Flange Squeal
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- 17 Jul 2012
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Stagecoach South operate a commercial interurban route 13 Basingstoke - Hook - North Warnborough - Odiham - RAF Odiham - South Warnborough - Alton - Kingsley - Bordon - Whitehill.
Due to roadworks, the southern section between Alton and Bordon & Whitehill is currently on a long term diversion through until late Summer/early Autumn (bar a brief reopening planned for exam season). This sees it skip most of the route, including the residential roads south of Alton High Street and the villages of East Worldham, Kingsley and Sleaford.
Stagecoach have now announced on their website that the northern half will now be on diversion for around a week from this coming Wednesday (20th March) due to more roadworks. This will see buses run direct along the A339 from Alton to Basingstoke, skipping pretty much everywhere bar a couple of roads in Alton.
For those unfamiliar with the geography, the map below (reproduced here with kind permission from the Hants & Surrey Bus Blog) shows how extreme this is. The only roads that will therefore be served for the week that the usual route does is just over a mile of roads in Alton and the 3.5 mile loop around Bordon/Whitehill, so around 4.5 out of the usual ~28 miles. The remaining 23.5 miles of normal route will not see a route 13. To top it off, the Stagecoach website says that funding for a replacement shuttle service to access affected communities from one side of the closure was not forthcoming, so they will be left completely unserved.
This got me thinking, what other examples past and present of such lengthy diversions have there been that have seen such a huge percentage of a route left unserved?
(Image shows the diverted 13 route in yellow alongside the normal 13 route in red to give a geographical visual comparison between the two routes)
Due to roadworks, the southern section between Alton and Bordon & Whitehill is currently on a long term diversion through until late Summer/early Autumn (bar a brief reopening planned for exam season). This sees it skip most of the route, including the residential roads south of Alton High Street and the villages of East Worldham, Kingsley and Sleaford.
Stagecoach have now announced on their website that the northern half will now be on diversion for around a week from this coming Wednesday (20th March) due to more roadworks. This will see buses run direct along the A339 from Alton to Basingstoke, skipping pretty much everywhere bar a couple of roads in Alton.
For those unfamiliar with the geography, the map below (reproduced here with kind permission from the Hants & Surrey Bus Blog) shows how extreme this is. The only roads that will therefore be served for the week that the usual route does is just over a mile of roads in Alton and the 3.5 mile loop around Bordon/Whitehill, so around 4.5 out of the usual ~28 miles. The remaining 23.5 miles of normal route will not see a route 13. To top it off, the Stagecoach website says that funding for a replacement shuttle service to access affected communities from one side of the closure was not forthcoming, so they will be left completely unserved.
This got me thinking, what other examples past and present of such lengthy diversions have there been that have seen such a huge percentage of a route left unserved?
(Image shows the diverted 13 route in yellow alongside the normal 13 route in red to give a geographical visual comparison between the two routes)
Source: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/servi...rticle?SituationId=ID-15/03/2024-10:19:41:879
Source: https://www.facebook.com/handsbusbl...3PS5rU4ZVuPRm7qhJppQbpXGQJQN32w9BzheqYot3yB7l