Stagecoach Pulls Out of Mossgate Park

 

Service 1A negotiating one of offending speed humps in Mossgate Park

Stagecoach buses will be withdrawn from Mossgate Park in Heysham with effect from Sunday 29th May in what is described as a "temporary"measure due to the condition of the road and the speed humps that are apparently damaging the buses.

Introduced in 2018, following a network review to which the Bus Users' Group was invited to contribute, services 1 and 1A were diverted away from their previous terminus at Combermere Road to serve the large residential area lying just to the east of Heysham Road.

It is fair to say that in the early days of the services there was a significant amount of opposition to it from car-owning residents, but this soon abated and it is believed that it is the poor condition of the road and particularly the speed humps that have now caused Stagecoach to withdraw the service.

Crucially, parts of Mossgate Way have not yet been adopted by Lancashire County Council for maintenance purposes and therefore the responsibility for this lies with the developers who built the road. Stagecoach say that they will reintroduce the service once the defective roads have been repaired, but in the meantime services 1 / 1A will run from Kingsway via Moss Gate Lane to Heysham Road and then Heysham Towers.

Meanwhile in Higher Heysham

This is not the only "temporary" diversion in Heysham at present. Services 2X and 5 were diverted away from Heathfoot Avenue and Smithy Lane in February 2021 because Stagecoach said that the roads were "worn out" and casing damage to buses.

Despite protests from the Bus Users' Group, Lancashire County Council declared that it was a "low priority" for repair. However, the work has eventually been done and the latest timetable for service 5, published online and in the Carnforth Area Guide booklet dated "May 2022" shows the service running via Heathfoot Avenue. The 2X timetable however, has not been changed yet and the BUG understands that both services are continuing to run via Heysham Road but with a return to their proper route being promised "soon".

Dales Bus Services Start This Weekend

 

The summer Sunday Dales Bus network returns for the 2022 season this Sunday, 15th May. 

This year two services will run from Lancaster:

The Northern Dales Bus, service 830, starts from Preston and runs via the M6 to Lancaster University, then all stops to Lancaster Bus Station and then Caton, Hornby, Wray, Bentham, Ingleton, Ribblehead, Hawes, Buttertubs Pass and Swaledale to Richmond.  The timetable is HERE

The Malham Dales Bus, service 881, starts at Lancaster bus station and follows the same route to Ingleton, then via Clapham and Austwick to Settle, Langcliffe, Malham Tarn and Malham village. The timetable is HERE

Of course, as we explained in a recent post, bus services in the northern extremeties of Lancashire are a state secret, so you won't find these timetables on the operator's website or, with the exception of the excellent Dales Bus website, anywhere else online, and certainly not on Traveline or Google Maps/Transit or the sites of Lancashire and North Yorkshire County Councils.  The timetables are, however, available in printed leaflet form from the Visitor Information Centres and libraries in Lancaster and Morecambe.

No Sunday Buses to Skipton

Contrary to previous reports, the extension of services 81 and 82 on Sundays and Public Holidays to Settle and Skipton will not take place this year, due to a shortage of funding and difficulties in finding available drivers.

All these services offer the opportunity of a excellent day out in areas of the country not normally accessible by bus and come highly recommended.  Unfortunately, due to the regressive - and possibly illegal -  policies of the County Councils, the English National Concessionary Bus Pass can't be used on them (the Sunday extensions of the 81 and 82 to Skipton excepted) but fares are very reasonable with a Day Ticket for the entire Dales Bus network (click HERE for a Map) costing just £10 and only £5 for Bus Pass (NoW Card) holders.