On Trains & Buses

Here is the Merseyside bus service level summary for the Christmas week:

23 December 2018: Normal Sunday service. 24 December 2018: Some operators will run a Saturday service with an early finish. All buses will be finished by around 20:00. 25 December 2018: Merseytravel’s free Hospital bus services are running. No other services will operate. 26 December 2018: Special Boxing Day timetables. 27-28 December 2018: Some operators will run a Saturday service. 29 December 2018: Generally a normal Saturday service.

This page is up and running again after a plugin update. While it is difficult to see how much more can be cut at this stage, I will keep it in place to capture any more such developments. After all, public transport usage has been taking a hit for several reasons and lack of dependability is one of those.

England’s South West Coast Path is a long walking trail that takes in parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. Handily, there are bus services that help with hikes along its length if you do not fancy walking the whole 630 miles since that would take at least a few weeks. Here then is a list of useful bus routes:

LAND: Mounts Bay Academy - St Erth Multi Modal Hub, Carbis Bay - St Ives Malakoff - Penzance, St Ives, St Just, Sennan, Land’s End, Pothcurno -Newlyn - Sennen Cove - Penzance, St Ives, St Just, Sennan, Land’s End, Pothcurno -Newlyn - Penwith College

21: Georgeham – Barnstaple – Bideford – Westward Ho!

21A: Ilfracombe – Barnstaple – Bideford – Appledore

34: Redruth – Helston – Mullion – The Lizard

40: Swanage – Wareham – Poole

56: Newquay – St Mawgan – Constantine Bay – Padstow

95: Truro – St Columb Major – Wadebridge – Camelford – Bude

164: Totnes – Kingsbridge – Salcombe

217: Holsworthy - Morwenstow - Gooseham

219 Bude – Kilkhampton – Hartland

U4: Tremough – Helston – Penzance

Over these few months, Derby will be seeing a fair deal of rail travel disruption while the system is upgraded. Derby’s main train station sees a partial rebuild while track and signalling replacement also takes place in the surrounding area. With all that is happening and how long it is just as well that there is a dedicated website telling you about what is planned and how it affects rail travellers.

It is amazing to see that the railway gets its own chaplaincy service in the form of the the Railway Mission. With what can happen, any such support has to have its place and surely must be most welcome when it is needed.

A recent stint of pondering has taken me across the Atlantic as I wondered what you could see as a visitor to the U.S.A. without having recourse to a car. So far, the following has come to my notice and more may arise yet. Many are bus companies and there are one or two train companies too. Maybe compiling this list will help some to realise that there is more to bus and train services in the U.S. than they may have realised.

9 of the most incredible train journeys in the USA

Holidays by Rail

Amtrak

Alaska Railroad

Alaska/Yukon Shuttle

Arizona Shuttle

C&J

Capital District Transportation Authority

Capital Transit

Central Oregon Breeze

Coach USA

Concord Coach Lines

Dalton Highway Express

Dartmouth Coach

Denali Overland Transportation Company

Estes Park Shuttle

Flattop Mountain Shuttle

Glacier Valley Transit

GO Transit

Grand Canyon Railway

Greyhound

Hawaiian Airlines

Helping Hands Express

Interior Alaska Bus Line

Jefferson Lines

Kennicott Shuttle

Las Vegas Monorail

MACS

Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority

Megabus

Montana

Montana and North Dakota Intercity Bus Status

Mountain Line

New Jersey Transit

Newark Airport Express

New York by Rail

Northern Counties Interlocal

Oahu Transit

On the road in America: travelling in the US without a car

People Mover

Peter Pan Bus Lines

Plymouth & Brockton

Quick Shuttle

Rimrockin’ down the highway

Soaring Eagle Transit

START Bus

Salt Lake Express

Stage Line

Sunshine Transit

The Magic Bus

The Park Connection

Trailways

Trailways of New York

Trans Canyon Shuttle

YARTS

West’s Transportation

Bittern Line Conwy Valley Penistone Line

It is true to say that frequent train services operate between Manchester, Leeds and York and that National Express run an hourly service between Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds but this not stop Transdev adding their own alternatives. After all, trains can get full and peak time travel is more expensive while National Express prefer the pre-booking model so there might be something to having another hop on service at a more reasonable price. Previously, Transdev, operated the York to Leeds route using its Coastliner operation but CITYZAP replaces that and the Leeds to Manchester route follows the M62. Low floor buses are used instead of coaches so that could an added benefit for those with mobility issues. The services run all days of the week from morning until early in the evening time so any day’s core hours see an hourly service. Outside of these, you always can make use of those aforementioned other services. It will be interesting to see how Transdev’s innovation works out but it sounds as if it could deserve success and it hopefully will see that come its way too.

