Cheshire Bus News (was East Cheshire Bus News)

[pemma]

Probably quicker to take the train up to Stockport then back down to Macclesfield...

For those wanting the hospital or those wanting to take advantage of free ENCTS travel the quickest way to reach just outside Macclesfield town centre may not be the best method. Even for those paying the fare the train all the way will be more expensive, especially if you already have a season ticket for the bus.

 

[spargazer]

They may be back tracking along the old road to the town centre then back again, it adds about 20 mins to journey.

 

[pemma]

They may be back tracking along the old road to the town centre then back again, it adds about 20 mins to journey.

Have you read post 1469 or are you saying they are doing something different to what the council are saying they are doing?

 

[Navigation Roa]

There are rumours floating around today that the 130 is being scrapped completely from October. Arriva making no money on it and wanting someone else to take the route. It’ll either just be Macc - Alderley - Wilmslow or canned full stop. If this is the case parts of Wilmslow will have gone from 3 buses an hour to none in little over a year

 

[pemma]

Ignore.

 

[sjb-2812]

I have seen a few flyers asking for consultation on the 130 (on some of the Sapphires that have been demoted to other services) - whether this is related I don't know..?

 

[jfollows]

The road over the railway line in Alderley Edge is closed for two weeks, http://www.alderleyedge.com/news/ar...lays-as-railway-bridge-closes-for-a-fortnight

Reports that the reopening date will be later than the planned date of Sunday August 19th. because "a cavity was discovered under a section of the footpath"

 

[pemma]

Picking up one of the new D&G timetable booklets today I notice it states contactless payments are accepted on all Cheshire and Greater Manchester services excluding some a small number of services on the 85 route, plus the 94 route. Also the £5.50 Network Return is valid for onward travel on High Peak services 14, 19, 58, 60/60A (for which timetables are also included in the same booklet.) I also notice the 58, 60 and 60A are now subsided 7 days a week jointly by Cheshire East and Derbyshire councils.

 

[Martin2012]

I had the opportunity to properly visit Crewe on sunday so went up there on First Service 3 from Stoke.

In all honesty I felt Crewe bus station is rather run down and that it could also do with a refurbishment.

After a look round I decided to have a ride on Service 38 to Macclesfield and had D&G Bus YJ13 HNE. There were about 5 others on board upon leaving Crewe but I was the only one who went all the way to Macclesfield. The other passengers boarding in Crewe seemed to mainly be going to Sandbach or Congleton.

Upon reaching Macclesfield was rather surprised to see the vehicle went on to do a Service 5. Have the 5 and 38 always been worked with the same vehicles on Sunday or is this a recent change?

On the way back there were a couple of pensioners making a local journey in Macclesfield, one going to Haslington and one going to Crewe. We didn't pick anyone up in Congleton but picked up a number after leaving Sandbach. I alighted in Haslington to get on Service 3 back to Stoke

Whilst in Crewe I noticed several D&G and Arriva vehicles parked at the back of the bus station. Also saw a "Leighton Link" branded bus out on a Service which wasn't the 12. Is this a normal occurence or would this be a recent thing since the 12 was withdrawn on Sunday? Incidentally one of the passengers who got on the 38 with me had been asking if there was a service to Leighton Hospital and looked rather taken aback on being told there wasn't.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I had the opportunity to properly visit Crewe on sunday so went up there on First Service 3 from Stoke.

In all honesty I felt Crewe bus station is rather run down and that it could also do with a refurbishment.

Isn't the bus station and the former depot now owned by the council, and that they are looking to redevelop the entire area in the next couple of years with a new bus station being built as part of that?

 

[Martin2012]

I did recently come across an article about how the bus station was meant to be redeveloped.

I'm aware I've asked before about the 12E Crewe to Shavington service on a Sunday and know about what happened with D&G taking it on commercially then curtailing the route.

If it had become aparrent during the consultation period that the service was at risk and people had been able to comment is it possible that a service to Leighton Hospital would have been retained on a Sunday?

I've noticed there are journeys on the 84 between Crewe and Nantwich/Chester on a Sunday? Was a Sunday service recently introduced to replace the service previously provided by the 38 or has it always been in existence and I've not noticed it?

 

[Danfilm007]

I've noticed there are journeys on the 84 between Crewe and Nantwich/Chester on a Sunday? Was a Sunday service recently introduced to replace the service previously provided by the 38 or has it always been in existence and I've not noticed it?

