Stagecoach South & South East

[TheGrandWazoo]

Trying to impress their prospective new private equity owners possibly........

They don't own them yet!

 

[LordCreed]

They have chosen not to do this and have stripped drivers and buses from their depots around the country, leading to cancellations in many parts of the country, including West itself, in default of their obligations to councils and the traffic commissioner.

Todays cancellations in the West have been the worst in a long time. For example, 22 round trips gone on the 55 in Swindon. The 54 doesn't appear to have run all day, and the 9 has had three successive journeys cancelled (putting the wait between services at 1:20).

 

[baza585]

They don't own them yet!

Hence my use of the word "prospective"....

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Hence my use of the word "prospective"....

I was alluding more to NX haven't given up hope

 

[baza585]

I was alluding more to NX haven't given up hope

A bird in the hand or two in the bush?
If I was a Stagecoach shareholder I'm afraid I would take the money.

There was nothing concrete in the NX press release to change my mind. If they really think it's worth more, make another offer then.......

Hope is what they have.......

 

[GusB]

This is a quick reminder that this thread is for discussing Stagecoach South and Southeast. Anything related to another region or operating company should be discussed in the relevant threads.

Discussion relating to the takeover / merger should go here:

Stagecoach Takeover Discussion

The Daily Telegraph on-line is reporting that National Express is thinking of bidding for Stagecoach. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/09/20/national-express-targets-stagecoach-takeover/ National Express is mulling a bid for rival Stagecoach that could join up two of the UK’s biggest...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[NorthernSpirit]

Anyone know when the Coastliner700 was withdrawn from Arundel which has lead the the 9 (Littlehampton to Holmbush) being extended to Arundel as a replacement?

 

[railwaytrack]

Anyone know when the Coastliner700 was withdrawn from Arundel which has lead the the 9 (Littlehampton to Holmbush) being extended to Arundel as a replacement?

That was five years ago around April 2017 that the 700 to Arundel was cut and replaced by the 9 being extended there. I am not too sure on the reasons for this. The 700 has seen a lot of changes. Up until around May 2014 the 700 ran all the way from Brighton to Portsmouth as one through bus but now it has been split up in to three separate routes meaning you have to change twice.

 

[LUYMun]

Route 7 (Aldershot to Elvetham Heath) will see changes from 11 April that will divert away from Hospital Hill and Fleet Road to Bourley Road and Beacon Hill Road. Obviously the pre-roadworks route will also be returned, now running directly on the A323 instead of Minley Road.

Additional journeys are being put forward to extend to Hartley Wintney, including on Saturdays, to recoup Reading Buses' withdrawal, as well as serving a double-run to Fleet Railway Station.

More info here: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/servi...rticle?SituationId=ID-22/12/2021-16:08:19:499

 

[Drogba11CFC]

After coming down with a cold[1] thanks to overcrowding on the 7:38 from Alton, I noticed that Stagecoach are continuing to force overcrowding on the people who use it, made worse by the cancellation of the 64X this morning.

[1] Fortunately for them it was just a cold; had it been covid I'd be speaking to a solicitor at the first opportunity.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Fortunately for them it was just a cold; had it been covid I'd be speaking to a solicitor at the first opportunity.

Somehow, I think you'd struggle to prove that you hadn't caught it elsewhere. Hope you're not too poorly.

Very unfortunate that it's an e300 when the X64 has been dropped

 

[Drogba11CFC]

It always seems to be my bus that gets switched out for a single decker though - sometimes for one fitted with the older "back breaker" seats.

 

[railwaytrack]

I have heard that from today the old Arriva bus depot on Leas Road has reopened. Apparently the full Monday to Saturday services (but not the Sunday services) on the, 6, 28, 34, 35, 47, 91, are being operated out of it. But all the other routes will continue to be run from Peasmarsh depot. I know the Peasmarsh depot was getting very full so i suppose it is good that they have managed to move some of their routes in to the old Leas Road depot. I am surprised that the large Arriva sign on the front of the depot is still there but i am sure they will replace it with a Stagecoach one soon.

 

[DelW]

I have heard that from today the old Arriva bus depot on Leas Road has reopened. Apparently the full Monday to Saturday services (but not the Sunday services) on the, 6, 28, 34, 35, 47, 91, are being operated out of it. But all the other routes will continue to be run from Peasmarsh depot. I know the Peasmarsh depot was getting very full so i suppose it is good that they have managed to move some of their routes in to the old Leas Road depot. I am surprised that the large Arriva sign on the front of the depot is still there but i am sure they will replace it with a Stagecoach one soon.

