Substantive bus service withdrawals post-Covid

[TheGrandWazoo]

One I had forgotten but a comment from @TheGrandWazoo on another thread reminded me - the Arriva 86 hourly from Bishop Auckland to Toft Hill. This was an hourly service which interworked with the 56 I think and was withdrawn recently. Replaced, no doubt at Durham's expense, by PCL Travel with the 87, remaining hourly. A few miles of rural territory with no other bus route on it.

Bit of a weird one...

Arriva are still showing the 86 with a new timetable as from 10th April 2022 until July (there's a Saturday service too). Yet it doesn't appear on bus times whereas PCL (aka Rural Link does) but as an 87 with journeys at exactly the same times except with additional journeys at 1626 and 1856 and 1956 ex Toft Hill. The Arriva service doesn't appear on Bus Times except for the Trimdon to Bishop college journey

Arriva Bus

www.arrivabus.co.uk

 

[Typhoon]

Stagecoach are trimming their East Kent network.

Three casualties that may be contenders.

They are pulling the X4 which leaves Ospringe unserved and cutting the 3 back to leave Oare unserved. Both places were previously on Arriva's long standing 333 which was axed a few years ago.

Also route 7 between Herne Bay and Canterbury the long way round but serving villages such as Hoath and Broad Oak (with its mobile home park). An odd frequency - largely hourly until 2pm then 1 or 2 late afternoon/ early evening journeys (presumably to accommodate school journeys). The sections at the Herne Bay and Canterbury end are covered by other routes. This route is another which has been around for ages. Although the text states 'will no longer be operated by Stagecoach', Kent County Council is cutting back on its subsidised routes so I wouldn't be looking for a white knight to come from that direction.

 

[RELL6L]

Bit of a weird one...

Arriva are still showing the 86 with a new timetable as from 10th April 2022 until July (there's a Saturday service too). Yet it doesn't appear on bus times whereas PCL (aka Rural Link does) but as an 87 with journeys at exactly the same times except with additional journeys at 1626 and 1856 and 1956 ex Toft Hill. The Arriva service doesn't appear on Bus Times except for the Trimdon to Bishop college journey

Arriva Bus

www.arrivabus.co.uk

View attachment 113337

Most odd. Arriva must be wrong, surely. Durham County Council website - which is good and up to date but never says anything about changes - shows just the school journeys for the 86 and shows PCL Travel for the 87.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Most odd. Arriva must be wrong, surely. Durham County Council website - which is good and up to date but never says anything about changes - shows just the school journeys for the 86 and shows PCL Travel for the 87.

It's distinctly odd. Especially with the dates on the Arriva timetable so it's not (outwardly) one that is a hangover and hasn't been taken down.

 

[plebb11]

Grant Palmer are withdrawing Luton town services 3 and 35 in June.

Service 3 and 35 withdrawal | Grant Palmer

www.grantpalmer.com

 

[A0]

Grant Palmer are withdrawing Luton town services 3 and 35 in June.

Service 3 and 35 withdrawal | Grant Palmer

www.grantpalmer.com

Debateable if these are "substantive" which is the title of the thread. Just to recap @RELL6L's original post stated " I am not talking about the loss of irregular / infrequent routes, nor where there are largely alternative parallel routes, nor urban routes"

Both of these are urban routes (only run within Luton).

The 35 heads along New Bedford Road which does get other buses.

Parts of the 3 are covered by route like the 321 running on the same roads or close by.

And in the case of the 3 it's largely running in a radius of less than a mile from the town centre.

 

[RELL6L]

Debateable if these are "substantive" which is the title of the thread. Just to recap @RELL6L's original post stated " I am not talking about the loss of irregular / infrequent routes, nor where there are largely alternative parallel routes, nor urban routes"

Both of these are urban routes (only run within Luton).

The 35 heads along New Bedford Road which does get other buses.

Parts of the 3 are covered by route like the 321 running on the same roads or close by.

And in the case of the 3 it's largely running in a radius of less than a mile from the town centre.