The 84 has had a Sunday service for a very long time I believe, unlike Mon-Sat it's Crewe to Chester only, whereas those other days there are short runs between Crewe and Nantwich.

 

[martinsh]

I've noticed there are journeys on the 84 between Crewe and Nantwich/Chester on a Sunday? Was a Sunday service recently introduced to replace the service previously provided by the 38 or has it always been in existence and I've not noticed it?

There have ALWAYS been C84 journeys Crewe - Chester on Sundays. The 38 Crewe - Nantwich portion went via a different route - basically what is now the 85 on weekdays

 

[daodao]

...
I'm aware I've asked before about the 12E Crewe to Shavington service on a Sunday and know about what happened with D&G taking it on commercially then curtailing the route. If it had become aparrent during the consultation period that the service was at risk and people had been able to comment is it possible that a service to Leighton Hospital would have been retained on a Sunday?
...

Cheshire East council no longer subsidises Sunday bus services. The Sunday service on route 130, which serves Macclesfield Hospital, was also withdrawn earlier this year.

 

[LOL The Irony]

https://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/ne...e-news/cheshire-east-pays-67980-over-15053683

Cheshire East pays £67,980 over last three years for mayor's Bentley - the highest of north west councils
CEC was 6th highest spender out of 372 councils across the country - and topped the league out of 42 councils in north west when it came to splashing the cash on the mayoral car

Cheshire East Council splashed out a whopping £67,980 over the past three years to ferry the mayor around in a Bentley - that’s more than any other council in the north west.

A Freedom of Information request by the Tax Payers’ Alliance has revealed that, of the 372 local authorities across the country which responded to the FoI about transport for the mayor, Cheshire East was the sixth highest spender.

In the three year period between April 2015 and March 2018, Cheshire East spent £55,800 of council tax payers’ money leasing the Bentley Continental Flying Spur for the mayor’s official duties, £10,664 on fuel and £1,516 on maintenance.

Other councils in Cheshire spent far less.

Cheshire West and Chester, which revealed it had three cars available for mayoral duties - a Bentley Flying Spur, Vauxhall Insignia and Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - spent a total £39,387 over the same period, of which £31,640 was spent on leasing the vehicles and £7,747 went on fuel.

Halton Borough Council spent £32,904 leasing an Audi A8 over the three year period and £2,879 on fuel, making a total cost to the council tax payer of £35,783.

And Warrington Borough Council spent £9,671 leasing an Audi A6 saloon and £1,903 on fuel, making a total of £11,574 ferrying the mayor around over the same three year period.

The other 38 councils across the north west also spent less than Cheshire East.

Today Cheshire East defended splashing the cash on the mayor’s Bentley when it was slashing the money it spent subsidising bus services.

A Cheshire East Council spokesperson said: “The hire cost and running costs of the mayoral car are modest compared to the enormous prestige the Bentley marque brings to the borough.

“The borough is fortunate to have such a luxury car manufacturer based here and the council is proud that Bentley motor cars are built in Crewe where more than 4,000 skilled craftsmen and women are employed.”

The average amount spent by councils across the UK on cars for mayoral duties was £21,804.

Cheshire East spent more than three times the average - in total £46,176 more than the average - over the last three year period.

And we wonder why bus services have been cut...

 

[martinsh]

https://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/ne...e-news/cheshire-east-pays-67980-over-15053683

And we wonder why bus services have been cut...

A possible solution for reducing costs has been suggested by another local vehicle manufacturer

https://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/ne...ews/crewe-ice-cream-van-manufacturer-15056066

 

[Martin2012]

Thanks to those who responded to my earlier post regarding the C84 route and buses to Leighton Hospital on sundays

 

[PaulWC]

Isn't the bus station and the former depot now owned by the council, and that they are looking to redevelop the entire area in the next couple of years with a new bus station being built as part of that?

The redevelopment of Crewe Town Centre was supposed to have started now. Many of the shops have been vacated, but no word on a start date has been given. The town centre is in a dreadful state not helped by the differing planning decisions of previous councils.

In fact, there have been plans to redevelop the town for years. None ever got going. I remember there was one maybe 10 or 15 years ago, but I think the developers collapsed. Even going back to when Crosville were in their final days in 1988, they moved out of the depot at the bus station and moved to a site on the Industrial Estate. Midland Red North took over and they promptly moved back into town.