In case you haven't seen it, there's some discussion of this happening earlier in this thread (posts 109 - 115).

 

[Flange Squeal]

There will be some changes to some former Arriva services, taken over last December, from next Sunday (2nd May) - routes 28 (one journey), 47 and 91. No word as yet on any increases to routes 6, 34 or 53 as yet, nor their pre-existing Uni 1/2 and Park & Ride routes, however the 91 will see changes that take the frequency back to - or even better than! - pre-pandemic levels. The route will also return to its pre-pandemic routing via Victoria Way and Lockfield Drive instead of Goldsworth Road and Parley Drive which added distance without the timetable being amended, resulting in some poor timekeeping. Full timetables are not yet available.

There is, as we speak, a public meeting going on in Woking town centre, hosted by the North West Surrey Bus Users Group with the local Stagecoach depot manager as guest speaker, so more information on the likelihood of any other imminent increases (or not) to other services may be known in the not too distant future. Hopefully it's not a case of this good news being announced now, bearing in the mind the extra resources the 91 increase will need during this time of driver shortage that was a major factor in the frequency reductions in the first place, to try and overshadow the reductions to the Guildford - Woking - Camberley and Guildford to Cranleigh corridors becoming permanent.

From the Hants & Surrey Bus Blog's 'Service Changes' page:

28: Woking – Brookwood – Guildford
Operated by: Falcon & Stagecoach
The current weekday morning Stagecoach-operated 0605 Guildford to Knaphill Sainsbury’s journey (which continues to Woking as the 0635 Knaphill Sainsbury’s to Woking route 91) will be retimed to run 10 minutes later to 0615. It will then continue to Woking as the new 0648 route 91. This will provide a fairly tight connection with the 0644 London train, or a more comfortable one with the 0652 train. There is no change to the main Falcon Coaches timetable, however the Sunday and evening journeys on route 91 (which cover Brookwood and Pirbright in the evening and Guildford via Worplesdon on Sunday) are being revised – see route 91 below for more information.

47: Brookwood Station – Bisley – West End
Operated by: Stagecoach
The later third morning journey will be reintroduced, departing West End at 0722, which should connect with the 0746 London train. The existing two journeys will also be retimed slightly from 0623/0655 to 0622/0652 to improve the connections with trains at Brookwood.

91: Woking – Goldsworth Park – Knaphill
extends Pirbright (eve) & Guildford (Sun)
Operated by: Stagecoach
Re-routed between Woking town centre and Marston Road via the quicker pre-May 2020 route of Victoria Way and Lockfield Drive, rather than the longer Goldsworth Road and Parley Drive (this will hopefully improve timekeeping). Frequencies will also be increased to – and in some cases beyond – pre-pandemic levels, with Sundays also seeing new earlier and later journeys introduced. The route currently operates between Woking and Knaphill every 20 minutes Mon-Sat daytime (was 12 peaks and 15 off-peak pre-pandemic), every 60 mins Mon-Sat evening (30 pre-pandemic), and every 30 mins on Sunday (one per hour continuing to Pirbright and Guildford). The new frequencies will be as follows:

Mon-Fri peak: Every 12 mins
Mon-Fri off-peak: Every 10 mins
Mon-Fri evening: Every 30 mins (hourly to Pirbright)

Saturday daytime: Every 12 mins
Saturday late afternoon: Every 15 mins
Saturday evening: Every 30 mins (hourly to Pirbright)

Sunday/Public Holidays: Every 20 mins (hourly to Guildford)

 

[alex397]

More cut backs being made in Stagecoach South East land.

Highlights being the withdrawal of scenic route 7 between Canterbury and Herne Bay, through the villages of Broad Oak, Hoath, Hillborough, and also the withdrawal of relatively new X4 (Canterbury to Maidstone via Sittingbourne).

