Park and Ride - North Lincolnshire!

A park and ride service for staff at a North Lincolnshire hospital is to open to patients and visitors after complaints of car parking problems.

The bus service transports about 300 staff between Glanford Park and Scunthorpe General Hospital.
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals Trust said it listened to patients' complaints about the lack of spaces at its 275-capacity car park.
It has agreed to open up the service to hospital visitors from Monday.
The hospital's weekday park and ride service was set up by the trust in 2009 in a drive to free up more parking spaces for patients and visitors.
But some patients and visitors complained of having to wait for empty parking spaces.
Nigel Myhill, from the Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals Trust, said: "For the last three years we've been working on various schemes to try improve car parking for patients, visitors and staff.
"We've had quite a lot of patients and visitors asking to be able to use what is a staff facility.
"So we've now opened up our park and ride to patients and visitors."
Two buses will run every 20 minutes between the park and ride site and the hospital between 0830 and 1750, Monday to Friday.
The journey would take six minutes and cost 50p return, the trust said.

Skegness Gets an X!

Over the summer holidays a new 'X rated' service will commence from
23Rd of July to 2nd of September linking the south suburbs of Lincoln directly with Skegness every day.
X6's route is similar to the South circular & starts from High St/Portland St 08:05 via Brant Rd 08:13, Hykeham Crossroads 08:19, Birchwood Neighbourhood Centre 08:27, the Junction 08:37 then departs the City Bus Station at 08:55 towards Horncastle for 09:40 & arrives in Skegness for 10:20.
The returning X6 departs Skegness at 15:55, arriving at Horncastle for 16:33 & Lincoln City Bus Station at 17:15.
The service will continue to Birchwood for 17:30, Hykeham cross roads at 17:35, Brant Rd 17:40 & arrive at Portland St for 17:55.
This service is in addition to normal Interconnect 6 services between Lincoln-Horncastle-Skegness.

Reminder - Trent Barton

A reminder that from Sunday Trent Barton's Red Arrow will see the following changes: The late-night buses between Chesterfield and Derby on Friday and Saturday nights will be withdrawn & On Sundays and Bank Holiday Monday (until the end of September), extra buses will run between Nottingham, Derby and Alfreton; these extra buses will be extended to serve Matlock and Bakewell.

Photo taken by Declan Brydges

Good news for Nottingham!

TEN bus routes in Notts will be upgraded as part of an investment worth more than £18 million.
Improvements include tracking devices on all buses which could give late-running buses priority at traffic signals, additional cameras to make sure other motorists don't use bus lanes and more smartcard tickets to increase bus speeds.
The money will also be used to improve bus shelters and stops by installing CCTV, better lighting and better disabled access on buses and at bus stops.
The aim is to bring ten city centre bus routes up to the same standards as the tram for journey times, reliability, accessibility, emissions and information.
Routes included in the planned upgrades go towards Bilborough, Wollaton and Ilkeston, Bulwell, Sherwood and Rise Park, St Ann's and Mapperley, Sneinton and Carlton, Netherfield, Clifton, Trent Bridge, West Bridgford and Ruddington.
The largest slice of the funding – £11.9 million – will be paid by seven local bus companies, including Trent Barton and Nottingham City Transport.
Nottingham City Council has been awarded £4.9 million from the Department for Transport under the Better Bus Areas Fund to help pay for the improvements and the remaining £1.8 million will come from council funds.
Councillor Jane Urquhart, the authority's portfolio holder for planning and transport, said: "Nottingham's bus network is already very good.
"We have a huge bus patronage and we know our buses are extremely popular, so we are ambitious to carry on making the routes as efficient as they can be.
"The success of the funding bid ensures that the progress in public transport already made in Nottingham is improved even further, with travellers guaranteed a set level of reliability, journey times, quality, inter-ticketing and integrated public transport accessibility."
Ms Urquhart added that the main aim of the project was to make sure every resident in Nottingham lived near an efficient public transport stop.
She said: "The aim is to guarantee that everywhere in the city has a quality public transport route, be that a tram or a bus. When the new tram routes are up and running, I'm sure we will have conversations with the bus companies about more routes that they can take on too.
"I'm thrilled that we have got this funding and it will be great for transport in Nottingham."
City councillors approved the plans at an executive board meeting at Loxley House in the city centre yesterday.
Work is expected to start on the improvements before the end of the year.

P.C Coaches!

Following on from the cancellation of the Sudbrooke 23A service, P.C Coaches have amended the times to the 23 service from 23rd of July 2012.
Not sure exactly what this will entail, could be the 23's going to serve Sudbrooke as the 23A is ending the Saturday before 23rd of July.

