Transdev Blazefield

[dodecahedron67]

Believe the ones they operate are for Pullman so they'll probably just go back there.

Correct, Pullman taking on the other schools

 

[YorkRailFan]

1825 has now returned to Keighley from Flyer after being on loan.

 

[Seehof]

My neighbour is fuming! His bus fare from his home in Acomb to York Piccadilly (route 24) has gone up from £1.60 to £3 today! Thank goodness I have an old person’s pass! Bus seriously, why such a steep rise? He thinks it is very unfair that as a shop owner he is subsiding long distance bus travel.
His texts to me spit pure anger!

 

[darloscott]

My neighbour is fuming! His bus fare from his home in Acomb to York Piccadilly (route 24) has gone up from £1.60 to £3 today! Thank goodness I have an old person’s pass! Bus seriously, why such a steep rise? He thinks it is very unfair that as a shop owner he is subsiding long distance bus travel.
His texts to me spit pure anger!

Fare table shows it should be £2 for that journey... with a maximum single fare on svc 24 of £2.20

 

[YorkRailFan]

Transdev has published some more information about their takeover of routes currently operated by Reliance:
Fares:

We'll be accepting existing Reliance tickets until they expire.

Single Tickets

Single tickets will be £3, or £2.50 for short journeys. U19 tickets will continue to be £1.

NHS colleagues travel for just £1.50 in the City of York area.

On the 31X, return tickets will continue to be interchangeable between ours and East Yorkshire's buses.

Day and Period Tickets

For travel within the City of York, you can continue to buy the all operator All York ticket from your driver to get the best value.

Our York Plus ticket will be extended to Easingwold and Raskelf. Plus - DayTripper and Gold will be valid on all of the former Reliance bus routes.

We'll have a new Country zone, covering areas north of Easingwold to Thirsk and Kirkbymoorside.

1 day and 7 day tickets can be bought on the bus. 1 day, 7 day, and 28 day tickets can be bought by Transdev Go.

Reliance routes join the Transdev family

www.transdevbus.co.uk

Timetables:
30/30X/30SE/30XS: https://www.transdevbus.co.uk/media/4dvb2cjr/241218-30-4.pdf
31X: https://www.transdevbus.co.uk/media/qmjdz11g/241220-31x-4.pdf
40: https://www.transdevbus.co.uk/media/czgdb5e2/241218-40-3.pdf

Looks like Crayke will lose its 07:50 service on Saturdays/School Holidays into York, meaning it will only have a service at 09:00, and an earlier service on College Days.

 

[JRT]

My neighbour is fuming! His bus fare from his home in Acomb to York Piccadilly (route 24) has gone up from £1.60 to £3 today! Thank goodness I have an old person’s pass! Bus seriously, why such a steep rise? He thinks it is very unfair that as a shop owner he is subsiding long distance bus travel.
His texts to me spit pure anger!

Has he actually been charged that, or just seen in the media about bus fares going up to £3?
The maximum of £2 has indeed been changed to a national maximum of £3 (outside York), but local fares are now £2 standard I think.

 

[Seehof]

He says he was charged that (£3) and the bus driver actually showed him it on the ticket machine (no idea how he did that!)

 

[SCH117X]

He says he was charged that (£3) and the bus driver actually showed him it on the ticket machine (no idea how he did that!)

Suggest he contacts them politely and if it is wrong he will proberly get free ticket or two.

 

[158756]

Fare table shows it should be £2 for that journey... with a maximum single fare on svc 24 of £2.20

All Transdev's publicity for the new fares (outside West Yorkshire/Greater Manchester) says it's £3, or £2.50 for shorter journeys. (They don't say what shorter journeys are but I'm guessing it's only a handful of stops)

So a rise from £1.60 to £3 is ridiculously steep but it is in line with the publicity. And completely predictable with the new cap that operators would take the opportunity to make £3 a defacto flat fare.

 

[theblackwatch]

All Transdev's publicity for the new fares (outside West Yorkshire/Greater Manchester) says it's £3, or £2.50 for shorter journeys. (They don't say what shorter journeys are but I'm guessing it's only a handful of stops)

So a rise from £1.60 to £3 is ridiculously steep but it is in line with the publicity. And completely predictable with the new cap that operators would take the opportunity to make £3 a defacto flat fare.

This isn't the first time Transdev have used the fare cap to push up fares. Before the fare cap was introduced, I used to be able to get a return on my local route to town for around £3.50. Around a year ago, a while after the £2 fare cap had been introduced, Transdev 'simplified' the fares by getting rid of the return tickets, so the fare became £2 each way.

As from Jan 1st, I assume it now costs either £2.50 or £3 each way. Alternative, I can catch the train for £3.40 return (off peak) or £4.00 (peak)...

 

[Seehof]

Transdev have been contacted and that the York route 24 that has gone from £1.60 to £3.00 is correct!