The X4 operates an hourly route alongside the similar hourly route X3, which is remaining. The X4 serves Ospringe whereas the X3 serves Bysing Wood. It competes partially against Arriva’s 334 between Sittingbourne and Maidstone.

https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promo...lBDtPlhMAnT_QyFHEgcDAV-rQmXKCXimT55Vv0DVyo0gI

Changes to bus services in the Canterbury, Whitstable, Herne Bay, Faversham, Sittingbourne and Maidstone areas from Sunday 5 June​

What’s changing?​

From 5 June, the following services will no longer be operated by Stagecoach:

Route X4 (Maidstone, Sittingbourne, Faversham, Canterbury)
Route 3B (Faversham and Kiln Court)
Route 7 (Herne Bay to/from Hillborough, Hoath, Broad Oak and Canterbury)
Route 22A/25A (evening service to/from Barton Estate)
Route 27 (Rough Common to/from Canterbury)

From the same date, the following school-time services will no longer be operated by Stagecoach:
Route 901 (Herne Bay, Broomfield, Beltinge, Chestfield, Tyler Hill to/from Archbishops School)
Route 920 (return service from Canterbury Academy to Sturry and Broad Oak)
Route 921 (Herne Bay, Beltinge, Hillborough, Broomfield, Herne, Broad Oak, Sturry to/from Spires Academy)
Route 922 (Whitstable, Tankerton, Greenhill, Tyler Hill, Hales Place, Sturry to/from Spires Academy).
There are some alternative options which are detailed under changes affecting school-time bus servicesbelow.

There will also be some changes to timetables affecting routes 1/1A, 3, 4, 5, 6, 21/21A, 22, 23/23A, 25, 89, Triangle and Uni2, as well as school-time services 904, 911, 912, 913, 914, 915, 916, 917, 919, 953, 954, 955 and 956.

​

Why?​

During the course of the pandemic, bus passengers and local communities have benefitted from central and local government funding for bus services. This support, combined with the steps we’ve taken to protect jobs and services, has kept bus networks on life-support.

The pandemic has accelerated long-term changes to our local economy and communities which have affected people's travel patterns. Despite people coming back to using public transport, there are less people travelling than before the pandemic.

Our baseline costs have increased significantly too, which means that some services that previously struggled to cover their operating costs are now unsustainable.

Added to this, bus operators across the country are faced with a significant vacancy gap caused by a shortage of qualified drivers and engineers. This situation has begun to improve at our Herne Bay depot, with a good response to our local recruitment campaign - but there remains a shortfall of drivers which continues to have an impact on our services in the area.

It’s important we now adjust our bus network to reflect these changes so we can ensure that other critical services in the area are continued, and we can operate them more reliably within the scope of our available workforce.

We firmly believe buses have a positive long-term future in the area and we remain committed to working with local government to maximise opportunities to deliver good local bus connections for the community.

​

Full details​

Routes 1/1A (Canterbury to/from Chilham and Chartham)
Buses from Canterbury at 1650 and 1750 will no longer operate. The 1829 bus from Chilham (1839 from Chartham) will also no longer operate. The 1458 bus from Canterbury will run eight minutes earlier at 1450. All route 1A buses that run from Canterbury as far as Chartham only, will operate using Cockering Road - this will ensure that in combination with buses coming from Ashford, an even 30 minute frequency of buses will operate. There will be no changes affecting services to and from Ashford or Wye.

Routes 3, X3, 3B and X4
These routes will operate to a new service pattern:
Route X3 buses will run; Canterbury – Upper Harbledown – Faversham – Bysing Wood – Sittingbourne – Maidstone.
Route 3 buses will run; Canterbury – Dunkirk – Boughton – Faversham – Bysing Wood.
Routes 3B and X4 will be withdrawn. These changes mean that Oare village and Kiln Court will no longer be served by a regular bus service (the early morning route 666 bus will continue to serve Oare village). Buses linking Sittingbourne and Maidstone with Faversham and Canterbury will run hourly.

Route 4
The 1555 bus from Canterbury will run five minutes later at 1600.

Route 5
Most journeys will be retimed. The 0930 bus from Chestfield to Canterbury and the 1445 bus from Seasalter to Canterbury will no longer operate.

Route 6
The 0554 bus from Eddington Lane and Sea Street to Herne Bay will be a Triangle bus instead.
The 0658 bus from Sea Street (0701 from Herne Bay Rail Station) will run 10 minutes earlier at 0648.
The 0857 and 0927 buses from Greenhill will run 10 minutes earlier at 0847 and 0917.
The 0800 bus from Canterbury will run 10 minutes earlier at 0750.
The 1652 bus from Greenhill will run 5 minutes earlier at 1657.
There will be some adjustment to the timiming of afternoon and early evening buses between Canterbury and Sturry Rail Station.
On Saturdays, the 0617 bus from Eddington Lane and Sea Street to Herne Bay will no longer operate.

