Bus Station in Shock Closure

The side of the bus station that suddenly closed

Half of Lancaster Bus Station was closed and buses relocated at extremely short notice on Friday, 12^th May.  Departure stands 12 to 20, for buses heading north and west from the station, were affected following a safety inspection of the concourse.

Stagecoach say they had had concerns over the state of the road surface on that side of the station for some time, with issues such as sunken drain covers and uneven surfacing causing problems.

This is the side of the station where United Utilities installed a storm water bank beneath the roadway in 2014, which itself necessitated a lengthy closure.  The inspection was expected to require a temporary closure to allow the work to take place, but once it got underway it apparently found that that that side of the station had to be closed immediately and “until further notice”!

With no time to plan for the closure, the bus operators had to react immediately. Buses on services 1/1A and 100 were rerouted away from the station, with alternative stops at Sainsbury’s for Morecambe-bound buses and Parliament Street for those heading for the University, whilst service 2X was relocated to Chapel Street. The remaining services were moved to use the Wood Street side of the bus station, using whatever stands that were available.  After 19:00hrs and all day Sunday services 1/1A and 100 revert to using the bus station, albeit with buses in doth directions leaving from the Wood Street side.

 At the time of writing, Stagecoach was seeking authority for more services to use the single bus stop on Chapel Street, although enhanced enforcement of the parking restrictions there will be needed to make this workable.

 The local branch of the Campaign for Real Ale has produced a guide to Morecambe Bay's "micro pubs", seven of which can be found along the route of the No.5 bus between Carnforth and Heysham.

"Micro pubs" are a new style of pub. As the name implies, they are small, often sited in converted shops or offices. Designed for people to meet and socialise in, they usually don't feature music, fruit machines or food, but do specialise in local and unusual real ales. 

Opening Hours

Another feature of micro-pubs is that they don't keep to  "normal" pub hours and most close significantly earlier than the 23:00 hrs that is standard elsewhere. Nor do they all open seven days a week. Unfortunately, the Guide (see below) gives no details of these and merely suggests that people look online to find out.

Being aimed at people fancying a pint (or three?), the leaflet encourages pub goers to use public transport, which is easy to do as all seven of the featured venues are on, or very near, the route of Stagecoach's service 5 bus between Carnforth and Heysham.

Missed Opportunities

The Bus Users' Group doesn't know whether or not Stagecoach was approached, but collaboration between CAMRA and the bus company could have resulted in a leaflet that actually included the bus times, rather than just referring people to a website for details. It would have enabled pub-goers to have the pub details and the bus times together in one handy document and one that didn't require a device with a charged-up battery and an internet connection to access.

It might also have prompted Stagecoach to produce an up-to-date timetable leaflet for service 5! Unfortunately, the latest Carnforth Area Guide, which includes the 5 is dated "May 2022" and doesn't include details of the evening buses re-introduced in November, which would surely be of interest to pub goers.

Fares

The only fare mentioned in the leaflet is the Bay Area Day Ticket at £5. Whilst this is probably the most useful option for someone wanting to visit several of the pubs concerned, it might have been better to have mentioned the current £2 maximum single fare (valid until 30 June) or the £1 evening fare (after 1900hrs) which runs for at least another two years.

The guides can be found at the Visitor Information Centre at The Platform in Morecambe, as well as, we suppose, the pubs themselves.

No Dales Bus Services from Lancaster in 2023

 

The Northern Dalesman at Reeth

The Bus Users' Group has learned that there will be no Dales Bus services operating from Lancaster this year.

In previous years there have been two routes linking the Lancaster district with the Yorkshire Dales, operating on Sundays and Public Holidays between May and September. However, this year a combination of factors means that Dales Bus is unable to run them.

Last year's operation on Service 881 (Malham Shuttle), linking Lancaster with Malham Tarn and Malham village, which was always the weaker of the two routes, was poorly patronised to such an extent that Dales Bus feels its operation cannot be justified in 2023.

