Stagecoach Yorkshire and Chesterfield

[Teapot42]

Their approach to the tendered services was careful; they made sure operators were available. With the commercial services 55 and 170, they simply shrugged and went "it has nothing to do with us"

It would be interesting to know what has happened with the BSIP money allocated to the various Hulleys services. Presumably the costs for the tenders were higher, but not sure if they are allowed / meant to reallocate BSIP money to cover that.

The 5 and 10 serve vastly different areas of Newbold. The 10 serves the rougher, more deprived areas which would support bus usage whereas the 5 serves mostly elderly and, for lack of better word, nicer areas of Newbold/Stonegravels. We know concession passes don't renumerate the operator nearly as much as paying passengers, so elderly people paired with people who mostly own cars aren't going to be able to fund a service at the same level as the 10.

The area around Chantrey Avenue looks fairly rough, although I'd guess most people there just walk down to Sheffield Road. The area behind Eastmoor shops also doesn't look great but again not too far to walk to pick up the 10 if there isn't a 5 due. I do still think that extending the 5 to take on the Racecourse Road end of the 10 would bring some benefits - to me, the 10 takes too long in one direction, so having two services doing half of the area each would make both more attractive to passengers.

All that being said, I do wonder if a bus from Newbold / Dunston to Tesco wouldn't be a good idea. I'd imagine as many people these days would want to go out to a supermarket for their shopping as in to town.

I was waiting to see how long it would take you to mention a hospital service

It's not so much that it's a hospital link, it's the fact the 3 feels like a loose end flapping around that could be made better use of. Unless, of course, there is a specific operational benefit in having a bus that stays close to town that could be swapped out if necessary?

It seems people on the Sheffield side simply see them as 'more buses to Meadowhead".

Shorter term that makes sense. I do wonder if longer-term it wouldn't have been better to keep a foot in the door once franchising comes along.

Or, as I'd suggested a while back, pivot it in to being a direct but from Newbold / Dunston to Sheffield, taking in the new development in Dunston on the way.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Oct 2025 ==

Not being a regular user of buses it took a little time to get to the help desk at the Sheffield Interchange where the person on duty had no clear idea about buses to Dronfield, where they stopped in Dronfield, how often or where to catch one. Eventually my friend and I worked it out by ourselves online and decided our best bet was a taxi. Our route by bus would have taken for ever!

When I first moved to Chesterfield, I only really new the area around Dronfield station - I worked in Sheepbridge and on a Friday often used to drive to the chippy there. It wasn't until a few years later that I realised most of Dronfield isn't actually that near the station. Anyone living there will probably know which out of the 43 or 44 best serves them, but anyone casually visiting most likely won't know that the only bus from Sheffield which goes to Dronfield railway station won't show Dronfield on the destination.

As an aside, when Dronfield station first reopened it was served by 3 minibus routes D1, D2 and D3. That didn't seem to last long. A message there for all wanting more interchange facilties.Only really works with very frequent trains and buses.

I can see the need for a Dronfield and Coal Aston circular service, what I can't see is how to fit it in with existing services and make it pay unless tendered.

 

[ALEMASTER]

Getting rid of 42 is probably necessary, as it is just a shorterned 43. If only 43 had more frequent buses, though...

The 42 in its current guise is pointless. It doesn't serve the Dronfield area which is the main purpose of the 43/44 and simply duplicates the 24 to the point of following behind one all the way from Sheffield City Centre to Lowedges (other than the 24 going via Queens Road and the 42 via London Road between Moorfoot and Heeley), it then sits on layover at Lowedges terminus blocking the stop for the 25 and 76 and generally getting in the way before eventually making another trip carrying fresh air mostly following the 24 route back into town. The 42 never had any publicity when it was launched either so I suspect most Lowedges folk still don't know where it goes.

It is however disappointing that it has been cut altogether rather than the resource being adapted to be more useful. The 44 is too infrequent and unreliable to be attractive so a short working on the 44 Sheffield-Coal Aston may have been a good thing to try. Alternatively an extension of the 42 beyond Lowedges via Bradway to Dronfield Woodhouse would have been a useful restoration of a link missing for quite a few years now, since the TM Travel 293 was withdrawn and replaced by the Stagecoach 86 which only goes as far as Lowedges. I can appreciate that might be considered somewhat risky from a commercial point of view though!

Ultimately I can appreciate bus companies not being willing to invest any money in Sheffield services though given there will be no pay back for the risk and investment as the mayor will be taking their businesses away come franchising.

 

[Llandudno]

A few years ago I sampled the train from Dronfield into Sheffield. Fine but it was one of those days when the railway was in chaos and we couldn't get back by rail. Simple, get a bus.

Not being a regular user of buses it took a little time to get to the help desk at the Sheffield Interchange where the person on duty had no clear idea about buses to Dronfield, where they stopped in Dronfield, how often or where to catch one. Eventually my friend and I worked it out by ourselves online and decided our best bet was a taxi. Our route by bus would have taken for ever!

