Trips by Bus and Coach: Your reports

[peterblue]

Thanks for the trip report. I usually tend to visit that part of the country during the summer (with some of the seasonal routes that feature in Devon/Cornwall) so it looks completely different to me in bleak winter weather!

Plymouth is a bit dreary in the centre, though the south of it is nice by the Hoe park. Tavistock seemed like a more pleasant town for me. Sadly, most towns are the same, with most towns now being inundated with charity shops, and cafes and discount shops.

I would say the Gunnislake and Calstock area is nicer by train as you have a higher vantage point.

The level of supported services in Cornwall is quite impressive. Devon less so, in my opinion, especially out east near Exeter and beyond. Stagecoach have cut down quite a bit in the Exeter area over the years.

 

[RELL6L]

Thanks @TheGrandWazoo for posting the trip report from Devon and Cornwall. A lovely area, not the best of days to visit it! The 79 between Callington and Tavistock is scenic, in my view the best place here is Calstock. Twice I have arrived on a bus but I have never left, both times I have departed for Plymouth on a train with the fantastic view from the viaduct, then running alongside the estuary in places down towards Plymouth. Not stopped off in Saltash but I have travelled all of the sections you did. My views are no doubt coloured by only visiting places on decent days, but I liked Callington and Tavistock. As well as the Dartmoor route into Tavistock, which was fabulous, the journey between Tavistock and Okehampton is glorious.

I think the bus coverage in the area is pretty good by most standards. Cornwall supports a good deal and Devon has always been one of the better counties. There are some very rural services on the fringes of Dartmoor and I hope to try the Tavistock to Holsworthy to Bideford route sometime.

Depressed that the weather has not provided any days when I could go out recently - in some past years February has been great (3 trips in Feb 2019) but none this year. On the plus side some innovations in service have improved trips in the 'planned' folder - Kendal to Appleby, Newcastle to Jedburgh and Morpeth to Ponteland, Moreton in Marsh to Chipping Norton - hoping they survive long enough to be tried out!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Thanks to @peterblue and (as ever) @RELL6L. I think Devon has always done a commendable job with its commitment to public transport, even in these straitened times. It is true that services in the Exeter area have diminished in recent years, as Stagecoach has struggled with Covid impacts and driver shortages.

It was disappointing not to get a good day as I have travelled in the area around Calstock before, visiting the National Trust property at Cotehele. Sadly, what began as light rain turned into a dreary mizzle - I'll have to do it sometime but the chance doesn't always avail itself.

I did think that @RELL6L would be looking at doing some of these interesting BSIP inspired routes whilst the funding lasts. I think I might try the same with the Oxfordshire routes but time will tell.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

NEW POST

I've had a trip out and enjoyed some new BSIP experience. I'll sort out the post in due course (and photos) but here's a little teaser for @RELL6L and anyone who fancies it. Took this photo whilst on the move... Where is it/what film does it feature in?

 

[RELL6L]

Duly teased! I have to say I am struggling with it because you imply I ought to know it, so perhaps I should! It looks like it might be a football ground in the background but I haven't yet found anything that fits. You mention BSIP experiences, the most likely I can think of are either around your home, Lancashire or Northumberland - eg the 777. So this might be St James Park, but it doesn't look quite right. It does look like it might be in the north but there are no registration numbers to help either - the street light number (not Streetlite) is no help! Still looking through and look forward to your report.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

As some of you may know, my trips started off with the national NBC Explorer ticket in the mid 1980s. In the North East, the Explorer North East ticket continued being valid on United, Northumbria, Northern and, curiously Weardale. Stagecoach’s purchase of the former local authority operations in Tyne and Wear, Teesside and Hartlepool expanded the scope for travel as did other additions such as Travelsure and even Stagecoach operations in Carlisle. However, travel options reduced as Weardale withdrew from the scheme and, more pertinently, Arriva retreated from the margins (as did Go North East to an extent) with many services being operated by smaller firms.So it was interesting to see that as part of the BSIP schemes for the North East, there were to be new multi operator tickets that cover (individually and collectively) Northumberland, Tyne & Wear and County Durham. Hence I invested £6.80 in a Transport North East Day Saver and went to explore places that had fallen off the Explorer map!

I began at Newcastle Airport and so my first bus was a Metro. I’ve been on the Metro so many times, and I was able to get the front seat and enjoy the drivers’ eye view, regressing to childhood. It’s a shame that the old Metrocars will be getting retired in the next year (allegedly) but they really are looking their age despite refurbishments. I travelled via central Newcastle and off at Gateshead, with options to take me onward to Chester le Street. I elected to go for speed and the Go NE X-Lines X21. The Streetdeck that arrived had been route branded and whilst that had been removed externally, inside it was still extolling the virtues of the X45/X46 routes from Derwentside to Newcastle. Still, it was a reasonably busy machine and comfortable as we exited the conurbation and onto the A1M before coming off and past the site of the former Chester le Street depot. The site looked massive from the A1 but now demolished, it seems somewhat smaller. I have to say that the decision to close that depot must rank as one of the most ill-considered moves of the Gilbert regime.


Drivers eye view on the Metro!


Northern blight in Chester le Street

Chester le Street was a good honest town but is suffering from a depressed town centre; even Poundland has got up and vacated the large central site it had. I last experienced the 725 in 2022 when it was still the 25 running from Newcastle to Langley Park. The western bit was deregistered by GNE and now is a one vehicle tendered shuttle operated by Weardale. My first WMS bus in 20 years was an e200mmc with cherished plate and, as per recent trips, I was back into the realms of former colliery villages though I was surprised that there were a few passengers joining me.

Langley Park was the home of Gypsy Queen until Go Ahead bought them, and the depot is still in use by Bob Smith Coaches. GNE still operate the main route to Durham but their presence is reduced and the 725 had once operated past Langley Park to Esh Winning. That section was an earlier casualty and is now operated by Gateshead Central Taxis. Another e200mmc, a former CT Plus machine in Bristol, took me as we climbed through the grey expanse, punctuated by the bright roadside daffodils en route to Quebec, before travelling through Esh Winning and to journeys end at East Hedleyhope and the turning circle terminus. I can remember the final mines closing in this area in the mid 1980s but, in truth, they were the last remnants of an industry that had declined markedly since the 1960s when Durham County Council pursued a policy of grading villages

Anything settlement awarded a category D status was starved of investment so that the place would eventually die. I think I was in prime Cat D land in places like Cornsay, Waterhouses and at East Hedleyhope. Here, the 53 becomes the 52; a former Go North East service is left behind for a former Arriva service though the services interwork. I stayed on my GCT enviro took me back to Esh Winning with a few passengers getting on board on this lifeline service; I could’ve stayed on to Durham and travel back via Quebec but I elected to get the quicker route via the Deerness Valley.


My Weardale Enviro passing the miners memorial in Langley Park


Esh Winning - been a long time since a colliery existed in Cornsay (c.70 years)

The 43 is a long standing route and continues to have a 20 min headway. Always a decker service in my youth, it’s usually a single decker now with a former Ashington Streetlite as my next bus. The loading was decent (over half full) but the age old issue of the emergency door handle rattling like a machine gun was massively intrusive. I know Arriva are due some ZEBRA2 electric buses for Durham but the lack of investment in the area is showing with a threadbare network and an ageing fleet. I arrived into Durham and my first experience of the new bus station. The old one had several refurbs in its 40 or so years of operation yet was still awful. The new one is much better – lighter and brighter. It also has toilets (the old one did but they’d not been open in all the years I’d known). However, there’s no other facilities even with a possible retail unit. More strangely, despite the office area above, Arriva’s welfare facilities are still across the street in North Road. After visiting a nearby cafe, I returned to catch the 59 to Hartlepool which is another former Arriva service. It’s now a Stagecoach Hartlepool operation which seems incongruous in Durham City; the former municipal operations never headed this far north and its heritage was as Trimdon Motor Services 235 to Horden. The standard e200 arrived on time and we headed off following an Arriva Streetlite that we then outpaced on the climb to Shincliffe! The e200 was arguably the best presented vehicle I had, being clean and comfortable. I wasn’t heading to Hartlepool, having done the southern part of the route last year on an Arriva Solo. Instead, I got off at Coxhoe and onto another former TMS service 56 to Ferryhill. It seems odd that over 30 years, Arriva and predecessors bought up the two main Durham operators in TMS and OK, yet the network is now so minimal.


A shot of Durham bus station. It's a big lump but who's using the offices? Durham CC? The ALX shows the issues with Arriva - elderly vehicle on the wrong route (64) and the branding is incorrect (now it's a 20 min frequency)



Another Arriva machine - why not finish the job and remove the branding? It was on the 6 to West Auckland BTW


Stagecoach extends into County Durham - e200 in Coxhoe

The 56 was a former Sapphire spec Daf Pulsar, now debranded and bereft of much to entice the passenger. We did a loop around Stobb Cross and past the former Scarlet Band depot in West Cornforth, and then the former United/DDS garage before arriving in Ferryhill. On my first ever Explorer, I’d passed through Ferryhill twice and the grim shelters that posed as a bus station. Nowadays, the shelters are nicer but the town is struggling to survive. Even the big pub in the centre looks like it’s closed. I elected to head back towards Durham on what had been the 722/723 in my youth. Instead of every 30 mins, it now runs every 15 but is now much slower. Darlington to Durham was 55 mins in 1986; it’s now 73 as congestion allied to additional loops in Aycliffe and Thinford hinder progress. It was another Pulsar and was one delivered new to the route in 2014 to launch the Sapphire concept. All that branding had gone. People may disagree on merits of such promotion but it was definitely better than the bland non-promotional approach of Arriva…or so I thought. Having already sampled Durham, and needing to head north, I chose a Go NE X21 was due and rather than a modern Streetdeck, a venerable B7TL Gemini was deputising. My thoughts that this veteran might be mildly diverting were misguided, as it smelt mouldy inside and by Chester le Street, I’d had enough and so bailed out. Instead, I went for Arriva’s X12 (their last tendril north from Durham) and it was a Max branded Pulsar. The only branded vehicles I saw on the correct route were on the X12. The interior branding is now looking very dated – weblinks don’t work (is non promotion better than outdated promotion) and the references to other destinations and frequencies are wrong. I don’t know what the future holds for Arriva but around Durham, it really needs a lot of TLC.

I arrived into Newcastle but alighted early in order to enjoy a bit of a wander round some old haunts. In fact, so much development is taking place that you can barely recognise some parts, with the demolition of the old Worswick Street bus station and other properties opening up views that were totally new. Having enjoyed some reminiscing, I grabbed a short hop to Gosforth on a Stagecoach e200mmc, and then waited for the Arriva X15 to Alnwick. This was one of the newish 72 plate e400mmcs that clearly have a bit of punch (as shown on the A1 section as we overtook numerous vehicles) but the lack of any promotion inside or out and the specification of standard bus seats is so disappointing for what should be a route that exploits the tourist potential. I was travelling only to Morpeth, arriving amongst a throng of vaping schoolkids in the small bus station.