I do agree I would not have included this but if this thread becomes a forum for posting any imminent withdrawals that people might not otherwise hear about then I shall not be annoyed if they are posted here!

 

[NorthernSpirit]

Big cuts in Worcester. 31 and 37 withdrawn entirely, 44 reduced again from x20 to x30, plus the 144.

I thought the 31 had already been axed and replaced by the 31A unless that has become the 31 again? Either way I wonder if the 30 to Dines Green will replace the 31 in part.

 

[Martin1988]

D&G have also cut other services in this area:

• Saturday journeys on route 94 Congleton-Biddulph-Newcastle
• Sunday journeys on route 85 Crewe-Madeley-Newcastle
• Sunday journeys on Macclesfield town circular route 5

My understanding is that the sunday journeys on the 5 were withdrawn at the same time as the 38 due to the fact the same vehicle worked both service.

The Sunday journeys on the 85 only went very recently so presumably something must have influenced D&G to retain these journeys whilst those on the 5 and 38 were seemingly withdrawn temporarily in March 2020 only to never return.

 

[station_road]

...those on the 5 and 38 were seemingly withdrawn temporarily in March 2020 only to never return.

Along with Sunday services on route 8 in Crewe

 

[johncrossley]

Can operators unilaterally change services at the moment? I thought that Covid support meant that the operators have to agree service levels with the council. There was a post on here a while back from a council officer who explained how it works.

 

[Dai Corner]

Can operators unilaterally change services at the moment? I thought that Covid support meant that the operators have to agree service levels with the council. There was a post on here a while back from a council officer who explained how it works.

Yes they can.

For example, First withdrew a number of commercial services in Weston-super-Mare recently. The Council went out to tender for replacements and Stagecoach will be operating them. They didn't have to, of course.

 

[Man of Kent]

Can operators unilaterally change services at the moment? I thought that Covid support meant that the operators have to agree service levels with the council. There was a post on here a while back from a council officer who explained how it works.

They require the assent of the local transport authority to do so, and may have to provide data to justify their decision. But as passenger numbers seem to have stalled at 80% of pre-Covid, local authorities cannot force operators to run loss making services. Unless they provide subsidy, routes will be reduced and withdrawn. At present Bus Recovery Grant may be withheld if less than 90% of mileage is operated, but this falls to 80% in July.

 

[Dai Corner]

They require the assent of the local transport authority to do so, and may have to provide data to justify their decision. But as passenger numbers seem to have stalled at 80% of pre-Covid, local authorities cannot force operators to run loss making services. Unless they provide subsidy, routes will be reduced and withdrawn. At present Bus Recovery Grant may be withheld if less than 90% of mileage is operated, but this falls to 80% in July.

I sit corrected. Thanks.

 

[RELL6L]

It looks like we should add:
Arriva 738/740 Ludlow to Knighton, 4 times a day, reprieved temporarily by Shropshire (reported in Buses)
Stagecoach South East 7 Canterbury yo Herne Bay via Hoath, waiting to see.

 

[Markdvdman]

I forgot the Merthyr to Swansea direct bus taken over by Stagecoach the X75 has bitten the dust. Stagecoach say due to low patronage, and no drivers. I blame the dreadful timetable myself!

 

[PTR 444]

Just discovered this afternoon that Morebus in Bournemouth & Poole will be withdrawing their much-loved Wimborne Flyer route once again.

Route and Timetable Changes from Saturday 28th May

Our summer timetables will be introduced from Saturday 28th May to accommodate for the busy and sunny season ahead...

www.morebus.co.uk

There will be significant changes to routes 3 & 4 as we reflect the new levels of demand and reduce our costs of operation. Route 3 will run up to every 30 minutes at off-peak times, following the current 4 route from Poole to Broadstone where it will then run via Corfe Mullen to Wimborne. There will also still be two service 4s each hour running to Wimborne, via Merley. This means that there will still be a bus every 15 minutes off-peak via the current service 4 route between Poole and Broadstone, although there will no longer be any short 4s or any buses via the Broadstone Way.

