Transport News Advice and Comment

Proposed Changes to the C1 Bus Service

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:11:50 +0000

At present, the C1 service runs at irregular intervals between Tesco and Tadcaster.

City of York Council and N. Yorks County Council have decided to make changes to this service, and to Service 21 which currently plies between Mount Pleasant (Acaster) and the city centre via Copmanthorpe.

The intention is to combine these services by abandoning the Bolton Percy - Tadcaster section of the C1 route and the Mount Pleasant - Copmanthorpe - Tesco section of the 21. The route would then be from Bolton Percy/Colton via Appleton Roebuck, Acaster, Bishopthorpe, Tesco , Tadcaster Rd. and South Bank to Sainsburys and Morrisons at Foss Bank.

It will be sad to lose Bishopthorpe's direct link to Tadcaster and the Coastliner Leeds service, but the small numbers using it do not justify its retention.

On the positive side, there is some hope that the service frequency will be enhanced. We shall have access to the Coastliner service at Tesco. We shall have an additional route to town, and direct bus access to Foss Bank. Villagers from outlying areas will still have public transport access to shops, etc. in Bishopthorpe.

These proposals may be amended during the tender process.

Ian

Old bus passes are no longer valid

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 07:53:20 +0000

Are you still using an old City of York Bus Pass? If so, you should obtain a National Bus Pass from the Council Offices in Exhibition Square without delay.

Since the National Bus Pass was issued in April, it has still been possible to use the old passes locally until the end of September. From 1st October, old passes are no longer valid.

Important - Nunnery Lane closures

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:54:40 +0000

Nunnery Lane will be closed for three weeks, commencing Monday next, 1st September.

Each phase will last approximately one week.

Phase One (1st-7th) - closure from Blossom St. to car park entrance.

Phase Two (8th-15th) - closure from car park entrance to Prices Lane (Nunnery Lane end).

Phase Three (16th-23rd) - closure from Prices Lane to Bishopthorpe Rd.

During Phase One, the car park will be accessible from the Bishopthorpe Rd. direction.

During Phase Two, the car park will be accessible from the Blossom St. direction.

During Phases One & Two, the one-way system Bishopthorpe Rd. - Prices Lane - Bishopgate will be usable.

During Phase Three, the route from Blossom St. along Nunnery Lane and Prices Lane will be available, but the Nunnery Lane part of the one-way system will be closed so there will be access to, but not from, Bishopthorpe Rd.

Diversions will be via Scarcroft Rd. , Skeldergate or over the river.

The No. 11 bus service will use Scarcroft Rd in both directions.

The No. 7 Park & Ride (Designer Centre) service will turn back at Station Rise.

I have no information about the EYMS Hull service, which normally uses Nunnery Lane to turn round, but anyone contemplating using it would be well advised to check with the operator (listed on this site).

Ian

Bank Holiday Buses - a reminder

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:36:14 +0000

The main changes to local bus services on Bank Holiday are:

1. The no.11 operates to Sunday timetables. It should use its normal route through
    Bishopthorpe, but beware!

2. The C1 (Tadcaster) service does not run.

3. The Moorsbus runs a full timetable.

4. Coastliner buses run but there are probably some timetable changes. Phone & check.
    (phone nos. in Useful Information - above).

5. Most Harrogate and District services don't operate - including the Harrogate-York
     service.

Maple Avenue Confusion

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:32:58 +0000

Roadworks on Maple Avenue were due to start yesterday (Mon. 19th Aug.), diversion and road closure signs were displayed and the number 11 bus observed the diversion.

Today (Tues. 20th Aug.) there was no sign of any road repairers on Maple Avenue. The diversion signs remained in place but the closure signs lay on the ground.

No-one knew what was happening with the buses. A group of tourists on Main St. played a game of British Bulldog with the traffic as passing villagers alternately advised them that the bus would stop on whichever other side of the road!

If City of York Council is going to mess people about like this, they should at least publish information about changes at the affected bus stops.