The High Level Bridge (and Swing Bridge and the Castle Keep) as you head into Newcastle


Lots of new development in Newcastle - this was the site of the former Worswick Street bus station


My final bus of the day is a new introduction. Arriva operate the 777, running oddly from Morpeth to Newcastle Airport via Ponteland, and then terminating in Kingston Park. Two pensioners got off the inbound one, and five of us (incl 3 scholars) boarded. The 777 traverses an area that isn’t pretty rural and hasn’t historically had too many buses but the BSIP money has enabled an hourly service (even on Sundays) that starts early, and continues through much of the day as a means of being attractive to airport workers as well as travellers. However, I do wonder how it will do… standard Arriva livery on my Pulsar, no branding, no advertising in the bus station, not mentioned on the out of date notices at the Metro station… It’s a potentially good idea and a handy link but it needs more promotion, even if it’s relatively low cost stuff. The three schoolkids got off in Ponteland, as did our only mid journey pick up, and I bailed at the Airport.

So observations of my day. Well, it was dry which was an improvement on my last trip, even if it was a bit grey. The BSIP money is beginning to come through – I do wonder if it’s being used as well as it could be. Certain moves are good (like bolstering Morpeth to Newcastle) but the 777 is rather aspirational and we’ve been here before (with the 101) so I don't know if it will ever be self-sustaining. I'm a fan of the new multi operator tickets and in some areas, that will be a benefit. Durham bus station is a welcome replacement though it seems to be a curious affair with a lot of wasted space - did it need two entrances? The BSIP money could be pivotal if well used in restoring the fortunes of local buses in the North East but I'm not convinced some shiny bus stations and interesting rural routes are what's really required.

In terms of the operators and vehicles, the smaller operators in Weardale and GCT do a decent job with dealer spec machines on council tenders. Stagecoach is unshowy and dependable though with stuff like the 59 and Cleveland tenders, they are getting more expansive. However, the other two main operators are pretty disappointing. Arriva has been woeful for a long while (I know - change the f-ing record!!), and in Durham, every vehicle seemed down at heel with missing vinyls and an air of decline and neglect though that is nothing new. It’s been like that for at least five years. More worrying is the decline of Go North East. It was really noticeable how shabby vehicles were, almost all were off their branded routes, reliability is challenging when you’re running services from distant depots. It’s easy to blame the current management, and there is culpability, but I wonder if the enthusiast friendly flights of fancy from the Gilbert era aren’t also a factor? Whatever it is, you can see why Stagecoach are in the ascendancy whilst a bewildered GoNE seeks to stabilise itself and a moribund Arriva continues to descend into obscurity. That said, every journey operated as timetabled and that's the most important thing.

Thanks for reading this far. To answer @RELL6L and the teaser quiz, that photo is Coburg Street where in Get Carter, Michael Caine walks out of a guest house naked except for a shotgun.

 

[JGurney]

I’m not sure if this little outing really counts as a ‘trip’. Guidance from experienced posters here would be welcome.

A few days ago I ventured into London’s south-western suburban or exurban fringe and travelled on a couple of previously unused services there. The trip started off with the TfL 290 out to Staines, which although going a few miles beyond the Greater London border does not at any point feel remotely like a rural bus service. The next one felt distinctly rural from the start. Carlone Buses 593 makes a daily journey from Lyne to Staines and back. A minibus arrived on time for the 11:40 to Lyne and I boarded along with two fellow passengers, one with a porters’ barrow carrying a large parcel heavy enough that I helped him load it. The driver seemed a little surprised to have a passenger young enough to have to pay fares, but coped efficiently with the unusual demand (not all Surrey rural buses do: I have boarded some and found the driver without fare chart or ticket machine).

The 593 calls at Penton Hook on route, where it enters a private road into a large mobile home park. I idly wondered whether getting off there without having any reason to enter the park would amount to trespassing, presumably having an implied consent to enter the premises as a through bus passenger but perhaps not otherwise. No-one got on or off there or in Chertsey, and then we got to Lyne, which could be described either as a village without facilities, a large hamlet, or a couple of suburban streets transposed into the Surrey countryside. The bus paused in the main street to set down the man with the porter’s barrow and then ran on, turning, to my surprise, into another mobile home park (not indicated on the timetable) and terminating inside it, where I and my fellow passenger got off, she apparently being a resident of the park.

The question of whether this made me technically a trespasser was now more than academic, but I made my way back to the public road unchallenged. In the main street I was intrigued to find a bus stop with a display case containing a timetable for a five bus per day service on Jeakins route 9, along with a note stating that this service was going to be withdrawn from November 2013 onwards. There was also a timetable for the 593, showing it continuing beyond Lyne to Brooklands. Hopefully anyone planning to do that would take the hint from the 2013 note that this too was a very old timetable. Is this the oldest known example of a timetable remaining on display after the withdrawal of a service: 10 years and 8 months?

Google having indicated that Lyne has a pub which was open at the time, I made my way there, but found while there was indeed a pub, Google’s record of its opening hours was sadly as accurate as the local bus stop’s timetable: no refreshment for me. I walked by a mixture of roads and footpaths to Thorpe Green, passing through a little tunnel under the M25 shared by the path and a stream then over a barrow crossing over the railway between Virginia Water and Chertsey.

In Thorpe Green I repaired to the Rose and Crown before catching the White Bus 567 from the stop opposite, a five journeys per day route linking Staines to Knowle Hill via various exurban villages, running out via Thorpe and back via Stroude. I found that White Bus is one of the few operators not taking part in the ‘£2.00 fares’ scheme - £3.50 to Staines. In my early bus travelling days this route was a rather more frequent London Country service but then as now it was an dead end and so I had never used it, prefering to use Staines as a jumping off point for Windsor or Basingstoke and beyond than a potter into local villages. There were five others on board, four getting off in the next couple of miles, one bound for Egham. The bus ran by small but quite busy exurban roads (look like country lanes but far more traffic, with a lot of drivers who don't seem prepared for meeting a bus coming the other way). It ran from Thorpe Green to Virginia Water, often hampered by parked cars, on to Knowle Hill, a place a little bit bigger than Lyne and provided with a general store and chip shop, back to Virginia Water again then by way of the hamlet of Stroude and through Egham to Staines, picking up one more passenger for Staines on route. Reaching Staines was the end of the little venture, with nothing remaining but the 290 back home.

 

[route101]

Took two coach routes at the weekend to get to London to sample some of the Superloop routes.

National Express 595 Glasgow to Heathrow

I have used this service before and stops at Carlisle before running non stop to Heathrow. As it was a Friday I was expecting a full coach but it was busy but not full. The 595 is run by Bruces and the driver pulled into Buchanan Bus Station at 2115 for a 2145 departure. The driver was helpful saying we would be stopping at Sandbach services for 30 minute break. Usually you would stop at Killington Services for 15 to make it a 45 minute but not tonight.

We made our way South to Carlisle and I managed to doze off before waking up on the slip road off the M6. Around 7 people got on. I dozed again and was surprised to see us pulling into Sandbach services, I thought we were still further North. McDonalds at 2 am, no thanks!

I dozed off after Stafford and woke up a few times wondering where I was, eventually I woke up on the M40/m24 junction and that meant we were close to Heathrow. We arrived at Heathrow around 515am. One advantage of the 595 and 594, is how early it gets in and you can connect from Heathrow onto buses or other coaches.

I surprisingly felt ok as I got enough sleep!

 

[RELL6L]

Good to see some reports and that people are getting out and about.

I enjoyed reading @TheGrandWazoo 's report from the North East. I would never have got the picture although I did guess the correct city - in part for the correct reason as I mentioned the 777 as a potential BSIP trip. Interesting to read about some of the Durham villages which I've not been to and are off the beaten track, although I have stopped off at Coxhoe. I'd certainly like to try the 777, these routes need some proper marketing to gain public awareness if they are going to succeed. Its terrible how much Arriva have deteriorated everywhere and its sad to see that GNE seem to be in danger of drifting the same way.

Back many years I would visit the common and obscure corners of the London Country empire but I don't think I ever got to Lyne or Thorpe Green - interesting. And its a while since I did an overnight coach - my favourites being Crosville RELHs on the overnight south from Liverpool!

 

[Blindtraveler]

I really can't cope with the levels of sleep deprivation provided by overnight coach travel these days, not unless I have a room and a bed to effectively die in the morning after

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Thanks to @JGurney for their travelogue. Interesting that you mention going into a private caravan park. That's almost a trivia topic in itself. On a couple of trips, the route has looped into somewhere similar - one near Hallen (Bristol) though that route has been lost to Westlink DRT, and another in the middle of nowhere between Bewdley and Tenbury Wells. I'd not be getting off there without a plan. It's been a while since I explored that bit of Surrey too - just after the Acorn ticket appeared IIRC, so good to read that and jog the memory.

Like @Blindtraveler, I'm no longer able to bother with such overnight journeys. Did them extensively in the past when I had an NX staff pass but not now! Newcastle to Gatwick on the 2300, arriving at 0715... I don't know how I did it (except being younger). Be good to hear about the Superloop experience too

As for @RELL6L's kind comments, much as I enjoyed heading into the North Pennines, I really must stop trundling around through former pit villages. Three of the last four days out have seen me in the Rhondda and Cynon Valley, North Nottinghamshire, and now Central/West Co Durham!! I do find them fascinating but must find some chocolate box villages instead And photographic evidence to support my views on Go North East too... Look forward to reading more from @RELL6L and others

 

[Temple Meads]

I was a prolific user of overnight coaches in my late teens and it was a great way to explore the country on a limited budget. I'm still happy to do a one night trip, but I avoid doing a double overnighter which is something I did quite a few times, and some of these would have made for interesting trip reports. I think the stand-out moment was a domestic incident on the 2300 Megabus from London to Plymouth, which ended in the police being called to retrieve a woman who had gone running off down the hard shoulder of the M5 at 3am!

 

[route101]

I was a prolific user of overnight coaches in my late teens and it was a great way to explore the country on a limited budget. I'm still happy to do a one night trip, but I avoid doing a double overnighter which is something I did quite a few times, and some of these would have made for interesting trip reports. I think the stand-out moment was a domestic incident on the 2300 Megabus from London to Plymouth, which ended in the police being called to retrieve a woman who had gone running off down the hard shoulder of the M5 at 3am!

I use them occasionally to get to London first thing in the morning. I have not tried any coach services that go down to Devon and Cornwall. Yes, overnight coaches do attract some weird people.

 

[M803UYA]

So here goes my first 'trip report'. It's not my first ever bus trip as I used to do a lot of them before I made buses a career and it completely sapped any interests in the things outside of working hours. Hopefully the style of delivery amuses - if you have some sort of hot drink, possibly best not to consume it whilst reading lest a cleaning up is required....

I've recently returned from a fortnight's holiday on the North Norfolk coast. One of the joys of driving schools contracts is the 13 weeks holiday you get when they are off. So I try to do something with Senior Management during those times which proves to be quite a challenge as she doesn't 'do people'. I find as I get older and grumpier neither do I!

Senior Management (SM to save us typing this out multiple times) has different interests to me. She is very into nature, and enjoys birdwatching. I would enjoy birdwatching but for a lifetime of staring at computer screens and squinting at bus graphs meaning my vision in one eye is slightly off, and the other works fine. As the doctor tells me 'meets legal requirement, what is problem'.... . This problem is fixable if I spend £4figures on the mother of all telescopes. But I don't have the £4figures.

We both like walking to places. But once I start walking I like to keep walking, rather than admiring the wildlife. I'm not a bus engaged in stop/start work.