 

[SCH117X]

What do First charge for a comparable journey in York?

The York 24 is a York City Council contract so do the City Council set the fare?

Due to yet another landslide the A59 is blocked between Harrogate and Skipton and consequently the Saturday only 59 has been suspended until the road reopens.

This isn't the first time Transdev have used the fare cap to push up fares. Before the fare cap was introduced, I used to be able to get a return on my local route to town for around £3.50. Around a year ago, a while after the £2 fare cap had been introduced, Transdev 'simplified' the fares by getting rid of the return tickets, so the fare became £2 each way.

As from Jan 1st, I assume it now costs either £2.50 or £3 each way. Alternative, I can catch the train for £3.40 return (off peak) or £4.00 (peak)...

£3.30 return Starbeck-Harrogate

Transdev Yorkshire 1001 Inbound - Day Return fares – Bus Times

bustimes.org

And this has the fare from Acomb to York as £2

Transdev Yorkshire 5024 Inbound - Single fares – Bus Times

bustimes.org

 

[theblackwatch]

£3.30 return Starbeck-Harrogate

Transdev Yorkshire 1001 Inbound - Day Return fares – Bus Times

bustimes.org

Thanks, that very much looks like a fares table from pre-£2 fares. I wonder if it is actually accurate... (May have to test it out at some point!)

 

[darloscott]

Thanks, that very much looks like a fares table from pre-£2 fares. I wonder if it is actually accurate... (May have to test it out at some point!)

See the date on it, from 31 Dec 2024! That’s the latest fare chart

 

[SCH117X]

Those fare tables are sourced by bustimes from a Goverment web page https://data.bus-data.dft.gov.uk/fares/dataset/6237/ from which you can download the entire Transdev Yorkshire fare tables. The regard to the York 24 I wonder if the ticket machines are mass updated by a script and by mistake that changing £1.60 fares to £2 was run before one changing £2 fares to £3 - hence the driver and the depot checking the fare came up with £3.

Earliest start date	Jan. 1, 2025, midnight
Earliest end date	Jan. 3, 2125, midnight

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Due to yet another landslide the A59 is blocked between Harrogate and Skipton and consequently the Saturday only 59 has been suspended until the road reopens.

NYC have an emergency closure order in until 22nd January but given both the history of this road and the decidedly wintry weather expected for at least a fortnight it's easy to see this closure dragging on like the last one did. Note also that the ongoing construction of a new diversionary route has had its completion date slip from summer 2025 to spring 2026.

£3.30 return Starbeck-Harrogate

Clearly an attempt to compete with the trains. Return fares for other local routes in the town ramp up to £4 over a much shorter distance: have a look at the 2, 3 & 4.

 

[Leedsbusman]

Those fare tables are sourced by bustimes from a Goverment web page https://data.bus-data.dft.gov.uk/fares/dataset/6237/ from which you can download the entire Transdev Yorkshire fare tables. The regard to the York 24 I wonder if the ticket machines are mass updated by a script and by mistake that changing £1.60 fares to £2 was run before one changing £2 fares to £3 - hence the driver and the depot checking the fare came up with £3.

Earliest start date	Jan. 1, 2025, midnight
Earliest end date	Jan. 3, 2125, midnight

£1.60 seemed a bargain for Acomb to York. First York are charging £3 single for the same journey on the 1 and I’m sure pre 2023 would have charged more than £1.60.

 

[Seehof]

I agree - £1.60 was too cheap in some ways. The 24 bus from Acomb to York changed at the station into a different route continuing to Fulford and passengers could stay on the bus to travel to Piccadilly. I am now told if you got on in Acomb but did not swipe off you were charged £1.30!
Just returned from a coffee in an Acomb coffee shop and one table of folk were having a right moan about the new fares!

 

[SCH117X]

Clearly an attempt to compete with the trains. Return fares for other local routes in the town ramp up to £4 over a much shorter distance: have a look at the 2, 3 & 4.

Its always been like that - fares on Route 1 being lower than the Harrogate town services. Obviously the train has an effect but there may be an issue of the number of passengers with a Route 1 working despite the lower fares taking more revenue.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Its always been like that - fares on Route 1 being lower than the Harrogate town services. Obviously the train has an effect but there may be an issue of the number of passengers with a Route 1 working despite the lower fares taking more revenue.

Is it a hangover from the days of competition with Connexions?

 

[SCH117X]

Is it a hangover from the days of competition with Connexions?

No - competition with the train.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

No - competition with the train.

Really? You’d have thought that the much better bus frequency would outweigh that

 

[johntea]

May be better frequency with the bus but that particular Knaresborough - Starbeck - Harrogate corridor even if you're waiting around for a train it will likely always win on time (8 minutes end to end actual journey time)

Not sure how long the bus is timetabled to take but on a bad day it can take around 20 minutes just to get from Starbeck Crossing to Granby Corner!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

May be better frequency with the bus but that particular Knaresborough - Starbeck - Harrogate corridor even if you're waiting around for a train it will likely always win on time (8 minutes end to end actual journey time)

Not sure how long the bus is timetabled to take but on a bad day it can take around 20 minutes just to get from Starbeck Crossing to Granby Corner!

