(03 Jun 2017, 9:14 am)beefcake wrote https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and...ce-changes

Stagecoach wanting feedback for proposed service changes in Hartlepool/Teesside areas

Some interesting looking changes being proposed here. There seems to be a theme of chopping some of the stronger, frequent, services whilst the weaker stuff tends to stay almost untouched!

Acklam Road sees a large cut in services, with 2 11s, 6 12s and 3 14s becoming just 5 12s and 2 14s. It will be interesting to see whether Arriva gain with their 17/17A although I still think the door is open for someone to offer an alternative to the 11. The 10 being increased doesn't seem to make sense when the 11 is far busier. On the plus side it'll allow them to put a bus 10 mins either side of the Arriva competitive services 28/28A.

The Billingham side of the changes mostly seem to make sense, with Low Grange getting a 7 min service with combined 34/34A and 52 services, apart from the fact that half of the 34s will go the opposite way around the loop? Increasing the service to Middlesbrough is a good move though, with this becoming the destination of choice for both work and leisure in the Teesside area.

The 35 being removed from High Grange will presumably save enough time to allow it to become a self contained operation once more. Sending it the opposite way around Wolviston Court makes no sense though, as that'll take longer than it currently does anyway. I'm not sure what this is meant to achieve. Possibly one thrown in to allow a "we changed this based on feedback" maybe?

Increasing the 58 to every 10 minutes is an interesting move. It's not massively busy and I think it'll struggle to justify the extra bus being added to the resource cost to allow this. The main issue with the 58 is, and always has been, reliability caused by the tight timings. When I drove for them, the 58 was interworked with the 52 which allowed any time lost on the 58 to be gained back on the 52. Since they became self contained they've just got worse and worse.

All in all seems an odd set of changes as I'm not sure they'll be saving that much on resources at Stockton in the end.

Not sure I can comment too much on the Hartlepool operation as I don't know enough about it. What I would say is how much more can they cut before it no longer becomes worth running?