Service 830 (The Northern Dalesman) that ran to Hawes, Swaledale and Richmond has always relied on a healthy contingent of passengers joining from the train at Ribblehead to make it viable. This summer, the train that provides the return connection for passengers travelling from West Yorkshire is not operating and Northern Railway has not agreed to any of the suggested alternatives made by Dales Bus to provide the link.  Dales Bus receives no funding from Lancashire or North Yorkshire Councils and much of the external funding it did receive for the Northern Dalesman was predicated on the train connection at Ribblehead. Without this funding and without the fares income from the train passengers service 830 is simply unaffordable.

Regular passengers from Lancaster, including a number of Bus Users' Group members, will be sorely disappointed, but Dales Bus is hopeful that the rail connection and the funding can be restored next year and the service will run again.

New Buses Arrive on the 555

One of the new buses in Grasmere at the launch event.

 Passengers travelling on Stagecoach service 555 between Lancaster, Kendal and Keswick, will have noticed some new buses that started entering service on the route this weekend.

The fleet of nine new buses that Stagecoach says represents an investment of £3m, were built by British bus builder Alexander Dennis, which has factories in Falkirk and Scarborough. They are powered by the latest low-emission diesel engines meeting the European Union "Euro VI" standards for pollution control.

Passenger comfort is enhanced by superior coach-style seating, with a small number of bays of four around a table on the top deck.

The top deck, showing the comfy seats and a corner of a table!

USB Charging points are fitted throughout the bus, whilst the tables incorporate wireless charging points for mobile phones. 

As is expected to be the case with all new buses from now on, a "Next Stop" audio and visual announcement system is fitted. Unlike the basic system fitted to the existing 555 buses, this shows the stop names on a display as well as announcing them. 

The destination and the name of the next stop is displayed on both decks.

A similar system has been fitted to the buses introduced on services 2X and 100 in Lancaster a few years ago, although this seems to have fallen into disuse in recent times. With the requirement that all new buses be fitted with such systems from now on it is hoped that the new 555 system will be properly maintained and that the system on the 2X and 100 can be reactivated.

Externally, the vehicles are painted in the familiar "Lakes Connection" blue and green livery and carry the names of the most important places served by the 555. Although this is merely a continuation of the existing colour scheme it actually represents a significant victory for local management as Stagecoach Group now requires all other buses used on "long distance" services to be painted in a dreadful dirty yellow livery.

New Stagecoach Standard

Our local version!

Which do you prefer?

Launch at Low Wood

 

Free Gingerbread all round!

The new fleet was launched at an event held at the   prestigious Low Wood Bay hotel, where following   an  introduction by Rob Jones, Stagecoach   Cumbria  & North Lancs Managing Director, guests   were treated to a ride on one of the new buses   to  Grasmere, where they were presented with   souvenir tins of the famous Grasmere Gingerbread,   before returning to Low Wood for a buffet lunch.

The guests included local politicians (including Tim   Farron MP)  and businesspeople and real bus   passengers weren't forgotten, being represented   by  the Bus Users' Group in the form of our Chair, Jim  and Treasurer, Steve.

It was good to see our local bus company making an effort to promote the new fleet and, of course, the 555 service itself. The service is renowned for being one of the most scenic bus rides in the country and until 30 June can be enjoyed for just £2 a ticket. We can't promise you gingerbread, but we are sure you'll be able to enjoy the ride.

Graffiti: Now You See It...Now You (Almost) Don't

 Following the Bus Users' Group's request to Lancaster City Council to take action on the plague of graffiti adorning the wall next to the bus station entrance, the council was as good as its word and fulfilled its promises of "early action"

The cleansing team has been to the bus station and had a go at removing the graffiti, albeit without complete success.

Here (doctored to disguise the worst obscenities) is how the wall looked at the weekend. . .