So as SM doesn't drive to these nature reserves the taxi (me) usually drives there, tails her around, gets very bored standing around staring at blurry birds with lovely colourful markings (so I'm informed - actually I have a book on the subject and they are indeed colourful!). I often find like in a coach park I've lots of time standing around waiting or sitting in the van waiting for her return. Rather a waste of the entry fee in her esteemed opinion. I don't argue with SM, it's easier to agree with her. Good life advice I feel.

For the 2nd of April, just after Easter Sunday SM wished to visit Titchwell on the coast. This is no problem for her as she's a member of RSPB, so show the card, in you go. I've got to pay £8 to go see blurry lovely birds. So I hit on an idea. Why doesn't someone else drive us there, and then why don't I disappear off on the bus somewhere else and have a few trips around and we just meet back up in Kings Lynn at the end of the day? Then I won't meet fellow stupid motorists on a road they cannot drive properly and I'll actually see a lot more of the countryside rather than needing to monitor stupid motorists driving towards/at me.

SM to my surprise agreed this was a good idea. So I take my (t)rusty van into Kings Lynn from the campsite and pay for all day parking. £3.40 later we're in the bus station.

Kings Lynn is a lovely place, and the main provider of buses is a company called Coastal Red Ltd trading as Lynx. It was founded in 2014 and started operating in 2015 on a single route to Hunstanton using Optare Tempos (a type which they have specialist knowledge of) and took full advantage of Stagecoach's inability to understand that you cannot operate Norfolk Green from Cambridge as effectively as it was ran from Kings Lynn. You also can't continue finding life expired buses to dump there and expect it to just get on when the previous owners bought new buses regularly.... There is also an expanded Community Transport operator providing town services which the former owner of Norfolk Green helps with/devotes time to. Stagecoach works in on the 505 and First come in half hourly with the Excel route from Peterborough to Norwich using a batch of unique diesel powered Scania/ADL Enviro 400 cities which are 5 years old this autumn.

First used to do a lot more locally. We should leave that there otherwise this will get too long.

Whilst my career has featured a lot of big operations, I much prefer independent ones. They happen to be nicer to work for (generally) as well, with fewer rules (just legal ones) and pointless working practices that seem invented to drive you up the wall. I find independent firms provide a better quality of service, understand the needs of their customers and also understand this idea that when a bus wears out, you replace it with a better/new one. None of this 'new buses generate passengers or they go elsewhere'....

Sorry, we were in the bus station weren't we? As I was snapping away at all the lovely red Optare Tempo's hoping to see some of my former Yellow Bus ones in and around we waited time for our first bus. The 36 coastliner all the way to Fakenham from Kings Lynn.

And just before 0825, Fleet Number 63 from the Lynx fleet rolls into the bus bay ready for it's 0830 departure.
YX22 OLN is a Yorkshire built ADL Enviro 400 MMC delivered new in 2022 as part of Lynx's upgrading of their fleet away from the Optare Tempo. Whilst Lynx's first MMCs were Falkirk built the others have all been built at Scarborough as the company wants to support British manufacturing. As a double deck bus is a rarity in my life these days I hand over my £12 for my coastal ticket that allows all day travel on Lynx and Sanders buses and make for the top deck.

This is what greeted me. Rather nice.



So we leave Kings Lynn and head for the A149 to Hunstanton. We pass the turn for the duplicated name of 'Castle Rising Castle' and along we go. SM elected to sit downstairs so she'd be able to leave the bus when she needed to. Eventually we get to Hunstanton where the timetable allows almost 10 minutes of stand time before it hits the coast. A further few minutes is allowed at Wells-next-the-Sea. It's clear from the timetable book Lynx produces that they schedule their services properly without the need for drivers to run fast to make up time - though I'm sure the height of summer along the North Norfolk coast will produce lots of traffic to hold the service up!

As we have time at Hunstanton Bus Station I go downstairs and ask the driver if I am ok to get a photo of the bus. This is fine....

This is what I got. They've even sorted out the sun for me.


We leave Hunstanton and finally hit the coast road bang on time. And as expected we meet other road users. I learned long ago at Western Greyhound that 'meeting other road users' on the 556 to Padstow meant the same facial expressions of the car driver, something approaching abject fear upon seeing a big double decker bus looming down on them.

This is where an irritating feature of the Enviro 400 MMC comes into play. Our driver was doing well handling these oncoming road users, but the bus was overcompensating for brake application whenever he was pressing the pedal. The MMC has an electronic brake which kicks in once it's applied. This is rather uncomfortable for the passengers - who must assume the driver can't drive the bus...... when he obviously can. A shame to have such a feature on the bus when it's a very nice vehicle that's been well specced for the job it's doing. Did I say I don't like modern things?

We bid farewell to SM at Titchwell and we continue along to Wells-next-the-Sea and into Fakenham where journey 1 ends. As we come into Fakenham there's a Plymouth Citybus 64 reg Enviro 200 leaving as a 21 to Chaddlewood Dereham. Sorry I think it's meant to be a Konectbus service - the alternate bus on the other working being a 69 registered Enviro 200 MMC in correct livery looking relatively tidy too. There's an Eastern Counties liveried Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini greeting me too, I took a photo but it's blurry so I can't share that here. First have a presence here with the 29 to Norwich running half hourly. Of which more anon.


Fakenham High Street.
Fakenham also has Sanders operating into the town and I got a couple of their buses. A nice 23 reg Evora and an 07 plate Volvo B7RLE with evidence of brush painting on the front panel. But very tidy looking.



I head off in search of a suitable notebook with which to record my future bus wanderings concisely. None of this modern new fangled technology here....

The next First bus to Norwich greets me. Sad to say, but I struggle with how an almost 13 year old bus can be sent out in such a poor state. B9TL Gemini's are very nice vehicles, perfect for this long route and they do not have to look 'old' and careworn. This import is also 'promoting' Services 25/26 in Norwich to the residents of Fakenham. Is it really so hard to remove branding for routes you're no longer using buses on, or are the people in the company so worn down fighting fire that it doesn't even register? I think I preferred the Eastern Counties one.

After almost an hour in Fakenham it was time to get my bus back to Kings Lynn. The 49 is a relatively fast run which follows the main road all the way in. This is what greeted me. Fleet Number 24, YJ60 KAO. An almost 14 year old Optare Tempo, new to Lancashire United and returned off lease early in 2018. It is one of the batch Lynx bought to handle their 2018 expansion when Stagecoach left Norfolk. It retains it's leather interior from 2010 which is a little worn around the edges, but compare the outside to the First decker? We meander back to Kings Lynn at a reasonable speed - the timetable doesn't require the driver to run the bus fast to keep time, yet we're still on time at our destination.



Back in Kings Lynn I had some choices to make about where I went next as it was almost 1pm. SM was due back sometime before 6 and the Lynx network ramps down after the evening peak. I'd discounted doing the 37 as I didn't think I'd have sufficient time to make the changeover in Lynn so had planned to do a round trip on the 39 but this proved incorrect. The 1pm 37 (Fleet No 23, YJ60 KAK) was loading in the Bus Station and the electric ramp on the bus was making a lot of noise as it wouldn't return to where it was meant to go. The bus wasn't going anywhere until the ramp returned. The driver wound this back in with an adjustable spanner which happened to be available in the cab.

I let the driver know that I'm going to the end of the route and coming back again. He then asks if I'm an enthusiast. I am guessing someone travelling on a bus for pleasure qualifies as one. He explains he's an enthusiast and that's why he drives buses. And he does very well at clawing back the lost time due to the ramp issue in the bus station, so much so that we're on time at Downham Market. Two passengers board there - one of whom has a dog with him.

Dogs fall into two categories. Nice or Not nice.. This one's nice and I'm not paying attention when he sorts me out a free handwash and tries to give me a kiss on the nose.... he also smells better than the owner. Good going for a dog. The owner I could smell from the front door, which must be 11m distant from my seat (on a 12m bus!) - I discover when we're empty the owner lives on a narrowboat and possibly has no onboard water. This explains a few things. They depart at Hilgay and the bus is empty to Ten Mile Bank. The last part of the run has an interesting road surface, which our 14 year old bus rattles and bangs it's way along at a slow speed. The driver reveals that the older Tempos in the fleet (54/55/07 plate) have fewer rattles than the bus we're presently on. They also have manual wheelchair ramps. One quick phone call from driver Sam at the terminus to report the ramp issue brings forth the standard bus industry instruction for a malfunctioning vehicle 'have you turned it off then on again'? This then works....!



The return run was slightly less exciting than the outward, but I did notice the vinyl covering the partition behind the driver 'Look outside, aren't you glad you're travelling by bus?' Two children in the picture gazing out from a red double decker. The fleet is peppered with lots of little messages on the engine covers, and inside the buses.

I had pencilled in a round trip to Fairstead but I had the choice of going to Wisbech or Marham at 1600ish or going to Fairstead. I'm sure Fairstead is lovely and befitting of such a nice name? It has a 20 minute frequency until 8pm 6 days a week and a 30 minute one on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

A Sunday service on a town route..... I thought such things were uneconomic and not worth operating?! Whilst I'm waiting for the 46 I get to listen to two locals using the bus station passengers as an audience for their difference of opinion. I think this is a family orientated forum so I can't enlighten you all to the exact words, but XXXX's can sort of give you a flavour?

So my final trip of the day was a 46 to Wisbech. This has a peak extension to Emneth and Three Holes but my 1600 is the last bus back from Wisbech. Fleet No 5 (YJ55BKU) was new to the Welsh Government for Traws Cambria services and used by Arriva before sale to Marchants, from whence Lynx acquired the bus. The low fleet number and date of the V5C suggests it wasn't one of the opening members of the fleet, but one acquired early in the life of the company.

The 46 covers a lot of villages on it's 50 minute trip to Wisbech - I guess if you're in a hurry you're getting the Excel? I'm astonished by two things - firstly that an 18 year old bus doesn't look like one. There's an interesting sound coming off the rear diff, but that's mentioned on flickr some time back and clearly doesn't handicap the bus. I'm reminded of the Traws Cambria spec interior c2005 by the next stop announcement screen still proudly sitting on the ceiling, but no longer talking in two languages.

The second cause of astonishment is the dreadful state of the roads we're travelling on. Again the timetable is scheduled that no one has to rush to get anywhere so the journey is pleasant. And as predicted the bus doesn't rattle as much as the batch of 60 plate ones! Whilst I'm enjoying the trip SM texts to tell me she will be back in Kings Lynn at 1725.
This is helpful as I'm not scheduled back until 6pm.

I ask the friendly driver if I'm ok getting a photo of the bus in Wisbech Bus Station. She does not mind at all. And that's the last photo. I'm only allowed 9? I've got at least 10 here....



We get back to Kings Lynn on time and SM's instructions are 'I'm in TK Maxx, see you there'

First question, 'Did you find any birds then? I found some buses. Would you like Pizza for your tea?' To which I got 'Yes, that's very interesting and yes I would'

My impressions of my day of bus liberation away from SM? How can Lynx do all these things that apparently can't be done in the bus industry any more? How can a fleet of 14-18 year old buses not look that age? How can you provide services for people that they can make use of, at a sensible price and how on earth do you have such friendly drivers who are clearly happy in their work?!

Well done if you've stayed the distance and got to the end.

Somewhere here is a pair of books from the early 2000s when I travelled on Leyland Lynx, and a squadron of Mercedes 709s in multiple liveries. And if I scan in the prints, there are possibly photos too. Perhaps I need to go searching for them?

