That is really baffling for myself considering the bulk of the fare paying passengers who use the service tend to use the morning peaks. A very disappointing move that will see Edge Hill students worse off. I would have also have expected an increase in students using the service due to tuition fees rising for the first time this year and hence students looking to save money by going to university closer to home. I really hope that Edge Hill provide a replacement service for university students which would see the 319 taking a big hit on the money it makes.
Despite the service reductions, nobody yet seems to have picked up on the re-introduction of some Barrow Nook and Bickerstaffe journeys. Lancashire County Council finally bowing down to requests from the operator and residents for subsidy to operate through that area?
I agree though, it'll be a great shame for Edge Hill Students of whom a fair few seem to use the 319 service whenever I get the chance to see it in a morning. My seeing it in a morning is limited though and may not be a complete and true reflection. In fact, I doubt it is as otherwise, I'm sure SLT wouldn't be looking to cut services which take a good load of fare paying students! It does seem a shame also for any who paid out for a specific Strawberry pass for the service last year (?). However, that said, I'm not sure how long those passes were valid for - this may be coincided with them running out.
It does appear to me that most of the withdrawn journeys are those currently subsidised by Merseytravel. I assume that the funding arrangement for these journeys is being withdrawn so it would no longer be commercially viable to continue operating them.
I've attached the old Strawberry version of the timetable with the withdrawn journeys crossed out (to put it into perspective) as this shows the subsidised journeys in yellow shading.
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attachment=51]
The remaining withdrawn journeys either tie in with the subsidised journeys or the school services that SLT has lost, except for one afternoon round trip. I assume this is to allow the bus to be used on school workings come the new academic year.
its a huge shame to see this happen but if they cant make the profit and merseytravel dont see the point in tendering it then this is what happens, as far as am aware now the fastest way for students that need to get to the uni before the first strawberry bus runs then have get the 352- orrell 375/385/395- ormskirk then the el1 shuttle to the uni
Given the sheer amount of time that kind of commute would take, I should imagine that Dad's taxi will be out in force! That or, depending on whether a group of students could get together to make it financially viable, they may start car pooling/grouping together for taxis.
for some reason my last post does not seem to have gone on but i agree with you on that CX54 but at the end of the day its going to cost people more just to go and study
(02/07/2012 19:55)bolton bus basher Wrote: [ -> ]for some reason my last post does not seem to have gone on but i agree with you on that CX54 but at the end of the day its going to cost people more just to go and study
I do have sympathy for anyone who may be inconvenienced, but very few students use the service - definitely nowhere near enough to make it commercially viable. The Strawberry student season tickets were withdrawn a while ago as there was no demand for them.
The entire 319 timetable from August is commercial. As with a lot of bus services, it is the case that the majority of passengers are concessionary pass holders who do not travel before 09:30. It is a case of carefully balancing the resources I have available to provide a financially sustainable level of service.
On a more positive note, a number of other services are being improved, such as the 126, 300, 634, 644 and 685 (but no-one seems to have mentioned these).
Chris.
oh trust me i was over the moon about the 126 its just most of greater manchester is like a maze to me the only town i can safly say i know well is bolton and maybe wigan since i live in st helens for the moment, i havbe always liked SLT so i do keep a close eye on the service and i try to use the buses as much as i can as i know the managers care about the public and the buses they own
Chris, I suppose the 319 has been mentioned more than the other services due to the number of members that live / travel in the St Helens area. To be perfectly honest, the current timetable is still a significant improvement on what was available when it was run by Stagecoach and you must be commended for managing to do this.
As for the other services, there are some very good improvements, although the timings on the 126 do appear a little tight! I suppose that's why the third bus is being deployed on Saturdays. One thing that gives the service more of a chance on a Sunday is it provides better provision for workers, giving people a little more time at the tail ends of the day - previous attempts have seen the first bus arrive at something like 11:50.
I'm curious about the 634 being reinstated onto The Grove. Is this down to requests from locals? Whenever I have been in that area (I used to pass through that part of Ince a lot in my last job), nobody has ever got on or off on that bit of route.
I think the 685 will have be overlooked though, given its a transfer of part of the 557 onto it. Some interesting new links though, and does reinstate a Farnworth to Tyldesley / Atherton through bus.
According to VOSA today, the 319 is changing again on 1st September. Changing over to the South Lancs licence, the registration states 2 journeys per hour Mon-Fri, so it the August change just a temporary one or will the South Lancs registration be identical to the August timetable.