On Trains & Buses

Last month, Arriva announced the planned closure of its Oswestry, Winsford and Macclesfield depots. The first of these does not have as much of an impact as the others, the news of which has been featured on the BBC, in the Macclesfield Express and in Buses magazine.

The closure of the Oswestry depot will mean that many services will be based in Shrewsbury instead, with some being transferred to one or more other operators. The latter the following:

• 449 Oswestry - Welshampton

• 54 Oswestry - Cefn Y Blodwel

• 71 Oswestry - Four Crosses

• 79a Oswestry - Porth-Y-Waen

• 405 Oswestry - Windsor Road

There is talk of handing over school services and the reduction in patronage of 46% is blamed. Contacts with Shrewsbury County Council apparently proved fruitless, possibly because public spending is heavily constrained at the moment.

The impact of the Cheshire closures is more serious since any services that Arriva currently operate will need replacement. Again, the cause apparently is a reduction in patronage and public spending constraints necessarily limit local councils’ ability to provide additional financial support. The affected services include the following:

• 1 Northwich Circular via Rudheath and Weaverham

• 3 Macclesfield - Weston

• 4 Barnton to Leftwich and Kingsmead via Northwich

• 4 Macclesfield - Upton Priory

• 5 & 6 Macclesfield - Broken Cross

• 6 Leighton Hospital - Shavington

• 7 Winsford Local Circular

• 9 Macclesfield - Moss Rose

• 10 Macclesfield - Bollington

• 31 Northwich - Winsford - Crewe

• 37 Northwich - Winsford - Sandbach - Crewe

• 38 Crewe - Macclesfield

• 84 Crewe - Nantwich/Chester

D&G Bus has registered replacement services for routes 1, 10, 31 and 37 as well as changing their own routes 12 and 38 in response. They have a place on their website for collating information on what they plan to do and warn that things may change as the whole changeover progresses. The company also mentions service 84 in its plans, but Cheshire East Council has included details of a Stagecoach registration for service 84. This will be a Monday to Saturday 84 service that is hourly between Crewe and Chester and half-hourly between Crewe and Nantwich, with last buses leaving for the day at around 19:00 or 19:30.

Cheshire East Council also provides these further details of affected bus routes in their area:

Quite how much of these gets replaced remains to be seen, but councils have to remain somewhat aloof from the efforts of commercial operators even if it becomes a messy process until things settle down afterwards. The planned withdrawal of Arriva from Cheshire East and from much of Cheshire West and Chester council areas is set to happen on 2023-04-23, with the previous day seeing the end of their operations. That means there is time yet for more things to be set in place and there is a petition against the closures that may or may not have an effect. My expectation is that the exits will happen, but this story will run for a while yet.

Update on 2023-03-30

First Potteries has registered a new service 6 between Crewe and Leighton via Bradfield Road, so all the Arriva services around Crewe appear to be getting coverage, even if evening service details have yet to come. What also remains outstanding are nay details of replacements for Macclesfield town services 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Uncertainty remains, so there could be more confusion before everything becomes clear.

Update on 2023-04-02

High Peak will be introducing service 14A to cover for the soon-to-be withdrawn service 9 between Macclesfield Bus Station and Moss Rose. Two hourly extensions to Langley will be offered on service 14, which will follow the same route as 14A for the shared portion, ensuring that a half-hourly frequency will remain available.

Also, D&G Bus is changing its service 19 to go via Upton Priory to replace the soon-to-be withdrawn service 4. Since service 19 will operate mainly with a two-hourly frequency, service 19A is to be offered between Macclesfield Bus Station and Upton Priory to ensure that an hourly service level will remain.

All of these will be Monday to Saturday services only, and it remains to be seen what will happen to those routes that serve Weston or what becomes of any Sunday or subsidised evening services. However, there will be a D&G Bus service X31 running between Winsford (including its estates) and Northwich on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Update on 2023-04-12

Evening journeys get Cheshire East Council financial support on services 37 and 38. Those on the former only go between Sandbach and Winsford while those on the latter cover the entire route.

There will be Sunday daytime journeys on route 84 with some extra evening Monday to Saturday services as well, following financial support from both Cheshire East Council and Cheshire West & Chester council. Everyone gets free travel on the first week that Stagecoach operates the service, too.

There is nothing on Macclesfield Weston service yet, but there is a tantalising slot reserved for service 3 in Macclesfield bus station in the new allocation, so anything could happen yet. That bus station allocation shows several empty bays, a startling reminder of how the bus network has declined over the last decade or so.

