On Trains & Buses

Last week’s Macclesfield Express carried a front-page headline about the potential closure of the passenger enquiries office in Macclesfield Bus Station and the effect it might have on the more vulnerable in our society, particularly the visually impaired who cannot use the usual timetable displays. That is not all because they are looking at whether to keep the station’s public conveniences too. After the announcement of North Yorkshire County Council’s draconian plans, this sadly doesn’t come as a surprise. All that can be done is to hope that it stops at this though I do have my doubts. It looks as if the next few months will tell a story and we’ll have to wait to see what that is. If there’s more, we can expect to hear some unyielding statements from councillors from the governing party and very different opinions from the rest. Times look set to get interesting and some opposition can be expected too, by the looks of things. Whether or not it has any effect is another matter but disagreements over how to handle the situation have already cost one council cabinet member their job.

It was about this time two years ago that I finally decided to move public transport musings from my outdoors blog to a dedicated site on the web and that’s exactly what this is. Since then, some things have changed and some haven’t. One of the former has been our economic fortunes and what that has done to the public finances. Now, after a change of government, bus and rail travel is facing more uncertain times. It is for that reason that organisations such as the Campaign for Better Transport will come into their own and I am certain that any developments will give me something to say too. Nevertheless, it is always heartening to learn that others care about bus and train services as much as you do so that’s why I have been collecting a list of fellow bloggers on the sidebar. We’ll be living in interesting times after the previous Labour government’s largely more benevolent attitude to public transport (barring a sarcastic response at PMQ’s from Gordon Brown, of course; maybe that Birmingham bus issue was better raised with the relevant local authority instead…). Misimpressions regarding such matters as vehicle taxation or that there ever has been a war on motorists will need challenging and it might be up to those of us who need to confront such ideas to stand up and be counted. Whatever comes, we’ll see what happens.

From next April, North Yorkshire County Council, is planning to axe funding for all Sunday and evening bus services. A consultation is currently in progress that completes at the end of October (I’m just after discovering this on the Dalebus website; yes, I’m late to the party…). Apparently, they are trying to protect the weekday services but it seems excessive to ask if this is a good way to help save £600,000. After all, that hardly is a princely sum, is it?

The now defunct Cheshire County Council tried a similar thing with evening bus services during the 2001-2005 council and the response from the public was such that they largely abandoned their plans. That makes me wonder what those in North Yorkshire have been doing about this and whether those cuts are going to happen in their proposed form. Of course, the parlous state of the public finances are in play now, unlike the early noughties.

Apparently, the council does wish to protect their Monday to Friday daytime network but there is one factor that acts as an exposed flank: most people are at work when those services run. That particularly is the case in a largely urban area but North Yorkshire is very rural and then there’s the age profile of the population. A visit to Skipton a while ago on market day has had me wondering at how many older folk were going around with the aid of walking sticks. This has a part to play too and no one wants to isolate the vulnerable from essential services such as doctors and hospitals. Still, I am left wondering about those late evening appointments and how some would get home from them; would they be able to afford a taxi? Then, there are those who might need to get to and from work in the off time too. What are they going to do if these cuts become reality?

One thing always troubles evening, Sunday and bank holiday services and is the reason why they attract council subsidy: patronage or, rather, the lack of it. Some clearly have no advocates but it will be interesting to see how much agitation the Dalesbus group can muster. Maybe, when the Yorkshire Dales and Moors fill up with cars like other national parks, sense might prevail but only time will tell on that one. For now, it’s over to us users to defend what’s already there and maybe even combine to address any losses.

As for me, I am not sure what it means for those recreational visits to Yorkshire’s countryside. They only ever were recreational and any reduction in travel services is likely to curtail them more. It might be that I have had my fun and will need to cut my cloth according to my measure from now on. With that in mind, I am thankful for the enjoyable explorations that I have done.

A sunny morning was enough to send ideas of improving on my Buxton photo collection into my head and me off on a spot of local travelling. The pondering carried on and designs on traveling to Bakewell came on steam too. They were strong enough to get me picking up a £10 Wayfarer ticket from Macclesfield’s train station before hailing a very full service 58 to Buxton. Much to my surprise, most stayed on it until Buxton itself because I might have expected most to disembark on the way up Buxton Road before leaving Macclesfield.