 

[RELL6L]

Great report from @M803UYA. Pleased that senior management allowed you to have such a good day out, a sunny day at that! Good choice of routes as well. You could have gone on from Fakenham to Dereham and then back to Kings Lynn via a bigger circle but you still made good use of the options available and stuck to using Lynx. The Fakenham to Dereham Konnectbus routes are new BSIP funded, I did this a few years ago on what was then very infrequent and subsequently withdrawn, now it is hourly!

You have shown the contrast between managed decline and a good, caring, well-managed local operator who understand its market and looks after its vehicles. Like Norfolk Green was. Hope it doesn't go the same way - taken over then almost closed down. Lynx seem to manage to operate a large fleet of Optare Tempos better than anyone else has ever run them. And been able to afford great new vehicles on the 36 - I am sure having smart new double deckers on this route makes them much more noticeable to visitors to the area and attracts custom. Contrast with the down-at-heel First offering. Although, to be fair, the route to Fakenham is now every half hour, which is great - years ago there was virtually nothing until Norfolk Green came in. Also of course there are new electric buses coming into Norwich and hopefully this will update the fleet.

Above all it is good to see Norfolk being innovative with real increases from BSIP money. Let's hope this generates genuine new custom.

I hope senior management will allow you out again and you will let us have further reports!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I echo @RELL6L's comments and really enjoyed @M803UYA's account. The dog and the owner were a particular highlight, and we can all recognise the adolescents (not tarring all with that brush) in a bus station using some industrial language.

I hadn't travelled on Lynx until a trip out last summer along the coast from Kings Lynn to sunny Hunny and then to Wells Next The Sea before transferring my allegiance to Sanders (another decent firm but not quite as good as Lynx). I had a quite mature Tempo to start which was perfectly nice to take me to Hunstanton. However, I didn't get one of the newish mmc deckers but their ex Lloyds Coaches e400 - it was a text book example of how you can refurbish a vehicle and take years off it. They are a bit of a pet firm of Roger French but you can see why - they do things really well. Also sounds like you had a good bunch of drivers.

I know that large businesses buying small indies is usually fraught with pain, and that they are often subsumed into the main business. However, I was really surprised that Stagecoach made such a pigs' ear of Norfolk Green. I could've expected it of First or Arriva but to buy a proper standalone business and then cock it up in 4.5 years isn't the incompetence that you associate with Stagecoach.

Interesting to hear your views on First Eastern Counties. I know it's a low bar but they're actually one of the better First opcos. I think the 28/29 had a dedicated fleet of branded vehicles but since it was extended to Fakenham and enhanced, the PVR is higher so the branded ones are diluted. Also, with the influx of electroliners, there's all manner of displaced B9s so the colours are spread about (and at least the red fronted ones have gone to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft). Still, no excuse for not removing the old branding. I also find that whilst FEC are decent with branding/marketing externally and internally, the internal presentation is poor. I've not spotted any refurbs in my limited travels and stuff like the 2012 B9s (and even the 2013 e400s) have knackered eLeather etc.

Look forward to hearing more from you, SM permitting. I usually refer to my other half as the "fun monitor" FWIW

 

[M803UYA]

Great report from @M803UYA. Pleased that senior management allowed you to have such a good day out, a sunny day at that! Good choice of routes as well. You could have gone on from Fakenham to Dereham and then back to Kings Lynn via a bigger circle but you still made good use of the options available and stuck to using Lynx. The Fakenham to Dereham Konnectbus routes are new BSIP funded, I did this a few years ago on what was then very infrequent and subsequently withdrawn, now it is hourly!

You have shown the contrast between managed decline and a good, caring, well-managed local operator who understand its market and looks after its vehicles. Like Norfolk Green was. Hope it doesn't go the same way - taken over then almost closed down. Lynx seem to manage to operate a large fleet of Optare Tempos better than anyone else has ever run them. And been able to afford great new vehicles on the 36 - I am sure having smart new double deckers on this route makes them much more noticeable to visitors to the area and attracts custom. Contrast with the down-at-heel First offering. Although, to be fair, the route to Fakenham is now every half hour, which is great - years ago there was virtually nothing until Norfolk Green came in. Also of course there are new electric buses coming into Norwich and hopefully this will update the fleet.

Above all it is good to see Norfolk being innovative with real increases from BSIP money. Let's hope this generates genuine new custom.

I hope senior management will allow you out again and you will let us have further reports!

The Tempo fleet is borne out of the experiences of the owners of the business - they were pretty much first in at Konect when those came onto the market and they ran a lot of them brand new. That experience has helped them keep a fleet going well into their late teens. Quite what replaces them going forwards I am not sure - possibly some more double deckers? The most recent delivery on that front (see below) carries 34/35 branding rather than Coastliner. If more were planned that then leaves a rump of single decks to replace over time. 4 to 5 years work buying in that number should fix that issue well before you can't buy new diesel buses?



I have visited Norwich before, back in 2017 so know First can do things well. The branding is high profile and works very well there. It's just sad to see a very competent fleet of buses looking so down at heel when they don't need to. They're ideal for the longer runs out of Norwich. The ones I saw seemed to have original moquette trim too. If a batch of buses would be improved from a little love and attention, it's these. Hopefully they can hold onto them and do something to tidy them up.

I echo @RELL6L's comments and really enjoyed @M803UYA's account. The dog and the owner were a particular highlight, and we can all recognise the adolescents (not tarring all with that brush) in a bus station using some industrial language.

I hadn't travelled on Lynx until a trip out last summer along the coast from Kings Lynn to sunny Hunny and then to Wells Next The Sea before transferring my allegiance to Sanders (another decent firm but not quite as good as Lynx). I had a quite mature Tempo to start which was perfectly nice to take me to Hunstanton. However, I didn't get one of the newish mmc deckers but their ex Lloyds Coaches e400 - it was a text book example of how you can refurbish a vehicle and take years off it. They are a bit of a pet firm of Roger French but you can see why - they do things really well. Also sounds like you had a good bunch of drivers.

I know that large businesses buying small indies is usually fraught with pain, and that they are often subsumed into the main business. However, I was really surprised that Stagecoach made such a pigs' ear of Norfolk Green. I could've expected it of First or Arriva but to buy a proper standalone business and then cock it up in 4.5 years isn't the incompetence that you associate with Stagecoach.

Interesting to hear your views on First Eastern Counties. I know it's a low bar but they're actually one of the better First opcos. I think the 28/29 had a dedicated fleet of branded vehicles but since it was extended to Fakenham and enhanced, the PVR is higher so the branded ones are diluted. Also, with the influx of electroliners, there's all manner of displaced B9s so the colours are spread about (and at least the red fronted ones have gone to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft). Still, no excuse for not removing the old branding. I also find that whilst FEC are decent with branding/marketing externally and internally, the internal presentation is poor. I've not spotted any refurbs in my limited travels and stuff like the 2012 B9s (and even the 2013 e400s) have knackered eLeather etc.

Look forward to hearing more from you, SM permitting. I usually refer to my other half as the "fun monitor" FWIW

I didn't meet the old Lloyds Enviro 400 - but elsewhere in the Lynx fleet there is an updated VDL/Wright Gemini which has a later front fitted. Oddly those retain Reading colours and I recall seeing them last time I visited.

Must give the Excel route a go next time - doing some of Sanders routes is a plan as well. There's a little bit of Norfolk to tick off as part of my plan to see the country.

It isn't my first trip with Lynx - I managed to go to Hunstanton on the 35 before it expanded in the wake of Stagecoach's departure and we had a decent load on both buses. The closure of most of their operations was a few weeks after my visit.

The only comparator I have for Stagecoach taking over an independent and not making it work was the Cooks operations which they ran from Exeter. No sooner than it was bought all 'outside vehicle purchasing' was stopped and the operation had to rely on inter group transfers. Only that there wasn't a steady supply of LDV Convoys and Mercedes Sprinters to handle the schools contracts and multiple out/back market day shopper services. Or Mercedes 709/Varios (though some were sourced).

One wonder if what was actually wanted was the Exeter Park & Ride route as part of the network again? The Norfolk Green purchase was strange as the very same management team in Cambridge took over and assimilated Cavalier successfully in 2008 which is why their experiences in Norfolk are utterly confusing.

Thanks both for your feedback, I shall have to do some trips now. It's difficult from home when you have three offpeak round trips linking the nearest town and nothing on a Sunday... where did I leave those two books from the early 2000s?

 

[ChrisC]

I also spent last week on the North Norfolk Coast. I hadn’t written a report for this thread because it was mainly a holiday walking sections of the coastal path with a little bit of bird watching. I stayed in a very nice, although somewhat expensive hotel, on the coast road at Kelling which Is about 5 miles west of Sheringham.

I did use the Coast Hopper 1 bus almost every day, which is operated by Sanders, and runs between Wells next the Sea and Cromer. Being still on the winter timetable, the CH1 is basically a 9am till 5pm service along the coast road and runs hourly. There are a number of additional buses during the summer months which almost, but not quite, provides a bus every half hour, and also a slightly later last bus. It was the first time that I had used this route since March 2018 during the last few weeks of Stagecoach operation.

I found it very useful, staying in a hotel in a rural coastal location, to be able to leave my car in the hotel car park and to use the CH1 to travel along the coast road hopping on and off at various locations. It saved having to drive along the busy main road through the very narrow streets of some villages, especially Cley and Stiffkey. It also solved the problem of having to find places to park. During the week I did walks from Salthouse to Sheringham, Sheringham to East Runton, Wells to Stiffkey, Stiffkey to Blakeney and Blakeney to Cley, all using the CH1 to travel to and from the walks. I found the drivers very friendly and helpful and they seemed to be local knowing the area well, helping people to alight at the correct stop for walks etc. The buses were very well loaded and in some instances it was almost standing room only. Most of the passengers appeared to be people on holiday rather than locals, with lots of family groups, dog walkers and older people using passes. I did think that a few more bus stops along some sections of the route would be useful as there were long sections without stops in locations where bus stops for walkers would be useful.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I didn't meet the old Lloyds Enviro 400 - but elsewhere in the Lynx fleet there is an updated VDL/Wright Gemini which has a later front fitted. Oddly those retain Reading colours and I recall seeing them last time I visited.

Must give the Excel route a go next time - doing some of Sanders routes is a plan as well. There's a little bit of Norfolk to tick off as part of my plan to see the country.

I remember seeing that silver/grey ex Reading decker last July - can only assume that it was a stop gap vehicle that wasn't staying and has?

Have done the excel in various chunks with the old e400s and the e400city vehicles. It's a punishing route and hard to believe that the latter are now four years old having arrived just before covid. They are excellent vehicles and fairly bomb along the open flat countryside - comfortable seats and the modern additions you'd expect. Sadly, the ADL squeaks are also there (as expected). I do like the route as you pass through some nice places like Swaffham and Dereham.

I also spent last week on the North Norfolk Coast. I hadn’t written a report for this thread because it was mainly a holiday walking sections of the coastal path with a little bit of bird watching. I stayed in a very nice, although somewhat expensive hotel, on the coast road at Kelling which Is about 5 miles west of Sheringham.