Update on 2023-04-17

D&G Bus will take over service three between Macclesfield bus station and Weston as well, so that bus station stance allocation was a hint of things to come. Otherwise, service 12 between Leighton Hospital, Crewe and Shavington gains council-contracted Monday to Friday evening journeys while service one gains an extra early evening journey between Northwich and Weaverham following from council financial support. Since the changeover is just a week away, one has to wonder is the new network is fully announced by now. If anything more does come up, it will get added here.

Update on 2023-04-24

There is just one last minute development to add: D&G Bus have added a service 84X between Crewe and Nantwich. Details on the Cheshire East Council website are a little confused, but this runs up to hourly on Sundays and half-hourly on other days of the week. It will operate free of charge until 2023-04-29, and I am left wondering if we now have competition between different bus operators. Is D&G trying to keep Stagecoach out of its area? Only time will answer that question.

To facilitate replacement of Railway Structure, Buxton Road, Whaley Bridge at Railway Bridge between junction with Forge Road and Whaley Bridge Uniting Church will be closed from 2023-01-16 until the end of March. This means that High Peak are making some changes to any bus services that pass through the area and routes 60, 61, 190 and 199 are affected.

Service 60 will operate in two halves. The first operates on a two-hourly basis between Macclesfield and Chapel-en-le-Frith, the latter being an extension from Horwich End for connection with services 61 and 199 for passengers going north of the closure. One afternoon run extends to Dove Holes for Chapel High School pupils to cover for route 199 while most journeys run via Shallcross to cover for route 190. The second half of the route operates between Hayfield and Whaley Bridge with an hourly frequency as albeit to a slightly revised timetable with all buses doing the full Stoneheads loop to turn around.

Service 61 continues to operate as through service with a reduced frequency. This is reduced to every ninety mins from Monday to Saturday and becomes more irregular on Sundays due to the length of the diversion via Chapel-en-le-Frith. Most workings serve Whaley Bridge village centre, turning via a half loop of Stoneheads (Jodrell Road and Hockerley Lane only). Buses then join A6 via Sheffield Road instead of Hayfield Road to avoid a tight left turn. Sunday service on route 61 also ends after January due to low passenger patronage.

Service 190 operates to a normal timetable, but journeys will terminate at Stoneheads like service 61 and will not serve Shallcross. Shallcross Residents can use the revised 60 service.

The timetable for service 199 is unchanged, but buses do not serve Cockyard, Tunstead Milton, Horwich End or the main part of Chapel-en-le-Frith or Whaley Bridge. Buses from Buxton will operate as normal to Market Street, but instead of continuing on Market Street to Cockyard, it will turn right into Hayfield Road at Town End, head north on Hayfield Road, turn right onto A624, then rejoin A6 at Aldi roundabout to rejoin normal line of route at Bridgemont. Buses from Manchester operate in the reverse direction. In Chapel-en-le-Frith, the Old Pack Horse (on Market St), Town Hall, Kings Arms, New Inn and Eccles Fold stops are not served for the duration of the closure and passengers need to walk down to the Town End stop on Hayfield Road (opposite Fosters Fine Food & Flowers) or Burrfields Road stop for travel towards Manchester, or Town End stop on Hayfield Road East (opposite the back of the Old Pack Horse) for travel to Buxton. For Chapel-en-le-Frith High School, there is one morning trip departing Buxton Market Place at 07:40 and will arrive at Chapel High School for 08:08am, where the bus turns around in the grounds and return to A6 using Sheffield Road. In Bridgemont, buses only serve the Crescent Drive stops on the A6.

There are a lot of changes to bus services around Merseyside in January. Here are the details.

Routes 3 and 3A Huyton - Halewood or John Lennon Airport

Times are changed throughout.

Route 7 Liverpool - Huyton or Warrington

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Route 10B and 10S Liverpool - Huyton or Prescot

Two morning journeys in each direction previously on route 10B now operate as route 10S between Liverpool and Prescot, missing out Huyton. All other journeys are unchanged.

Routes 12 and 13 Liverpool - Stockbridge Village circulars

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Routes 14, 14A, 14B, 14C and 14X Liverpool - Croxteth or Kirkby

Timing changes to Arriva and Stagecoach Monday to Friday morning journeys.

