Are bus services now back to normal (i.e. at pre-Covid levels of service)?

[geoffk]

Aside from periodic service cuts due to changes in contract arrangements or commercial decisions, are buses pretty much back to where they were in early March, or are there areas where a Covid reduced timetable still applies?

I ask because recent changes in West Yorkshire have actually brought service improvements - Halifax to Keighley now hourly Monday to Saturday (previously Saturday only, otherwise change at Denholme) and Halifax - Rochdale via Ripponden hourly instead of every 70 minutes.

 

[Ianno87]

Round here (Cambridge), I believe that all routes not back at pre-Covid frequencies are basically commercial decisions to reflect lower demand post-Lockdown.

 

[Smidster]

Yes - Also in West Yorkshire and pretty much back to March levels.

Doubt it will last long though - You can't cart around nothing but fresh air for very long.

 

[43055]

Around Derby and Burton most services have recently returned to normal levels from before the lockdown but there are still a few services that are either reduced in frequency, operation on weekdays only or not running. One company is introducing most timetables back to normal tomorrow in line with the local schools returning and another has doubled the daytime frequency on one route to allow for distancing on the bus.

I recently checked the arriva wales website and it looks like they were still very much running a skeleton service of hourly services on the main routes or a one bus shuttle on others that are less frequent around Llandudno but Llew Jones has returned most routes back to normal now.

 

[Stan Drews]

Yes - Also in West Yorkshire and pretty much back to March levels.

Doubt it will last long though - You can't cart around nothing but fresh air for very long.

That’s why in England and Scotland there are support agreements in place to avoid all the bus operators going bust!

 

[Baxenden Bank]

First Potteries are still running a reduced weekday service on some routes, with some (but not all) of the freed up buses being used for the one service (3/3A) which has an enhanced frequency. Saturday timetables remain on a reduced frequency (my local route being every 30 minutes instead of every 20). I think most Sunday timetables have been unchanged throughout.

This week has brought in a number of duplicate 'schoolchildren only' services, shadowing an existing public journey and a number of proper 'closed contract' services, operated by various local operators.

 

[PeterC]

In my part of Bucks all routes went back to normal this week although this wasn't confirmed for some of them until last Wednesday.

Now that my village has more than one bus a day again I just need to find my ENCTS card which hasn't been used since March and put somewhere safe.

 

[Ridercross]

Currently down in Pembrokeshire. It seems that from this week services in the South of the county, those run by First and Taf Valley are pretty much now back to normal. But in the North, Richards Bros still seem to be running reduced timetables. The special Coastal buses seem to be running a reduced number of days per week and not the daily service that would normally be running in Summer.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Yes - Also in West Yorkshire and pretty much back to March levels.

Doubt it will last long though - You can't cart around nothing but fresh air for very long.

In my experience it's very similar to the situation on the trains: peak services very quiet, but off-peak maybe 15-20% below pre-Covid levels. Healthy loadings on services 233 (Tiger, Huddersfield to Denby Dale); 229 (Arriva, Huddersfield to Leeds), 268 (Arriva, Bradford to Wakefield); and 283 (Arriva, Dewsbury to Bradford). Even the 435 (Tiger, Wakefield to Holmfirth) I was on earlier had more people on board than I've seen in as long as I can remember other than school times.

 

[M60lad]

Over in Warrington what looks like normal services pre covid return from 6 September this Sunday with services back to similar levels to what they were before the pandemic.

 

[Deerfold]

Aside from periodic service cuts due to changes in contract arrangements or commercial decisions, are buses pretty much back to where they were in early March, or are there areas where a Covid reduced timetable still applies?

I ask because recent changes in West Yorkshire have actually brought service improvements - Halifax to Keighley now hourly Monday to Saturday (previously Saturday only, otherwise change at Denholme) and Halifax - Rochdale via Ripponden hourly instead of every 70 minutes.

The 502 Halifax - Keighley is a subsidised service which had been planned to be introduced for some time. Covid has not affected it. Likewise the Halifax to Rochdale via Ripponden route is as a result of the new subsidised contract. Although the frequency is improved, there is no evening and a very limited Sunday service.

 

[scotrail158713]

Up here in Edinburgh/Lothians most services are back to normal. The biggest gap is no night buses, however it was just confirmed yesterday that most of them are starting again in a couple of weeks time.

 

[geoffk]

The 502 Halifax - Keighley is a subsidised service which had been planned to be introduced for some time. Covid has not affected it. Likewise the Halifax to Rochdale via Ripponden route is as a result of the new subsidised contract. Although the frequency is improved, there is no evening and a very limited Sunday service.

Yes I noticed the evening service was withdrawn following retendering. A group of us was trying to keep it going by visiting the Bridge Inn at Ripponden (from the Rochdale direction). Todmorden town buses are finishing at tea time but the operator seems to think this is temporary (he should know!)

 

[4141]

Cheltenham and Gloucester services back to normal as of 1st Sept - along with Stagecoach taking over the 853 Oxford service from Swanbrook...

 

[peters]

Varies. In Cheshire the services which are contracted to the council and are still being operated by the same operator seem to have returned to normal levels. Some commercial services and contracted services which have changed operator are still running to a reduced frequency compared to pre-COVID. The most drastic reduction I'm aware of is the TfGM contracted service where the 288 East Didsbury-Altrincham-Manchester Airport is running to half the usual daytime frequency with evening and Sunday services withdrawn.

 

[anthony263]

Around Pontypridd services are back to normal except sundays

 

[LancasterRed]

Up here in the NW most buses are running to capacity. Buses that are known for being overcrowded are struggling.

