April 2009 Archives

Now you C it, now you don't

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Avid readers of this page may have lost faith when they saw the green bus bearing the route no. C1 still passing through the village.

Fear not. This is merely a technical problem regarding the vehicle's electronic display, and is to be corrected shortly.

I checked out the route this morning. The bus was punctual, but already quite full when it reached Bishopthorpe, and most passengers travelled through to the city centre.

The route first visits Tesco where there are good connections to Coastliners in both directions, and to First's new express service to Leeds (see previous article). The quick route to town is to change here to the Park & Ride service.

The route takes a swing through darkest Middlethorpe before heading down Tadcaster Rd. to Knavesmire Rd. It  takes Knavesmire Rd./Campleshon Rd. to Bishopthorpe Rd., South Bank, Nunnery Lane and York Station. From there it follows the 11 route through the city to Peasholme Green, circles  with stops at Sainsbury's, Netto and Morrison's, returning to its inward route at Peasholme Green.

Although it reached York Station before the 9-45 no.11 from Bishopthorpe, it was only by a couple of minutes, and the latter's Scarcroft Rd. route is usually quicker than Nunnery Lane, esp. at busy times.Several people on Bishopthorpe Rd. let it pass by, not knowing where it would go. As the route becomes known, it could be slowed and become very full as passengers join along that stretch.

The route is a boon to residents of Acaster and beyond, which is the intention. For Bishopthorpe folk, it will probably be most useful as a service to Askham Bar (for York College, for Tesco and for other bus connections).

There are four journeys to and from town each day, at two-hourly intervals. The first two journeys each morning and the last two each afternoon are at hourly intervals, between Askham Bar & Colton only. On Fridays and Saturdays there is an evening bus to town, passing through Bishopthorpe at 19-32 and travelling direct between Askham Bar and York Station.



Express to Leeds

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First have now started an express bus service (X64) between York and Leeds.

It starts from The Stonebow, and stops only at York Station, York College, Tadcaster, Seacroft (bus station) and Leeds (bus station). It also calls at Leeds Briggate on its return journey.

Frequency is half-hourly through the main part of the day, with early morning and mid afternoon variations. The last buses are at 18-00 and 19-10 (Sat. 19-05) from York and Leeds respectively. Saturday timings differ but the frequency is approximately the same.

21 Today

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Today (27th April 2009) the new Service 21 from Colton to Foss Bank via Acaster, Bishopthorpe (Acaster Lane; Main St.;Sim Balk Lane) , Askham Bar, South Bank and York (Station; Rougier St.; Stonebow) commenced.

I will try it out in the next few days, and report on this page.

The timetable is available  on http://www.getdown.org.uk/bus/bus/21.shtml

Sadly, we have now lost our direct service to Tadcaster.
As predicted, the C! service through Bishopthorpe is to end and will be replaced by a new service 21 from Colton to York (Foss Bank), passing through Acaster, Bishopthorpe, Askham Bar, South Bank and City Centre. There will be no journeys to Tadcaster.

The new service will run from 27th April.

The timetable is too complicated to summarise here. For a full version, click on "Useful Local Site" in the "Useful Contacts" page of this Local Travel section, turn to the C1 timetable and you will find a temporary link to the new 21 timetable.

The operator, Harrogate Travel, is the present C1 operator. The route to town is rather roundabout but provides access to York College, Tesco and to the Coastliner service at Askham Bar and to Morrison's and Sainsbury's at Foss Bank.


The Moorsbus starts this weekend

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Easter sees the start of the Moorsbus service, running at weekends from Easter, and daily during the school summer holiday period.

You can join the network by taking the direct morning Moorsbus from York to Helmsley, or by taking a Coastliner to Pickering. (Moorsbus tickets are available on the Coastliner on days when the Moorsbus runs.)

Moorsbus is a network of services criss-crossing the North York Moors and giving opportunities for walks from one place to another, or simply for sight-seeing rides or access to tourist facilities, to many of which a Moorsbus ticket gives discounted access..

Additionally, a  Farndale daffodil service operates in April.

Moorsbus will accept National Bus Passes during 2009.

Click on either the Moorsbus link or the Useful Local Site link on our Useful Contacts page to get a full timetable.