Route 15 Liverpool - Huyton

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Route 17 Chain Lane - St Helens - Sutton Manor - Widnes

The Arriva service route is shortened and now runs between Chain Lane and Widnes Green Oaks, no longer serving Vicarage Road. The service is also re-routed around Laffak, now turning left from Bosworth Street onto Chain Lane, omitting Old Nook Lane and Paisley Avenue. Monday to Saturday times are changed throughout. The Merseytravel service, operated by HTL, is also re-routed now turning left from Bosworth Street onto Chain Lane, omitting Old Nook Lane and Paisley Avenue. In Widnes the service is re-routed along Lockett Road, in line with the daytime service. Times are otherwise unchanged.

Routes 320 St Helens - Earlestown and Ashton in Makerfield or Wigan

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Route 26 and 27 Liverpool ONE - Sheil Road circulars

Times changed throughout on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Routes 28 St Helens - Blackbrook -St Helens - St Helens Hospital - Haydock Industrial Estate

The 15:00 journey from Hall Street now departs at 15:10 and runs ten minutes later along the route. All other journeys are unchanged.

Route 31 St Helens - Parr

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Routes 37 and 38 St Helens - Eccleston or Rainford

Times changed on Monday to Friday services.

Route 47 Liverpool - Crossens

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Routes 52, 52A and 52B Liverpool - Netherton, Old Roan or Bootle

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Route 53 Liverpool - Crosby

Times changed on Monday to Friday services.

Routes 54 and 54A Liverpool - Thornton

Times changed throughout on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Routes 55 Liverpool - Old Roan

The Monday to Friday times are changed throughout. Sunday times from Liverpool have changed.

Route 56 Liverpool - Netherton

Times changed along the route on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Routes 58 and 58A Liverpool - Netherton

58: Monday to Friday times are changed. The Merseytravel bus service (starting at Netherton at 05:39), operated by PeoplesBus, is unchanged.

58A: Monday to Friday times are changed from Liverpool to Netherton. From Netherton into Liverpool the buses retimed one minute earlier at Trinity Road.

Some stops renamed to bring details into line with the digital timetable.

Route 60 Bootle - Aigburth

Times changed throughout on Monday to Friday services, while there are minor retimings to those on Saturdays and Sundays.

Routes 61 and 61A Bootle - Aigburth

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Route 61 Liverpool - Halton Hospital

The Monday to Friday and Saturday times are changed throughout.

Sunday times are unchanged.

Route 62 Penny Lane - Bootle

Changes made to Monday to Friday times. Saturday and Sunday times remain unchanged.

Route 63 Bootle - Aintree Hospital

Monday to Friday times have changed.

Routes 68, 68A and 68E Bootle - Aigburth Vale

Minor timing changes to Monday to Friday journeys while there are no changes to those on Saturdays. On Sundays, there are some minor timing changes to evening journeys towards Aigburth Vale on service 68A.

Route 75 Liverpool - Halewood

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Route 76 Liverpool - Halewood

Monday to Friday times changed.

Route 78 Halewood - Liverpool

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Routes 79 and 79C Liverpool - Halewood and Murdishaw

Route 79: Monday to Friday times are changed throughout. Saturday and Sunday times are unchanged, although there are some corrections to Saturday evening journeys from Liverpool ONE.

Route 79C: Monday to Friday times are changed throughout. The Saturday journeys that depart from Murdishaw at 11:45, 12:15 and 17:48 are retimed at some stops along the route along the route.

Saturday journeys towards Murdishaw and Sunday times are unchanged.

Routes 80 and 80A Liverpool - Speke

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Routes 81 and 81A Bootle - Liverpool John Lennon Airport or Speke

Route 81: Monday to Friday times are changed throughout. Saturday and Sunday journeys have minor retimings at some stops.

Route 81A: Monday to Friday times are changed throughout while there is no change to those on Saturdays.

Route 82 Liverpool - Garston or Speke

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Route 82A Liverpool - Murdishaw

The Monday to Friday journeys are retimed throughout. Saturday and Sunday journeys now start an hour earlier with three additional Saturday evening journeys from Murdishaw to John Lennon Airport and one additional Saturday evening journey from John Lennon Airport to Murdishaw.

Routes 86, 86A and 86C Liverpool - Garston or Speke or Hope University

Arriva services: Times changed on Monday to Friday journeys, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Stagecoach 86: The Monday to Friday times are changed throughout. Saturdays towards Liverpool ONE are changed between 09:20 and 18:00. Saturdays towards Liverpool South Parkway and Sundays are unchanged.

