On Trains & Buses

My collection of festive season travel summaries got a lot of attention on Christmas Eve, with visitor numbers reaching several orders of magnitude beyond what usually happens. GenAI was in the production pipeline for this effort, and I deliberately avoided linking to temporary information sources. Hopefully, the information was useful to anyone who accessed it. Otherwise, all the very best for 2025.

During the 2024/5 Christmas and New Year period, High Peak Bus services will have adjusted schedules. On Christmas Eve, Tuesday 24 December, weekday timetables will operate with an early finish for the Skyline 199 and 185 services. There will be no services on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. On Friday 27 December, services will follow Saturday timetables, with the exception of service 394, which will use a weekday timetable. During the weekend of 28-29 December, normal Saturday and Sunday schedules apply. On Monday 30 December and New Year’s Eve, services will again follow Saturday timetables, except for service 394 which retains a weekday schedule, with early finishes on routes 199 and 185. There will be no service on New Year’s Day. Normal service levels will resume from Thursday 2 January 2025.

A new hourly express bus service, numbered X4 and running between Runcorn and Liverpool, commenced on 2024-12-16, stopping at Widnes, Speke and Aigburth. It provides quick and affordable connections to Halton with an average travel time between Runcorn and Liverpool ONE bus station of around 50 minutes - nearly half that of some existing services. The fare is only £2 per journey during the trial period.

There is good news in that bus fares cap is staying in England for 2025. However, the only catch is that the single fare increases to £3 to £2. The 50% increase, large though that sounds, only appears significant in relation to a low income and many journeys. Maybe that combination is infrequent, which could explain some of the logic underlying the increase for the sake of claimed sustainability. Nevertheless, that has done little to assuage the concerns of some, like those in the Campaign for Better Transport.

It appears that Moovit has become a fixture in public transport circles, being used by some 865 million people worldwide. The app bundles together various modes of transport into a single interface, and has features like Smart Cards, Smart Trips, and Smart Returns, which can suggest routes based on where one has been before and what one prefers. Handily, the app displays real time information, and gives a heads-up if there is any bother on the network. Some of the information comes from users reporting problems that they have spotted. Users can plan journeys across different parts of a country, with the app spelling out exactly what needs doing at each step.

Transport Focus offers tips for passengers looking to save money during the cost-of-living crisis, with value for money being a priority for rail travel. These include: being flexible about travel times, booking in advance, using Railcards, splitting journeys into multiple tickets, and considering coach or bus travel. Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak tickets offer savings by travelling at less busy times, while Advance tickets provide discounts when committing to specific trains. Railcards are a good investment for those willing to pay the initial cost, with national and regional options available. Splitting journeys into multiple tickets could also save money and is easier than it seems, though all stations listed on the tickets must be used. Coaches can be a cheaper alternative for longer journeys, especially when travelling to or from airports, while buses offer a £2 fare cap until December 2024 and help reduce travel expenses for many passengers.

Bus Éireann service 216 between Cork and Monkstown via Douglas also now appears to be a double-decker bus operation, after being a single-decker operation. One wonders if this has anything to do with running an interim timetable dues to driver shortages. While eleven drivers were in training, there was a shortfall of sixteen. Hopefully, things get sorted sooner rather than later. Complementary service 223 running between Cork and Haulbowline via Douglas remains a single-decker route, though.

Cheshire East Council is launching a new travel pass for young people aged over 16 in the borough. The scheme is being delivered by the Cheshire East Bus Partnership and is supported by the government-funded Bus Service Improvement Plan. This means that care leavers in Cheshire East get free travel on the local bus services for journeys that start and/or finish within Cheshire East when they use the pass, while others will get a third off the standard adult fare on the same services. The pass is valid until a care leaver’s twenty-second birthday; otherwise, that continues until the pass holder’s twentieth birthday. The initial trial scheme will last for two years, and passes cannot remain valid beyond 2026-10-31.

Bus Éireann’s website recently got a new look. Things have moved around, so timetables may not be as easy to find as they were. That has meant that links from here needed updating. There is also a new website for Bus Éireann’s commercial long-distance operation Expressway, a more diminished network than once was the case because of competition.

Bus Éireann service 225 between Cork train station and Haulbowline via Cork Airport and Carrigaline now appears to be a double-decker bus operation. Coaches were used until a few weeks ago. Accessibility will have improved, though luggage carrying capacity possibly has been hit, not the best for an airport service when passengers are sure to be bringing luggage with them.