At peak times, there will still be some faster journeys provided by new route 3X. This will go via Holes Bay Road, Willis Way, Fleetsbridge roundabout, Darbys Corner and Lower Blandford Road to Broadstone, then to Corfe Mullen and Wimborne. Meanwhile on the service 4 route at peak times there will be three buses per hour. Two of these each hour will continue to Merley and Wimborne while the other one will be a short 4 terminating at Broadstone.

Evening and Sunday services will not be changing, except that the Corfe Mullen journeys will use service number 3 rather than 4.

Sadly, the covid pandemic has accelerated the decline of Poole town centre as a destination for people, with a significant number of our customers travelling less to go shopping or working in retail. Prior to the pandemic, fewer people were using our network of routes within Poole due to changing travel habits. Like all businesses we need to act to match supply with the new levels of passenger demand whilst continuing to offer our high levels of service and value for money.

I remember the last time when the axe was welded on this route exactly ten years ago. Wimborne locals were outraged and demanded their fast bus to Poole back, so Morebus responded and reinstated the service on a Mon-Sat with journeys going via Corfe Mullen only (previously journeys alternated between CM and Merley while it also ran on Sundays). Even with Morebus claiming that Covid has led to reduced demand for people going to Poole, this has not eliminated the need for people to go to school, visit the hospital or connect with the train. The new peak-only 3x route will be nowhere near as fast as the existing 3 and I expect there will be similar uproar from locals this time round.

 

[Typhoon]

First 144 (Birmingham to Worcester) to become Worcester to Catshill from Arpil 24th. Follows 146 (Birmingham to Reddtich), that went at start of COVID I think. Ends long standing service from Birmingham to Worcester, Droitwitch, Bromsgrove. (Local 63 NX service continues to run on Bristol Rd as far as Rubery only in the urban area).

Better news - at least for now

From Tuesday 3rd May 2022, we will be running a new 144A service between Bromsgrove, Catshill, Rubery and Longbridge to replace the partially withdrawn First bus service.

The new service means customers can make connections into Birmingham on the 63 or the rail cross-city line from Longbridge rail station. The service will initially run up to every 70 minutes whilst we fully integrate it into our network and work with Worcestershire County Council on plans to operate a more frequent service.

Customers can buy any of our low-cost tickets and passes to use on the 144A service, including our £4 Adult Day Saver for unlimited travel all day anywhere on our services.

Timetable at
https://nxbus.co.uk/media/7921/144a-timetable.pdf
No Sunday service but not bad provision - first bus from Bromsgrove 07:15, last 19:20

Quote frpm https://nxbus.co.uk/west-midlands/service-updates/new-144a-service-from-tuesday-3rd-may-2022

 

[InOban]

The Scotsman is reporting today that the Scottish Bus operators are warning the Scottish Government that the ending of continuing support, expected at the end of July, will result in a substantial culling of routes and services and/or a significant rise in fares. Numbers are still 25 % down.

 

[daodao]

Centrebus 19

Melton Mowbray to Nottingham, two hourly

Appears doomed

Centrebus (Midlands) route 19 has now gone, although it is still listed incorrectly on bustimes.org - it is an example of a bus route paralleling/replacing a former main line railway which has now completely disappeared. It might be worth compiling (in a separate thread) a list of former (now closed) rail routes for which no substitute bus services now operate on a regular basis (defined as at least 1 journey per day, Mon-Fri).

 

[DunsBus]

The Scotsman is reporting today that the Scottish Bus operators are warning the Scottish Government that the ending of continuing support, expected at the end of July, will result in a substantial culling of routes and services and/or a significant rise in fares. Numbers are still 25 % down.

Yes, I read that. WCM (owners of Borders Buses) have warned of very drastic cuts to come if the funding isn't continued beyond July. I can actually see them giving up on the Borders in order to focus on their core operations in the west - even if Covid hadn't happened, they've found out why First gave up on the area back in 2017. Rural buses simply don't pay.