Mansfield Olympic Torch Relay Disruptions!

Thursday 28 June 2012.


The Olympic Torch Relay comes to Mansfield at lunchtime on Thursday 28 June. This will mean disruption to bus services due to rolling road closures.
Full details of service disruption are shown below.
11:00 Peafield Lane/Leeming Lane North/South
Road closed for approx 1hour
Last services into Mansfield before disruption starts are as follows:
Service 10 - 10:15 Ex Edwinstowe
Service 11 - 10:26 Ex Meden Vale
Service 12 - 09:59 Ex Shirebrook Field Drive
Last service out of Mansfield that will not be caught up in delays outbound are as follows:
Service 10 - 10:12 Ex Rannoch Drive
Service 11 - 10:30 Ex Mansfield to Meden Vale
Service 12 - 10:45 Ex Mansfield to Shirebrook
11:00 - Birding Street - Road closed for approx 1hour 10 minutes
Service 1(Miller) unable to operate via A60 Woodhouse Rd in both directions. Alternative route for all other traffic is via Debdale Lane but this will not be a suitable diversion due to the expected increase in traffic. Proposed no service to/from Mansfield Woodhouse after 10:52 until 12:22 approx.
12:50 - Chesterfield Road South - closed from 12:50 until 13:15 approx
Services 6/23/53 and Pronto diverted via Rosemary Street directly to Bus Station omitting Westgate/Wood Street
12:50 - Bridge Street/Radcliffe Gate/St Peters Way/ Southwell Road West - Road closed from 12:50 until 13:45
Services 7/14/15/16/27/28/28b affected
Last services out of Mansfield before disruption
Service 7 - 12:30 Ex Mansfield to Oak Tree
Service 14 - 11:45 Ex Mansfield to Kirton
Service 15 - 12:15 Ex Mansfield to Walesby
Service 16 - 12:38 Ex Mansfield to Clipstone
Service 27 - 12:30 Ex Mansfield to Rainworth
Service 28 - 11:15 Ex Mansfield to Newark
Service 28b - 11:45 Ex Mansfield to Newark
Services unaffected by closures but may be subject to delays are as follows:
Service 1 Mansfield to Huthwaite/Alfreton
Service 6 - Mansfield to Ladybrook
Pronto - Mansfield to Nottingham
Please note that the bus lane on Westgate is closed for use from 10:00 until 15:00 approx
St John Street closed from 12:50 until 13:15 (buses unable to depart via Walkden Street from Bus Station)
There will also be some disruption on 29 June on service into Mansfield
Glapwell and Bolsover Closures
Rolling road block from Bramley Vale, Glapwell from 11:30 until 11:50 in both directions - Pronto affected unfortunately no diversionary route available.
Last buses through before closures
10:50 Ex Mansfield to Chesterfield last
10:40 Ex Chesterfield to Nottingham
Bolsover
Service 53 - 11:50 from Mansfield to serve Palterton as normal 12:13, Mansfield Road then right onto Langwith Road, left onto B6417 to Clowne omitting Bolsover Market Place, Shuttlewood and Stanfree.
Stagecoach say they will do everything they can to keep the disruption to a minimum but please be patient when delays occur.

Network changes to TM Travel!

From 22nd June 2012 (Services listed below are changes to TM Travel changes_

• Service 108 which operates between Derby & Leek the Sunday service between Derby, Ashbourne and Leek will be withdrawn. New Sunday buses on Service SWI "Swift" will offer a replacement service.
• Service 109 which operates between Derby & Ashbourne, The 1800 Ashbourne to Derby bus will be run by High Peak instead of TM Travel.
• Service 110,111,112, & 114 which operates between Ashbourne & Matlock, the Ashbourne to Matlock services will be run by High Peak instead of TM Travel, but with no changes to the route or timetable.
• Service 218 which operates between Bakewell & Sheffield, An additional journey (operated by Hulleys) will run on Mondays to Saturdays at 1915 from Sheffield to Baslow Church.
• Service 252 which operates between Crystal Peak & Sheffield, the route and departure points in Sheffield city centre will change. The 1620 bus from Crystal Peaks will run at 1610, only as far as Birk Hill.
• Service 294 which operates between Dronfield (Gunstones Bakery) & Sheffield circular, the 1735 Dronfield to Sheffield bus will be withdrawn on Mondays to Thursdays.
• Service X52 which operates between Sheffield & Crystals Peaks, the 1615 bus from Crystal Peaks to Sheffield will be withdrawn. The 1550 from Sheffield to Crystal Peaks will terminate there and no longer continue as a 252.