 

[Navigation Roa]

Anyone know if the 88 is running on bank holiday Monday?

 

[pemma]

Anyone know if the 88 is running on bank holiday Monday?

No Cheshire East contracted services run on Sundays or Bank Holidays (including the 88.) The 288 will be running to a Sunday service and trains between Manchester Airport and Wilmslow will be running to a normal Monday service.

 

[Navigation Roa]

Cheers, thought that would Be the case

 

[pemma]

Seems D&G Wincham's depot has had 2 breakdowns in 48 hours.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Seems D&G Wincham's depot has had 2 breakdowns in 48 hours.

I'm going to guess a streetlite and a 13 plate solo.

 

[pemma]

I'm going to guess a streetlite and a 13 plate solo.

I don't know what broke down but a Streetlite appeared on the 09:50 Northwich to Altrincham yesterday after apparently the bus on the 07:45 Altrincham to Northwich broke down. I didn't see any 13 reg Solos on the 88 yesterday.

There was also a Streetlite running towards Wilmslow out-of-service on Friday afternoon, which was presumably a replacement bus.

 

[pemma]

D&G have been playing around with 88 allocations again. The diagram which includes the 07:25 Knutsford to Macc, 08:20 Macc to Knutsford and 16:50 Northwich to Altrincham appears to have been downgraded from a 35 seater Solo SR to a 28 seater Solo, while the one which includes the 07:05 Knutsford to Alt, 08:20 Alt to Macclesfield and 14:45 Macc to Altrincham has changed from a 28 seater Solo to a 33 seater Streetlite. That's possibly ahead of St Ambrose and Knutsford Academy returning as it'll mean the 88 buses used by St Ambrose pupils will be a slightly bigger bus, as will the regular afternoon 88 bus which gets a lot of Knutsford Academy pupils. However, it does mean a downgrade for the morning Macclesfield commuters and a question mark remains over whether one of the regular 88 morning services will get overcrowded by Knutsford Academy pupils and even whether a Streetlite will still be able to cope with the 15:30 Knutsford to Altrincham in school term time, especially now the 300 and 88A are no more.

 

[pemma]

As expected the 07:00 Altrincham to Knutsford 88 service is packed to the rafters now the schools have returned, not surprising considering it's effectively 3 services merged in to 1 and D&G seem to think a 28 seater Solo is a suitable vehicle. It'll only get worse in the winter when fewer pupils feel like walking.

 

[Danfilm007]

As expected the 07:00 Altrincham to Knutsford 88 service is packed to the rafters now the schools have returned, not surprising considering it's effectively 3 services merged in to 1 and D&G seem to think a 28 seater Solo is a suitable vehicle. It'll only get worse in the winter when fewer pupils feel like walking.

It wasn't helped 3/4ths of the schoolkids wouldn't move past the 2nd row of seats at Mobberley! I thought the contract specified 35 seaters myself but that's probably down to my less than good recollection of the contract.

 

[pemma]

It wasn't helped 3/4ths of the schoolkids wouldn't move past the 2nd row of seats at Mobberley! I thought the contract specified 35 seaters myself but that's probably down to my less than good recollection of the contract.

I was under the impression following the consultation they'd specified at least one vehicle should be a 39 seater. However, the owner of Howards Travel, who used to post on another forum said there were different options on the invitation to tender and they were bidding on one which required 2 x 28 seater and 2 x 35 seaters. (If they won they would have used their 2 x 28 seater Enviros, their Metrocity and one other larger bus as the usual vehicles.) I've not seen any 35 seaters on the route this week or last - the biggest has been the 33 seater Streetlites and there was a 27 seater Solo on it the other day.

I don't know if it's still the case but the contracts used to specify that the minimum seating capacity were specified based on current/expected loadings and if they increased then the operator should use the extra fare revenue to fund a larger vehicle.

EDIT: And of course the 88 contract award was originally based on there being a Mon-Fri daytime 300 service so you would hope vehicle size was discussed when Cheshire East agreed that the 88 could be re-routed to replace the 300/88A.

 

[pemma]

Reportedly the 130 Macclesfield-Manchester is to be truncated at Parrs Wood from 28th December.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Reportedly the 130 Macclesfield-Manchester is to be truncated at Parrs Wood from 28th December.

That's a blow. What are the loadings to Manchester like then or is it Cheshire East/TfGM not wanting to pay up?