Quite a range of bus services around Merseyside will change from next Sunday and here are the details organised by route number:

3A/3B Huyton – Halewood – John Lennon Airport

3A and 3B journeys (apart from 0417 trip) no longer serve the Jaguar Land Rover Factory, and instead call at Speke Morrisons.

4 Liverpool ONE – Dingle/Sefton Park circular

Frequency has increased during peak times.

15 Liverpool – Huyton

Saturday daytime frequency is reduced to 12 minutes. Sunday times have changed.

18 Liverpool – Croxteth Park circular

Sunday times have changed.

31 St Helens – Parr

The times have changed.

34/34A St Helens – Newton-le-Willows or Leigh

Some journeys retimed.

38/38A St Helens – Rainford circular

Journeys are retimed.

47 Liverpool – Crossens

Some times have changed.

49 Crossens – Woodvale

Some times have changed.

52/52A Liverpool – Netherton/Old Roan

Monday to Saturday daytime times are changed.

62 Allerton (Penny Lane)- Bootle, North Park

Some times are changed as the route is still diverted via Pighue Lane and Rathbone Road due to the closure of Mill Lane/Edge Lane Junction.

82/82C/82D Liverpool – Liverpool South Parkway or Speke

Route revised in Liverpool city centre. Some times have changed

89 St Helens – Liverpool John Lennon Airport

The Monday to Friday daytime times have changed.

139 Liverpool – Prescot

Journeys no longer run between Prescot and St Helens (see Route 289). Times are changed.

140 St Helens – Bold Heath or Rainhill Station

The Monday to Saturday daytime timetable now has 2 journeys that are extended to start/finish at Bold Heath (School Lane).

166/188 Belle Vale – Halewood or Halewood – Belle Vale or Garston circular

HTL Route 166 & 188: The times have changed and now serves Garden Lodge Drive, Springwood Avenue, Mather Avenue, Heath Road, Greenhill Road and Long Lane Merseytravel Route 166 & 188: The times have changed and now serves Springwood Avenue, Mather Avenue, Heath Road, Greenhill Road and Long Lane, and Garden Lodge Drive on Saturday daytime journeys.

224 Liscard – Weatherhead School via Poulton

The 0751 journey has been retimed to start 8 minutes earlier

289 St Helens – Prescot or Kirkby

Route 289 is extended via Rainhill to St Helens to replace the withdrawn section of Route 139. Saturday Route 290 is withdrawn but replaced by Route 289 journeys running from St Helens through to Kirkby bus station. Times are changed.

300 Liverpool – Southport or Lydiate

Some times have changed.

320 St Helens – Ashton-in-Makerfield or Wigan

Some minor re-timings on Monday to Saturday journeys

375/385 Southport – Wigan

Revised timetable

432/433 New Brighton – Liverpool

Some times have changed.

437 Liverpool – West Kirby

Some times have changed.

500 Liverpool – Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Some times are changed.

600 Garston – Archbishop Blanch School

0755 journey departs Garston 5 minutes earlier.

611 Dovecot – Broadgreen School

Journey retimed 5 minutes earlier.

630 Woodchurch High School – Moreton Cross

Merseytravel journey withdrawn. Commercial Al’s Coaches duplicate journey remains.

663 Thingwall – Wirral Grammar

Times changed during journey

745 Carmel College – Platt Bridge

Revised running times

781 Billinge – Rainford High School

Timing point changed to Red Cat Lane

783 Moss Bank – Rainford High School

Revised running times

784 Haresfinch – Rainford High School

Timing point changed to Red Cat Lane

786 Rainford High School – St Helens

Revised running times

897 Huyton Industrial Estate – Kirkby Admin

Route change in Huyton, now serves Stretton Way, Ellis Ashton Street and Link Road on services travelling towards Kirkby Admin.

X3 Liverpool – Kirkby/Knowsley Industrial Park

One afternoon journey in each direction withdrawn

Arriva’s withdrawal of Monday to Saturday Macclesfield to Wilmslow (and vice versa) journeys on service 130 near the end month has seen D & G Buses partly replace them with ones running between Macclesfield, Wilmslow and Manchester Airport. One of the things that bedevilled Arriva’s combination of different journey lengths were delays on their Manchester to Macclesfield ones. Having a different company offering the shorter journeys means that they could be more timely than the longer ones and may offer a more reliable service. Arriva still will cover more of the day though and will continue to offer a Sunday service until their contract ends as a result of council spending cuts. Still, it will be interesting to see how D & G’s offering will fare after their attempt with a Wilmslow to Handforth service on route 378 ended in failure. Some say that ticket machine problems could have contributed and I see High Peak having the same difficulties on their Macclesfield to Buxton service.