Route 7
The service between Canterbury and Herne Bay will no longer be operated by Stagecoach. A hourly daytime service will continue to operate between Herne Bay Station and Altira Park, serving Herne Bay High Street, the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, Beltinge and Hillborough.

Route 21/21A
A new timetable will operate maintaining a 20 minute frequency during the daytime.
The Sunday service will operate as route 21 only (serving Kingsmead Sainsbury’s in both directions).
An evening and all-night service will continue to be provided by the Uni2 bus.

Route 22
Bus timings in the afternoon will be adjusted slightly.
A new timetable will apply on Sundays.

Route 23
A new evening timetable will operate, replacing route 25A.
On Sundays a new hourly service will operate, replacing route 25A.

Route 23A
A new timetable will apply on Monday to Saturday.

Route 25
This service will operate during the evenings and on Sundays, replacing the 25A. A new timetable will apply with some adjustments to peak-time buses and running times.

Route 22A/25A
This evening service will no longer operate. A new evening service will be provided on routes 23 (for Spring Lane) and route 25 (for the Hospital). There will no longer be an evening or Sunday service to Barton Estate.

Route 27
This service will no longer be operated by Stagecoach. School-time bus routes will continue to serve Rough Common.

Route 89

There will be some minor changes to running times and the following buses from Aylesham will operate along New Dover Road into Canterbury: 1522, 1556 and 1702.

Triangle
Bus times in the afternoon and early evening will be adjusted to allow additional running time to reach Sturry Rail Station from Canterbury.
The 0704 bus from Herne, School Lane that serves Broomfield and Hillborough School will operate 5 minutes earlier at 0659 to allow additional time to reach Hillborough School.
On Saturdays the following changes will apply:
The 0516 bus from Eddington Lane to Whitstable and Canterbury will operate 5 minutes earlier, departing at 0511.
The 0553 bus from Eddington Lane to Whitstable and Canterbury will no longer operate.
The 0628 bus from Sea Street to Whitstable and Canterbury will no longer operate.
(This bus starts as a route 6 from Eddington Lane).
The 0633 bus from Eddington Lane to Whitstable and Canterbury will no longer operate.
The 0618 bus from Canterbury to Sturry and Herne Bay will operate 10 minutes earlier at 0608.

Uni 2
There will be some minor timing changes. In the evenings the Uni2 will serve Hales Place and Bawden Close (like it does during the daytime). During Uni holidays the Uni2 will operate an hourly service.
The Saturday daytime service will no longer operate. This is largely duplicated by the Uni1 service.

 

[LUYMun]

With the above two posts, it seems the situation in Stagecoach South is "you win some, you lose some."

 

[Lynford1976]

With the above two posts, it seems the situation in Stagecoach South is "you win some, you lose some."

Stagecoach South and Stagecoach South East are two separate operating companies, with separate head offices, managing directors, etc.

 

[Flange Squeal]

Stagecoach South and Stagecoach South East are two separate operating companies, with separate head offices, managing directors, etc.

Indeed. For those not familiar with the two operations, Stagecoach South (Stagecoach South Limited) primarily covers Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex, while Stagecoach South East (East Kent Road Car Company Limited) covers East Sussex and Kent. Stagecoach South do stray into East Sussex with their routes 17 and 700 to Brighton though.

A list of operating centres to give an idea of the geography, sorted by their current PSV vehicle authorisations from highest to lowest, are as follows (Source: gov.uk operator search facility).

Stagecoach South (643)

• Portsmouth - 95
• Aldershot - 91
• Guildford - 90 (60 Peasmarsh, 30 Leas Road)
• Basingstoke - 83
• Winchester - 75
• Chichester - 69
• Worthing - 65
• Andover - 39
• Littlehampton - 20
• Henfield - 7
• Alton - 5
• Botley - 4

Stagecoach South East (508)

• Ramsgate - 80
• Herne Bay - 78
• Hastings - 74
• Dover - 70 (65 Menzies Road, 5 Pencester Road)
• Eastbourne - 65
• Folkestone - 64
• Ashford - 60 (40/20 two sites Cobbswood Ind. Est.)
• Old Romney - 10
• Canterbury - 7

 

[Man of Kent]

Stagecoach South do stray into East Sussex with their routes 17 and 700 to Brighton though.