Stagecoach 86C: Monday to Friday times are substantially changed before 09:00 (up to ten minutes earlier), then minor changes at certain points in the route. On Saturdays minor changes between 08:05 and 17:30 at certain timepoints.

Route 89 St Helens - John Lennon Airport

Times changed on Monday to Friday services, while those on Saturdays and Sundays remain unchanged.

Route 97 Kirkby circular

All trips are rerouted via Bewley Drive, Peatwood Avenue, Gaywood Avenue and Broad Lane as they miss out part of Moorgate Road. Timings are amended accordingly.

Route 102 Aintree University Hospital - Broadgreen Hospital or Page Moss

Times changed for journeys earlier than 18:00 hours.

Route 133 Kirkby - Waterloo

Minor timing changes to the first journey of the day and afternoon journeys to and from Kirkby Admin. 18:16 journey to Waterloo Interchange now leaves Kirkby Admin at 18:32. 17:12 journey to Kirkby Admin now leaves Waterloo Interchange at 17:22.

Route 144 Bootle - Litherland circular

Start times from Bootle Bus Station are unchanged, but there are minor timing changes to the rest of the route for Monday to Saturday journeys only. Saturday journeys now run at slightly different times to ones operating from Monday to Friday. Sunday journey timings remain unchanged.

Routes 166 and 188 Belle Vale and Halewood circulars

All times have changed.

Route 174 Belle Vale - Penny Lane

Monday to Friday times have changed.

Route 204 Liverpool ONE - Belle Vale

The long-term diversion via Upper Parliament Street, Mulgrave Street and Princess Avenue towards Liverpool ONE is now permanently registered. There are minor timing changes to Monday to Friday journeys while Saturdays and Sundays are unchanged.

Route 300 Liverpool - Lydiate or Southport

The main daytime service is unchanged. There are some minor retimings for the Monday to Friday evening journeys that run between Lydiate and Liverpool only, in both directions. The Saturday and Sunday journeys are unchanged.

Route 310 Liverpool - Maghull or Skelmersdale

All times are changed.

Route 319 Kirkby - Skelmersdale

New route 319 operating between Kirkby Bus Station and Skelmersdale Concourse with a 30-minute Monday to Saturday daytime frequency. Services operated on evenings and Sundays operate to an hourly frequency.

Route 345 Liverpool - Waddicar - Kirkby

Monday to Friday times are changed.

Routes 375 and 385 Southport - Wigan

Monday to Friday times changed on both services. The Neverstitch Road timing point replaces Old Skelmersdale War Memorial on journeys heading towards Wigan.

Route 409 Wallasey Village - Woodside circular

Monday to Friday times are changed throughout. On Saturdays the 07:29 journey from Birkenhead Bus Station to Wallasey Village is now retimed at St Albans Road to be two minutes earlier at 07:45. All other Saturday times are unchanged.

Route 410 New Brighton - Clatterbridge Hospital

The Monday to Friday 07:20 journey from New Brighton and 08:30 from Clatterbridge both now run five mins earlier throughout. Times are unchanged for Saturday journeys, but there are additional journeys in both directions at 22:10 and 23:10, the latter finishing at Birkenhead. On Sundays all daytime journeys prior to 18:30 depart five mins later with additional journeys in both directions leaving at 21:10, 22:10 and 23:10, the latter finishing at Birkenhead.

Route 411 New Brighton - Woodside - New Brighton

Most journeys are retimed to run about five minutes earlier.

Route 500 Liverpool John Lennon Airport - Liverpool - Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Times changed with additional stop.

Route 699 Greenbank Student Village - University of Liverpool or Liverpool City Centre

Monday to Friday times are changed.

Route 835 Northwood - Liverpool Freeport

Times have changed.

Routes 897, 898 and 899 Huyton or Page Moss to Kirkby Admin

Route 897: Times are changed throughout.

Route 898: The HTL morning service is unchanged while times have changed throughout on journeys operated for Merseytravel by Arriva.

Route 899: Times are changed throughout and route descriptions and timing points updated.

During the ongoing industrial strife on the railways, I have sought to see what specialist news sources like Rail or Modern Railways might have to say on the subject, much like how I used New Scientist for health news during the height of the pandemic. Unfortunately, I find that these either keep such things to their print titles or behind a paywall. The first can mean that there is a clear lag that causes one to resort to general media sources like the BBC while the second adds an extra cost in these times of income constraints. There appeared to be a need for more timely delivery.

