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Post by westyorkshirebus on Feb 15, 2018 23:00:05 GMT 1
I can’t understand why buses in Blackburn do so badly. Yes it’s a downtrodden Northern town, but is it in any worse shape than say Halifax or Keighley?
With this change to the 4/24, there is basically no purely local services left at all run by Transdev, as all are variants of an inter urban run.
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Post by SCH117X on Feb 16, 2018 11:22:40 GMT 1
If the inter urban services are within walking distance then that is no different to large parts of Harrogate which are solely served by Transdev (and Connexions and Flying Tiger) in the way of inter urban services; the 36, 757 and X52 along the Leeds Road, the 70/71/X70 along the Wetherby Road, the Route 1 services (and X1) along the Knaresborough Road (although their is the hourly Connexions X4 as well Mon-Sat daytime), and (beyond the Hydro) the 24 and 36 along the Ripon Road. There use to be various local services running around the southern part of Harrogate as well as services to the estates on the north side of Knaresborough Road and to the south and east of Starbeck which, apart from the highly infrequent Little Explorer, have now all vanished unless you count a NYCC demand responsive pre booked service.
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Post by northerner on Feb 16, 2018 21:50:54 GMT 1
Blackburn does seem to get a raw deal and with the 4 halving in frequency seems a bit much in one go. They do refer to custom having declined so presumably providing the service the demand warrants. They also mention reliability issues, so it's hardly surprising people have found alternatives. Frequent late running, fare increases and service cuts aren't the way to attract custom - it seems all Transdev are doing is managing the decline
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Post by SCH117X on Feb 17, 2018 13:54:42 GMT 1
They had the same issue with the 6 in Harrogate which suffered a route truncation and a far bigger reduction in frequency (from every 20 mins to every 50 then 45) with a PVR cut in half to 1 which eventually resulted in Connexions X6 and X6a, albeit Connexions do not run in the morning peak. A reshuffle by Transdev saw the 6 running every 30 minutes for most of the day interworked with the 2A,2B and 3 with no PVR increase, and a crazy retiming by Connexions to the same times. Maybe Connexions need to expand to Blackburn.
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Post by SCH117X on Feb 17, 2018 16:11:20 GMT 1
Blackburn does seem to get a raw deal and with the 4 halving in frequency seems a bit much in one go. Any ideas what the PVR was when Blackburn Transport sold up? Pass but the services were I believe 1 Accrington-Church-Intack-Blackburn-Ewood-Darwen-Darwen cemetery 2 Blackburn-Larkhill-Emerald Avenue-Wilpshire (Warrenside Close) 4 Blackburn-Blackburn Imfimary-Higher Croft 5 Blackburn-Royal Blackburn Hospital-Shadsworth Business Park-Hoddleston-Darwen Cemetary 8 Blackburn- Audley or Hereford Road – Shadsworth 10 Blackburn- Wimberley-Lammack-Bearwood-Billinge-Wesley Fold-(evenings & Sundays) 11 Blackburn-Witton 12 Blackburn- Lammack-Revidge- Billinge-Beardwood 13 Blackburn-Pleckgate-Mellor-Mellor Brook 14 Blackburn-Little Harwood-Summerblower 16 Blackburn- Royal Blackburn Hospital-Darwen Hoddlesden 16A Blackburn- Royal Blackburn Hospital-Park Lee (Anti Clockwise) 16B Blackburn- Royal Blackburn Hospital-Darwen Spring Vale 16C Blackburn- Royal Blackburn Hospital-Park Lee (Clockwise) 18 Blackburn-Mill Hill-Green Lane-Feniscowles 19 Blackburn-Ewood-Leyburn Road-Feniscowles 21 Openshaw Drive-Blackburn-Moorgate-Mill Hill 22 Blackburn-Mill Hill-Green Lane-Leyburn Drive OC Blackburn Outer Circle There are I believe five operators other than Transdev in Blackburn now that they have acquired Rosso Avacab who work the 24A. Blackburn - Feniscowles - Brinscall – Chorley Blackburn Private Hire who operate the; 3. Blackburn - Little Harwood – Sunnybower 10.. Blackburn - Wensley Fold - Beardwood – Lammack 12A/12C Blackburn - Highercroft Circular Moving People who operate the 33 Blackburn Marsh House - Hoddlesden –Lower Darwen - Darwen Preston Bus with the 25 Blackburn - Lammack - Mellor (Millstone) - Brockhall - Langho - Whalley – Clitheroe operated by Preston Bus 25A Blackburn - Royal Blackburn Hospital -Mellor Brook- Lammack operated by Preston Bus 35 Blackburn - Wilpshire - Salesbury -Ribchester – Longridge operated by Preston Bus and Stagecoach on the 59 Blackburn - Billinge End Road-Samlesbury – Mellor Brook- Preston
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Post by northerner on Feb 17, 2018 21:20:20 GMT 1
Thanks for the info, the network has certainly gone through some changes! Although it appears to be part of a national decline, with Manchester mileage having being reduced by over 10% in recent years