Though not into the East Sussex County Council area - these routes only reach the area covered by the unitary Brighton & Hove City Council.

 

[LUYMun]

Thanks for informing me about that. It just send that with the latest upgrade to Stagecoach South's Woking routes but a withdrawal of the South East X4 route did reflect a matter of "you win some, you lose some" as a reflection on the bus industry coming out of the pandemic, particularly as this topic centres on Stagecoach.

 

[railwaytrack]

I wonder when the Stagecoach 700 between Brighton and Littlehampton will go back to every 10 minutes like it was before the corona virus. It is still only every 12 minutes currently. The current frequency is not good enough. All the buses i have seen in the past couple of months have been very busy with some even being full and standing. It could really do with an every 5 minutes frequency at certain times of the day. I have always thought this route is not frequent enough considering how busy it always gets.

Also the Stagecoach 17 between Brighton and Horsham is still only every 60 minutes. It was every 30 minutes before the corona virus. This route always seems very busy too. Additionally the Sunday 17 (Sussex Coaches) and night N8 (Sussex Coaches) have not returned yet either. Henfield gets a very poor service for its size. All the buses on Mondays to Saturdays finish by around 18:00 or 19:00 and it has no Sunday buses. Considering that Henfield is nowhere near a railway station it has a very poor public transport service there. Compare it to Steyning which is a very similar size and gets buses until around 00:00 on seven days of the week.

Stagecoach seem to be taking a lot longer to go back to the frequencies of before corona virus compared to other operators. Hopefully they will increase the frequencies of more of their services soon.

 

[Typhoon]

Stagecoach seem to be taking a lot longer to go back to the frequencies of before corona virus compared to other operators. Hopefully they will increase the frequencies of more of their services soon.

In South East the timetables on routes such as the Loop (Thanet) and the Triangle which we were told were temporary, show no signs of returning to the previous times. Indeed the new (supposed temporary) timetables are in the cases at the stops These seem to be an example of what is called 'the new normal'.

The examples given by @Flange Squeal in #135 are routes which have been taken over from Arriva (Kent and Sussex Surrey), which, as recent cuts in its heartland have shown appears to be an atrophic division of the larger company. Perhaps Stagecoach and others see the opportunity for innovation in the Guildford network? If they don't work out, they can always pull consolidate the new journeys.

However I reckon that the trimming of the network as shown in #136 is more likely to be the norm.

Regarding the comparison - Henfield and Steyning, Steyning does only get an hourly service to Brighton during the day, provided by Brighton & Hove, a company very much at home with 24-7 operation (hence the evening runs). Not particularly relevant in this case but sometimes it is not the size of a town but its location that dictates the frequency of its buses. A town on a line between two large towns is always likely to have a more frequent service than one at the end of a line. Other factors might be the make up of the population - age, income, for instance, I have no idea whether that is a factor here. A route may appear to be busy - but if it is packed out with oldies like me, it won't be making a fat lot of money

 

[Flange Squeal]

Additionally the Sunday 17 (Sussex Coaches) and night N8 (Sussex Coaches) have not returned yet either.

It doesn’t look like they will be either. Sussex Coaches is the trading name of sole trader Samuel Ayling, and the London & South East Notices & Proceedings dated 4th April showed he has deregisteted both routes.

Section 3.6 – Cancellations of Existing Services Granted Under Short Notice

SAMUEL JAMES AYLING, SAILORS CROSS, GREEN STREET, SHIPLEY, HORSHAM, RH13 8PB
Operating between Horsham Bus Station and Churchhill Square, Brighton given service number N8 effective from 07 March 2022.

SAMUEL JAMES AYLING, SAILORS CROSS, GREEN STREET, SHIPLEY, HORSHAM, RH13 8PB
Operating between Horsham Station and Brighton, Churchill Square given service number 17 effective from 07 March 2022.

 

[SeveerYeliab]

In South East the timetables on routes such as the Loop (Thanet) and the Triangle which we were told were temporary, show no signs of returning to the previous times. Indeed the new (supposed temporary) timetables are in the cases at the stops These seem to be an example of what is called 'the new normal'.