 

[Deerfold]

Yes I noticed the evening service was withdrawn following retendering. A group of us was trying to keep it going by visiting the Bridge Inn at Ripponden (from the Rochdale direction). Todmorden town buses are finishing at tea time but the operator seems to think this is temporary (he should know!)

The evening service on the Halifax to Commons service will be every 70 minutes, with the evening service on all other routes to Ripponden being removed. I'll have to be a lot more careful with my times when visiting family there.

 

[DunsBus]

Borders Buses are operating a normal service in the Berwick area. Most of its services into and in Scotland are still on restricted timetables with two services, the 51 and 52, currently not running due to a landslip on the A68 at Fala Dam.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Cheltenham and Gloucester services back to normal as of 1st Sept - along with Stagecoach taking over the 853 Oxford service from Swanbrook...

Indeed the 853 has been significantly increased - with a couple more journeys per day including a much earlier service (leaving Cheltenham at 5am and Oxford at 7am). Other services around Oxfordshire are broadly back to normal, though there have been changes, especially on Oxford Bus Company services.

In the North East things seem to vary between operators, with Go North East virtually back to normal (even including the N21 night bus), but Arriva still having some reductions.

 

[Wolvercoter]

The service at my local bus stop in Exeter is currently worse than during the height of the pandemic!

I/J/K/T was every 10 mins, R/S every 20 mins pre Covid. From end of March, the I/J and R/S ran 30 mins each with extra K buses at peak times. The K was withdrawn from my local stop in June and the others stayed the same.

From next week, I/J will be every 20 mins, R/S the same so we'll have an improvement, but no longer a turn-up and go service. Stagecoach had consulted about the reduction of the I/J to every 15 mins before Covid anyway, so no surprise really.

 

[Jordan Adam]

In Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire it's quite varied, most of the local services in Aberdeenshire are back to pre-covid levels, i saw some of the once per week shopper services from Inverurie on Tuesday and was shocked by how busy they are, even the bus stop was pretty much full. The core routes in to Aberdeen are picking up too but still below what they were. Meanwhile in the city while numbers are steadily growing they're still way down on what they were, especially in the evening.

 

[Kuyoyo]

In the North East things seem to vary between operators, with Go North East virtually back to normal (even including the N21 night bus), but Arriva still having some reductions.

Other way round
Arriva are now back to normal and have been since Sunday. While Go North East do not return to their 'new' normal until Saturday - indeed, some of their services are very much changed since the reductions at the end of March with some services now looking very different.

Stagecoach are also a Hodge-podge - Stockton and Hartlepool depots are back to normal on weekdays now but remain on reduced levels at weekends (both are 'Sunday-Plus' on a Saturday and evening-style operations on Sundays apart from a handful of services), while the Busways depots don't return to normal on weekdays until next Monday which sees some of the planned April changes come into effect on South Tyneside. South Shields will effectively be back to normal from Sunday - they have been back to a normal Sunday since June while the other depots have all still been on reduced service levels.

 

[route101]

Borders Buses are operating a normal service in the Berwick area. Most of its services into and in Scotland are still on restricted timetables with two services, the 51 and 52, currently not running due to a landslip on the A68 at Fala Dam.

Surprised they didnt divert the 51 and 52 . There was someone at Waterloo Place waiting for 52 other day as well

 

[Eyersey468]

East Yorkshire's service levels are now more or less as they were pre pandemic

 

[rg177]

In Newcastle my local set of routes (306/8/9-11) are running a broadly normal service during Mon-Sat daytimes but are still very, very poor in the evenings. The 309/310/311 in particular should be every 20 minutes in the evening, last one at 23:20, but it's 40/20/40 then dropping to hourly before giving up entirely at 22:40. The Arriva 306/308 are hourly each though thankfully last service is still a rather generous 23:42. The thing is that after about 7pm the buses seem to be very quiet indeed, so why bother?

GNE however are still happily ploughing on with investment, with 20 and 70 reg vehicles coming on stream on the XLines routes. Services are reasonably well loaded too during the day!

On Sundays, routes seem to drop to hourly each after 5pm so it's all largely driven by shopping hours.

 

[route101]

Noticed that buses are busiest between 10 and 5pm , shopping hours. Picking up a wee bit in evening at weekend or Friday.

 

[Hassocks5489]

For a while now, Brighton and Hove Bus Company have been stating the percentage of "standard services" operating. Recently it has been edging upwards, from 80% to the oddly specific 84%, and now (since 30 August) 90%. I can't remember the earlier percentages. Regarding school buses, "We are converting a number of regular bus journeys to be available to schoolchildren only, as well as adding many extra school buses".

Buses are just starting to get a little busier now, for the first time.

 

[Smethwickian]

Indeed the 853 has been significantly increased - with a couple more journeys per day including a much earlier service (leaving Cheltenham at 5am and Oxford at 7am).

Though in a wonderful example of bus companies' blinkered marketing you will only find this info on the Stagecoach website if you have Cheltenham or similar West area location set as the 'home' town.
It is not on any Oxford map or ticket guide and searching 853 in timetables will produce no results if the home location is Oxford.
Why are bus companies so hopeless at promoting or advertising such basic product information as a bus timetable?

 

[PeterC]

Though in a wonderful example of bus companies' blinkered marketing you will only find this info on the Stagecoach website if you have Cheltenham or similar West area location set as the 'home' town.
It is not on any Oxford map or ticket guide and searching 853 in timetables will produce no results if the home location is Oxford.
Why are bus companies so hopeless at promoting or advertising such basic product information as a bus timetable?

I found a similar issue with Arriva a couple of years ago. Being an ignorant southerner I rather stupidly assumed that Whitby was in Yorkshire.