. . .and here it is after the Council's efforts:

The graffiti is still visible, although not as "in yer face" as it was. The wall is constructed of sandstone and some of the conventional methods of graffiti removal risk damaging the surface. The council will therefore employ a more specialised method of removal as soon as possible.

Good News and Bad at the Bus Station

 First the good news!

After a lengthy closure,the bus station tea bar/shop has re-opened under new ownership and is looking better than ever.

Our reporter received a warm welcome at the refurbished tea bar

The counter and kitchen equipment have been completely renewed and, for the first time since Covid, customers are actually welcomed into the shop, rather than being served in the doorway. Opening hours are 0730 - 1700 on Monday to Friday and "possibly" 0900-1300 on Saturday.  The refurbished facility certainly brightens up this corner of the bus station and we wish the new proprietors well.

More good news is that the toilets have also re-opened, although unfortunately there is no sign of refurbishment there!

Now the Bad News

The Bus Users' Group has been increasingly concerned about the graffiti that now covers much of the wall next to the Damside Street entrance. Owing to the failure of the city council to deal with this when it was first reported last year, the problem has got worse and worse and has become increasingly offensive.The following image has been doctored to remove the most offensive content!

The bus station entrance, hardly a good image for public transport, or Lancaster.

The city council's Public Realm Department has promised that they "will action quickly", whilst the Cabinet Member responsible for the bus station told the Group "I think we would all agree that this needs removing at the earliest opportunity."

We have had promises of action before, but hopefully this time something will be done. The current initiatives by the government and Lancashire County Council to increase ridership by reducing fares and Stagecoach's forthcoming introduction of a fleet of new buses for service 555 are being undermined by the failure to deal with this problem.

The Bus Industry in 2023 - Talk by Roger French OBE

 

Speaker Roger French OBE (left) with BUG Chair, Jim Davies

Members of Lancaster District Bus Users' Group were treated to an inspiring talk on the present and future state of the bus industry at their last meeting. The talk was given by Roger French, a well-respected former bus manager and now well known commentator on public transport through his blog Bus and Train User 

Here is how the talk was reported in the Lancaster Guardian

"Members of the Lancaster Bus Users' Group enjoyed an inspiring talk about the future of the bus industry at their last meeting.  Retired bus manager and now respected bus industry commentator Roger Ford, who was awarded the OBE for services to public transport, set out his views on how buses could recover from the Covid pandemic. The current problems of attracting back passengers who stopped travelling during Covid and recruiting drivers  following Brexit would be overcome. 

Roger felt buses were a local business and should be locally run and he cited Stagecoach's recent decision to centralise all its customer service staff in Scotland as a move in the wrong direction. Measures to attract passengers back should include reliable services, simple and easy-to-understand timetables and value-for-money fares. Continuing to issue paper timetables alongside those available on the internet was important and he pointed out that Lancaster was lucky to have retained its bus station as a focal point of the local bus network and a means of maintaining a "presence" for buses in the city.

The Bus Users Group meets regularly at Lancaster Library, with the next meeting being on 18th May at 2pm."

Roger's views accord closely with those of the BUG, especially his comments about the closure of all means of contacting Stagecoach's local offices - and even those in Carlisle - in favour of a "customer service centre" in remote Perth.

However, our branch of Stagecoach has at least re-started printing timetable leaflets, something that many other bus companies who stopped during the pandemic, have neglected to do. We are pleased to see them - and happy to have been asked to contribute towards the work involved in producing them - although we do wish that someone at the company would sort out the issues with distribution and fill up those empty leaflet holders on the buses again.

Lancaster bus station

Lancaster's bus station is another issue on which Roger and the BUG agree. Both think that it is a very important feature of the city's bus network and that bus passengers would be a lot worse off without it.  

It's not perfect of course, with ongoing problems of cleanliness and graffiti and the current closure of both the tea bar and the toilets, both issues that our group is trying to raise with the city council without much success.  There are, however, elements within the city and county councils who would be glad to see it closed down and the site sold off and although there is no immediate threat, the Group will be keeping a close eye on developments.