Tuesday 17 October 2017

November changes update

Timetables are now on-line for the 5 November service changes. A few updates to previous posts are needed.

The 3 will still serve Faraday Way at peak times, three buses towards Cleveleys in the morning will run as the new route to Briarwood Drive then right onto Kincraig Road, left onto Faraday Way and Whiteholme Road back to Ashfield Road and the equivalent will do the reverse in the afternoon. Unfortunately this results in some clashes with service 4 over the common section from Bispham to Blackpool. 

The new 18 route is confirmed as Town Centre, Church Road, Whitegate Drive, Waterloo Road, Lytham Road, Squires Gate Lane, St. Annes Road, Highfield Road, Midgeland Road, Cherry Tree Road, Clifton Road to Tesco. 

The new 19 is pretty much the traditional 15 route along Church Road, Newton Drive, Victoria Hospital (outpatients - the traditional stop), Staining Road to Staining turning circle.

The diverted 7 will use Kilnhouse Lane and Highbury Road between Queensway and Clifton Drive. Extra time is also provided on the 17 to allow for diverted car traffic via Queensway. The 2C and 17 are no longer interworked on Sundays, the 2C now has a faster schedule.

Overall the network will require 95 buses, by my calculations v 110 now. The difference is:

  • 3 bus on service 1 for the winter timetable
  • 3 buses from service 20 which is suspended for the winter
  • 1 bus for the withdrawn section of the 2 to Cleveleys
  • 1 bus on the 3 and 4
  • 6 buses for the revised timetables on 6 and 14 (2 each) and 7 and 9 (1 each)
  • 2 buses from the replacement of 15/16 with 18 and 19
  • with 1 extra bus on the 17.
It is not clear yet whether any buses will be sidelined for the winter - indeed some may be withdrawn for disposal as the new Enviro 400s will replace them in the spring after their rail replacement work is complete.