I did use the Coast Hopper 1 bus almost every day, which is operated by Sanders, and runs between Wells next the Sea and Cromer. Being still on the winter timetable, the CH1 is basically a 9am till 5pm service along the coast road and runs hourly. There are a number of additional buses during the summer months which almost, but not quite, provides a bus every half hour, and also a slightly later last bus. It was the first time that I had used this route since March 2018 during the last few weeks of Stagecoach operation.

I found it very useful, staying in a hotel in a rural coastal location, to be able to leave my car in the hotel car park and to use the CH1 to travel along the coast road hopping on and off at various locations. It saved having to drive along the busy main road through the very narrow streets of some villages, especially Cley and Stiffkey. It also solved the problem of having to find places to park. During the week I did walks from Salthouse to Sheringham, Sheringham to East Runton, Wells to Stiffkey, Stiffkey to Blakeney and Blakeney to Cley, all using the CH1 to travel to and from the walks. I found the drivers very friendly and helpful and they seemed to be local knowing the area well, helping people to alight at the correct stop for walks etc. The buses were very well loaded and in some instances it was almost standing room only. Most of the passengers appeared to be people on holiday rather than locals, with lots of family groups, dog walkers and older people using passes. I did think that a few more bus stops along some sections of the route would be useful as there were long sections without stops in locations where bus stops for walkers would be useful.

I did that part of the CH last year in July and it was half hourly IIRC. Sanders use Evoras (that are more durable than the e200mmc that Stagecoach used) and they were well patronised - full load out of Wells and didn't really calm down until Sheringham. It is very popular with walkers as I noticed too.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

With the weather getting better and longer days, days out are becoming more enjoyable. Another trip to my native North East gave me chance to experience a few innovations that I’d not tried before. There was a bit of content (and photos) so I’ve split it into two halves; hope you find it of interest and it’s not too self indulgent.

I began in Middlesbrough bus station. Over 40 years after I recall it opening, the building is still impressive. However, council cuts = lack of investment so it looks a bit shabby, the information screens don’t work and there’s no information centre now. Bus services have declined and the site is quieter. Some council types have suggested it is now underutilised and oversized but I still hope redevelopment plans are shelved. My first bus was an expected Arriva Daf Pulsar, tired internally with slightly threadbare seats but otherwise ok. It was getting light as we passed through the post-industrial landscape of South Bank and Dormanstown with a brief glimpse of the Arriva depot. It’s not glamorous but there’s a majesty in the huge structures that dominate this area though many have gone as the former steelworks is redeveloped. Into Redcar, and stopping to wait time at Redcar Clock and one of my pet peeves being Arriva’s local office, of which more later. After then passing the old bus station (and former Arriva office), we headed along the coast with views of Boulby Cliffs, the highest on the east coast, and then into Saltburn. It’s a delightful Victorian seaside resort with a biting onshore breeze! I’ve been on warmer days and I’d thoroughly recommend having a wander from the rail station down the hill to the pier and, if it’s working, getting the cliff railway back up.


Middlesbrough bus station - showing its age but still a superb facility after over 40 years

Middlesbrough deserted


Boulby cliffs in the distance


Victorian Saltburn seen from the rooftops of Brotton

I warmed myself with a takeaway coffee as I waited for my next bus which was the first of my objectives of the day to tick off. Cleveland Transit once had a Saltburn depot though route swaps eventually saw them cede the territory to allow United to establish a monopoly. That continued through deregulation until 1989 when Transit launched a competitive attack prompting a short frenzied bus war. Hostilities soon stopped, the monopoly restored. So it stayed until recently when Stagecoach Transit secured a two vehicle tender comprising a massive circular to Loftus and Easington via either Skinningrove or Lingdale. I boarded only to be told my Explorer North East wasn’t valid and only £2 fares were allowed. I realised the driver was probably confused about Dayriders and so, in a friendly but firm manner, explained that it was valid and why. He relented and off we went to Brotton. The bus was a 2019 e200mmc (Irn Bru seats) of a batch delivered for the 36 Middlesbrough to Hartlepool route. I guess some reductions has rendered them free for tendered stuff like this and it was a super climb up into the Cleveland Hills into some quite verdant gullies where spring was very much in evidence. Our service 1 heads through parts of Skelton, a small town and then skirts the large village of Brotton. This is a large village that is crossed by the rail line to Boulby potash mine with the bridges necessitating the single deckers that are used in East Cleveland. Despite our slight dispute earlier, the driver offered to drop me off more conveniently; friends again, I thanked him.

The next bus was the second on my tick list of new experiences. It was TeesFlex DRT, and booking via the app had been simple though having booked my window and expected time, the algorithm suddenly made it 15 mins earlier. Via my advisory text, I knew my bus would be one of the former Ashford Mercs that Stagecoach has scattered over the UK. Arriving on time, I enjoyed the solitude of a trip to Lingdale where, on arriving, a lady was waiting to be chauffeured to her job at Coop in Skelton. Now I’ve got a miner problem – recent trips see me ending up in former mining villages and Lingdale is a bleak moorland ex-mining village though for ironstone rather than coal. I’d only ever passed through and know that bus services there have halved in recent years, and it was a pleasant enough trip in my Merc but on arriving, it was clear that there’s not much to do.


TeesFlex in Lingdale


Lingdale High Street


Arriva Pulsar arriving before terminating and returning to Middlesbrough

Lingdale gets two Arriva services every hour, arriving simultaneously with two Pulsars heading for Middlesbrough either via Redcar or, in my case, via Guisborough. I always associated this route with Mk2 Nationals but now its Pulsars or Streetlites. The 5A headed through Boosbeck and past the large Coatham Coaches depot to Charltons. From here, we ran alongside the impressive Slapewath Viaduct and having descended from the edge of the North York Moors, we were again travelling through lush green countryside before arriving in Guisborough. Whilst it was an urgent toilet stop that necessitated a break rather than continuing to Middlesbrough.


Temsa Avenues constitute a good number of the Redcar allocation - they're definitely interesting machines to travel on - seen in Guisborough

I know Guisborough well, being an affluent and bustling market down in the shadow of the Cleveland Hills. It’s a nice place to stop and wander round; I sampled a local café before recommencing my trip. The X93 from Scarborough would take me to Middlesbrough and is one of the few double deck operated routes locally. My steed was one of the last Volvo B9s built that Arriva bought from dealer stock. That partly explained the non-standard seats but not the Sapphire headrests given that this was a former Max branded route as the now superseded interior vinyls proclaimed. Low bridges and 1970s union disputes mean double deckers are historically rare in Teesside. These are really decent machines so it was a pleasant trip as we crested the rise and descended down Ormesby Bank with the industrial vista of Teesside opening up in front of us. There was some unforeseen congestion as we battled through arriving about on time and that was the first half of the day concluded; time for a quick brew before starting the second half and more new experiences.

Part two to come

After a brief sojourn in Middlesbrough, it was time to start my second loop of the Tees Valley, as no one calls it. It was a short hop on the 59 to Stockton on a former Stagecoach Fife e300 now relocated to Teesside. There continues to be tracts of the area that are still depressed but regeneration is in evidence elsewhere and Stockton High Street is in the throes of development. Gone are the Castlegate shopping centre and Swallow Hotel; these soulless 1970s monoliths’ disappearance changes the whole atmosphere though only until new, less foreboding, buildings appear. Opposite this development site was the former Mall nightclub; a former haunt of mine also now demolished. A few doors up is the former United travel office that disappeared in the 1980s, and further up the High Street is the former Arriva travel office, now up for rent.


Not an ADL but a short MAN - a rare beast now

I was only in Stockton to experience another recently introduced route. Arriva cuts and some additional funding saw Stagecoach awarded a service 6 from Stockton via Ingleby Barwick and Yarm before heading to Darlington via Teesside Airport. Linking Teesside with the Airport has been tried in the past with this being the fourth iteration in my lifetime (ser 80 then 20 then 12 and now 6). Essentially, the 6 combines a local Darlington service with a Stockton one, and bridged by a run along the A67, representing a return to Darlington for Stagecoach after a 17 year absence. Again, it was an mmc released from the flagship 36. 15 passengers suffered the grind through the Stockton suburbs. We passed via the attractive and affluent town of Yarm, navigating nose to tail traffic. After Egglescliffe, there were four of us making our way to Darlington before we arrived at the airport (no passengers). The route becomes intensely rural before you head via Middleton One Row towards Darlington. I casually glanced at a large house set back from the A67; it’s notorious locally (for those of a certain age) for being the scene of a shocking unsolved murder!


Stockton High Street - the hoardings on the left were once the site of 1970s developments

After nearly 90 mins of meandering, we arrived in Darlington. A town I know and love. It’s suffering the same challenges of underinvestment and a declining retail offer but it’s still got fine Victorian architecture. I had a wander round, ghosts around every corner and trying to remember the names of pubs and bars that had now changed. Nostalgia satisfied, I wandered off to return to Stockton but via the direct X67. The X66/67 have interesting origins in being a confection of a formerly half hourly stopper (268) from Darlington – Stockton - Middlesbrough and a deregulation era hourly express linking Darlington and Middlesbrough in just 20 mins (X14). The X66/7 is a mash up - villages like Sadberge were abandoned though revised routes in Darlington and Stockton now see the journey time not much faster than the stopper of old! My final Arriva bus of the day was a rare example of new investment being a short e200mmc new to Jesmond and almost immediately moved to Darlington. To be honest, it really wasn’t very good – the next stop announcements didn’t work and the bus seems underpowered for belting along the A66.


Stagecoach back in Darlington - the brutalist building behind is the town hall


Darlington is quite attractive (in my opinion)

We arrived into Stockton (again), and my fourth and final new bus experience. The X40 began a few weeks ago. Buses interwork as a circular route from Stockton to Wynyard, returning to Stockton via Billingham (X41). It is funded by BSIP money and is operated by Stagecoach e300s. We had four passengers though one exited in Norton. Two others got off in Wynyard near some very nice detached homes just past a security lodge as we entered the development. As we progressed via Wynyard, we went from these, to executive homes, and then millionaire/footballer homes before exiting via another security lodge as the X41. We then looped past more large houses and then to the massive Amazon fulfilment centre with its own bus station before finally breaking free of Wynyard. We then headed through Wolviston, the X41 reintroducing buses to this pretty village that had inexplicably fallen off the public transport map, and into Billingham where I got off.

Billingham is a town built on chemicals, and even has a bus stop at Oxygen Corner! The ICI works were the main employer and its post war expansion saw Billingham gain additional housing and a new town centre. It feels like a new town, but with a communist feel to it! I had a brief wander round but, in truth, there’s not much to be seen. I should’ve got a more direct bus but was instead tempted by the arrival of a Go North East Streetdeck – the only bus other than my East Cleveland Stagecoach to have next stop announcements. It was the most luxurious bus of the day as we headed back to Middlesbrough in the sunshine.


The newly restored Globe Theatre in Stockton - a fine art deco building


All feels a bit Soviet in Billingham

So observations…

Bus services are sparser than I recall from my youth. Part of this is undoubtedly a reflection of the decline in the area – in Middlesbrough and East Cleveland, the population is 7% less than 50 years ago. A rationalisation between Arriva’s predecessor and Stagecoach in the mid 1990s saw Teesside was carved up and a peace dividend, and Arriva also undertook a big shake up in the mid 2000s under the Viva Arriva brand. Whilst Stagecoach has trimmed services and is smaller, it does feel that Arriva has regressed more, with further cuts in recent years. Against this backdrop, it’s not a shock that the fleets are also lacking in investment. Stagecoach’s fleet is more balanced in age, with some elderly Darts and e300s though with decent numbers of 2019 e200mmc. Arriva’s hasn’t invested in 10 years, and much of the fleet is 2009-11 vintage in a range of liveries, as local staff muddle through hamstrung by a lack of funds.