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Post by rwilkes on Feb 17, 2018 21:40:51 GMT 1
It is not a national decline, in some areas buses are expanding see the 2 maps in www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42749973 Although First is seeing a lot of decline it reports growth in Bristol, Bath, Cornwall, Norwich, Southampton Leicester and York and expects to see growth in any areas with a genuine bus partnership. If Bus 18 gets the promised political support, buses will bcome big in W Yorks You would excpect decline in Manchester as the LRT network has expanded. But total public transport useage there is up. The new guideway to Leigh is doing better than the new tram sections
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Feb 17, 2018 21:51:31 GMT 1
I've got the original "Spot On" timetables from 2008 here
Spot On 1 Darwen - Blackburn - Accrington
Direct Accrington to Blackburn on service 1 was every 12 minutes, when the X41 changes, there won't be a direct bus at all, although to be fair the 6/7 is more frequent now
Spot On 2 Wilpshire - Blackburn - Darwen - Spring Vale/Hoddlesden
Wilpshire now served just be the 22, Darwen etc by the limited Moving People 33
Spot On 6 & 7 Blackburn - Hyndburn Circular
Was every 12 minutes then, now every 7/8 around the southern half, every 15 minutes around the northern half
Spot On 8 & 9 Blackburn - Shadsworth
Was every 10 mins, it went through various incarnations including diverting the 6/7 that way, latterly on the Shadsworth Shuttle it was every 20 mins, now service 22 serves this area every 30 mins, but only one route remains rather than a circular
Service 10 Blackburn - Wensley Fold Service 11 Blackburn - Witton Spot On 13 Blackburn - Mellor - Mellor Brook
Were all hourly, now BwD & LCC supported services run by other operators
Spot On 14 Blackburn - Sunnybower
Was every 20 mins, but for many years ran as service 3 every 30 mins with school gaps, now a limited service run by Blackburn Private Hire
Spot On 18 & 19 Blackburn - Mill Hill - Feniscowles Spot On 22/22A Blackburn - Mill Hill - Leyburn Road
Both ran every 15 minutes run by the Optare Versas, but after less than a year the Versas transferred to York, and the services became the 3/4 and then later just the 4. Feniscowles was served every 15 mins, currently every 30 mins, soon to be hourly. Mill Hill was served 5 times an hour, currently every 15 mins, soon to be every 20 mins. Leyburn Road was served 7 times an hour, currently every 15 mins, soon to be 2 buses per hour
Spot On 21 Openshaw Drive - Blackburn - Mill Hill
Was every 30 mins, none of the route exists anymore
Spot On 23/24 Lammack/Revidge - Blackburn - Higher Croft/Royal Blackburn Hospital
Was every 30 mins, latterly ran part of these remained with double decks and school gaps, but now part of limited BwD supported services
Excluding trunk services 1 & 6/7 all of the above had a PVR of about 27, its now going to be about 3
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Post by SCH117X on Feb 22, 2018 22:21:39 GMT 1
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Post by leeds rider on Feb 22, 2018 22:36:52 GMT 1
Huh? I may be be missing something myself here, but: are you deliberately feigning denseness in order to be joky, or are you genuinely misunderstanding the references to "accidents"and "facilities"?
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Post by ajw11239 on Feb 22, 2018 23:51:39 GMT 1
Not attempting to be personal at all to that comment but there are a few people around online with a bit of a "everything Transdev does is amazing" mantra. There's no way from backing out from the fact that for anyone that uses the service from Blackburn to Manchester will need to change buses which won't be ideal and which will increase their journey time slightly. I don't know enough about the route to have an opinion but there will be people who won't find this ideal. Hate to say it but, whilst a lot of the investment is good, it hasn't been the first time Transdev has cut a service's route/timetable and just said "but your buses will have free WiFi and USB power" EDIT from before: after checking, mentioned in that article is the 05:15 service the commuter catches. The first 6/7 from Blackburn to Accrington leaves at 5:59am, and arrives at 6:39am. So the X41 connection using the current timetable would be at 6:47am, arriving at 8:25am. Almost two hours after the aforementioned 05:15 service would arrive into Manchester.
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Post by SCH117X on Feb 23, 2018 18:26:41 GMT 1
Huh? I may be be missing something myself here, but: are you deliberately feigning denseness in order to be joky, or are you genuinely misunderstanding the references to "accidents"and "facilities"? Surely if someone had a medical condition resulting in "accidents" and needing "facilities" then they would be using the train rather than the bus anyway.