As an aside, when Dronfield station first reopened it was served by 3 minibus routes D1, D2 and D3. That didn't seem to last long. A message there for all wanting more interchange facilties.Only really works with very frequent trains and buses.

It doesn’t help that none of the Dronfield buses start from Sheffield Interchange/Bus Station, but for some reason pick up instead on Flat Street…?

 

[mk1979]

Just to pick up a few comments on here on the forthcoming service changes to explain what is forthcoming:
X17 - there are improvements to the evening peak with an additional journey following feedback on here
39 - the frequency went from 20' to 15' just over a year ago. Patronage hasn't really grown to justify the frequency increase, particularly in the peaks so frequency dropped back slightly.
54 - similar story to the 39, frequency increased from 15' to 12' a year ago but patronage hasn't increased so we're dropping frequency back to match demand.
42 - withdrawn, this was a commercial experiment to improve frequency on Chesterfield Road but we've seen decline in patronage in Sheffield reflecting local economic trends.
170 - we took the route on at short notice in March running commercially seven days a week. I understand the previous operator received BSIP funding for the evening and Sunday service but this was not available to us. We've run the Sunday service for six months so have got a reasonably good idea of the market now. The Sunday service carries just under half the passengers than a weekday so following consultation with the new East Midlands MCA we have agreed to run at the revised frequency for the Winter.

The E400EV's are now largely behaving but do need to return to the factory for some warranty work so we'll be having the demonstrator to cover for a while (I think its fleet number is 80000 ?)

 

[JD2168]

One thing that doesn’t help the 42 is some stops in Sheffield City Centre still have 43a on the list of services shown. It would have been better as an additional 44 to Dronfield Station.

After a long time off following severe accident damage Enviro 400 MMC 11715 has returned to service In we’ve got you livery. It is currently on loan at Hull for Hull Fair services

 

[py_megapixel]

I noticed yesterday they still haven't updated the on-board information on the 52 to reflect the route terminus being reverted to Heavygate Avenue.

This is really poor - it's one of the busiest routes in Sheffield, and for most of the day the legally required live information is only available in one direction. This has been the case for well over a month now.

 

[syjunkie]

Looks like 3 of the solo srs have left the yorkshire fleet to cumbria.
36460 has also been repainted

 

[M60lad]

I wonder whether these SRs have gone to Morecambe Depot for tendered services that they have picked up that are due to start shortly

 

[Teapot42]

Looks like 3 of the solo srs have left the yorkshire fleet to cumbria.

The SRs don't seem to have been that reliable here. Isn't it only one of the Matlock services that needs something this small though? Didn't a batch of short E200s turn up at Stonegravels a while back? They don't seem to be on the bustimes fleetlist any more.

Longer term you can only imagine these services will be a target for High Peak as they'd be fairly easy to resource from Baslow, and compliment the Crich services well as a group.

 

[Hyebone]

The 3 Solo SRs are moving since they're non-standard. They carry expensive Daimler engines; with most of the Yorkshire fleet being Cummins powered, it's a standardisation move too.

The remaining SR, 47867, is Cummins powered so it'll be staying. I can't say much for it's performance or reliability however, but it does sound exactly like an E200 (same engine and gearbox)

We can assume these are Crich displacements despite the vehicles rarely straying onto said routes. We have also welcomed back 15191/2/3 back to Chesterfield depot from the Hull fair. 15193 was towed back from Hull but entered service in Chesterfield the same day.

 

[Busmansholiday]

Does anybody know why all the Yutongs that are on the 22x service aren't tracking ?

 

[py_megapixel]

Spotted on Pond Street in Sheffield earlier, waiting for a driver to start the 44 route. It's been a while since I've seen a diesel bus on a Chesterfield service.



Picture shows a Stagecoach Gold branded ADL Enviro 400 parked at the side of the street with the lights off

 

[syjunkie]

Wonder what has happened with 36412 (YN11 FFC) as been of the road for some time.
Possible repaint? (Also to note if it has gone for repaint it would be it's 1st repaint since new)

 

[Teapot42]

Spotted on Pond Street in Sheffield earlier, waiting for a driver to start the 44 route. It's been a while since I've seen a diesel bus on a Chesterfield service.

You must frequent the wrong parts of Chesterfield! We get them all the time... Deckers are rarer though, 15192 was the only one left for a while, but 15193 seems to have come back here after Hull Fair duties, rather than going to Ecclesfield.

 

[py_megapixel]

You must frequent the wrong parts of Chesterfield! We get them all the time... Deckers are rarer though, 15192 was the only one left for a while, but 15193 seems to have come back here after Hull Fair duties, rather than going to Ecclesfield.

Perhaps should have been clearer that I meant Chesterfield depot routes that run into Sheffield! I've not been to Chesterfield itself for a while

 

[Teapot42]

Perhaps should have been clearer that I meant Chesterfield depot routes that run into Sheffield! I've not been to Chesterfield itself for a while

All Sheffield services would typically be double decker operated, so it would be rare to see a non-EV on them. That said, it looks like some early and late runs on the 43/50 can interwork with other services to give a diesel single decker. I'm not sure if one or two diesels deckers are sticking around because they've not got quite enough EVs since taking on the 170, or if it's just to offer cover while the E400EVs are bedding in and having snagging sorted.