Bus is scheduled to do it in 6 minutes (and 8 to bus station).

 

[SCH117X]

Scheduing and reality can be vastly different on the Knaresborough Road. Look at the am peak and the schedule is padded out to attempt to cope with the congestion. At Empress Roundabout the volume of traffic in the am peak especially, turning onto the Wetherby Road from Skipton Road and York Place and turning ono York Place from Skipton Road means there is only limited opportunity for traffic to emerge from Knaresborough Road. Really needs a set of traffic lights on that roundabout IME. What does not help are rat runners who use roads to the north of Knaresborough Road; they consequentally (unless they make an illegal right turn onto Skipton Road) add to the Skipton Road traffic approaching Empress Roundabout.

Connexions rediculously did not add any extra running time to their am peak journeys and for large chunks of the day their service bore only a vauge similarlity to the timetable.

The level crossing at Starbeck does not help timekeeping. Throw in road works in Knaresborough which seem to be increasingly regular and its not unsual to look at the tracking map and find all route 1 vehicles Knaresborough bound or in Knaresborough. They do sometime replace a full length working with a short to the depot in order then to regain the timetable from the depot to Harrogate.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Scheduing and reality can be vastly different on the Knaresborough Road. Look at the am peak and the schedule is padded out to attempt to cope with the congestion. At Empress Roundabout the volume of traffic in the am peak especially, turning onto the Wetherby Road from Skipton Road and York Place and turning ono York Place from Skipton Road means there is only limited opportunity for traffic to emerge from Knaresborough Road. Really needs a set of traffic lights on that roundabout IME. What does not help are rat runners who use roads to the north of Knaresborough Road; they consequentally (unless they make an illegal right turn onto Skipton Road) add to the Skipton Road traffic approaching Empress Roundabout.

Connexions rediculously did not add any extra running time to their am peak journeys and for large chunks of the day their service bore only a vauge similarlity to the timetable.

The level crossing at Starbeck does not help timekeeping. Throw in road works in Knaresborough which seem to be increasingly regular and its not unsual to look at the tracking map and find all route 1 vehicles Knaresborough bound or in Knaresborough. They do sometime replace a full length working with a short to the depot in order then to regain the timetable from the depot to Harrogate.

I'm all too well aware of the perils of Starbeck and the Knaresborough Road. I was responding to the specific point from another poster but even the peak schedules don't have that much padding (and it's clearly not done by First style AI thankfully).

Whilst I appreciate that bus services can sometimes have their reliability destroyed by a badly parked van or a set of temporary lights, the alternative is to rely on Northern...

 

[SCH117X]

Not sure what they had in mind this afternoon but whilst they did manage a service given the conditions on the 36 this afternoon for some reason B7 3614 ran empty from the depot via the A658 to form a service from Walton Head Lane to Moortown Church and then Moortown Church to Prince of Wales Roundabout and back to the depot ! Services were tehn cancelled whch would explain the latter

 

[northernchris]

Keighley depot were a nightmare today. First thing this morning both Flyer and Team Pennine had managed to communicate which services were running and update the app and next bus system of cancellations whereas Keighley were showing scheduled time only with next to no info available on what was running. By afternoon, understandably parts of routes were being missed due to poor road conditions, but it seems some drivers were using it as an excuse to complete their routes sooner, and were subsequently running through timing points early.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Transdev have been contacted and that the York route 24 that has gone from £1.60 to £3.00 is correct!

I traveled on the Coastliner from York to Goathland last Saturday, and the driver issued a ticket from Mount Vale (where I boarded) to York Station, which still came to £3! A journey of 3 stops!

 

[RustySpoons]

I traveled on the Coastliner from York to Goathland last Saturday, and the driver issued a ticket from Mount Vale (where I boarded) to York Station, which still came to £3! A journey of 3 stops!

Having a £2.50-£3 price range is likely to turn people away from the bus.

It wasn't much more than the current maximum fare to get into town (in Burnley at least) before the £2 cap was introduced. You can get a taxi into town (or your final destination) for £4 so it was often more cost effective to not use the bus.

Even though £3 doesn't seem like a lot of money to get a bus into town it'll quickly add up if you need to take another to your destination. £6 and two buses, or less than a fiver for a taxi that will take you from door to door.

Obviously it isn't the fault of Transdev, but they aren't helping themselves if they're charging the maximum fair for relatively short journeys, or a £2.50 minimum for even shorter journeys...

Of course it's still a bargain for the longer services. Don't think you could go from Leeds to the East Coast or Burnley to Manchester for £3 any other way!