[Transdev K&D] 760; Leeds-Keighley

[jackh]

I was having a ride around on the buses today just to pass a bit of time and decided to head towards Keighley on the 10.40 760 from Leeds.

When running along Leeds Road, there was nothing unusual on hitting ques approaching Crag Road traffic lights at Windhill in Shipley. The line of traffic must be about a mile so had taken about 20 minutes to get through the lights making the bus subsequently late for the rest of the journey to Keighley. From general observations, there is always traffic queing towards Shipley along Leeds Road for that particular set of lights and wondered why Transdev have not bothered to add time in between the Thackley Corner and Shipley Market Place timing points to keep the service reliable.

I know the 760 running boards do get generous standing time at Keighley so no extra buses would be needed to increase the journey times so the timetable would be more realistic.

[nick]

I think this would basically add Standing time at Shipely when running early without any traffic which would make Shipley market place street a living hell, with the 620'S running every 10 minutes and each direction, 610 and 612 running every 12 minutes in one direction.

And plus the Standing time at Keighley is sufficient enough to absorb in any running delays i would reckon. How long is the standing time at Keighely?

[jackh]

About 40 minutes. But Transdev could get fined by VOSA for the unreliability of the service if this traffic is known about and not due to any inclement traffic conditions because of roadworks/RTAs.

The timetable would only have to be adjusted to relate to traffic levels and the average journey times between the two timing points at that time of day which they can monitor through GPS fitted to the buses.

[northerner]

The 760 has about 15-20 minutes layover at Keighley throughout the week and about 25-35 minutes on Saturdays. I have found the route fairly reliable from my own experiences, and the timetable changes last April have helped the reliability. However, if the bus is late coming in, the inspectors at Keighley usually change the bus over to prevent a delay on the next journey.

There does appear to be plenty of slack in the timetable however, particularly between Bingley and Keighley, so sometimes time can be made up. Overall though, I would say the service is reliable and much better than the 662.

[6u3zr]

Any time recovered by standing at Shipley would probably be lost again in the queues heading to Saltaire roundabout at most times of the day.

I don't think that the timetable has been significantly recast since Bingley bypass opened which would account for the slack at the North end. By the same token the Windhill lights queue has been an ever - present problem so presumably K&D's schedulers have taken it into account - were you actually late into Shipley?

It's not uncommon to see Leeds bound 760's waiting time at both Bingley and Saltaire.

[jackh]

The bus was running late from Windhill onwards by about 20 minutes behind schedule.

The 760 is only given about 12 minutes between Thackley and Shipley Market Place timing points.

Another question regarding the route, is this actually a low floor route now or does Keighley & District just stick whatever on the route? Sometimes you get Wright Renowns and the two Plaxton Presidents, sometimes you get them plus Olympians working the route.

[nick]

Its just i think i 'we will have this, this, that, that, oh and that looks good today' type of job i think.

What is the PVR 5,6,7 or8 8?

[iluvmilian]

they have a new bus for the 760 route
well not new but...S63 VNM has just arrived to work on the 760
i was also wondering why there dont use the new 08 buses on that route either?

[westyorkshirebus]

The "36" is due to get new buses in 2010 followed by "The Witch Way" in 2011.

Due to the resulting large suplus of Gemini double decks in the group, I would guess the 760 could end up getting some by 2011?!

At the moment it seems to be a mix of Renowns and double deckers as has been seen. It's pretty much the only Keighley route that now sees either double deckers or step entrance buses

[northerner]

The 760 service does seem to get whatever vehicle is available allocated to it. However, throughout the week, the 1657 from Keighley is scheduled a double decker as it comes from a short working 78A returning from a school service. The bus that works the 1510 from Leeds which used to go back on the 1657 now goes onto the 1705 66A to Cross Hills.

The route isn't advertised as low floor and I think is the only route that isn't now, so I wouldn't be surprised if the some of the Geminis did get transferred, although I can't see those leather seats lasting long!

[jackh]

Unless some of the 36 Geminis went onto the 770 between Leeds and Harrogate via Wetherby. Then the Plaxton Presidents there could move over to Keighley for the 760.

Off topic I know, but I suppose Burnley & Pendle's current Witch Way branded Geminis could go to Blackburn for use on the Lancashire Way and possibly the 152.

[nick]

But dosnt K&D already have some plaxton presidents i thought they did and am sure they were branded for the 760 route. Did they have some but not enough to cover the PVR + Extra's so that is why we get the mix of presidents, wright renowns, and any other extra buses that the man incharge of allocating the buses thinks will be sutied to the route.

I would guess that the Geminis will soon be making an appreance on the 760, but with this could this see an improvement of the frequency to every 20 minutes or maybe not?

[jackh]

Yes, K&D do have two Plaxton Presidents for the 760, 2701/3 (Y701/3HRN). No they don't have branding for the service.

I think the 30 minute frequency would be sufficient for now if any Geminis were to be introduced to the service.

[jabbott1987]

It was the Alexander Royales that were branded for the 760 think it was names the Airelink service.

[northerner]

The Presidents currently at Harrogate could be transferred to Keighley as it would then allow all of them to be at one depot, rather than a mix of Presidents and Geminis at Keighley and Harrogate. But then does the 760 even need double decker's, as the B10's seem to cope fine, especially at the Keighley end.

[jackh]

Yes in fairness, there isn't that much end to end traffic on the route is there. Well the end to end journey time is tedious of about 80 minutes off peak and don't forget there is the much quicker train link between the two anyway.

There is alot of people who use the service though to go to intermediate destinations en route.

Just thinking more on the subject, the route tends to hit a few traffic pinch spots along the Aire Valley! Keighley can get busy, Saltaire roundabout, Windhill Lights and Kirkstall Road approaching the Viaduct from both directions where things snarl up.

[nick]

I think K&D should do what first do with the 612 at give the service 15 minutes from TC to SMP.

[6u3zr]

Does'nt 612 go through the estate though?

[jackh]

No, the 612 continues along Leeds Road. The 610 does go into Windhill Estate but will still get cought up in ques for the lights at Crag Road.

[northerner]

The problem is with re timing the service that some of the traffic hot spots are unpredictable, such as Keighley Town Centre. Therefore some times the bus could still be late whereas other days it could be waiting for time, which just slows the journey down unnecessarily, something Transdev seem to encourage.

What I think would work better is reducing the running time between Bingley and Keighley and adding time between Thackley and Shipley, therefore the overall running time is roughly the same, only the bus may have a better chance of keeping to time.