There are a fair number of E200s left, I think 6 are needed to cover the 90/90A plus more for the DCC tenders. (15/16/48/49/63/65/Matlock services etc) Of these, the Zebra bid only covered some usage on the 65, although if they have spare EVs they can use them. The 63 is often an E300 as I'm led to believe the extra capacity is needed due to it serving Starkholmes school. My understanding also is that the 160 needs something smaller than a standard E200 due to the bridge near Chatsworth, so the Solo or similar will stick around as long as Stonegravels have that tender.

 

[psmith2023]

On a x17 stagecoach has just started sticking the timetable booklet for the entire chesterfield network plus the pronto

 

[Mugby]

Yesterday (Saturday) afternoon, I saw an oldish E400 leaving Chesterfield on the 1630 service 77 to Worksop.

It appeared to be in full red London livery. Does anyone have details of what it's doing up here?

 

[JD2168]

Yesterday (Saturday) afternoon, I saw an oldish E400 leaving Chesterfield on the 1630 service 77 to Worksop.

It appeared to be in full red London livery. Does anyone have details of what it's doing up here?

19064 based at Worksop depot. Was in the Fife heritage livery but has been painted to almost all red. Looks more like a London bus that has been pressed into service without painting into fleet livery

 

[Mugby]

19064 based at Worksop depot. Was in the Fife heritage livery but has been painted to almost all red. Looks more like a London bus that has been pressed into service without painting into fleet livery

My thoughts exactly when I saw it!

 

[Llandudno]

On a x17 stagecoach has just started sticking the timetable booklet for the entire chesterfield network plus the pronto

Chesterfield Railway Station has supplies of the Stagecoach Chesterfield area timetable book and map.

It’s an excellent publication with full timetables and route map for all Stagecoach routes in the area. A big thumbs up to Stagecoach Yorkshire (although Chesterfield is definitely in Derbyshire!) and @mk1979 !

 

[Brightsidio]

All the bus timetables in Chesterfield Coach Station have been replaced with a Chesterfield area guide.

 

[Teapot42]

All the bus timetables in Chesterfield Coach Station have een replaced with a Chesterfield area guide.

Is that just Stagecoach services, or does it feature the few remaining non-Stagecoach services we have?

Last time they did a guide they also did a leaflet drop to houses in the area - quite a good idea as it gets the info out to those who don't normally use the bus, or who don't get to places where the leaflet is available.

Only thing they need to do now is update the website - the X17 timetable for instance is still the one from April.

 

[Brightsidio]

Is that just Stagecoach services, or does it feature the few remaining non-Stagecoach services we have?

Last time they did a guide they also did a leaflet drop to houses in the area - quite a good idea as it gets the info out to those who don't normally use the bus, or who don't get to places where the leaflet is available.

Only thing they need to do now is update the website - the X17 timetable for instance is still the one from April.

All of them. They're all gone.

 

[JD2168]

Something I noticed on the majority of Enviro 400 EV’s is this sticker on the rear bumper area. It says 54 on it. Bus is 80146

 

[joieman]

Something I noticed on the majority of Enviro 400 EV’s is this sticker on the rear bumper area. It says 54 on it. Bus is 80146

I reckon it's about the bus's maximum speed: restricted to no more than 54 miles per hour

 

[Ballyheigue]

I reckon it's about the bus's maximum speed: restricted to no more than 54 miles per hour

That's a bit slow isn't it? Is that some kind of legal requirement or insurers at it again?

 

[Teapot42]

That's a bit slow isn't it? Is that some kind of legal requirement or insurers at it again?

It seems common where the limited speed is lower than would otherwise be assumed. No idea if it's a legal requirement, or just a courtesy to let anyone know following that it isn't dawdling, that's as fast as it's capable of going.

 

[Dwarfer1979]

That's a bit slow isn't it? Is that some kind of legal requirement or insurers at it again?

Not really, a lot of provincial buses top out in the mid-50's though it varies from batch to batch. It is often as not around gearing, or electrical equivalent, and about efficiency at the most common speed. Legally a bus can't hit 60mph (otherwise technically it is a coach which I think comes with extra safety requirements) but often they can't hit that naturally as they are optimised for being most efficient at speeds below 30mph.

When I was driving rail replacements in the south east 20 years ago most of the London buses could barely clear 30mph on a dual carriageway and the couple of ex London Olympians we had were just as slow (the one time I drove one I hated it as it took ages to get home at the end of the shift in the middle of the night) - I could leave Three Bridges station 10-minutes behind with my provincial spec Olympian and overtake them before we got half way to Brighton.

 

[joieman]

Not really, a lot of provincial buses top out in the mid-50's though it varies from batch to batch. It is often as not around gearing, or electrical equivalent, and about efficiency at the most common speed. Legally a bus can't hit 60mph (otherwise technically it is a coach which I think comes with extra safety requirements) but often they can't hit that naturally as they are optimised for being most efficient at speeds below 30mph.

I've been on some going as fast as 63mph