Update on April Service Cuts

It's been some time since we posted anything about the cuts to the County Council's contract bus services that are due to come in on 3rd April 2016, so here is an update on the latest position.

Following a stakeholder consultation, to which the Bus Users' Group responded, the County Council set up a cross-party Cabinet Working Party on Buses to determine how best to mitigate the effects of its own decision to withdraw all funding for non-commercial bus services in the county.

The Working Party was given the remit to recommend how best to spend funding of £1M  Capital funding in 2016-7 and an annual sum of £2M revenue funding, which had been set aside for "innovative" and community-led projects but for which the consultation uncovered little interest.

Sensibly, the Working Party is now considering a range of options to put back conventional bus services to many areas that were due to lose them, concentrating on daytime services to areas that would otherwise have no bus service at all.

Taking the Working Party recommendations and the previously announced commercial decisions by Stagecoach, the following changes are now anticipated.  These are, however, subject to approval by the County Council and to acceptable quotes being received from operators. The Working Party meets again on 8th March following which an announcement is expected with details of the new timetables.

Service  1   Silverdale Shuttle

This service will be withdrawn, but a revised service 51 (see below) will provide some connections between Silverdale railway station and the village.

Service 5  Carnforth - Morecambe - Overton

Stagecoach will continue to operate the daytime service commercially and will add some early evening journeys. The last buses on weekdays will be as follows:

1840 Overton to Carnforth

1940 Overton to Morecambe

1840 Carnforth to Overton

1940 Carnforth to Morecambe.

Stagecoach will also operate the Sunday service commercially with last buses one hour earlier than weekdays.

Service 5B  Brookhouse - Morecambe

Service withdrawn

Service 5C  Carnforth - Crag Bank - Morecambe

Service withdrawn. Alternative service between Carnforth and Morecambe (not serving Crag Bank) is provided by service 5.

Service 7  Vale - Lancaster - Marsh

Most evening and all Sunday journeys withdrawn.  

Service 7 will operate between Vale and Lancaster (George Street) every 20 minutes. Last departure from Lancaster will be at 1820.

Journeys between Marsh and Lancaster Bus Station will be renumbered service 11, and will run every 30 minutes with last journey from Lancaster at 1855. Journeys towards Marsh will be re-routed and will not stop outside the station entrance on Station Road. They will continue to stop near the railway station entrance on Meeting House Lane.  Journeys towards the city centre will still serve Station Road.

Service 10  Lancaster - Ridge

All Sunday journeys are withdrawn and the last bus on Mondays to Saturdays from the Bus Station to Ridge will be at 1928.

Service 33  Morecambe - Bare Circular

Thus service will be continued "subject to a low cost solution being found".

Service 40  Lancaster - Preston

Stagecoach will continue to run the occasional journeys that currently run under contract meaning that there will be no change to this service.

Service 42  Lancaster - Blackpool

The evening journeys operated by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire will be withdrawn and Stagecoach will also withdraw some Sundays journeys operated commercially. The last bus from Lancaster to Blackpool will be at  1742 (Mondays to Fridays); 1740 (Saturdays) and 1710 (Sundays).

The last bus from Blackpool will be at 1924 (Mondays to Fridays); 1920 (Saturdays) and 1835 (Sundays)

Service 49  Lancaster - Halton

Some journeys will be extended beyond Halton to Warton via The Kellets and Carnforth to replace service 51. The last bus from Lancaster to Halton will be at 1900. The evening and Sunday service to Halton currently provided by services 81A/B is withdrawn. In Lancaster all buses will run via Aldrens Lane instead of Norfolk Street due to problems caused by parked cars.

Service 51  Lancaster - Kellets - Carnforth - Silverdale

This service in its current form will be withdrawn.  Stagecoach service 49 (see above) will provide a replacement between Lancaster and Warton but there will be no evening or Sunday journeys.

A replacement service between Carnforth and Silverdale will be provided under contract to the county council but it is unclear at present what form this will take or who will operate it. 

Service 55  Lancaster - Carnforth - Silverdale

This service will have a new timetable with extra running time to improve reliability. Peak hour journeys to and from Warton will continue but the single journey to Silverdale will be withdrawn.

The later evening journey provided by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire will be withdrawn.

Service 55C  Carnforth - Crag Bank - Lancaster

Service withdrawn. Alternative services between Carnforth and Lancaster (not via Crag Bank) are provided by services 55 and 555

Service 80  Lancaster - Ingleton

This service will have a new timetable. On Mondays to Fridays the 0655 Ingleton to Lancaster bus will start at Hornby at 0717 and the 1850 Ingleton to Lancaster journey is withdrawn. There are changes to the times of some other journeys and the last bus from Ingleton will be at 1350.