In fact, it all feels very stale – no real initiatives to change things except a few ill-conceived new routes to spend BSIP funds. Links from Teesside to the Airport have been attempted three times previously in my lifetime and when it had many more flights. The 6 is a fundamentally stupid idea. The X40/X41 is similarly mental. The driver I spoke to did say he’d had 8 people get on one journey in Wynyard – I was amazed as this is really the most affluent area you can imagine. It’s got the security lodges so turning it into a gated community is simple enough! TeesFlex like most DRT schemes is simply a very expensive taxi service with little ability to aggregate journeys. The technology works but the concept is flawed. How much money is being wasted on these vanity projects?

Another annoyance is the lack of decent information. Bus information in Stockton was out of date. There isn’t a bus office anywhere in Teesside unless Stagecoach now has one elsewhere in Stockton. The Arriva ones in Darlington and Redcar are maddening, especially the latter. It has vinyls with maps, recruitment messages and a sign saying local bus information except it has no public access – it’s a welfare and admin facility. So many places could have either a partially manned or unmanned facility (for First see Weston super Mare, for Stagecoach see Paignton); it seems a missed opportunity to actually provide customer service.

The weather was great and every bus did turn up and run on time or near enough. Places like Saltburn are delightful, and whilst there are some grim spots (40 mins in Lingdale isn't the most exciting), the area has lots to offer and the views from and of the Cleveland Hills are really impressive. I was travelling to lots of familiar spots - places I'd visited on Leyland Nationals and asthmatic Bristol LHs in my youth.
In the current times, Stagecoach is the better main operator, and they are busy expanding their tendrils; I never thought I'd see them in East Cleveland, or return to Darlington but here they are, winning tenders and exploiting the decline of Arriva. They are much as we expect these days - a firm bereft of direction though notably whilst all vehicles had the free wifi logos unceremoniously stripped away, the newish e200mmc also had the DB logos removed. The actual sale can't come soon enough. However, the local authorities and the combined authority don’t seem to have any coherent plan to move the dial and improve bus provision. It’s all a bit sad.

 

[northern506]

With the weather getting better and longer days, days out are becoming more enjoyable. Another trip to my native North East gave me chance to experience a few innovations that I’d not tried before. There was a bit of content (and photos) so I’ve split it into two halves; hope you find it of interest and it’s not too self indulgent.

I began in Middlesbrough bus station. Over 40 years after I recall it opening, the building is still impressive. However, council cuts = lack of investment so it looks a bit shabby, the information screens don’t work and there’s no information centre now. Bus services have declined and the site is quieter. Some council types have suggested it is now underutilised and oversized but I still hope redevelopment plans are shelved. My first bus was an expected Arriva Daf Pulsar, tired internally with slightly threadbare seats but otherwise ok. It was getting light as we passed through the post-industrial landscape of South Bank and Dormanstown with a brief glimpse of the Arriva depot. It’s not glamorous but there’s a majesty in the huge structures that dominate this area though many have gone as the former steelworks is redeveloped. Into Redcar, and stopping to wait time at Redcar Clock and one of my pet peeves being Arriva’s local office, of which more later. After then passing the old bus station (and former Arriva office), we headed along the coast with views of Boulby Cliffs, the highest on the east coast, and then into Saltburn. It’s a delightful Victorian seaside resort with a biting onshore breeze! I’ve been on warmer days and I’d thoroughly recommend having a wander from the rail station down the hill to the pier and, if it’s working, getting the cliff railway back up.
View attachment 156987
View attachment 156988
Middlesbrough bus station - showing its age but still a superb facility after over 40 years
View attachment 157033
Middlesbrough deserted

View attachment 156990
Boulby cliffs in the distance

View attachment 156991
Victorian Saltburn seen from the rooftops of Brotton

I warmed myself with a takeaway coffee as I waited for my next bus which was the first of my objectives of the day to tick off. Cleveland Transit once had a Saltburn depot though route swaps eventually saw them cede the territory to allow United to establish a monopoly. That continued through deregulation until 1989 when Transit launched a competitive attack prompting a short frenzied bus war. Hostilities soon stopped, the monopoly restored. So it stayed until recently when Stagecoach Transit secured a two vehicle tender comprising a massive circular to Loftus and Easington via either Skinningrove or Lingdale. I boarded only to be told my Explorer North East wasn’t valid and only £2 fares were allowed. I realised the driver was probably confused about Dayriders and so, in a friendly but firm manner, explained that it was valid and why. He relented and off we went to Brotton. The bus was a 2019 e200mmc (Irn Bru seats) of a batch delivered for the 36 Middlesbrough to Hartlepool route. I guess some reductions has rendered them free for tendered stuff like this and it was a super climb up into the Cleveland Hills into some quite verdant gullies where spring was very much in evidence. Our service 1 heads through parts of Skelton, a small town and then skirts the large village of Brotton. This is a large village that is crossed by the rail line to Boulby potash mine with the bridges necessitating the single deckers that are used in East Cleveland. Despite our slight dispute earlier, the driver offered to drop me off more conveniently; friends again, I thanked him.

The next bus was the second on my tick list of new experiences. It was TeesFlex DRT, and booking via the app had been simple though having booked my window and expected time, the algorithm suddenly made it 15 mins earlier. Via my advisory text, I knew my bus would be one of the former Ashford Mercs that Stagecoach has scattered over the UK. Arriving on time, I enjoyed the solitude of a trip to Lingdale where, on arriving, a lady was waiting to be chauffeured to her job at Coop in Skelton. Now I’ve got a miner problem – recent trips see me ending up in former mining villages and Lingdale is a bleak moorland ex-mining village though for ironstone rather than coal. I’d only ever passed through and know that bus services there have halved in recent years, and it was a pleasant enough trip in my Merc but on arriving, it was clear that there’s not much to do.

View attachment 156992
TeesFlex in Lingdale

View attachment 156995
Lingdale High Street

View attachment 156993
Arriva Pulsar arriving before terminating and returning to Middlesbrough

Lingdale gets two Arriva services every hour, arriving simultaneously with two Pulsars heading for Middlesbrough either via Redcar or, in my case, via Guisborough. I always associated this route with Mk2 Nationals but now its Pulsars or Streetlites. The 5A headed through Boosbeck and past the large Coatham Coaches depot to Charltons. From here, we ran alongside the impressive Slapewath Viaduct and having descended from the edge of the North York Moors, we were again travelling through lush green countryside before arriving in Guisborough. Whilst it was an urgent toilet stop that necessitated a break rather than continuing to Middlesbrough.

View attachment 156994
Temsa Avenues constitute a good number of the Redcar allocation - they're definitely interesting machines to travel on - seen in Guisborough

I know Guisborough well, being an affluent and bustling market down in the shadow of the Cleveland Hills. It’s a nice place to stop and wander round; I sampled a local café before recommencing my trip. The X93 from Scarborough would take me to Middlesbrough and is one of the few double deck operated routes locally. My steed was one of the last Volvo B9s built that Arriva bought from dealer stock. That partly explained the non-standard seats but not the Sapphire headrests given that this was a former Max branded route as the now superseded interior vinyls proclaimed. Low bridges and 1970s union disputes mean double deckers are historically rare in Teesside. These are really decent machines so it was a pleasant trip as we crested the rise and descended down Ormesby Bank with the industrial vista of Teesside opening up in front of us. There was some unforeseen congestion as we battled through arriving about on time and that was the first half of the day concluded; time for a quick brew before starting the second half and more new experiences.

Part two to come

After a brief sojourn in Middlesbrough, it was time to start my second loop of the Tees Valley, as no one calls it. It was a short hop on the 59 to Stockton on a former Stagecoach Fife e300 now relocated to Teesside. There continues to be tracts of the area that are still depressed but regeneration is in evidence elsewhere and Stockton High Street is in the throes of development. Gone are the Castlegate shopping centre and Swallow Hotel; these soulless 1970s monoliths’ disappearance changes the whole atmosphere though only until new, less foreboding, buildings appear. Opposite this development site was the former Mall nightclub; a former haunt of mine also now demolished. A few doors up is the former United travel office that disappeared in the 1980s, and further up the High Street is the former Arriva travel office, now up for rent.

View attachment 157039
Not an ADL but a short MAN - a rare beast now

I was only in Stockton to experience another recently introduced route. Arriva cuts and some additional funding saw Stagecoach awarded a service 6 from Stockton via Ingleby Barwick and Yarm before heading to Darlington via Teesside Airport. Linking Teesside with the Airport has been tried in the past with this being the fourth iteration in my lifetime (ser 80 then 20 then 12 and now 6). Essentially, the 6 combines a local Darlington service with a Stockton one, and bridged by a run along the A67, representing a return to Darlington for Stagecoach after a 17 year absence. Again, it was an mmc released from the flagship 36. 15 passengers suffered the grind through the Stockton suburbs. We passed via the attractive and affluent town of Yarm, navigating nose to tail traffic. After Egglescliffe, there were four of us making our way to Darlington before we arrived at the airport (no passengers). The route becomes intensely rural before you head via Middleton One Row towards Darlington. I casually glanced at a large house set back from the A67; it’s notorious locally (for those of a certain age) for being the scene of a shocking unsolved murder!

View attachment 157034
Stockton High Street - the hoardings on the left were once the site of 1970s developments

After nearly 90 mins of meandering, we arrived in Darlington. A town I know and love. It’s suffering the same challenges of underinvestment and a declining retail offer but it’s still got fine Victorian architecture. I had a wander round, ghosts around every corner and trying to remember the names of pubs and bars that had now changed. Nostalgia satisfied, I wandered off to return to Stockton but via the direct X67. The X66/67 have interesting origins in being a confection of a formerly half hourly stopper (268) from Darlington – Stockton - Middlesbrough and a deregulation era hourly express linking Darlington and Middlesbrough in just 20 mins (X14). The X66/7 is a mash up - villages like Sadberge were abandoned though revised routes in Darlington and Stockton now see the journey time not much faster than the stopper of old! My final Arriva bus of the day was a rare example of new investment being a short e200mmc new to Jesmond and almost immediately moved to Darlington. To be honest, it really wasn’t very good – the next stop announcements didn’t work and the bus seems underpowered for belting along the A66.

View attachment 157035
Stagecoach back in Darlington - the brutalist building behind is the town hall

View attachment 157037
Darlington is quite attractive (in my opinion)

We arrived into Stockton (again), and my fourth and final new bus experience. The X40 began a few weeks ago. Buses interwork as a circular route from Stockton to Wynyard, returning to Stockton via Billingham (X41). It is funded by BSIP money and is operated by Stagecoach e300s. We had four passengers though one exited in Norton. Two others got off in Wynyard near some very nice detached homes just past a security lodge as we entered the development. As we progressed via Wynyard, we went from these, to executive homes, and then millionaire/footballer homes before exiting via another security lodge as the X41. We then looped past more large houses and then to the massive Amazon fulfilment centre with its own bus station before finally breaking free of Wynyard. We then headed through Wolviston, the X41 reintroducing buses to this pretty village that had inexplicably fallen off the public transport map, and into Billingham where I got off.

