New Round of County Council Cuts Threatens Carnforth and Morecambe Information Centres

Carnforth railway station

Even before an additional £1M of spending on bus services has come into effect Lancashire County Council has announced cuts to funding for bus and train information centres across the county.

As part of a round of spending reductions totalling £7M per annum Lancashire proposes to close the bus station enquiry offices at Preston and Nelson as well as the ticket offices at Clitheroe and Carnforth railway stations. Funding for staff who deal with transport and tourism enquiries at Morecambe Visitor Information Centre is also to be withdrawn in a bid to save £198,000 over the next two years.

Cabinet Report

A report due to be considered by the Council's cabinet on Thursday 7th December admits that the service provided by the centres is "popular" and that the public would no longer have access to public transport information or, in the case of Clitheroe and Carnforth railway stations, the ability to purchase tickets. The council-owned property at Clitheroe would become "surplus to requirements" whereas the Nelson office would be left vacant and would "still incur costs until disposed of (or) leased" The report admits that disposals may be "difficult to achieve" given the localtions and that the council would therefore still incur maintenance costs for the empty and unused properties.

The Carnforth office provides a rail ticket booking facility for staff travelling on council business and the loss of this service "will have an impact on business support services and possibly greater costs to service budgets".

Lancaster's bus station enquiry office survives only because it is operated by Stagecoach although that means it  only provides information on that company's services.

It was only following the election in May this year that the ruling Consrervative party increased the funding for non-commercial bus services by 50% to a new total of £3M per annum, achieved by re-directing funding from the aborted Parish Bus Scheme. It now proposes to save at most £198,000 and possibly much less than that by removing the ability of the travelling public to find out about the new bus services it is paying for as well as those provided at no cost to the council by commercial bus operators.

Consultation?

The Report also admits that "(The) Proposal may make travel by public transport more difficult for older people and for people with disabilities because other sources of information and tickets are less understandable. Older and disabled people are less likely to use digital alternatives to obtain travel information or tickets".  Therefore "The proposal may be updated following consultation".  The BUG will be looking out for the promised "consultation" and hopes that as many people as possible make their views known to Lancashire.

Lune Valley Improvements Delayed

No improvement yet for services to Kirkby Lonsdale

Lancashire County Council has published new timetables for its contracted bus services that will apply from 11 December, following the injection of an extra £1M per annum into the bus service support budget. There are a large number of improvements to services throughout the county, particularly in the Ribble Valley, Fylde and West Lancashire Districts. Lancaster, however, doesn't fare so well. 

The only improvement of note is the introduction, following a request from the Bus Users Group, of early evening journeys on service 51 between Carnforth and Silverdale (with connections to/from Lancaster). On Mondays to Fridays an extra journey will depart Carnforth at 1909 running through to Holgates Caravan Park at Silverdale for 1944. There will be a return journey (operated outside the contract by Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire) at 1945 arriving back in Carnforth at 2028.

On Saturdays there will be an extra bus from Carnforth to Silverdale at 1901 arriving at 1940, whilst in the return direction the present 1805 (retimed to 1817) and 1940 from Holgates Caravan Park to Silverdale Railway Station will run through to Carnforth.

Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire will utilise the bus arriving at Carnforth at 2028 each evening to operate new service 490, which follows the route of Stagecoach service 49, with a bus leaving Carnforth at 2028 via The Kellets and Halton to arrive Lancaster at 2110.  This journey will be operated free of charge to begin with until the service registration takes effect.

There is, however, no sign of the promised improvement to services in the Lune Valley between Lancaster and Kirkby Lonsdale and in particular for the villages of Arkholme, Gressingham and Whittington left almost busless by the April 2016 cuts.

The county council says only that "talks are continuing with commercial bus operators to provide a sustainable option to develop a daytime service link" to the affected villages. and whilst the council is known to have approached at least two local operators for proposals the mprovements to the service are not now expected until at least February 2018.  

Lancashire County Council's budget for bus service support is now £3M per annum compared with over £7M in 2015/16.

The county's leaflet explaining the changes from 11 December can be seen via this link  and the new timetables are on the Local Bus Maps and Timetables page of this website.

Stagecoach Win Silver at UK Bus Awards

Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancs was this week awarded a "Silver" at the prestigious UK Bus Awards  in what is described as a "glittering" ceremony in London's Docklands. The award, for "Sustained Marketing Excellence", was won for the company's marketing of sevice 555 which links Lancaster to Kendal and the Lake District.

Here's what the judges had to say:

Winner, Silver Award

'Lakes Connection' 555 service - Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire

"The Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire 555 service operates between Lancaster and Keswick, through the Lake District Park National Park, serving key destinations such as Kendal, Windermere, Ambleside and Grasmere. Tourism in the Lakes presents a drastic change in population during the summer months. This requires the marketing of the advantages of the service to those in the local area, bringing people in from Lancaster and Keswick, but also to stand out and attract those unfamiliar with the area who may be visiting for the day or weekend. Sustained, consistent and clear marketing of the service is a necessity to its success, as its route, frequency, cost and experience need to be communicated to a new audience each and every season. All social media platforms are used to promote the service, as well as more conventional leaflets and roadside publicity. The launch of 12 new vehicles in July last year was an opportunity taken to fully utilise the bus to promote the 555 service through eye catching branding and Stagecoach is continually looking for new ways to promote the service to encourage the public to leave the car at home or holiday accommodation."

In what they described as a well written, model entry, the judges thought this was an example of best practice for an inter-urban bus route. Sustained investment and marketing with plans for future development should secure a future for this service."

Stagecoach nationally won nine awards, five silver and four bronze  although the smaller Go-Ahead Group, which runs buses on Tyneside, East Anglia and the south of England won no fewer that 12, including six golds.