First Eastern Counties

[stuart81]

Whenever I see the P&R vehicles they do seem quite lightly loaded.

The E300's certainly look like they are receiving minimum attention - can't blame them if they are still due to transfer to Chelmsford.

I do wonder if both sites will end up being absorbed into normal routes, the London Road would be do'able on Ipswich Buses 13 but would people want to travel the heavily diverted Eastern Counties 66?

 

[RuddA]

I experienced the Ipswich (London Road) P&R in December. My experience - the loadings were pretty quiet for a Saturday on the run up to Christmas at least inbound. To be fair, the loadings at the end of the day were very good but that's because Ipswich Town had been playing at home. Have attached a few photos but in short....

The vehicles were looking a bit jaded and the frequency is now 20 mins rather than 15. Jaded is something that really extended to the whole operation. From what I can deduce, First took on the operation commercially in 2017 and they did a decent job in marketing etc. I don't know if that is still the same. However, that was 7 years previously and the marketing and vehicles need a bit of a refresh. The same could be said for the facilities (which I guess are still a council responsibility). They were clean(ish) but just a bit unloved.

I know that in some areas, such as Salisbury, the P&Rs have been folded into the main network. Perhaps that's what is needed in Ipswich because it must be fairly marginal (if not now supported) with reduced high street footfall and in-person working. However, extending the 13 to replace the P&R at Copdock would mean a 10 min time penalty compared to current so no easy answers. My photos below

View attachment 183318View attachment 183319

The building at London Road was locked on Saturday, presumably due to the travellers using the site.

 

[stuart81]

Looks like FEC Ipswich have got even more Suffolk One routes from September:

One Sixth Form College

Travelling to Campus We're proud to partner with One Sixth Form College, and getting there every day has never been easier, with First Bus operating every single dedicated route to campus. This means that if you're travelling by bus, you're travelling with us!

www.firstbus.co.uk

I think the O6 is currently Chambers / Hedingham, I assume the O8, O11, and O12 are new routes?

 

[F Great Eastern]

I believe First currently operate the routes as a subcontractor (Kura). I wonder if the above means that they will now operate them directly?

O8 is currently with Suffolk Travel Ltd and the O11 and O12 are new routes it would seem. Makes you wonder what happened to O10?

The O8 is quite interesting in the timetable in that it appears to run just ahead of the existing Beestons 91C service to Suffolk One if that service is still continuing. Has there ever been head to head competition like this on a dedicated school bus route before with services that are leaving pretty much at the same time?

 

[_sSamuel]

I believe First currently operate the routes as a subcontractor (Kura). I wonder if the above means that they will now operate them directly?

O8 is currently with Suffolk Travel Ltd and the O11 and O12 are new routes it would seem. Makes you wonder what happened to O10?

The O8 is quite interesting in the timetable in that it appears to run just ahead of the existing Beestons 91C service to Suffolk One if that service is still continuing. Has there ever been head to head competition like this on a dedicated school bus route before with services that are leaving pretty much at the same time?

Presumaly no O10 as the O11 and O12 are just the duplicate O1s and O2s re-routed to serve more areas.