 

[kijeta]

The loss of many Sunday bus services in rural Monmouthshire would surely meet the OP's criteria, such as:

• 60 Newport-Monmouth
• 69 Chepstow-Monmouth
• 74 Newport-Chepstow
• 83 Abergavenny-Monmouth

As a Monmouth resident, the cutdown of these three routes are such an unwelcome change for me. Really do hope that they revert (to whatever extent) back to the pre-covid timetables.

 

[RELL6L]

I have updated my original list from post #1 on this thread with various things that have happened to date.
To be clear:
1) evening / Sunday reductions don't count
2) Urban / reasonably urban services don't count
3) Withdrawals where reasonable alternatives exist, even if less frequent, don't count
These are so the list won't be too long, recognising of course that these are all subjective.

The below includes proposals from Diamond Bus (and I recognise perhaps I am being arbitrary including the 15 and 35 but not the 8 or 67, Stagecoach Devon as reported over the weekend, but not Go North East's proposals at the moment for the simple reason that I am not sufficiently familiar with the area to work out what would count as a substantive withdrawal and what would not. I might try and get to do this in due course, hopefully Durham and Nexus are covering some of the proposals.

It is not a pretty picture!

Operator & route	Between	Outcome	Funded
Go Cornwall 11	Liskeard to Bodmin Parkway, hourly	Reprieved, mostly hourly, temporary. Through route to Bodmin town, Wadebridge and Padstow lost but still connections
Stagecoach South West 92	Totnes to Dartmouth, roughly two hourly	Reprieved, similar timetable	Devon
Stagecoach West 32,132	Newent to Ross & Ledbury, each two hourly	Withdrawn except school journeys to Ross. Gloucester to Newent remains
Stagecoach South East 7	Aldershot to Reading, hourly	Withdrawn. Some remains Aldershot to Fleet and Hartley Wintney, Reading Buses have covered Reading to Riseley, both much reduced
Arriva Kent 308	Gravesend to Sevenoaks, every 90 minutes	Reprieved, operated by Redroute to same times	Kent
Arriva Kent 155	Chatham to Maidstone, hourly through service	Still runs Chatham to Borstal, rest cut back to school journeys, very occasional shopper bus
Metroline 84	Barnet to St Albans via Potters Bar, 30 minutes	Reprieved between Potters Bar and St Albans by Sullivan, withdrawn to Barnet	Hertfordshire
Stagecoach Oxford 200	Banbury to Daventry hourly	Reprieved temporarily	Oxfordshire & Northamptonshire
Stagecoach East 41	Bedford to Northampton, currently 90 minutes	Still running every 90 minutes
Centrebus 19	Melton Mowbray to Nottingham, two hourly	Withdrawn
Travel Wright	All services ceased, not sure if anything was commercial or substantive.	Some been taken over. 367 Newark to Collingham and beyond remains, Gem Mini Travel. Some lost?
Hulley X57	Snake Pass, Ladybower to Glossop, two hourly	Withdrawn. Maybe a special case as introduction was so recent.
Arriva Midlands North 9	Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth, hourly	Temporary reprieve, unchanged	Shropshire
Arriva Midlands North 544/546	Shrewsbury to Little Lythe / Pulverbatch, combined hourly	Temporary reprieve, unchanged	Shropshire
Arriva Midlands N 738/740	Knighton to Ludlow, 4 times a day	Reprieved temporarily	Shropshire
Arriva North East 86	Bishop Auckland to Toft Hill, hourly	Replaced by Rural Link 87	Durham
Stagecoach Worcester 144	Bromsgrove to Longbridge (& Birmingham), hourly	Temporary NXWM service 144a every 70 minutes	Worcestershire
East Yorkshire 45	Market Weighton to Driffield, two hourly	Token service, mostly withdrawn, through links to day trip in Bridlington lost.	E Yorkshire
East Yorkshire 55	Elloughton to Gilberdyke, hourly	Retained off peak, all peak service to Hull withdrawn	E Yorkshire
Stagecoach N Lancs 80,81	Lancaster to Kirkby Lonsdale and Ingleton, hourly combined	Reprieved within Lancashire by K Lonsdale Coach Hire in different format, token replacement in Yorkshire	Lancashire
Stagecoach East Kent 7	Canterbury to Herne Bay via Hoath, hourly	Withdrawn between Canterbury and Hillborough (Herne Bay)
Diamond 15	Tamworth to Hurley, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Diamond X20	Solihull to Stratford, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Diamond 35	Walsall to Lichfield, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Diamond 52	Redditch to Kidderminster, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Diamond 247	Redditch to Evesham via Alcester, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Stagecoach Devon 4	Cranbrook to Axminster, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Stagecoach Devon 9A	Seaton to Lyme Regis, hourly	Proposed to withdraw