On Saturdays the 0745 Ingleton to Lancaster is withdrawn and the first bus from Ingleton will leave at 0900 with two later journeys at 1125 and 1325. Buses will leave Lancaster at 1015 1215 and 1415 and there will be a later journey to Ingleton on service 81 via Kirkby Lonsdale at 1730.

Service 81A/B  Lancaster - Kirkby Lonsdale

Stagecoach will run a commercial service, numbered 81, between Lancaster and Kirkby Lonsdale via Hornby, Melling, Tunstall and Burrow. This service will not serve Wray or Wennington which are served by service 80 (see above). 

Buses will run approximately once every two hours with all journeys operating via Melling, Tunstall and Burrow. The only journey on the existing 81A route via Gressingham will be the afternoon school bus from Kirkby Lonsdale, The last bus from Lancaster will be at 1730 and from Kirkby Lonsdale at 1715.

In addition, the County Council will provide a journey at "about" 1830 from Lancaster as far as Hornby and then "on request" as far as required towards Kirkby Lonsdale.

There will be no evening or Sunday service.

Service 89 / 89H  Lancaster - Knott End-on-Sea

The County Council will provide a bus every 90 minutes - as now - on this service during the daytime with the last bus leaving Lancaster at 1820. There will be no evening or Sunday service and buses will no longer continue to Fleetwood on service 86 as this route is withdrawn.  The operator of the new 89 service is not yet known.

In addition Stagecoach is introducing its new Summer Timetable for Lake District services on Saturday, 19th March with changes including a revised timetable for service 555 between Lancaster, Kendal and Keswick.  Click here for details.

Stagecoach "Under 19s" Offer Extended

Good News for bus passengers in the Lancaster area aged under 19.  Stagecoach has extended its £2 all-day ticket offer until 10th April 2016.

The "Under 19s Dayrider" is part of an experiment by the bus company to encourage bus travel by this age group the ticket offers a full day's unlimited travel - with no restrictions - within the Bay Dayrider  Zone  (click here for a map)

The ticket, which costs just £2  offers significant savings over single and return fares and would previously have cost a young person £4.90 - the price at which it is still available for older passengers.

Examples of savings which can be made just on single journeys are:

Carnforth to Lancaster            £3.30    £2

Morecambe to Lancaster         £3.30   £2

Heysham to Lancaster             £4.50   £2

and of course the ticket can be used again for all other journeys on the day of purchase!

The ticket covers the whole of the Bay Dayrider Zone  but not the larger Dayrider Plus area.

For those aged 19 and over  a Bay Dayrider ticket costs £4.90 

These tickets are available to purchase from the driver of the first bus you use each day.

County Council Working Group to Consider BUG Proposals

Service 89:  Can it be saved?

Lancashire County Council has set up a Cabinet Working Group on Buses to consider how best to spend £1M of capital funding and £2M per annum revenue funding that is being made available for public transport following the decision to withdraw all bus services that currently run under contract to the council.

Initial thinking was that this money would be best spent on providing minibuses to parish councils and/or community groups so that they could run their own services, using volunteer drivers and other staff. The Bus Users' Group felt that this was not the most cost-effective means of spending the money and in a letter to the council's cabinet member for transport said that it should instead be spent on keeping bus services running to those areas that would be hardest hit.

The Cabinet Working Party meets tomorrow (Friday, 19th Febraury) and we have received an indication that it is now thinking along the same lines as the BUG, with the bulk of available funding likely to spent on conventional bus services.

County Councillor Gina Dowding, who is a BUG member and also sits on the Cabinet Working Group says she is "hopeful" that most daytime bus services can be retained.  The BUG has asked that daytime services be continued on the following routes, which were threatened with total withdrawal:

33  Morecambe - Bare Circular

51  Silverdale - Carnforth - Lancaster

81A  Lancaster - Gressingham - Kirkby Lonsdale

89  Lancaster - Knott End.

Detailed timetables for these services have been submitted to the Working Group and we hope that we will be successful in getting them, or something similar, accepted.

There is no indication that any evening or Sunday services will be put back.  We have asked that evening and Sunday services be reinstated on service 81B between Lancaster and Kirkby Lonsdale (evenings) or Hornby (Sundays).  It appears less likely that this proposal will be accepted, but we have asked that at least some early evening (up to around 1900hrs) journeys can be provided as far as Hornby.

We will announce the outcome of the Working Group's deliberations as soon as we are made aware of them ourselves.

Service 81 Proposals for Evenings and Sundays

When Lancashire County Council withdraw all services running under contract to them in April, Stagecoach will continue to operate a reduced timetable on services 80 and 81 (Lancaster to Ingleton/Kirkby Lonsdale), but buses will only run during the daytime and not at all on Sundays.

The Bus Users' Group is putting forward proposals to the new County Council Buses Working Party that seek to restore some of the services that will be withdrawn using the limited funding that will be available.