Billingham is a town built on chemicals, and even has a bus stop at Oxygen Corner! The ICI works were the main employer and its post war expansion saw Billingham gain additional housing and a new town centre. It feels like a new town, but with a communist feel to it! I had a brief wander round but, in truth, there’s not much to be seen. I should’ve got a more direct bus but was instead tempted by the arrival of a Go North East Streetdeck – the only bus other than my East Cleveland Stagecoach to have next stop announcements. It was the most luxurious bus of the day as we headed back to Middlesbrough in the sunshine.

View attachment 157036
The newly restored Globe Theatre in Stockton - a fine art deco building

View attachment 157038
All feels a bit Soviet in Billingham

So observations…

Bus services are sparser than I recall from my youth. Part of this is undoubtedly a reflection of the decline in the area – in Middlesbrough and East Cleveland, the population is 7% less than 50 years ago. A rationalisation between Arriva’s predecessor and Stagecoach in the mid 1990s saw Teesside was carved up and a peace dividend, and Arriva also undertook a big shake up in the mid 2000s under the Viva Arriva brand. Whilst Stagecoach has trimmed services and is smaller, it does feel that Arriva has regressed more, with further cuts in recent years. Against this backdrop, it’s not a shock that the fleets are also lacking in investment. Stagecoach’s fleet is more balanced in age, with some elderly Darts and e300s though with decent numbers of 2019 e200mmc. Arriva’s hasn’t invested in 10 years, and much of the fleet is 2009-11 vintage in a range of liveries, as local staff muddle through hamstrung by a lack of funds.

In fact, it all feels very stale – no real initiatives to change things except a few ill-conceived new routes to spend BSIP funds. Links from Teesside to the Airport have been attempted three times previously in my lifetime and when it had many more flights. The 6 is a fundamentally stupid idea. The X40/X41 is similarly mental. The driver I spoke to did say he’d had 8 people get on one journey in Wynyard – I was amazed as this is really the most affluent area you can imagine. It’s got the security lodges so turning it into a gated community is simple enough! TeesFlex like most DRT schemes is simply a very expensive taxi service with little ability to aggregate journeys. The technology works but the concept is flawed. How much money is being wasted on these vanity projects?

Another annoyance is the lack of decent information. Bus information in Stockton was out of date. There isn’t a bus office anywhere in Teesside unless Stagecoach now has one elsewhere in Stockton. The Arriva ones in Darlington and Redcar are maddening, especially the latter. It has vinyls with maps, recruitment messages and a sign saying local bus information except it has no public access – it’s a welfare and admin facility. So many places could have either a partially manned or unmanned facility (for First see Weston super Mare, for Stagecoach see Paignton); it seems a missed opportunity to actually provide customer service.

The weather was great and every bus did turn up and run on time or near enough. Places like Saltburn are delightful, and whilst there are some grim spots (40 mins in Lingdale isn't the most exciting), the area has lots to offer and the views from and of the Cleveland Hills are really impressive. I was travelling to lots of familiar spots - places I'd visited on Leyland Nationals and asthmatic Bristol LHs in my youth.
In the current times, Stagecoach is the better main operator, and they are busy expanding their tendrils; I never thought I'd see them in East Cleveland, or return to Darlington but here they are, winning tenders and exploiting the decline of Arriva. They are much as we expect these days - a firm bereft of direction though notably whilst all vehicles had the free wifi logos unceremoniously stripped away, the newish e200mmc also had the DB logos removed. The actual sale can't come soon enough. However, the local authorities and the combined authority don’t seem to have any coherent plan to move the dial and improve bus provision. It’s all a bit sad.

Really good report. Thanks for sharing.

The TVCA seem to have made some unusual use of funding. As you mentioned, the Teesside Airport link has been tried before and failed. It would have been much better to keep the 12 as was, rather than introduce the 6 which has a higher PVR and duplicates commercial services.

The X40/41 seems to be a ridiculous idea. Surely the money would be better spent on restoring a bus to Stillington for example?

The 1/2 seems a waste of money too, my view is that Tees Flex should cover the area. If not, work with Arriva to enhance the existing offering.

Arriva North East is a complete mess now, I would agree that Stagecoach is the better operator. I'm more familiar with the Northumbria side of Arriva North East and that has gone from being a decent operation to complete shambles in a few months with lots of cancelled services. Not sure if the Southern side is the same,

 

[RELL6L]

With the weather getting better and longer days, days out are becoming more enjoyable. Another trip to my native North East gave me chance to experience a few innovations that I’d not tried before. There was a bit of content (and photos) so I’ve split it into two halves; hope you find it of interest and it’s not too self indulgent.

I began in Middlesbrough bus station. Over 40 years after I recall it opening, the building is still impressive. However, council cuts = lack of investment so it looks a bit shabby, the information screens don’t work and there’s no information centre now. Bus services have declined and the site is quieter. Some council types have suggested it is now underutilised and oversized but I still hope redevelopment plans are shelved. My first bus was an expected Arriva Daf Pulsar, tired internally with slightly threadbare seats but otherwise ok. It was getting light as we passed through the post-industrial landscape of South Bank and Dormanstown with a brief glimpse of the Arriva depot. It’s not glamorous but there’s a majesty in the huge structures that dominate this area though many have gone as the former steelworks is redeveloped. Into Redcar, and stopping to wait time at Redcar Clock and one of my pet peeves being Arriva’s local office, of which more later. After then passing the old bus station (and former Arriva office), we headed along the coast with views of Boulby Cliffs, the highest on the east coast, and then into Saltburn. It’s a delightful Victorian seaside resort with a biting onshore breeze! I’ve been on warmer days and I’d thoroughly recommend having a wander from the rail station down the hill to the pier and, if it’s working, getting the cliff railway back up.
View attachment 156987
View attachment 156988
Middlesbrough bus station - showing its age but still a superb facility after over 40 years
View attachment 157033
Middlesbrough deserted

View attachment 156990
Boulby cliffs in the distance

View attachment 156991
Victorian Saltburn seen from the rooftops of Brotton

I warmed myself with a takeaway coffee as I waited for my next bus which was the first of my objectives of the day to tick off. Cleveland Transit once had a Saltburn depot though route swaps eventually saw them cede the territory to allow United to establish a monopoly. That continued through deregulation until 1989 when Transit launched a competitive attack prompting a short frenzied bus war. Hostilities soon stopped, the monopoly restored. So it stayed until recently when Stagecoach Transit secured a two vehicle tender comprising a massive circular to Loftus and Easington via either Skinningrove or Lingdale. I boarded only to be told my Explorer North East wasn’t valid and only £2 fares were allowed. I realised the driver was probably confused about Dayriders and so, in a friendly but firm manner, explained that it was valid and why. He relented and off we went to Brotton. The bus was a 2019 e200mmc (Irn Bru seats) of a batch delivered for the 36 Middlesbrough to Hartlepool route. I guess some reductions has rendered them free for tendered stuff like this and it was a super climb up into the Cleveland Hills into some quite verdant gullies where spring was very much in evidence. Our service 1 heads through parts of Skelton, a small town and then skirts the large village of Brotton. This is a large village that is crossed by the rail line to Boulby potash mine with the bridges necessitating the single deckers that are used in East Cleveland. Despite our slight dispute earlier, the driver offered to drop me off more conveniently; friends again, I thanked him.

The next bus was the second on my tick list of new experiences. It was TeesFlex DRT, and booking via the app had been simple though having booked my window and expected time, the algorithm suddenly made it 15 mins earlier. Via my advisory text, I knew my bus would be one of the former Ashford Mercs that Stagecoach has scattered over the UK. Arriving on time, I enjoyed the solitude of a trip to Lingdale where, on arriving, a lady was waiting to be chauffeured to her job at Coop in Skelton. Now I’ve got a miner problem – recent trips see me ending up in former mining villages and Lingdale is a bleak moorland ex-mining village though for ironstone rather than coal. I’d only ever passed through and know that bus services there have halved in recent years, and it was a pleasant enough trip in my Merc but on arriving, it was clear that there’s not much to do.

View attachment 156992
TeesFlex in Lingdale

View attachment 156995
Lingdale High Street

View attachment 156993
Arriva Pulsar arriving before terminating and returning to Middlesbrough

Lingdale gets two Arriva services every hour, arriving simultaneously with two Pulsars heading for Middlesbrough either via Redcar or, in my case, via Guisborough. I always associated this route with Mk2 Nationals but now its Pulsars or Streetlites. The 5A headed through Boosbeck and past the large Coatham Coaches depot to Charltons. From here, we ran alongside the impressive Slapewath Viaduct and having descended from the edge of the North York Moors, we were again travelling through lush green countryside before arriving in Guisborough. Whilst it was an urgent toilet stop that necessitated a break rather than continuing to Middlesbrough.

View attachment 156994
Temsa Avenues constitute a good number of the Redcar allocation - they're definitely interesting machines to travel on - seen in Guisborough

I know Guisborough well, being an affluent and bustling market down in the shadow of the Cleveland Hills. It’s a nice place to stop and wander round; I sampled a local café before recommencing my trip. The X93 from Scarborough would take me to Middlesbrough and is one of the few double deck operated routes locally. My steed was one of the last Volvo B9s built that Arriva bought from dealer stock. That partly explained the non-standard seats but not the Sapphire headrests given that this was a former Max branded route as the now superseded interior vinyls proclaimed. Low bridges and 1970s union disputes mean double deckers are historically rare in Teesside. These are really decent machines so it was a pleasant trip as we crested the rise and descended down Ormesby Bank with the industrial vista of Teesside opening up in front of us. There was some unforeseen congestion as we battled through arriving about on time and that was the first half of the day concluded; time for a quick brew before starting the second half and more new experiences.

Part two to come

After a brief sojourn in Middlesbrough, it was time to start my second loop of the Tees Valley, as no one calls it. It was a short hop on the 59 to Stockton on a former Stagecoach Fife e300 now relocated to Teesside. There continues to be tracts of the area that are still depressed but regeneration is in evidence elsewhere and Stockton High Street is in the throes of development. Gone are the Castlegate shopping centre and Swallow Hotel; these soulless 1970s monoliths’ disappearance changes the whole atmosphere though only until new, less foreboding, buildings appear. Opposite this development site was the former Mall nightclub; a former haunt of mine also now demolished. A few doors up is the former United travel office that disappeared in the 1980s, and further up the High Street is the former Arriva travel office, now up for rent.

View attachment 157039
Not an ADL but a short MAN - a rare beast now

I was only in Stockton to experience another recently introduced route. Arriva cuts and some additional funding saw Stagecoach awarded a service 6 from Stockton via Ingleby Barwick and Yarm before heading to Darlington via Teesside Airport. Linking Teesside with the Airport has been tried in the past with this being the fourth iteration in my lifetime (ser 80 then 20 then 12 and now 6). Essentially, the 6 combines a local Darlington service with a Stockton one, and bridged by a run along the A67, representing a return to Darlington for Stagecoach after a 17 year absence. Again, it was an mmc released from the flagship 36. 15 passengers suffered the grind through the Stockton suburbs. We passed via the attractive and affluent town of Yarm, navigating nose to tail traffic. After Egglescliffe, there were four of us making our way to Darlington before we arrived at the airport (no passengers). The route becomes intensely rural before you head via Middleton One Row towards Darlington. I casually glanced at a large house set back from the A67; it’s notorious locally (for those of a certain age) for being the scene of a shocking unsolved murder!