Have you seen the state of Herne Bay/Canterbury depots recently with their cancellations? Tbh all of these sudden withdrawals are most probably Stagecoach trying to lower their PVR so they have drivers to cover their more important (ie more profitable services). I'm sure it'd be a slightly different story if they actually had drivers at their disposal (however, the situation does seem to have got better with drivers recently - with Dover, Herne Bay and Hastings seemingly being the only depots consistently struggling every day with multiple full duties not covered).

 

[Typhoon]

Have you seen the state of Herne Bay/Canterbury depots recently with their cancellations? Tbh all of these sudden withdrawals are most probably Stagecoach trying to lower their PVR so they have drivers to cover their more important (ie more profitable services). I'm sure it'd be a slightly different story if they actually had drivers at their disposal (however, the situation does seem to have got better with drivers recently - with Dover, Herne Bay and Hastings seemingly being the only depots consistently struggling every day with multiple full duties not covered).

Yes. 'Victim' of them yesterday and, from what people at the stop were saying I seem to have done alright comparatively. Today doesn't seem to be any better. Most days I go out I see at least one training vehicle but it doesn't seem to make much difference. I'm not sure it would be a different story if they had more drivers - I guess it would mean they wouldn't need to put the training vehicles out so often, passengers are getting used to the reduced frequencies. They have had other companies (such as Ensign, Bayliss) covering school work. The former, in particular, cannot have been cheap. Then to take on more Kent County Council work might not have been the most sensible, particularly, as I witnessed twice on routes I rarely use, the driver taking the wrong route, presumably because they had not received route training. It may have been a one off but a visit to Thanet a couple of weeks ago revealed a number of 'Loop' vehicles terminating at Westwood mid morning, and there seemed to be issues with 'The Breeze' yesterday. Ashford continues to cut frequencies and routes. A reduction that lasts over six months is not temporary, they would have know the situation regarding drivers, I had a good idea, a driver told me!
My point was to emphasise in my response to #142 was that it wasn't just in Stagecoach South land that the old frequencies hadn't been restored, there is at least one other.

 

[duncombec]

In South East the timetables on routes such as the Loop (Thanet) and the Triangle which we were told were temporary, show no signs of returning to the previous times. Indeed the new (supposed temporary) timetables are in the cases at the stops These seem to be an example of what is called 'the new normal'.

Whilst driver shortages remain in situ, there seems to be little point revising services back upwards when you then have to cancel journeys. Stagecoach do pay attention to their roadside publicity, so it's not at all surprising that they are showing the current timetables - unlike "the blue ones", who were showing the hourly pre-Covid timetable of a now-withdrawn route even up to its last day, long after it was running a 2-journey a day revised timetable.

It's worth looking at some of the changes in more detail:

Faversham area changes highlight some of the usage changes over time, and difficulties with turning a full-sized bus. Oare is full of parked cars and is a tight 3-point-turn with no waiting area. Kiln Court is a now closed nursing home. The reduction in service Faversham - Canterbury to half-hourly is probably the more noticeable of the changes here (especially as the rail service is also reduced from 30 minutes to hourly). However, traffic congestion at Brenley Corner over the last few months during the seemingly interminable use of Operation Brock has done nothing for reliability either.

Service 7, aside from the section being retained as a Herne Bay town service, is a largely rural service (think Arriva's 155). It received some additional funding fairly recently to increase the number of journeys, but this clearly hasn't increased patronage. Reculver is a long out and back diversion for few passengers (but pretty photo opportunities), and will still have peak journeys on Regent 36.

22A/25A in the evening and Sundays are "bundle together" routes to serve parts of town most effectively. Barton Estate only gets an hourly service during the day, the second-least frequent of all the city services, so it's not surprising there are fewer passengers in the evenings and Sundays too. Barton is also within minimal walking distance of Spring Lane.

Service 27 to Rough Common is the only service to Rough Common village (guess the main users there?), but there is a more frequent service on the Triangle from Rough Common turning. It's an hourly between school peaks service on Mondays to Saturdays, offering fewer journeys even than the 23A (Barton Estate), so the least frequent of all the Canterbury city services.

The Uni2 is a relatively recent invention (it didn't exist in my days, for example), and at the weekend, it largely duplicates the main Unibus service. Aside from providing a service between Hales Place and the University (which it doesn't do on Saturdays anyway, as what minimal traffic there is will walk), it's main function is to provide a service to Canterbury West and Kingsmead Sainsbury's, neither of which are insurmountable walking distances, or, if so inclined, can take Uni1 to the bus station and change.

