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.