The day was largely grey by the time that I reached Buxton so no Buxton photos for me then. Inspection of bus timetables sent the idea of going to Ashbourne into my head. After all, it is a part of Derbyshire where I hadn’t gone before and a cloudy day is a chance to see somewhere new. A lack of sun and a chilly breeze were enough to send me onto the next service 42 (like the 58, also operated by Bowers). Along the way, the day cheered up again and I was surprised to see it leaving the A515 for a narrow lane but this was the deviation that serves the pretty place that is Tissington village. That was the only time that it left the A515 until Ashbourne was reached with the terminus being a collection of stances that passes as a bus station.

After spending an hour around a sunny Ashbourne and sampling a little piece of the Tissington Trail, it was onto the last stage of the journey: the 108 from Ashbourne to Macclesfield operated by Clowes with the support of councils in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire. That service left with just two passengers on board but more were to join in Leek and near Bosley so it didn’t stay that empty all of the way. The route stuck with the A52 for longer than might be expected and there were some strange twists and turns before it passed Cauldon to join the A523 at Waterhouses. From there, it was all direct through to Leek and Macclesfield though it started to feel before Leek came into view.

All the buses on which I travelled were well used though none was as full as the Optare Solo that took me away from Macclesfield in the first place. That was the one conveying young families along with the now habitual contingent of bus pass holders and others like myself. In fact, all services were used by both young and old alike with the 42 dropping off some Indians in Tissington.

With its YJ05 registration, the Optare was the newest bus that I used and the age profile of the others was such that they dated from the mid/late 1990’s. Both were Mercedes midibuses that once were common around Macclesfield with a P-reg one operating the 42 and an M-reg one working the 108. Ride on all of these, even the older ones, was better than on some recent journeys between Wilmslow and Macclesfield on Arriva’s 130. In fact, the Clowes bus still retains its welcome sign and seat upholstery from its time in Arriva hands.

All buses operated pretty much to time and the timetables made it all work even when things were being worked out on the hoof rather than being planned beforehand. Now that I have seen how to get to Ashbourne, exploring the countryside surrounding the town is more of a possibility. Who knows what might come of that?

Homeward journeys on the 130 from Wilmslow to Macclesfield have seen me experience jarring rides along the way. That the buses were running late because of heavy traffic would be the best explanation for their being driven in a hurry. After all, these were the penultimate services operated by Arriva but the commercial service offering calls it a day ahead of the council-supported ones that Bakerbus of Biddulph provide; they are far more sedate in comparison to the experiences being related here and recent late departure from the office had me on one, the first time that I had ridden in a Bakerbus since they lost the Macclesfield-Knutsford contract to Bowers (part of Centrebus nowadays). A driver with his mind focused on finishing his shift can have his foot on the loud pedal for much of the time.

Add rough roads and you come away with the feeling that you are being carried in a bone shaker. In fact, that’s how it felt on the 18:46 from Wilmslow on Friday when it was running 10 minutes late. Every imperfection in the A34 around Alderley Edge gave us all a good rattling. While it might be better to have smoother roads, the current public spending environment probably makes that a forlorn hope. The same constraint probably means that the aging Dennis Darts that ply the route of the 130 will remain with us for a while yet and I cannot see Arriva making them ride better though complaining might make them aware of the problem.

Even with tarmac, roads always had their rough patches and riding a bike is as good a way as any to test the quality of a road surface. Every excavation by a utility company leaves behind a bumpy patch no matter how much they protest that they’re doing their best with resurfacing. Add repeated uprootings and a council will need to look at the situation though we’ll need to wait a good while for good kind of attention at the moment.

Until the A34 around Alderley Edge gets resurfaced and we get buses which ride better, drivers might do well to realise that rattling their passengers on the way home is not good for business. Keeping other road users such as cyclists in mind too would be a good thing as an incident on Thursday evening where a cyclist got cut up at one of Wilmslow’s roundabouts. No harm was done apart from having a irate gentleman thumping the side of the bus and shouting. The bus driver simply carried on and I wonder what impression of the bus industry was being given there. Distracted rushing can do harm…