 

[Typhoon]

To be strictly accurate Stagecoach East Kent 7 has not been withdrawn, just cut back (a lot) so it is now only a local circuitous service covering the previous Bay element - station to Hillborough, then to Sainsburys. Services to the villages and between them and Canterbury have been lost.
The section that is left may survive as they are building an awful lot of houses in/ near Hillborough.

 

[RELL6L]

To be strictly accurate Stagecoach East Kent 7 has not been withdrawn, just cut back (a lot) so it is now only a local circuitous service covering the previous Bay element - station to Hillborough, then to Sainsburys. Services to the villages and between them and Canterbury have been lost.
The section that is left may survive as they are building an awful lot of houses in/ near Hillborough.

Fair enough, I have amended the table slightly. Also removed Stagecoach Devon 5A/5B as it appears (from the Stagecoach South West thread) that they are not being withdrawn. I think they are (largely) supported anyway. The 4 remains a substantial loss and it would be much more efficient to extend that to Ottery St Mary (as a minimum) - ideally Honiton and Axminster) rather than replace with a new service from another operator. Hopefully Devon are shaking their piggy bank....

 

[Typhoon]

Fair enough, I have amended the table slightly. Also removed Stagecoach Devon 5A/5B as it appears (from the Stagecoach South West thread) that they are not being withdrawn. I think they are (largely) supported anyway. The 4 remains a substantial loss and it would be much more efficient to extend that to Ottery St Mary (as a minimum) - ideally Honiton and Axminster) rather than replace with a new service from another operator. Hopefully Devon are shaking their piggy bank....

Your description - dead on. No sign of the white knight I didn't expect in #62.
Memo to mods (and others), I wouldn't be too keen on closing this thread just yet. Kent County Council (KCC) is consulting on a whole swathe of cuts.
https://ehq-production-europe.s3.eu...00e83a21725ae71458be1bb7db1ec5dca5ded954600fb

While some may be retained (maybe in a modified form or operated less frequently), the need to cut £2.2m from the public transport budget means that some will definitely go. (It should be noted that some of these operate without subsidy at other times). Two of the expected casualties are initiatives introduced a couple of years ago to improve public transport, including to give a Mon - Fri service to areas which only had a shoppers service; not only are they very vulnerable but so are the shoppers services who they drew passengers away from. To prevent the list becoming unmanageable I would suggest hanging on until the matter is resolved.
Others may know better than me about these.

 

[Man of Kent]

I would suggest hanging on until the matter is resolved.

Indeed so. Network Reviews for all English Local Transport Authorities need to be submitted to the DfT by the end of the week, after which some of the details should become public. Liverpool City Region has already published its proposals https://lcrbusreview.commonplace.is/ while Nexus has stepped in to plug some of the gaps proposed by Go North East. This thread is likely to be busy until October!

 

[Lynford1976]

I have updated my original list from post #1 on this thread with various things that have happened to date.
To be clear:
1) evening / Sunday reductions don't count
2) Urban / reasonably urban services don't count
3) Withdrawals where reasonable alternatives exist, even if less frequent, don't count
These are so the list won't be too long, recognising of course that these are all subjective.

The below includes proposals from Diamond Bus (and I recognise perhaps I am being arbitrary including the 15 and 35 but not the 8 or 67, Stagecoach Devon as reported over the weekend, but not Go North East's proposals at the moment for the simple reason that I am not sufficiently familiar with the area to work out what would count as a substantive withdrawal and what would not. I might try and get to do this in due course, hopefully Durham and Nexus are covering some of the proposals.

It is not a pretty picture!