Since then, I found Railnews to be useful for strike news, among other things. Thus, I will be keeping it on my radar along with the others. After all, Rail does feature other kinds of news on its website and I never begrudge keeping more insightful content to the print medium. There are times when considered opinion has much to add, and it takes longer to write in-depth pieces anyway. We all need our news to be both fast and slow, even if it means that we need to wait a little longer for the latter, especially in these times when the postal service has seen significant industrial disruption, and that some announcements are not timed well for print deadlines.

A new year often means a new start though the latest copy of Rail magazine is not so optimistic on its front cover. Talks can restart as they have done in the ongoing rail and postal disputes. With a whole year now ahead of us and not a last minute rush before a year-end, there may be more space for resolving these disruptions. Though the rail talks are not producing very much so far, we only can hope. It does not help that the government is also proposing legislation that may or may not hinder, and one writer even mentioned the possibility of lockouts. Actions like these cannot help for continued goodwill, an important, undervalued and priceless commodity.

In all of this, it is important to recall that the start of 2019 produced a resolution of a dispute between the RMT and Northern Railway. That became a form of release during ongoing political bedlam and was much appreciated. The now-facilitated escapes into the countryside were much needed at the time. Memories like those allow us to hope, especially for someone that does not drive and depends on public transport to get around.

This is the last instalment in my series catching up with transport experiences overseas. This again takes me back to 2015 for a midsummer extended weekend stay in Iceland. There were designs on a trip to Switzerland at this stage, but temperatures were too hot for my hiking. Thus, I ventured to cooler Nordic reaches instead.

Perhaps because of its low population and the size of the place, I was left with the impression that Icelanders are not big users of public transport. Strætó is the main operator of scheduled bus services in the country, though I never made use of what they offer. Their website does have a journey planner, so you can see how things will work. Service frequencies may mean that day trips are not always feasible, which may explain how visitors lapse into driving themselves.

When I visited, the Iceland On Your Own network looked reasonably comprehensive. However, that appears to have withered since then. Reykjavík Excursions still operates buses to popular highland locations like Landmannalaugar, Þórsmörk and Skógar. SBA-Norðurleið once operated buses between Reykjavík via the Kjölur route, but these were cancelled in 2021. That is a shame because the latter’s operations often connected with those of the former. As the effects of the pandemic recede, we may see a return, but that is not apparent at the moment.

My journeying often had me around the BSÍ bus terminal in Reykjavík with the city’s airport nearby. That is where internal flights operated by Icelandair, but my travel inexperience and limited time meant that I never went exploring such options. Instead, I largely stuck with what Reykjavík Excursions had to offer. Firstly, their Flybus service transferred me between Keflavík Airport and Reykjavík.

While I had designs on visiting both Landmannalaugar and Þórsmörk, the long hours of daylight did not make for an early bedtime the first night and morning confusion about the time of day meant that I rose later than was ideal for any of these. Thus, I chose another day trip got me to Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss instead for the sunniest day of my stay in Iceland. That was ample for a first getaway.

For the second whole day in Iceland, I chose Landmannalaugar instead of Þórsmörk, and the place had a decidedly frigid autumnal feel. It was a high ground clearance coach that got me there, with numerous river crossing in a barren landscape. Until Hella, we had been travelling over tarmac, but it was on to gravel tracks soon after that. The Icelandic Highlands have an even more isolated unpopulated feel than their Scottish counterparts where at least some people live.

My hike around Landmannalaugar may have been a short one, yet it took longer than I expected, so I did not make my intended departure for Reykjavík. The next one was at 20:30, and I was edgy about that given that I was flying back to Manchester the next day. The cool eery conditions around Landmannalaugar did not entice me to stay longer either. On discovering that Trex were offering an earlier departure, I opted for that instead. Due to a lack of cash, I needed to pay by card and had to wait until we had enough mobile signal before the card machine would work. Nevertheless, I got back to civilisation as I wanted and on a coach that was quieter than the one on which I had got to Landmannalaugar. This adventure would not be inconveniencing.

None of these were cheap excursions, but Iceland is not a low-cost destination either. My short stay gave me a lot, and there is more to see. The available transport got me to popular destinations, but some added planning is needed when not going to these.

It helps to start with overviews. Visit Iceland has articles on Icelandic public transport and getting around Reykjavík. The first of these mentions ferries, which I have not mentioned in this piece, and domestic flights could have their uses too. There also is an informative overview map that helps and there are other road transport options from Bus4u, AirportDirect, Gray Line and others. Between all of these, it should be possible to start sketching out an itinerary that fits the time that you have. The effort should be worthwhile.