Annoying inaccuracies

At Jacks Transport we pride ourselves in trying to provide as much news regarding services changes as possible.
What we do find frustrating is when County Councils and or service operators fail to provide accurate information at the humble bus stop.
The following is an example where the casual spur of the moment traveller, miles from home can quite easily be caught out:-
Ok imagine your at the Lincolnshire coast, or Ingoldmells to be precise, it's 7 o'clock on a Sunday evening & you fancy a trip into Skegness. Your without your posh Internet phone so you've got no choice than to consult the timetable at the local stop. To your horror, you see the last departure of the day is approximately 18:15 & that was mon-sat's only, No service Sunday's whatsoever.
What do you do? Plan B then.........
So how annoyed would you feel the following day when somehow or another you come across the current timetable boasting a seven day evening service of 4 bused per hour right up till nearly midnight?
Well it probably wouldn't matter much, as most travellers are actually on holiday.
So that's the point. If the service is really to cater for the non locals on holiday, & more than likely never used the bus service within the area before, shouldn't it be vital the on street timetables are accurate & fully updated regardless if the changes involved are improvements or not? Surly it's in the operators interests anyway, if my example was real that's £3.80 lost in one occasion just because of inaccuracies.
Talking of money, I won't go into why the cost of the trip is £3.80, if you look at the photo showing the current timetable still on display closely, are the prices right?

Service 90 - Trent Barton

The Ninety which is operated by Trent Barton and runs between Ripley and Mansfield, the service will be revised, no longer serving the East Midlands Designer Outlet or the Coxmoor Estate, and no longer running beyond Sutton to Kings Mill Hospital and Mansfield. Other changes to the route will also be made, and a new timetable will be introduced from 22nd July.

Toton changes on the way?

Even in times of austerity the bus industry is facing at the moment, we've been advised by a reliable source that talks are underway including county council funding to follow for the Toton area of south west Nottingham.
We aren't sure exactly what the benefits will be & think because of the Notts/Derbys border it's unlikely a link into Long Eaton, what the locals are crying out for will happen.
Currently Toton doesn't have any evening or Sunday services as enjoyed previously.
We'll be keeping a close eye on this one & hope to bring you more news soon.

Changes in the Villages - Trent Barton

From 23/7/12, Trent Barton's service V1 (Villager) which operates between Derby & Burton via Tutbury will be subjected to a timetable change.

From 23/7/12, Trent Barton's service V2 (Villager) which operates between Derby & Burton via Egginton will have the changes to V1 times in this timetable.

From 23/7/12, Trent Barton's service V3 (Villager) which operates between Derby & Burton via Willington will be subjected to a timetable change & a route change in Willington.

Goodbye service 146 - Trent Barton

From 23/7/12, Trent Barton will be withdrawing service 146 which operates between Sutton Junction and Sutton Bus Station. The service mainly connects with Trent Barton's Bus Depot in Sutton.

Green the new Red - Trent Barton

For quite a while we've identified different routes with colours on Allestree, Connect in Hucknall, Mickleover & Spondon Flyer using Red & Blue, but trent barton are needing to change this because of new bus regulations. So, what this means is that all of the Red routes (Allestree, Connect in Hucknall, Mickleover & Spondon Flyer) will be changed from RED to GREEN from 10th June, there will be no route & time changes prior to this and you'll still be able to catch the the bus  where you would usually. No changes will occur to the Blue routes on Allestree, Connect in Hucknall, Mickleover or Spondon Flyer from 10th June.

Reverting to normal - Trent Barton

Trent Barton has been running some morning and afternoon journeys via Loughbrough Road which will give connections to South Nottingham College, the buses which have served Loughbrough Road for South Nottingham College haven't proven popular, so Trent Barton will be reverting back to the usual route along Melton Road from June 25th.

D & G - West Midlands

From 8th June 2012, the following routes will be subjected to a change: 

Service 297B operated  by D & G which operates Sedgley - Stourbridge via Merry Hill Ctre, will be given new commercial journeys registered on this service.

Service X96 operated by D & G which operates Wollaston Farm -  Merry Hill  Ctre via Stourbridge, will be given new commercial journeys registered on this service.

Nottingham City Transport

From 23/7/12, Nottingham City Transport will be making a timetable change to thier Red Line 43 service which operates to Bakersfield via Snienton.

From 23/7/12, Nottingham City Transport will be making a timetable change to their Red Line 44 service which operates to Gedling, Wollaton Avenue via Netherfield.