‘Standing room only’ bus fears (From York Press)
Get in touch: send your photos, videos, news & views by texting YORK to 80360 or send an email»
Fears it will be ‘standing room only’ on Coastliner bus service
9:38am Tuesday 1st May 2012 in News
By Mark Stead, Political Reporter
Coastliner buses in Malton on their way to York
A BUS operator’s decision to switch the route of one of its York services will leave passengers struggling to find a seat, it has been claimed.
Coastliner, which runs services between York, Leeds, Scarborough, Whitby and Bridlington, intends to alter its 844 service when its summer timetable comes into force at the start of June, saying it has not been used enough by people in the Heworth and Heworth Without areas.
Under the new route, the 844 into York will pass along Rougier Street and Piccadilly, call at Heslington Hall and then head down University Road, Lawrence Street and James Street on the way back to the city centre.
Coastliner’s 840, 843 and 845 service between the East Coast and Leeds will not be affected by the changes, and the company said the existing 844 route was an “experiment” which had now been reviewed, but Heworth Without councillor Nigel Ayre said he now planned to talk to the firm.
He said residents in the Ashley Park area as well as those on Hempland Lane and Heworth Village would see a reduced service, while people living in Algarth Road would be left without any access to buses at all.
“This is a popular service and provides a vital connection for residents in my ward to central York, York College, Tadcaster and Leeds,” he said.
“The service which will remain after the proposed changes will be less regular, and because it is coming from the East Coast, it is often full by the time it reaches Heworth.
“I will be speaking to residents in the coming days and taking the issue up with Coastline and the council.”
Coun Dave Merrett, cabinet member for city strategy, said residents on the 844 route were still close to the “main Coastliner corridor” and Heworth Without also had an hourly No11 First York service into the city centre, but Coastliner’s decision was “purely commercial” and the council had no involvement.
Coastliner’s marketing director Nigel Eggleton said: “The three-year anniversary of the 844 service’s current route gives us cause to look at how many people are using the service, and regrettably there are not enough passengers in that part of York to justify continuing the service.
“The 844 will be rerouted to serve the University of York and we are looking forward to providing students and staff there with direct links to Copmanthorpe, Tadcaster and Leeds for the first time.”
Comments(15)
hokey cokey
says...
12:41pm Tue 1 May 12
heworth.28
says...
1:24pm Tue 1 May 12
was york now rotherham
says...
1:38pm Tue 1 May 12
5 and persides them they have 2 other services running at 17.05 and 17.35 from leeds infirmary street stop G back to york on service number 743 how many more flameing routes do they want the next thing will be seeing them on yorks inner bus routes.
Marc77
says...
2:20pm Tue 1 May 12
JaseH
says...
2:28pm Tue 1 May 12
Many people rely on the Coastliner service as an affordable alternative to taxi fares. The Heslington area is already saturated with bus services so I can't see a viable business reason to add another.
Perhaps the bus companies should be reminded of their obligations to the community when it comes to agreeing the routes with the council!
greg 1
says...
4:18pm Tue 1 May 12
Stevie D
says...
5:41pm Tue 1 May 12
arglemcgee
says...
10:43pm Tue 1 May 12
JaseH wrote:See Stevie D's comment. Also, bus companies running on commercial (non-subsidised) routes do not agree their routes with the council. They are free to run services whenever and wherever they like, provided they give notice. Naturally they will put their routes where the most potential customers are located.
I really hope they have a change of heart,there are no other services on an evening or on a sunday as First bus stop their service at 7pm mon to saturday and don't run at all on a sunday!
Many people rely on the Coastliner service as an affordable alternative to taxi fares. The Heslington area is already saturated with bus services so I can't see a viable business reason to add another.
Perhaps the bus companies should be reminded of their obligations to the community when it comes to agreeing the routes with the council!
gritheworth
says...
10:02am Wed 2 May 12
Greenline
says...
3:36pm Wed 2 May 12
grammy
says...
8:55pm Thu 3 May 12
Greenline
says...
9:09pm Thu 3 May 12
Magicman!
says...
1:04am Tue 8 May 12
I agree it's a shame the service will be leaving heworth, leaving residents to languish in the abomination of First services, but the decision is purely commercial - clearly Transdev are muscling in on the University corridor and are hoping to push Firstgroup off the route. The retiming of the 844 to be just a few minutes before the 11 in Heworth was also done to try and push First off the scent - but because people either had day tickets or needed to buy day tickets due to using another First service, the customer base has never been particularly big for the Heworth end of the 844, certainly not enough to push Firstgroup out of the picture.
And as for the 11 being the worst bus service in York? Have you tried using the number 5? And by 'use' I mean using it with the ambition of it showing up less than 15 minutes late so you get your appointment or train connection on time. And as for the 11 finishing at 7pm, that's quite a luxury... here in the land of the 13, our bus service has the last citybound bus leaving monks cross just after 5pm.
daveyboy25
says...
11:40pm Fri 18 May 12
Chrido81 says...
12:20pm Tue 1 May 12
More people now use the 844 than the First York number 11 in Ashley Park area. The 844 is a welcome ans popular alternative, particularly when the number 11 is invariably late.
Having to rely solely First York again can only spell bad news for the people living on that route.