They need to make it so routes like this are jointly run by both authorities. I don't know the area beyond recognising the station names, but on a map looks like a reasonably built up area where despite railways existing, the bus is far easier to get around. This route looks like a key link in an otherwise awkward area.
I use the 22 on a regular basis. It crosses the boundary a few times and if they keep this, then there's no reason not to keep the 360. But who knows?
The 360 MAY be kept but however it is not under the Liverpool City Region 'Metro' franchise so no one has any idea who would operate the route. I doubt that Bee Network will take on the route as they currently do not have any public services that enter or serve Merseyside at all except for school services. Link Network and Warrington's Own Buses seem to be the obvious choices same with the 329.
Warringtons Own is most likely. They can boost their presence then on the Warrington to Newton Le Willows corridor. They've wanted to get Arriva out of Warrington for years but sadly for them they have never managed as passengers saw Arriva as the better and more reliable operator over WOB, so passengers kept voting with their feet.
When at arriva we had the 585 Wigan to Leigh via Abram and Golborne this route was extremely busy, the 660 run hourly to Warrington xx06 and the an Abram shout at xx36.
But that exact same 30 minutes is enough for a single 360 vehicle to go to Wigan and back (and has a 5 minute layover)
Maybe even less then that once you consider the time it takes to go around the roundabout at the South end
You don't quite need to go all the way down to the roundabout, you can turn around on the Queen Anne Pub.
Would there be much in the way of inconvenience to passengers who currently already travel in those parts of Golborne that you suggest are replaced by services in Derby Road?
The first suggestion affects only a single stop pair, and these stops are within 100 metres of an alternative stop
The 360 is one of those awkward cross boundary routes, operated by Arriva St Helens depot, it does go into Liverpool City Region, but only very briefly when it goes through Newton Le Willows, but most of the route is in GM though.
It would also mean it needs a single deck vehicle if it's routed under the Tanners Lane bridge. Noticed a decker on it today and if it's a between school duties run it might have to be double deck for the school service/capacity reasons.
That is merely because the routes which run cross border with Merseyside, simply aren't operated by depots which Bee Network took over, nor were they TFGM tenders.
LCR are not looking to take on the 360. They have already released information on that (see relevant thread https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/liverpool-city-region-bus-franchising.282426/)
Yes the issue is that Liverpool City Region are planning to take a much firmer line on cross-boundary services than Greater Manchester did, including cutting the high frequency and profitable commercial routes from Chester and Preston to Liverpool.
Looking at bustimes.org, no V1 or V2 went off-route yesterday.
Buses get up to 32 minutes to reach Hindley, so was probably waiting time because they got their much quicker than usual. Traffic on that stretch can be horrendous on a bad evening to the point that it can be quicker to walk!
Indeed so, in my area that I moved to earlier this year, I was told the printed timetables for the 368 (and the 369 before it was terminated) always had a time for Heald Green, The Griffin, until that particular stripping-back of timing points took place. The printed timetable timing points now has nothing shown between the shops area of Cheadle Hulme and the Beefeater/Premier Inn complex on the Manchester border.
Long dwells on Bee Network services are incredibly common, I usually get 2 >5m dwells per journey.
Is that one of the betterments the Bee Network was going to happen when Burnham talked of these when the Bee Network first began?