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SF07
Forum Member
Posts: 3,216
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Post by SF07 on Mar 4, 2018 11:38:50 GMT 1
The new timetable for the X41 is appearing on the MyTfGM Journey Planner. Still lists Blackburn Bus Company as operator. Journey times increase by around 10-15 minutes between Accrington and Manchester, while journey times between Ramsbottom and Manchester is around 45 minutes. Departure times from Manchester are approximately the same, apart from some early weekday morning journeys, while Monday-Saturday evening journeys depart 5 minutes earlier. Departure times from Accrington are mainly 15 minutes earlier than normal but arrive into Manchester at around the same time. my.tfgm.com/#/timetables/?service=UKNational:B_X41&mode=BUS&date=2018-04-09
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Mar 4, 2018 15:10:17 GMT 1
I don’t think anyone expected the X41 not to be still operated by Blackburn.
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Mar 17, 2018 11:17:12 GMT 1
New timetables now on Transdev’s website as well.
Someone pointed out on Twitter, if they’d have wanted to, they could start and end the first and last trips at Blackburn, which would still have provided a rush hour service to/from Manchester.
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Post by SCH117X on Mar 17, 2018 17:52:23 GMT 1
Would be interesting to know how many Blackburn-Manchester passengers there are given the faster train.
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Post by stevieinselby on Mar 17, 2018 23:02:16 GMT 1
Would be interesting to know how many Blackburn-Manchester passengers there are given the faster train. You could say the same about Leeds–York–Malton, but the services are clearly successful!
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Post by SCH117X on Mar 18, 2018 11:30:01 GMT 1
Would be interesting to know how many Blackburn-Manchester passengers there are given the faster train. You could say the same about Leeds–York–Malton, but the services are clearly successful! In the case of Blackburn-Manchester Transdev have quoted the recent increase in the number of trains as also being part of their reasoning at cutting back to Accrington. There are trains at 0627, 0708, 0729, 0808,0 0834 etc, which take 49-58 mins for the journey plus a number of slower services which are, except in one case, timed to be overtaken by the faster ones.
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Post by SCH117X on Mar 18, 2018 20:08:01 GMT 1
New timetables now on Transdev’s website as well. Someone pointed out on Twitter, if they’d have wanted to, they could start and end the first and last trips at Blackburn, which would still have provided a rush hour service to/from Manchester. To work them from Blackburn would require far earlier duties given that the depot at Intack is en route to Accrington, requiring around a 20 minute earlier start Admittedly the 0505 from Accrington will require a slightly earlier duty compared to the current 0515 from Blackburn. Thereafter the working start at Accrington 10-20 minutes later than the current workings start at Blackburn implying they are the same duties in terms of departure from the depot. What they could have done more easily is run in service from Intack.
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Mar 19, 2018 10:29:51 GMT 1
There is also one duty that doesn’t seem to start until the 0830 from Accrington. I wonder if this bus, and hence a Red Express Bus, works another service first.
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Post by SCH117X on Mar 22, 2018 20:02:39 GMT 1
Rosso tweet today re requiring drivers "..join us at our new base in Blackburn".
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Post by SCH117X on Mar 26, 2018 17:39:10 GMT 1
Latest WYIS fleetlist shows ex Keighley Streetlghts 610 and 611 as having moved to Rosso. In their place Burnley has acquired plain white B10BLE 569 along with first refurbished B10BLE 1072. 610 is described as being Yellow & green and 611 Yellow & orange.
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Post by SCH117X on Mar 27, 2018 21:55:45 GMT 1
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Post by SCH117X on Apr 7, 2018 16:16:41 GMT 1
Couple of ex-dealer stock 41 seater Streetlights added to Rosso for the "Tottington Line" SK67SNC & SND, fleet numbers 618 & 619
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Post by SCH117X on Apr 8, 2018 8:38:37 GMT 1
Haslingden depot is being vacated this weekend as it being retained by Rossendale Council for their own purposes. According to posting on another forum vehicles are now to split between the Rosso depot at Rochdale, Intack and Queensgate Burnley.
Those moving to Intack are apparently B7RLEs 1706-14/23-6 and Geminis 2781-3/9.
Those moving to Queensgate are apparently Solos 139-146, B7RLEs 1727-35, Presidents 2727-33 and Geminis 2784-8/90.
A return home for one of the B7RLEs as 1726 was originally Lancashire United 1816 - the remainder of the ex LU vehicles are those that have gone to Burnley along with one that was originally a demonstrator.
EDITED to correct Solo allocation (not all to Queensgate)
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