Here are our proposals for evening and Sunday services between Lancaster and Wennington or Hornby.  We realise that this service is vastly inferior to that currently operating, but we are being realistic in what we can expect the county council to fund.  This route is the only one out of all those due to lose them where we are proposing that evening and Sunday buses be continued.  We hope that this service would meet most essential needs but we now welcome your comments on the proposals.

Service 81  Lancaster - Wennington via Halton (Evenings)
Service 81  Lancaster - Hornby via Halton (Sundays)

All service 81A buses from Lancaster via the north side of the Lune Valley are being withdrawn. We have a proposal for a replacement service here:

Service 81A  Lancaster - Gressingham - Kirkby Lonsdale

Lancaster BUG Seeks Passengers' Views Before Submitting Proposals to the County Council

Under the 3rd April service changes prompted by Lancashire County Council's termination of bus service contracts, a number of places are due to see large reductions in services or even to lose all their buses completely.

The County Council has set up a cross-party Working Group to consider how best to spend the £2M fund it has set aside to mitigate the effects of its own decisions.  The Bus Users' Group will be suggesting that the money is used to re-instate bus services in those areas worst affected. We will be putting detailed timetables to them for consideration on a number of routes as shown below.

Please have a look at what we are suggesting and let us have any comments or suggestions as to how they could be improved.  Please remember though that the £2M replaces a total of £7.5M currently spent and that it has to cover the whole of the county council's administrative area so there is little point in just asking for everything to be put back as it was. We feel that our proposals will cover the most people in the greatest need.

We realise that our suggestions will still leave a lot of people facing cuts to services they currently use, but once the county has made its decision we hope to work with parish councils and other groups to see how additional buses can be provided.

The Council is leaving very little time for suggestions to be made so please let us have your comments as soon as possible and by the Wednesday, 17th February at the latest.

Here are the suggested timetables.

33  Morecambe - Bare (Circular)

51  Carnforth - Silverdale (with Lancaster connections)

81  Lancaster - Kirkby Lonsdale (evening service to Wennington)

81  Lancaster -  Kirkby Lonsdale (Sunday service to Hornby)

81A Lancaster - Gressingham - Kirkby Lonsdale

89  Lancaster - Pilling

New Service Levels from April Revealed

Time is running out for the 5B

Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancs. has given details to the Bus Users' Group of its planned service revisions that will take effect on 3rd April 2016. There are large-scale reductions to timetables with some services disappearing altogether following Lancashire County Council's decision to cease all subsidies for local bus services.

Here is the effect the cuts will have, including those services provided by Battersby's and Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire, which are also affected:

1. Silverdale Shuttle

Service withdrawn

5  Overton - Morecambe - Carnforth

The late evening service is withdrawn, with last through buses at 1840 from either end of the route and a 1940 from Overton and Carnforth as far as Morecambe. The Sunday service will continue but will close down one hour earlier than on weekdays.

5B  Brookhouse - Morecambe

Service withdrawn

5C  Carnforth - Crag Bank - Morecambe

Service withdrawn

7  Vale - City Centre - Marsh
Evening and Sunday journeys withdrawn. On Mondays to Saturdays buses from Marsh will run through to Ridge every 30 minutes via the Bus Station.  Vale will have a separate service to George Street running every 20 minutes. Journeys to Marsh will operate as service 9. Last buses to Marsh at 1855 and Vale at 1820

10  Lancaster - Ridge

Evening and Sunday journeys withdrawn. On Mondays to Saturdays buses from Ridge will run through to Marsh on service 9  via the Bus Station every 30 minutes. Last bus from Bus Station to Ridge at 1928

42  Lancaster - Blackpool

The evening journeys operated by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire will be withdrawn.  The situation over the Sunday service (which is subsidised during the winter) is unclear.
UPDATE: Stagecoach has confirmed that the Sunday service will continue during the winter months but that the last journey of the day in each direction will be withdrawn

33  Morecambe - Bare (Circular)

Service withdrawn

49  Lancaster - Halton

Off-peak journeys will be extended to Warton via the Kellets and Carnforth, replacing service 51.

Evening journeys on service 81 that run via Halton are withdrawn but Halton will keep a service on 49 up to 1900 hrs.  Sunday service is, however, withdrawn.

51  Lancaster - Carnforth - Silverdale.

This service is withdrawn. It is replaced between Lancaster and Warton by revised service 49 (see above), but there will be no service beyond Warton. Evening and Sunday service is withdrawn.

