(30 May 2014, 2:00 pm)eezypeazy wrote I’d guess that in many parts of Yorkshire they have either more frequent trains, more frequent buses, or both.
I think the success of interchanges comes down to frequency of service. In my opinion, you need either a train service of every 20 minutes or better, OR a bus service of every 20 minutes or better, for interchange to work – otherwise, the chances of buses meeting trains becomes too remote. So Hexham, for instance, with two trains an hour towards Newcastle, hasn’t got a high enough train service for interchange to work well, and has only two buses an hour (one each on 687 and 688, plus peak time 683s). If there were three trains an hour towards Newcastle, you’d have more chance of a bus connection working; equally, if the trains remained the same and the buses were every 20 minutes, it might work, too. What you can’t do, though, is have buses ‘laying over’ at railway stations, because the bus would have to arrive about seven minutes before the train was due to depart and depart about three minutes after the train arrived – those ten minutes (which would more likely have to be 12 if the train was late) would make the bus operation (especially in a small town) too expensive.
Resolving the problem, then, becomes one of ‘step change’ – the step required to make a change is huge. To use Hexham as an example, to really make a difference you’d need a train every 20 minutes, probably using electric stock to get better acceleration and shorter journey times to compete with the car; but the investment required to make this step change is enormous; but without it, bus/train interchange is unlikely to be attractive.
For me, an elegant solution is to extend the 25Kv electrification to our regional railways, with fast, frequent trains linking Hexham, Morpeth, Ashington, Sunderland and Durham (and beyond – Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Darlington and Carlisle too!). I’m sure we could have lots of fun on here working out viable service patterns. But with three tph at Hexham, Ashington and Morpeth (for example), interchange there would become a no-brainer.
And if people still insisted on driving into the city centres – slap them with a congestion charge!
It is a vicious circle in the current fragmented market.
A toc or Network Rail won't invest in an interchange facility, without a decent bus network.
Similarly, a bus operator is not going to dedicate buses to a railway station that fails to provide them with adequate custom/revenue.
Because passenger numbers on the train aren't high enough to encourage a more frequent service, they continue as things stand.
Because the train passenger numbers won't increase, the bus operators don't add an extra vehicle or two into the pvr.
If you look at the Leeds area as an example, the two systems work well, because of the partnership work with the PTE and operators of the current bus network down there.
I would argue the system in place in Gateshead, Four Lane Ends and Heworth is just as impressive, but only exists as a legacy of the PTE and introduction of the Metro. Even following the 1986 changes and buses continuing into Newcastle, the framework was in place, which continued to give customers a choice.
Given the future of rail travel in the south and Go ahead having a foothold into more or less every terminus in London and the major towns/cities on the lines leading out of London - including a number that already see Go ahead bus services, I wonder if we see a greater integration of rail and bus in those places?
'Illegitimis non carborundum'
