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Stagecoach
Timetable Route 6 6A
PH1020951/185 - STAGECOACH DEVON LTD T/A Stagecoach South West, BELGRAVE ROAD, EXETER, EX1 2LB Variation Accepted: Operating between Exeter and Okehampton given service number 6A/6 effective from 19-Apr-2015. To amend Timetable.[6 Bude - Holsworthy - Okehampton - Exeter PDF]
[6A Bude - Launceston - Okehampton - Exeter PDF]
Not sure what the change is as it does not appear on the Stagecoach web site yet!
Timetable New Route 15X
PH1020951/227 - STAGECOACH DEVON LTD T/A Stagecoach South West, BELGRAVE ROAD, EXETER, EX1 2LB Registration Accepted by SN Starting Point: Bideford Quay Finish Point: Atlantic Village Via: Service Number: 15X Service Type: Normal Stopping Effective Date: 20-APR-2015 Other Details: Mondays to Saturdays except Bank Holidays every 30 mins.As I type this up on the 14th there is no sight of it on the (awful) Stagecoach web site. This route is taken over from Beaconbus.
[15X Bideford – Bideford PDF]
Fleet News
Details have been released for new buses on order across Stagecoach Group. The following are down for Stagecoach South West:ADL Enviro400 MMC
10452 to 10456 for Exeter Depot, South West
Scania N230UD/ ADL Enviro400
15250 for Torquay Depot, South West (Gold Spec)
15251 to 15260 for Exeter Depot, South West (Gold Spec)
Enviro 300 Enviro 300
27226 for South West.
Optare Solo M920SL Optare
48003 – 48020 for Exeter.
These have been gleaned from several different reports and may be subject to change, as these things often are, but it does look like quite a supply of new buses for parts of Devon this year.
Beacon Bus
Cancelled Route 14/16
- PH1016164/30 HOLSWORTHY LTD T/A BEACON GARAGE, DOLTON BEACON, DOLTON , WINKLEIGH EX19 8PS Operating between Bideford and Bideford given service number 14/16 effective from 02May 2015.
[14 Bideford - Goaman Estate Circular]
[16 Bideford - Appledore Circular]
© Ed Webster (creative commons) YJ62FHY see on the 16 July 2013 Cancelled Route 33/34
- PH1016164/20 HOLSWORTHY LTD T/A BEACON GARAGE, DOLTON BEACON,DOLTON , WINKLEIGH EX19 8PS Operating between Ilfracombe High Street and Ilfracombe High Street given service number 33/34 effective from 02May 2015.
33 Ilfracombe - Crofts Lea Park – Berrynarbor]
[34 Ilfracombe - The Sheilds PDF]
Cancelled Route 186
- PH1016164/23 HOLSWORTHY LTD T/A BEACON GARAGE, DOLTON BEACON, DOLTON , WINKLEIGH EX19 8PS Operating between Dawlish Town Service and Dawlish Town Service given service number TN 186 effective from 02May 2015.
[186 Dawlish – Starcross PDF]
Cancelled Route 322
- PH1016164/6 HOLSWORTHY LTD T/A BEACON GARAGE, DOLTON BEACON, DOLTON , WINKLEIGH EX19 8PS Operating between Ashreigney and Barnstaple given service number 322 effective from 02May 2015.
[322 Ashreigney - St Giles In The Wood – Barnstaple PDF]
Cancelled Route 372
- PH1016164/31 HOLSWORTHY LTD T/A BEACON GARAGE, DOLTON BEACON, DOLTON , WINKLEIGH EX19 8PS Operating between Bradworthy Square and Barnstaple Bus Station given service number 372 effective from 02May 2015.
[372 Bideford –Bradworthy]
Cancelled Route 386
- PH1016164/5 HOLSWORTHY LTD T/A BEACON GARAGE, DOLTON BEACON,DOLTON , WINKLEIGH EX19 8PS Operating between Petrockstowe and Barnstaple given service number 386 effective from 02May 2015.
Cancelled Route 648
- PH1016164/7 HOLSWORTHY LTD T/A BEACON GARAGE, DOLTON BEACON, DOLTON , WINKLEIGH EX19 8PS Operating between Winkleigh and Okehampton given service number 648 effective from 02May 2015.
[648 Winkleigh – Okehampton PDF]
Countrybus
Route 149 Cancelled
- PH1017984/103 - ALANSWAY COACHES LTD T/A COUNTRY BUS, KING CHARLES BUSINESS PK, OLD NEWTON RD, HEATHFIELD, NEWTON ABBOT, TQ12 6UT Cancellation Accepted: Operating between TOTNES and TORQUAY given service number 149 effective from 02-May-2015.
Sovereign Cars & Coaches
New Timetable route 381
- PH0006881/1 - RICHARD CHARLES KEECH & CYNTHIA MAY KEECH T/A SOVEREIGN CARS & COACHES, PINE LODGE, SIDMOUTH ROAD, ROUSDON, LYME REGIS, DT7 3RD Variation Accepted: Operating between Ottery St Mary, Thorne Farm Way and Ottery St Mary, Thorne Farm Way given service number ED/381 effective from 27-Apr-2015. To amend Timetable.
