Christmas and New Year Services: The Reckoning

[CX06 EBK (Administrator)]

RE: Christmas and New Year Services: The Reckoning
Same story with the 194/5 in St Helens which ran on Christmas Day but not Boxing Day or New Years Day.

[St Helens Rider]

RE: Christmas and New Year Services: The Reckoning
Also why does Arriva run the 35 in St Helens on Boxing/New Years Day but don't find it commercially on a Sunday. Also why no 33 on these days when it runs on a Sunday.

[JeffJones]

RE: Christmas and New Year Services: The Reckoning

(29/12/2014 19:00)Mayneway Wrote:  I agree with no services on Christmas Day but given the relaxation of trading hours over the last few years were finding more and more retail outlets open for most or all of Boxing Day. We have debated this on another thread in the past but I'm keen to know how operators such as stagecoach can say that there is only demand on certain services on Boxing Day and New Year's Day when as Barney pointed out above the last time most areas saw a decent level of services on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day was before de-reg when if were honest you were lucky to find a corner shop open on Boxing Day let alone a major retail store!

There will always be some sort of demand on any day of the year and from what I've seen there is quite a bit of demand in most towns for services on Boxing Day. Whether there is enough demand to justify paying double time to drivers, is another thing.

I was surprised at some of the services First Manchester operated on Boxing Day (98, 468, 472/474) which whilst popular services wouldn't support paying drivers £20+ an hour on a normal weekday!

[wirralbus]

RE: Christmas and New Year Services: The Reckoning
New Years Day really isn't the retail mecca that Boxing Day is .

I do wonder what the Retailers had to hide from each other , they all knew they would be opening early to accommodate the madness that is The Sales.

Anyway the only local public transport readily available is the Merseyrail and Northern Trains local services after 1900 except a couple of bus services .

[M113 YKC]

RE: Christmas and New Year Services: The Reckoning
Loadings were quite busy today on Bootle services from what I seen. Wasn't expecting it to be busy but there were even people waiting at bus-stops for buses that weren't due for some time this morning! There definitely should have been more publicity about the reduced service today (such as posters at bus-stops on busy corridors).

One specific issue that I can see next New Year's Day, with the 53A being withdrawn soon, is Thornton (with no 47s and X2s running too) and Park Lane (also on Boxing Day) being left without a bus and the link that the service provides being lost (unless they run the 63 - very unlikely!).

[wirralbus]

RE: Christmas and New Year Services: The Reckoning
New Years Day has always seen a drop in bus frequency , part of the drop is associated with the fact that the Merseyrail train system is in operation as well which on some corridors will dilute the passengers .

I think Arriva / Stagecoach probably have got the services just about right today .

[wirralbus]

RE: Christmas and New Year Services: The Reckoning

(01/01/2015 08:07)E208 WBG Wrote:  The one I don't get and others may be able to answer this

118X New Brighton to Mill Park on Christmas Day...why does it not run Boxing Day and New Years Day as the usual118/119?

If you look at what operates on Boxing Day and New Years Day , its basically the commercial services these days , contracted services don't seem to operate any more . I do wonder when the contract was changed to say there was no requirement for them two days .

[Bevan Price]

RE: Christmas and New Year Services: The Reckoning

(01/01/2015 21:22)wirralbus Wrote:  If you look at what operates on Boxing Day and New Years Day , its basically the commercial services these days , contracted services don't seem to operate any more . I do wonder when the contract was changed to say there was no requirement for them two days .

Cannot remember exact date, but a few years ago, Merseytravel withdrew funding for Boxing Day & New Years Day services as an economy measure.

[F255ytj]

RE: Christmas and New Year Services: The Reckoning

(01/01/2015 20:36)YJ59 AZA Wrote:  Loadings were quite busy today on Bootle services from what I seen. Wasn't expecting it to be busy but there were even people waiting at bus-stops for buses that weren't due for some time this morning! There definitely should have been more publicity about the reduced service today (such as posters at bus-stops on busy corridors).

One specific issue that I can see next New Year's Day, with the 53A being withdrawn soon, is Thornton (with no 47s and X2s running too) and Park Lane (also on Boxing Day) being left without a bus and the link that the service provides being lost (unless they run the 63 - very unlikely!).

i saw the first publicity for Christmas services in early November, and it's been heavily promoted on buses and on all city centre stops. so I'm sorry, don't think lack of publicity can be blamed. People just choose not to check in advance and are then left waiting at stops.

[DEM777Y]

RE: Christmas and New Year Services: The Reckoning

(01/01/2015 21:35)F255ytj Wrote:  i saw the first publicity for Christmas services in early November, and it's been heavily promoted on buses and on all city centre stops. so I'm sorry, don't think lack of publicity can be blamed. People just choose not to check in advance and are then left waiting at stops.

Well that's all very well and good if you are a regular bus user. If you only use buses a couple of times a year, or decide to use them as a 'one off' on Boxing or New Years Days then you'd be forgiven for not knowing about the special timetables. The complete lack of information at even the main bus stops hardly encourages people to become full-time bus users.