a contract with local operator, Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire (KLCH).

Service 582 at Kirkby Lonsdale   

KLCH already operates service 582 between   Lancaster and Kirkby Lonsdale via   Gressingham and Arkholme as well as the   Sunday services (81A/B) via both sides of   the  valley.  These services, as well as Stagecoach's 81 from Lancaster to Kirkby   Lonsdale and Ingleton via Melling will be   replaced by two new services operating   seven   days a week.

• 81  Lancaster - Halton - Hornby - Wennington - Melling -  Kirkby Lonsdale and 
• 82  Lancaster - Halton - Hornby - Gressingham - Arkholme - Kirkby Lonsdale

Each service will operate two-hourly and following a suggestion by the Bus Users' Group, the timetables have been adjusted to give a regular hourly interval service on the common section of route between Lancaster and Hornby as well as between the two terminal points. The new times are also better co-ordinated between Lancaster and Halton with service 49, at least in the southbound direction. 

Both the 81 and 82 will run via Halton, leaving the section of route along the A683 between Jc 34 of the M6 and Caton unserved.

The current series of no less than five different service numbers will be replaced by just two, whilst other improvements requested by the Group are the extension of the first Lancaster-bound journey on a Saturday morning to start at Melling rather than Hornby and the conversion of the last journey of the day to Kirkby Lonsdale on service 81 to run the whole route on a guaranteed basis rather than being "on request" beyond Hornby.  Not requested by the BUG, but nevertheless very welcome, is the addition of a later bus at 18.50 from Lancaster to Hornby which will continue on request to Kirkby Lonsdale via Gressingham making the last departure to that side of the valley over 90 minutes later than now.

Most KLCH journeys on service 82 will still continue to Settle and Skipton as at present.

A draft of the new timetable (excluding the extensions to Settle and Skipton) can be viewed or downloaded here.  81 82 Lancaster - Kirkby Lonsdale

Bentham and Ingleton

Things are not so rosy on the Yorkshire side of the border. Normal practice for non-commercial services that cross a county boundary is for the cost of providing the service to be shared between the authorities concerned.  Service 80 crosses from Lancashire into Yorkshire halfway between Wennington and Low Bentham with over 40% of the route being in the latter county.

North Yorkshire County Council is understood to have declined to contribute towards the cost of maintaining service 80 and as the vast majority of the Lancashire part of the service is duplicated by service 81 that council also feels unable to pay for a service that would be of very maginal benefirt to its residents. Service 80 will, therefore, disappear in its present form, although KLCH is understood to be in discussion with North Yorkshire about providing some form of service to Bentham and Burton-in-Lonsdale, which would otherwise be left without buses.

Bentham is served by trains between Lancaster and Leeds, which have had their timetable improved in recent years, whilst Ingleton will continue to be linked with Lancaster via Kirkby Lonsdale by KLCH buses on services 581 and 82.

Concerns over Fares

The documents the Bus Users' Group has seen contain no details of fares, which at present differ slightly between the two operators. Due to the high level of single and return fares, most Stagecoach passengers travelling beyond Brookhouse can benefit from buying a "Bay Plus Day Rider" at £7.10 even if only making a simple out-and-back journey.

Regular passengers can buy a weekly Megarider for £23, which allows savings to be made from as near to Lancaster as Caton if travelling five days a week can save money.  Day and weekly ticket prices from Halton to Lancaster are lower.

Passengers travelling betyond Lancaster city centre, perhaps to Morecambe or the University, can use Day and Megarider tickets to complete their journey at no extra cost, but these tickets are "Stagecoach only" and cannot be bought or used on KLCH buses except on the Sunday buses operated under contract to the county council.  KLCH advertises "great value day tickets" in its publicity without mentioning a price, but again these are operator-specific and of no use to anyone travelling on from Lancaster. The company currently offers a weekly ticket at a price of £22, also operator-specific and of no use to anyone travelling beyond Lancaster city centre.

The BUG notes that Lancashire's Bus Service Improvement Plan, produced under the "Bus Back Better" National Bus Strategy for England, promises a range of multi-operator tickets and an integrated fares and ticketing scheme for the council's area. Obviously this will take time to develop, but we hope that LCC and the operators concerned can introduce perhaps a pilot scheme or some form of joint ticket for Lancaster so that passengers from, say, Caton do not find it cheaper to travel to Kirkby Lonsdale or beyond than to Morecambe or the University

Contrasting Fortunes

A Pennine bus leaving Lancaster for Skipton on service 580 in 1984

Service 80 once formed part of a trunk service between Skipton and Morecambe operated  by Ribble Motor Services (who numbered it 580) and Pennine Motor Services of Gargrave, which was established as a joint service in 1931.  At the deregulation of bus services in 1986 it was split at Ingleton with Pennine running the eastern leg to Skipton and Ribble westwards to Lancaster, the Morecambe extension being abandonned. At this stage the service operated roughly hourly throughout the day with a limited evening ans Sunday service.

Ribble becambe part of the Stagecoach empire in 1989 but by then service 80 was in decline. Evening and Sunday buses disappeared sometime in the 1990s and the service became part-supported by the two county councils as passenger numbers fell.

North Yorkshire County Council withdrew financial support in 2014, but as Lancashire continued funding for the section within its boundary, Stagecoach opted to continue the full route. Lancashire's support ended in 2016 as part of a major cut back in funding for public transport, but again Stagecoach continued the service, albeit with a reduced timetable of just four journeys a day.

The services between Lancaster and Kirkby Lonsdale are also long-established routes. A short-lived service between Lancaster and Brookhouse is believed to have been authorised in 1922 whilst County Motors of Lancaster, later taken over by Ribble, began running to Kirkby Lonsdale in 1928. The service, however, never developed to the same extent as the 80 and in 1970 there were just 5 journeys a day all via Melling, with the other side of the Lune Valley served by an equally infrequent service between Kirkby Lonsdale and Carnforth.

At deregulation in 1986 there were still 5 buses a day between Lancaster and Kirkby Lonsdale but now shared between both sides of the valley, with no service to Carnforth. Some journeys ran via Melling  or Gressingham according to the day of the week and the Saturday service was reduced to just two round trips, one on each side of the Lune.

The Rural Bus Grant, introduced by the Government in 1997, brought many improvements to rural bus services throughout the country and the Lune Valley was no exception. In the years that followed the Lune valley saw the best service it had ever had, with hourly services, split evenly between each side of the river and, for the first time ever, a full evening and Sunday timetable.  It was too good to last and although Lancashire County Council managed to keep it going after the incoming government cut funding for buses in 2010, by 2016 it was struggling for funding itself and forced to make major cuts to the bus service support budget.

Service 81 in Halton. The service, along with the 80, was re-routed
in 2019  to provide a service to the Low Road area of the village.

Following the withdrawal of council funding, Stagecoach found itself able to continue a two-hourly service along the south-eastern side of the valley via Melling, albeit without evening or Sunday buses, but the route via Gressingham and Arkholme became a bus desert served only by a solitary school bus.

A change of administration in County Hall saw a change of approach and funding for buses was increased. The Gressingham side of the valley gained a two-hourly service operated by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire, which continued to Settle and Skipton by being linked to services already operated on the Yorkshire side of the border.  Further funding from central goverment allowed the restoration of the Sunday service, for which the Bus Users' Group had been campaigning.

The proposed services 81 and 82, to be introduced in April, continue to provide a two-hourly service to either side of the valley, which will operate seven days a week and the service is still better than it has been at any time in its history apart from the heady days of the Rural Bus Grant.  Service 80, on the other hand, once by far the more important of the two services, will be no more!