Some of the schools workings are fairly duplicative - most of the district's secondary schools are in a doughnut around Canterbury City Centre, so where services can be amalgamated, it will make inevitable sense. The 921 and 922 were taken on (I can't recall whether commercially or with council support) after they were given up by the previous operator, Lehane. There are pure Stagecoach options available by changing buses in Canterbury.

Many of these changes seem to be logical (if not necessarily perfect) pruning of marginal services where there is other, perhaps less convenient, coverage to match services to driver availability. If anything turns out to be 'wrong' (e.g. the Faversham area changes turn out to not have the desired effect), there will be opportunities to revise in future.

They have had other companies (such as Ensign, Bayliss) covering school work. The former, in particular, cannot have been cheap.

I have a feeling these duplicates have been funded at least in part by the County Council with various pots of funding made available for Post-Covid use. I see to recall Kent received one of the largest sums of money from this, due to the very high number of school children carried on registered services. (Closed door contracts are unusual, rather than the norm, to non-private schools in Kent, with the possible exception of Homewood School at Tenterden).

 

[Flange Squeal]

The Hants and Surrey Bus Blog are reporting on Facebook that the latest Traffic Commissioner Notices and Proceedings document for the London & South East area states that Stagecoach South's registrations for several services are showing as cancelled. Two dated 27th August are the interworked Surrey County Council tendered Sunday operation of routes 32 and 479 between Guildford and Strood Green/Epsom respectively (Mon-Sat operated by Compass Bus and Falcon Coaches respectively). Unclear as to whether this is just the contracts expiring and perhaps won elsewhere, or if the council are simply not retendering them. Guildford park and ride routes 100 and 400 to the Spectrum Leisure Centre and newer Onslow sites are also shown as cancelled from 25th June. Onslow hasn't run since the pandemic began, when the car park was converted into one of the drive-thru testing sites.

The latest London & South East Notices & Proceedings publication (2652, 02/05/2022) shows Stagecoach’s registrations for the tendered Sunday 32 (Guildford to Strood Green) and 479 (Guildford to Epsom) cancelled effective 27th August. Unknown if these have been won by someone else upon retendering or if they are simply not being continued. It also shows Guildford Park & Ride routes 100 (Spectrum) and 400 (Onslow, which I don’t think has run since it became a Covid testing site in 2020) also cancelled from 25th June.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

 

[DelW]

The Hants and Surrey Bus Blog are reporting on Facebook that the latest Traffic Commissioner Notices and Proceedings document for the London & South East area states that Stagecoach South's registrations for several services are showing as cancelled. Two dated 27th August are the interworked Surrey County Council tendered Sunday operation of routes 32 and 479 between Guildford and Strood Green/Epsom respectively (Mon-Sat operated by Compass Bus and Falcon Coaches respectively). Unclear as to whether this is just the contracts expiring and perhaps won elsewhere, or if the council are simply not retendering them. Guildford park and ride routes 100 and 400 to the Spectrum Leisure Centre and newer Onslow sites are also shown as cancelled from 25th June. Onslow hasn't run since the pandemic began, when the car park was converted into one of the drive-thru testing sites.

According to the Surrey County Council website, both Spectrum and Onslow P&R services are still suspended (described as an Emergency Timetable).

Artington is served half-hourly (presumably by a single vehicle) supplemented by calls from buses on 70/71/72 when necessary.

Guildford park and ride bus service

Guildford park and ride lets you park free of charge at one of three car parks - Artington, Merrow, and Onslow and pay to travel into Guildford.

www.surreycc.gov.uk

 

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According to the Surrey County Council website, both Spectrum and Onslow P&R services are still suspended (described as an Emergency Timetable).

Artington is served half-hourly (presumably by a single vehicle) supplemented by calls from buses on 70/71/72 when necessary.

Guildford park and ride bus service

Guildford park and ride lets you park free of charge at one of three car parks - Artington, Merrow, and Onslow and pay to travel into Guildford.

www.surreycc.gov.uk

The 100 to the Spectrum had previously resumed back to its 10 min frequency, along with the 200 upped back to its 10-12 and 300 upped back to every 15. Only the 400 has remained suspended throughout the pandemic.

January of this year saw Stagecoach make a number of reductions, primarily on the routes they' taken over from Arriva in December, due to staffing/Covid issues. This also affected the P&R, creating the current situation of the 100 being suspended and frequencies on the 200/300 reduced as above.