Buses through Mere, Cheshire - A GHA Quest

[theshillito]

I work in Mere, Cheshire and we have the GHA Coaches 289 (Northwich-Knutsford-Altrincham) go through the village every 3 hours or so. I didn't know this until I looked at the Google Map for the area and it had bus stop markers on there. Further investigation revealed that the stops were served by the 289 and they were unmarked.

Now, while it may look like there's not much in the village, the golf club/resort and spa employs a couple hundred people, there are businesses opposite that are on the grounds of Mere Hall, etc, so I was surprised that the bus service was so infrequent especially when it could connect to rail services at Knutsford or Northwich. I, of course, assumed that the bus stops being unmarked probably didn't help things.

First thing to do was to contact GHA to find out exactly where the bus stops were. I don't want to be standing in the wrong place when holding my arm out of course. I sent this email to GHA:

I was wondering if you could help me out. I work at a business based in Mere and I’ve found out that your 289 service goes down Warrington Road (A50) in Mere, however there are no visible bus stops. Looking online has revealed that there are two stops at the Mere Junction end of Warrington Road, one for Altrincham-bound and one for Knutsford/Northwich-bound buses. While they are shown on the map, I am not sure how accurate they are and where exactly I would need to be standing to catch the 289. I am particularly concerned about this due to the very infrequent services that go down this route and if I missed one, I would have three hours until the next one (and at that point, I’d be better walking to Knutsford). Do you have further information, or even photographs, as to where exactly these bus stops are? To clarify, they are the two bus stops nearest to <postcode> in Mere.

Also, do you have any contacts for the council to recommend they put signs up, as unmarked bus stops are a ridiculous concept in the first place (I’m presuming it’s the council I would need to contact for this, but if I’m wrong, feel free to correct me)?

Thanks for your time.

I then got a phone call a few hours later from Cheshire East council regarding the email (I presume they get forwarded GHA's emails). They mentioned that they plan to install signs at many bus stops across Cheshire East, though they couldn't say whether the ones in Mere would be included. They did say that the bus drivers didn't like the junction and there may be some changes (this was a year ago, there hasn't been any changes).

I then got an email from GHA themselves:

I regret I do not have any photographs showing bus stop location I will endeavour to get further information for you from the drivers on that route

Stuart Hyslop
Chief Executive
G.H.A. Coaches Ltd.

I never got a response from Stuart following that.

A few months later, the weather was horrible (extreme wind, rain, etc). A few people from the golf club and myself were waiting by the main road for partners/parents/friends to give them a lift (we were all motorcycle riders at the time and the weather was bad). I mentioned to them that there is a bus service later on and none of them knew it existed.

I mentioned this to Cheshire East and they were adamant that the frequency won't be increased and couldn't comment on whether signs were to be added.

So I'm wondering what to do next. I'm tempted to add my own bus stop signs, but the council could claim it's defacing public property or whatever (there might be a law about putting unofficial bus stops in places). I could keep complaining at the council to try and get signs there, etc to try and let more people know that the bus service exists.

If you have any suggestions on what I should do, let me know.

For full disclosure, I bought a car because the bus times don't align with when I work so I have yet to actually take the 289.

 

[pemma]

With the 17:30 departure from Altrincham for Warrington via High Legh being withdrawn as a result of Warrington Coachway's demise I suggested to both GHA and Cheshire East council that a 17:30 departure from Altrincham on the 289 route was required to fill the void. GHA didn't respond while Cheshire East just sent me a timetable for the 47 Tuesday and Friday only service between High Legh and Warrington.

The 289 service used to be every 2.5 hours but it's now every 2.75 hours as a result of re-routing the service to serve High Legh when the Lower Peover-Warrington via Knutsford and High Legh service was cut back from 5 buses a day to 4 per week.

The problem with Cheshire East council is they see certain services as village services and that the main demand for them as pensioners making shopping trips and fail to see the potential of them being useful commuter services.

 

[theshillito]

So I finally traveled on the 289 almost end-to-end (Altrincham bus station to Northwich rail station) and, while it's quite pleasant, I get why there isn't a higher frequency for a most part.

For a significant portion of the journey (probably 2/3 I estimate) the route overlaps with other, more-frequent bus services. Additionally, you can get from Altrincham to Northwich by train direct. It's the small villages in the middle of nowhere that the service is really for (stating the obvious).

It is, however, a really long route. I'm surprised it isn't split up more, but I guess this way they only need one vehicle doing the whole thing end-to-end.

Perhaps having the bus destination display saying "NORTHWICH" isn't doing any favours. Perhaps "NORTHWICH via Knutsford, High Leigh, Lostock Gralam" would get them some of the Knutsford commuters wanting a cheap alternative.

In terms of passenger numbers, I boarded at Altrincham (16:25) with 2 others. One person got off at Little Bollington, Stamford Arms, one person got on at Knutsford, then both myself and that person got off at Northwich, Tesco/railway station, leaving one last passenger on the bus. They'd probably be better off with a subsidized taxi or minibus with those passenger numbers, but I can't say anything about other services particularly during the week.

So, now I realise just how rural the route is, perhaps I need to approach Mere public transport improvements differently than badgering the current operator...

 

[pemma]

Perhaps having the bus destination display saying "NORTHWICH" isn't doing any favours. Perhaps "NORTHWICH via Knutsford, High Leigh, Lostock Gralam" would get them some of the Knutsford commuters wanting a cheap alternative.

The previous operator did have a via on the destination display: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mancunian1001/5411651356/

In terms of passenger numbers, I boarded at Altrincham (16:25) with 2 others. One person got off at Little Bollington, Stamford Arms, one person got on at Knutsford, then both myself and that person got off at Northwich, Tesco/railway station, leaving one last passenger on the bus. They'd probably be better off with a subsidized taxi or minibus with those passenger numbers, but I can't say anything about other services particularly during the week.

I've seen the 289 bus arrive in Northwich with too many passengers for a minibus, which is probably why the contract specifies a vehicle with at least 25 seats rather than a 16 seater minibus.

Whenever I've seen the bus you travelled on leave Knutsford it's usually got a loading of around 5 people. Of course the low frequency doesn't attract people to use that service if there is any alternative. For instance, some-one living in Altrincham who works at Fryers Garden Centre or Cotton's Hotel would probably make the 1.7 mile walk from Knutsford station, rather than take the infrequent bus which almost stops outside.

It is, however, a really long route. I'm surprised it isn't split up more, but I guess this way they only need one vehicle doing the whole thing end-to-end.

Apart from the High Legh diversion it's been like that for a long time. In doing that Cheshire East routed the service away from a Nursing Home which may well have had family members visiting by bus.