Ellesmere Port bus station

[Old Yard Dog]

Ellesmere Port bus station has now been replaced by a few shelters either side of Civic Way. The "old" bus station itself was relatively new, replacing one not very far away which was subsumed by the Port Arcades. None of the three locations is convenient for the railway station.

Chester is also on its third bus station in the last three decades or so, slightly nearer the railway station than the other two. Had Chester Northgate still been open, it would have been near to that.

 

[carlberry]

Ellesmere Port bus station has now been replaced by a few shelters either side of Civic Way. The "old" bus station itself was relatively new, replacing one not very far away which was subsumed by the Port Arcades. None of the three locations is convenient for the railway station.

Chester is also on its third bus station in the last three decades or so, slightly nearer the railway station than the other two. Had Chester Northgate still been open, it would have been near to that.

If the rail station isnt in a good place for the city/town centre then there's no point trying to put the bus station there.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If the rail station isnt in a good place for the city/town centre then there's no point trying to put the bus station there.

Well, there is a point - quality of interchange. That will depend on what you're trying to achieve, though.

You might in some cases want two bus stations, designed for through operation rather than terminating services. Neither of them is called that, but MK de-facto does - the railway station stops and the group of stops at The Point. Neither is technically a bus station but both would pass the "duck test".

Cross-city operation has a lot of advantages, but you do need enough space for buses to wait for time on reaching the centre, and ideally you want dual-door to speed boarding and alighting at the same time.

 

[markymark2000]

Well, there is a point - quality of interchange. That will depend on what you're trying to achieve, though.

You might in some cases want two bus stations, designed for through operation rather than terminating services. Neither of them is called that, but MK de-facto does - the railway station stops and the group of stops at The Point. Neither is technically a bus station but both would pass the "duck test".

Cross-city operation has a lot of advantages, but you do need enough space for buses to wait for time on reaching the centre, and ideally you want dual-door to speed boarding and alighting at the same time.

If you had the Port Train Station as a proper interchange, it would be lightly served by buses and even if all buses served there and too a 6 minute hit on the journey time (which is a long time for through services), it would be used by less than 30 people per day. The Port Train Station had the X8 very regularly. The people got on there mainly to go to Liverpool (as it was quicker than the train). The X8 is now gone though. As has been mentioned elsewhere in other threads, people in the port tend not to use trains from the main Eport train stations and those travelling locally are commonly older people (who want the shops) or students (who need the college campus which is near the current bus station). I don't think bus operators and passengers will appreciate the additional 6+ minutes onto the journey time for many through services. The only services which right now could use the Port Train Station would be the 7 (which runs past anyway) and the 5 (which has enough time to extend). Milton Keynes is extremely different to Milton Keyes and comparing them I think is bonkers.

The old bus station had too many stands and was underutilised and it was quite dated. The new stands, while a downgrade from an official bus station, it does have live departure screens and has more lights. Seems to have a few more seats as well. The stand layout has also given space for 2 alighting stands which helps keep alighting buses out of the way.
The down sides of the new bus station is that it's all in line rather than saw tooth so the buses can stick out when on the stand and it's harder for wheelchair ramps to be deployed. Another down side is that it will feel longer for passengers who have to go Stanney Lane and Wellington Road to get get either in or out of the bus station (Much longer on the 6 which has to do a complete circle from Heathfield Road to get into stand H).


Chesters bus interchanges are a completely different topic I feel.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

The Ellesmere Port bus network leaves a lot to be desired. The pull of Cheshire Oaks has meant most routes gravitate towards there leaving areas like Whitby and Hope Farm without evening or Sunday services while Overpool has no evening buses. I suppose this is good news for rail as Overpool and even Capenhurst stations fill in the gaps. And Rossmore Road at night has become busy with cyclists, very few of whom have lights.

 

[markymark2000]

The Ellesmere Port bus network leaves a lot to be desired. The pull of Cheshire Oaks has meant most routes gravitate towards there leaving areas like Whitby and Hope Farm without evening or Sunday services while Overpool has no evening buses. I suppose this is good news for rail as Overpool and even Capenhurst stations fill in the gaps. And Rossmore Road at night has become busy with cyclists, very few of whom have lights.

Hope Farm and Whitby were dead in the evenings. When the 2 originally ran to Liverpool, there were later buses. No one used them. The very very few who did use the service no one boarded or alighted on this section. I did the journeys many times and it was a useless service.
Overpool doesn't have an amazing evening service but again I think this reflects the usage. Usage did seem slightly higher here though so could be something which is looked in to if/when Stagecoach ramp up the 1/X1 back to every 10 minutes (I presume when the school extras finish as the buses and drivers seem to be moved onto those).

Cheshire Oaks is a big pull for the 1/X1 but otherwise, it's no where near as busy as it used to be and for the 2 to Runcorn, it only stops because it's on the way. The SP1/SP2 were busy into the Oaks but Stagecoach and Flintshire Council have done all they can to kill off demand for the 5 which has lead to much higher journey times and people simply won't use the bus anymore.


It's very easy to critisize the Ellesmere Port bus network but the facts are, the services have been there but they weren't used enough. The network was better with GHA as they were lower cost but there are no low cost operators even close to the area who are willing to run local services. None of this is helped of course by the attitude of the council and bus operators but I think that is how Ellesmere Port has got itself in this mess. Bus usage isn't very high and the network would only thrive under a low cost operator who is happy to make little money and actually wants to run buses here Not like Arrowebrook and Helms are quite happy plodding around on the schools and Stagecoach who want a lot of money from the routes here (presumably due to the fact they pay drivers silly amounts to sit around the area half the day as they don't have shuttle cars and also due to the cost of getting vehicles back to the depot).