[381: Ottery St Mary Town Service Circular PDF]
Not the full story yet…
As noted above there are a lot of cancellations from Beaconbus. It appears that replacements for some of these are still being sorted with some last minute notifications appearing on VOSA over the last few days which I have yet to catch up with myself. Any not covered here this time will appear in the next issue.Plymothian Transit Bus Services
As usual more information can be found here6 6A: Bude > Launceston > Okehampton > Exeter (Stagecoach)
14: Bideford - Goaman Estate Tonn Circular (BeaconBus)
15X: Bideford > Atlantic Village (Stagecoach)
15X: Bideford Quay > Atlantic Village (Beaconbus)
16: Bideford - Appledore Circular (BeaconBus)
33: Ilfracombe - Crofts Lea Park – Berrynarbor (Beaconbus)
34: Ilfracombe > The Sheilds (BeaconBus)
149: Totnes > Torquay (Countrybus)
186 Dawlish Town Service (Beaconbus)
322: Ashrigney > Torrington > Bideford (Beaconbus)
372: Bradworthy Square > Parkham > Barnstaple Bus Station (Beaconbus)
381: Ottery St Mary Town Service Circular (Sovereign)
386: Petrockstowe > Torrington > Barnstap386: Petrockstowe > Torrington > Barnstaplele (Beaconbus)
648: Winkleigh > Exbourne > Okehampton (Beaconbus)
M: Exeter Paris Street > Cheeke Street (Dartline)
Other News
PEOPLE turned out in their hundreds to view plans to extend the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway by four miles at the cost of £16 million. In addition to extending the railway to Whistlandpound Reservoir, the expansion would also see the restoration of railway stations at Blackmoor and Parracombe as well as an engineering shed at Blackmoor GateRead more: http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/Lynton-Barnstaple-Railway-plans-generate/story-26359944-detail/story.html#ixzz3XsrFFneU
FIREFIGHTERS from Tiverton carried an unconsciousness casualty through the back window of a double decker bus so the patient could be taken to hospital for further treatment. South Western Ambulance Service contacted the fire service as their paramedics were unable to get the patient who was on the top deck, out of the Stagecoach vehicle parked in Tiverton bus station.
Read more: http://www.middevongazette.co.uk/Firefighters-rescue-casualty-stuck-floor-bus/story-26340225-detail/story.html#ixzz3XssCGNQR
The Stagecoach 6/6A change was a belated registration to remove the late return journey that was shown in the timetable to finish at the start of April.
ReplyDeleteI assume this is a conscious decision by Beacon Bus to pull out of stage services completely rather than a loss of DCC contracts. Assuming - again - that their modern buses are all leased, why would they want to pull out? DCC payments for contracts too low? DCC reimbursement for free travel too low?
ReplyDeleteThe Stagecoach website really is atrocious, isn't it? Every change they make seems to make it less usable.
ReplyDeleteAbout the only positive is that some divisions (notably Manchester & Oxford) have full faretables available to download, but most divisions have neither fare information nor print-quality timetables available now.
Beacon bus's website says they are ceasing local services from 2nd May. I assume that this is a business decision and they did face a public inquiry not long ago. Some of their routes were a long way from the depot. The number of breakdowns on the 398 shown on their Facebook page and the delay, time and cost to sort them is not good for business.
ReplyDeleteTalking of the 398; it changed this week and ceased to be joint county route after all these years. Dartline has the Devon section (398) and Webberbus the Somerset half (198), both with one bus. Webberbus by doing so actually serves their traditional home village of Weadon Cross, where the garage and shop is still run by part of the Webber family. The buses were part of the garage business taking Exmoor kids to school. They actually use just more than one bus and so provide the Exmoor villages of Exford and Winsford with a 50% service increase - a bus from Minehead to Dulverton in the morning and returning after lunch. Thus allowing villagers to go to Dulverton to shop etc and people from Minehead to have lunch on Exmoor.
The loss of the through 398, also increases the isolation of Devon from England by bus. The only cross border routes to Somerset are to Taunton from Tiverton 3-5/day, from Honiton 5/day (subject to withdrawal) and from Axminster 8/day. Dorset is a little better with the hourly X31 from Axminster and the 2 hourly X53 from Exeter both to Lyme Regis, Bridport etc. Train is now the main connection with some National Express.
There's also the hourly 25 from Taunton to Dulverton via Bampton (Devon), the Thursday-only 688 from Axminster to Thorncombe, and the weekend-only 300 from Ilfracombe to Minehead.
DeleteThe 398 is still a cross-border service as Dulverton is in Somerset, but the new timetable reduces its usefulness to making a return trip from Dulverton to Tiverton, due to a lack of southbound buses after 2pm. Presumably the majority of any tourists who travel there by bus tend to come from Taunton or Minehead?
To be fair, there are very few main road cross-border routes between Devon and Somerset. The only one with no public transport at all is the A30/A303 corridor between Honiton and Chard/Ilminster.
I think I saw somewhere that Stagecoach Devon is getting Solo SRs? Its about time they got some nice new midibuses. I presume the E400 MMC's are for the 1/1a/1b/1c route?
ReplyDelete