Ian

No 11 bus alterations

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:24:35 +0000

From Monday 18th August, Maple Avenue will be closed for roadworks.

During the period of the closure, the No. 11 travelling towards York will be diverted as follows:

Keble Park; Acaster Lane; Montague Rd.; Ramsay Ave.; Acaster Lane; Main St. (reverse of normal direction); Sim Balk Lane; Chuirch Lane; Bishopthorpe Rd.

The bus diversions will start at 08-00 and finish at 17-00. Beware if you are travelling between these times.

The roadworks are expected to last until 27th August.

The normal route will be followed on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday.

Change to Harrogate-York bus timetable

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:39:57 +0000

Buses from Harrogate (first mentioned here) are now from 0702 (Monday -Friday) and 0817 (Saturday), and thereafter at 17 minutes past the hour (last bus1717).

Buses from York Piccadilly are from 0935 and hourly until 1835 Monday to Saturday.

Change to Service 11 - Don't miss it!

Wed, 28 May 2008 09:14:10 +0000

During my absence on holiday, First York has changed some timings on the No.11 service.

These affect only departure times from York to Bishopthorpe.

Daytime departure times are now -09 and -39 from The Stonebow, and -15 and -45 from York Station.

These changes fit badly with arrival times of trains from Harrogate and some trains from Leeds, and have already resulted in local people being faced with a long wait for the bus home.

The benefit ought to be that buses arrive at and leave Bishopthorpe on time. (Departure times from Bishopthorpe are as before, i.e. -08 and -38 from Keble Park, and approx. -15 and -45 from Bishopthorpe.)

The hourly evening service leaves The Stonebow at -45, with the last bus at 10-45.

Local bus timetable changes

Fri, 09 May 2008 08:46:03 +0000

First York has announced changes to some of its timetables. Unfortunately, copies were not yet available when I enquired this week. So far as I have been able to discover, our local (No.11) service is unaffected. Contact First York for further information.

(See May 28th Entry for update on this.)

Reminder - Yorkshire Coastliner's summer timetable comes into effect from Sunday 18th May. Copies were not available in York this week, but should be in local Tourist Information Offices before the change occurs.

Ian

Changes to rail tickets

Fri, 09 May 2008 08:25:00 +0000

The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has announced changes to rail tickets types. This is claimed to be a simplification which will be helpful to customers. Some people may consider it to be a disguised fare increase.

In future there will be only three ticket types - Anytime, Advance and Off Peak.

Anytime Tickets are, as now, tickets one can buy immediately before travel. They are not restricted to specific trains (outward) or dates (return). They will be expensive. They will be available from 7th September.

Advance Tickets were introduced from 24th April. They ae cheaper than Anytime Tickets, but are restricted to a specific train at a specific time. They may be purchased until the day before travel. Railcard discounts apply to these tickets. There is a swingeing penalty for changing the time/date of travel. Some people will have bought various (old) types of advance tickets already.These will still be valid for the journeys specified on them.

Off Peak Tickets will be available from 7th September. Single and return versions will be on sale. Essentially, they will replace the existing Cheap Day Returns. The serious drawback is that there will be a late afternoon/early evening peak period during which they may not be used. This is expected to be from 3-30 p.m. to 6-15 p.m. - a serious drawback for those of us who use day returns for medium-distance journeys (e.g. Manchester; Sheffield) and in particular for students on daily journeys to college..

Ian

New Harrogate-York Bus Service

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:21:52 +0000

A new service - "Yorkshirexpress" - (X54) between York and Harrogate started on Monday April 28th.

The service interval is 90 minutes, commencing (from York Piccadilly) at 0935. The journey time is one hour. The last bus leaves York at 1835. There is no Sunday service.

Buses travel via York Station, Manor School, Green Hammerton, Knaresborough, Starbeck and Harrogate. There are restrictions on picking-up and setting- down points between York & Manor School, and between Knaresborough and Harrogate. All stops between Manor School & Knaresborough are served.