Operator & route	Between	Outcome	Funded
Go Cornwall 11	Liskeard to Bodmin Parkway, hourly	Reprieved, mostly hourly, temporary. Through route to Bodmin town, Wadebridge and Padstow lost but still connections
Stagecoach South West 92	Totnes to Dartmouth, roughly two hourly	Reprieved, similar timetable	Devon
Stagecoach West 32,132	Newent to Ross & Ledbury, each two hourly	Withdrawn except school journeys to Ross. Gloucester to Newent remains
Stagecoach South East 7	Aldershot to Reading, hourly	Withdrawn. Some remains Aldershot to Fleet and Hartley Wintney, Reading Buses have covered Reading to Riseley, both much reduced
Arriva Kent 308	Gravesend to Sevenoaks, every 90 minutes	Reprieved, operated by Redroute to same times	Kent
Arriva Kent 155	Chatham to Maidstone, hourly through service	Still runs Chatham to Borstal, rest cut back to school journeys, very occasional shopper bus
Metroline 84	Barnet to St Albans via Potters Bar, 30 minutes	Reprieved between Potters Bar and St Albans by Sullivan, withdrawn to Barnet	Hertfordshire
Stagecoach Oxford 200	Banbury to Daventry hourly	Reprieved temporarily	Oxfordshire & Northamptonshire
Stagecoach East 41	Bedford to Northampton, currently 90 minutes	Still running every 90 minutes
Centrebus 19	Melton Mowbray to Nottingham, two hourly	Withdrawn
Travel Wright	All services ceased, not sure if anything was commercial or substantive.	Some been taken over. 367 Newark to Collingham and beyond remains, Gem Mini Travel. Some lost?
Hulley X57	Snake Pass, Ladybower to Glossop, two hourly	Withdrawn. Maybe a special case as introduction was so recent.
Arriva Midlands North 9	Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth, hourly	Temporary reprieve, unchanged	Shropshire
Arriva Midlands North 544/546	Shrewsbury to Little Lythe / Pulverbatch, combined hourly	Temporary reprieve, unchanged	Shropshire
Arriva Midlands N 738/740	Knighton to Ludlow, 4 times a day	Reprieved temporarily	Shropshire
Arriva North East 86	Bishop Auckland to Toft Hill, hourly	Replaced by Rural Link 87	Durham
Stagecoach Worcester 144	Bromsgrove to Longbridge (& Birmingham), hourly	Temporary NXWM service 144a every 70 minutes	Worcestershire
East Yorkshire 45	Market Weighton to Driffield, two hourly	Token service, mostly withdrawn, through links to day trip in Bridlington lost.	E Yorkshire
East Yorkshire 55	Elloughton to Gilberdyke, hourly	Retained off peak, all peak service to Hull withdrawn	E Yorkshire
Stagecoach N Lancs 80,81	Lancaster to Kirkby Lonsdale and Ingleton, hourly combined	Reprieved within Lancashire by K Lonsdale Coach Hire in different format, token replacement in Yorkshire	Lancashire
Stagecoach East Kent 7	Canterbury to Herne Bay via Hoath, hourly	Withdrawn between Canterbury and Hillborough (Herne Bay)
Diamond 15	Tamworth to Hurley, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Diamond X20	Solihull to Stratford, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Diamond 35	Walsall to Lichfield, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Diamond 52	Redditch to Kidderminster, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Diamond 247	Redditch to Evesham via Alcester, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Stagecoach Devon 4	Cranbrook to Axminster, hourly	Proposed to withdraw
Stagecoach Devon 9A	Seaton to Lyme Regis, hourly	Proposed to withdraw

"Stagecoach South East 7, Aldershot to Reading" should be Stagecoach South 7.

Stagecoach South East is the former East Kent.

 

[DunsBus]

Stagecoach West Scotland service 101/102 between Edinburgh and Dumfries is to cease running in mid-August. (Source: VOSA)

 

[anthony263]

Easyway services in Bridgend likely to be withdrawn completely from 31st July when the company closes down despite the public outcry many people going to left without any public transport