View attachment 157034
Stockton High Street - the hoardings on the left were once the site of 1970s developments

After nearly 90 mins of meandering, we arrived in Darlington. A town I know and love. It’s suffering the same challenges of underinvestment and a declining retail offer but it’s still got fine Victorian architecture. I had a wander round, ghosts around every corner and trying to remember the names of pubs and bars that had now changed. Nostalgia satisfied, I wandered off to return to Stockton but via the direct X67. The X66/67 have interesting origins in being a confection of a formerly half hourly stopper (268) from Darlington – Stockton - Middlesbrough and a deregulation era hourly express linking Darlington and Middlesbrough in just 20 mins (X14). The X66/7 is a mash up - villages like Sadberge were abandoned though revised routes in Darlington and Stockton now see the journey time not much faster than the stopper of old! My final Arriva bus of the day was a rare example of new investment being a short e200mmc new to Jesmond and almost immediately moved to Darlington. To be honest, it really wasn’t very good – the next stop announcements didn’t work and the bus seems underpowered for belting along the A66.

View attachment 157035
Stagecoach back in Darlington - the brutalist building behind is the town hall

View attachment 157037
Darlington is quite attractive (in my opinion)

We arrived into Stockton (again), and my fourth and final new bus experience. The X40 began a few weeks ago. Buses interwork as a circular route from Stockton to Wynyard, returning to Stockton via Billingham (X41). It is funded by BSIP money and is operated by Stagecoach e300s. We had four passengers though one exited in Norton. Two others got off in Wynyard near some very nice detached homes just past a security lodge as we entered the development. As we progressed via Wynyard, we went from these, to executive homes, and then millionaire/footballer homes before exiting via another security lodge as the X41. We then looped past more large houses and then to the massive Amazon fulfilment centre with its own bus station before finally breaking free of Wynyard. We then headed through Wolviston, the X41 reintroducing buses to this pretty village that had inexplicably fallen off the public transport map, and into Billingham where I got off.

Billingham is a town built on chemicals, and even has a bus stop at Oxygen Corner! The ICI works were the main employer and its post war expansion saw Billingham gain additional housing and a new town centre. It feels like a new town, but with a communist feel to it! I had a brief wander round but, in truth, there’s not much to be seen. I should’ve got a more direct bus but was instead tempted by the arrival of a Go North East Streetdeck – the only bus other than my East Cleveland Stagecoach to have next stop announcements. It was the most luxurious bus of the day as we headed back to Middlesbrough in the sunshine.

View attachment 157036
The newly restored Globe Theatre in Stockton - a fine art deco building

View attachment 157038
All feels a bit Soviet in Billingham

So observations…

Bus services are sparser than I recall from my youth. Part of this is undoubtedly a reflection of the decline in the area – in Middlesbrough and East Cleveland, the population is 7% less than 50 years ago. A rationalisation between Arriva’s predecessor and Stagecoach in the mid 1990s saw Teesside was carved up and a peace dividend, and Arriva also undertook a big shake up in the mid 2000s under the Viva Arriva brand. Whilst Stagecoach has trimmed services and is smaller, it does feel that Arriva has regressed more, with further cuts in recent years. Against this backdrop, it’s not a shock that the fleets are also lacking in investment. Stagecoach’s fleet is more balanced in age, with some elderly Darts and e300s though with decent numbers of 2019 e200mmc. Arriva’s hasn’t invested in 10 years, and much of the fleet is 2009-11 vintage in a range of liveries, as local staff muddle through hamstrung by a lack of funds.

In fact, it all feels very stale – no real initiatives to change things except a few ill-conceived new routes to spend BSIP funds. Links from Teesside to the Airport have been attempted three times previously in my lifetime and when it had many more flights. The 6 is a fundamentally stupid idea. The X40/X41 is similarly mental. The driver I spoke to did say he’d had 8 people get on one journey in Wynyard – I was amazed as this is really the most affluent area you can imagine. It’s got the security lodges so turning it into a gated community is simple enough! TeesFlex like most DRT schemes is simply a very expensive taxi service with little ability to aggregate journeys. The technology works but the concept is flawed. How much money is being wasted on these vanity projects?

Another annoyance is the lack of decent information. Bus information in Stockton was out of date. There isn’t a bus office anywhere in Teesside unless Stagecoach now has one elsewhere in Stockton. The Arriva ones in Darlington and Redcar are maddening, especially the latter. It has vinyls with maps, recruitment messages and a sign saying local bus information except it has no public access – it’s a welfare and admin facility. So many places could have either a partially manned or unmanned facility (for First see Weston super Mare, for Stagecoach see Paignton); it seems a missed opportunity to actually provide customer service.

The weather was great and every bus did turn up and run on time or near enough. Places like Saltburn are delightful, and whilst there are some grim spots (40 mins in Lingdale isn't the most exciting), the area has lots to offer and the views from and of the Cleveland Hills are really impressive. I was travelling to lots of familiar spots - places I'd visited on Leyland Nationals and asthmatic Bristol LHs in my youth.
In the current times, Stagecoach is the better main operator, and they are busy expanding their tendrils; I never thought I'd see them in East Cleveland, or return to Darlington but here they are, winning tenders and exploiting the decline of Arriva. They are much as we expect these days - a firm bereft of direction though notably whilst all vehicles had the free wifi logos unceremoniously stripped away, the newish e200mmc also had the DB logos removed. The actual sale can't come soon enough. However, the local authorities and the combined authority don’t seem to have any coherent plan to move the dial and improve bus provision. It’s all a bit sad.

Very interesting report, thank you.

The area east of Middlesbrough is not one I know that well and you've found some places I've definitely not visited - like more mining villages! I've been Middlesbrough > Redcar > Saltburn > Staithes > Whitby and return via Guisborough. Redcar is, as you say, not glamorous but Saltburn is a real gem. A lovely Victorian town, maybe a little bit faded glory but still clearly popular and well-presented. Staithes is further on the X4 coastal route towards Whitby and, although a bit further from the bus route to the village centre, well worth stopping off at - allow an hour for each really. I'd like to stop off in Loftus though, I've not had time to fit that in. I've noted the Stagecoach 1 and 2 circling round the area and wondered what the point is of these services apart from giving more options for trips in the area. Lingdale looks worth not spending long at but is on the radar for exploring the area, the Cleveland Hills away from the coast seem worth a look. Guisborough is a much more middle class town and a pleasant stopover and provides access to the X93. Not been on a Temsa Avenue, would like to before they go - at the current rate of investment by Arriva I've plenty of time yet...

Onto the second half and some weird and wonderful new routes. I guess the 6 arose from the withdrawal of various other routes but a total provision of four large E200s seems excessive. Agreed that there ought to be something to Yarm via Ingeleby Barwick but can't something be done working together the 7 and 15? Agreed that Teesside Airport ought to have some public transport links but this roundabout route is so slow that surely no-one will use it. Agreed that Middleton St George and Middleton One Row ought to have something, not sure this is the answer. And a circular route hourly each way to Hurworth is surely over the top. Did you carry many passengers on the unique sections of the 6?

I agree with you on Darlington, I really like the town centre. My 2021 trip started here and went over to Stockton and Middlesbrough and back on the X66/X67, my vehicles were a Scania and a Pulsar, much more suitable for main road running than an E200 I would suggest, especially the Scania - very fast. The X40/X41 looks another rather daft idea. Sure there is no other service to these parts, but it doesn't seem to add anything to coverage of Billingham and Woolviston and Wynyard just are not going to be good bus territory. I wonder if there is a s106 contribution in the mix here too as there are a lot of new houses. Google Maps at The Stables in 2023 shows bus stops but I can't tell whether there were actually any buses serving them. I accept that a one-day-a-week shopping service isn't going to attract any new passengers from somewhere like this but two all-day buses providing two buses an hour seems excessive again. I went through Billingham between Stockton and Hartlepool last year but didn't find the need to stop off but missed out on the statue you found. I don't mind Stockton either, decent wide High Street and an attractive footbridge over the river leading directly from the shopping centre. In a past life I remember staying at the Swallow Hotel, but we were advised not to go out after dark!

I'm all in favour of trying things and if they don't work - well so be it. But some of the BSIP projects seem a curious use of resources when there are clearly gaps elsewhere. More for us to explore. I am frustrated as I haven't been out since January, still waiting for my sort of weather day to coincide with a day I can head out. I concur on the relative merits of the local operators, Stagecoach are still better presented, more modern, more efficient and more innovative, while Arriva desperately needs new investment and seems to cut to meet what it can provide rather than what would be commercially justified. Good to see everything operated for you though, improvements here but some areas are still struggling.

 

[JGurney]

I've noted the Stagecoach 1 and 2 circling round the area and wondered what the point is of these services apart from giving more options for trips in the area.

That is it, really. From the Loftus residents' point of view they give direct access to the new shopping centre on the Skelton by-pass, not conveniently served by Arriva 5, they give access to Skinningrove and they give access to Liverton, Moorsholm and for walkers to the edge of the Moors. When staying with family in Loftus I have used the routes several times to get to either the Freeborough crossroads or the end of Liverton Road on the Moors Road, then walked ending up at the Jolly Sailors where I can get a glass while waiting for the bus back again.

A drawack of TeesFlex, in addition to the usual problems with DRT, is that it has one stopping point in each village and does not do journeys to isolated houses or clusters of them which are not near any villages. Having one stoping place per village means that in villages sprawling along a road for a mile or so it is inconvenient for those not near the stop while a conventional bus will often have stops which are nearer. Similarly the 1/2 is more use than TeeFlex for those who live at, or want to go to, points along or near the 1/2 route but not near a TeesFlex stop. E.g. I can use the 1/2 to go from the Jolly Sailor pub on the Moors Road to Loftus, but to use TeesFlex would have to walk into the centre of Moorsholm first to be picked up.

Intending users of Teesflex also soon started to get very long wait times or just a 'no service available' message. They have no restrictions preventing bookings for journeys which duplicate conventional bus routes. I think once they were discovered locally they were frequently booked by people who just fancied a private minbus for trips like Loftus to Saltburn in preference to the half-hourly X4, leaving them unavailable for the journeys not covered by normal routes.

Cleveland Transit once had a Saltburn depot though route swaps eventually saw them cede the territory to allow United to establish a monopoly. That continued through deregulation until 1989 when Transit launched a competitive attack prompting a short frenzied bus war. Hostilities soon stopped, the monopoly restored. So it stayed until recently when Stagecoach Transit secured a two vehicle tender comprising a massive circular to Loftus and Easington via either Skinningrove or Lingdale.

When I first knew the area in the early 90's, Transit still ran an infrequent service between Middlesbrough and Saltburn via Guisborough, but it was gone in a few years, replaced for a while by an Arriva service, which I recall diverted to run along Upleatham main street on one journey each way on Guisborough market days.
More recently, there was another operator in Saltburn in a small way, when Cotham Coaches route 18 ran a twice-daily Mon-Fri service to Stokesley after Arriva withdrew the 81 between Stokesley and Guisborough. The 18 was later cut down to just a Stokesley to Guisborough service, leaving Upleatham to the vagaries of TeesFlex.