The operator is Harrogate & District (Transdev).

There is, of course, the alternative of an hourly rail service along the same route.

Public Transport in Bishopthorpe

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:42:53 +0000

Bishopthorpe has a useful bus service to the Centre of York (First York Route 11). Service frequency is half-hourly during the day, and hourly evenings and Sundays. (There is no evening service on Sundays.) The route through Bishopthorpe is circular, and stops are clearly marked. In York, the service calls at The Stonebow, Ousegate, Rougier Street and York Station. The other service through Bishopthorpe (Harrogate Travel Route C1) is from Askham Bar to Tadcaster via various villages. The timetable is rather complicated, and service intervals vary, so reference to a full timetable (see Information Page) is necessary. Services finish early evening, and there is no service on Sundays. This bus is useful for shopping at Tesco (Askham Bar), for transfer at Askham Bar to Park & Ride and Yorkshire Coastliner buses and for York College. As well as savouring the delights of Tadcaster, one can change in that town to buses for Leeds (Coastliner), Pontefract (Arriva), and Wetherby/Otley (Utopia - infrequent service by bus as in life).

Rail

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 08:38:02 +0000

York is a good rail transport centre, with services provided by several operators: London - Scotland National Express East Coast West Country - Midlands - Scotland Cross-country Manchester and Liverpool - North East & Scarborough First Trans-Pennine Services to Blackpool via Bradford/Halifax from Scarborough & the N.E. Also services to Hull, S. Yorks. and Harrogate - Northern Various concessionary tickets are available (mostly by advance booking) as are Regional Rover Tickets (little publicised but good value). Through ticketing is available on National Express East Coast to Eurostar destinations and to other continental stations.

Moorsbus 2008

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:49:33 +0000

The timetable booklet for this year's Moorsbus service is now available from local tourist information offices and direct from the North York Moors National Park, The Old Vicarage, Helmsley, N.Yorks. YO62 5BP, phone 01439 770 657, www.visitthemoors.uk.net/moorsbus or email moorsbus@moors.uk.net National Park Officers will be happy to provide an individual route/timetable for you on request.

There is an extensive network of services feeding into and criss-crossing the Moors area. The bus to Helmsley from York leaves York Station at 9-15 for Helmsley, where various connecting buses are available. The return journey leaves Helmsley at 17-30, arriving in York at approx 18-45. It is also possible to take the Coastliner buses from York to Pickering and Thornton-le-Dale and join the Moorsbus services there.

Concessionary Pass holders travel free, as do children under 5. Otherwise, all-day tickets cost £4 within the Moors area or £7 from outside the area (e.g.York). Family tickets (max. 2 adults & 3 children) are £8 & £14 respectively. Moorsbus tickets are valid on Coastliner services between Malton & Whitby. For journeys from Leeds, York, etc. Coastliner Freedom tickets (£12 adults or £27 family) are valid on all Coastliner and Moorsbus services. Motorists parking at Moors National Park carparks will be refunded the parking charge on their Moorsbus ticket purchase.

Moorsbus services run on Sundays and Bank Holidays (incl. Easter Sat.) from 24th March to 26th October and daily throughout the summer holiday period (20th July to 31st August). Some services operate on other dates (see timetable booklet). These include a Farndale Daffodil service duting Easter and on Sundays from 23 March to 20th April.

Some museums and local businesses offer discounts to Moorsbus ticket holders (but not to those travelling free on concessionary passes).

Easter Bus Services 2008

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:11:17 +0000

Local companies will operate services as follows:

1st York

On Good Friday and Easter Monday - Sunday timetable

Easter Saturday - normal Saturday timetable

Easter Sunday - normal Sunday timetable

C1 Askham Bar to Tadcaster via Bishopthorpe

Service on Easter Saturday only

Yorkshire Coastliner

Easter Monday - Saturday timetable

Normal timetables on the other days

Ian