55  Lancaster - Carnforth

Late evening journeys operated by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire are withdrawn. Daytime journeys will run to a new timetable. Last Bus from Lancaster at 2200 and Carnforth at 2223

80  Lancaster - Ingleton

The 0655 from Ingleton to Lancaster will start at Hornby at 0741. There will be other changes to the timetable but a basic two-hourly daytime service will continue. Buses will return from Lancaster at 1015, 1215, 1415, 1525 (Hornby only) and 1715 (Not Saturdays)

81  Lancaster - Kirkby Lonsdale

Buses will run every two hours via Hornby, Melling and Tunstall (i.e. not serving Wray or Wennington, which are served by service 80). The only buses via Gressingham and Whittington will be those serving QE School in Kirkby Lonsdale.

There will be no evening or Sunday service. Last bus from Lancaster will be at 1730 and from Kirkby Lonsdale at 1715.

89  Lancaster - Knott End on Sea

Service withdrawn

The above changes have now been registered with the Traffic Commissioner to take effect on Sunday, 3rd April 2016.  We will make full timetables available on this site as soon as we receive them.

The Bus Users' Group will continue to press the County Council to make some funding available to maintain a service to those areas where all buses are to be withdrawn. The budget cuts are due to be approved by the full Council on 11 February but it has already announced that a cross-party Working Party will be set up to decide how best to spend the £2M per annum remaining funding that was initially allocated to support volunteer-led bus services under the Parish Bus Scheme.

Lancaster Bus Users' Group will put proposals to the Working Party in favour of maintaining a reduced conventional bus service instead of relying on volunteers.  The Group is also keen to work with parish councils or other interested parties to see if funding can be found to add to a basic service level or indeed to provide one, should the county council decide not to do so.

Bus Users Ask the County to Reconsider its Plans

The Bus Users' Group, whilst recognising the financial difficulties the County Council finds itself in, feels that the council does not plan to spend its remaining public transport  money wisely.

After April 2016 the Council intends to stop funding all subsidised bus services and to use what little funding it has to provide minibuses to parish councils that volunteers would drive on locally-organised routes.  Unsurprisingly, the Bus Users' Group has detected a complete lack of enthusiasm amongst parish councils or anyone else for this approach.

Therefore the Group has sent the following letter to the Cabinet Member for Transport at the Council asking that the planned "Parish Bus Scheme", which no parishes appear to want, be scrapped in favour of the county council working together with parish councils and others to maintain at least a basic bus service throughout Lancashire by means set out in the letter.

If you agree with the views expressed in the letter you may wish to tell your local county councillor

(addresses here on this link)  and perhaps send him or her a link to this post.

LANCASTER DISTRICT BUS USERS’ GROUP

Please reply to

98 Dorrington Road

LANCASTER

LA1 4TD

County Councillor J Fillis                                              lancasterbususers@gmail.com          

77 Southport Road                                                                                                                 

ORMSKIRK                                                                                                                            25^th January 2016

Lancs

L39 1LW

Dear Councillor Fillis,

BUS SUBSIDIES AND PARISH BUS SCHEME

Lancaster District Bus Users’ Group understands the reasons behind the reductions to the County Council’s budget and accepts that bus services must take their share of the cuts. We feel however that the proposed total withdrawal of all subsidies and their replacement by a “Parish Bus Scheme” that will rely heavily on volunteers for all aspects of its operation is not the way forward and does not represent best value for money.

Even were it to be successful the Scheme would lead only to a fragmented series of unrelated local services each with an uncertain future and with a lack of co-ordination between them or with commercial services and carrying far fewer passengers than the current subsidised routes.

We feel that the money allocated to the proposed scheme could be better spent elsewhere. In recent years Lancashire’s rural and suburban areas have enjoyed a generous level of bus service provision; in many cases the best services that some communities have ever enjoyed. There would therefore appear to be scope to reduce service levels, even quite drastically, and still maintain a basic level of provision. Your current proposals do not do this and will lead, in a number of instances, to communities moving from a seven-day-a-week, 07.00 to 23.00 hrs service to no buses whatsoever.

We would ask you to consider utilising the £2M that we understand is set aside for the Parish Bus Scheme in one of two different ways:

To maintain a basic level of service provision during the working week (excluding  evenings and Sundays) particularly on routes where communities would otherwise be more than two kilometres from an alternative service, the actual service level being the best that could be obtained for the money available. Parish Councils, or other interested groups could be invited to provide funding to enhance such services where they wished to do so.

Alternatively:  To encourage Parish Councils and others to procure their own services from commercial bus operators and to utilise the county’s remaining funding to match the parish expenditure by way of grants.

Our discussions with Parish Councils in the Lancaster District have uncovered no enthusiasm for the Parish Bus Scheme as proposed and we believe this is likely to be the case elsewhere. In any case, with subsidised services due to end on 2 April it is extremely unlikely that any new schemes could be put into effect in time to avoid a gap in provision. We would therefore ask you again to reconsider.

Please note that although this letter has been sent as “hard copy” I would be happy to receive your reply by email to the address above should that be more convenient.

Yours Sincerely,

Jim Davies

Chair