Author: Jim

No summer Sunday buses to the Yorkshire Dales are likely to run from Lancaster for a second successive year as no local bus company appears to be in a position to operate them. After a two-year break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the service returned in 2022 with two routes: the Northern Dalesman 830 to Richmond via Swaledale and the 881 to Malham Tarn and Malham village via Settle.

No service ran in 2023 due to changes to the the times of trains to and from Ribblehead, which meant it was impossible to provide attractive connections for the substantial proportion of the passengers that interchange with the Northern Dalesman there and without which the viability of the service would be called into question. The Malham Shuttle had also failed to attract sufficient passengers from the Lancaster end of the route to justify its operation that year.

The Dales & Bowland CIC, which commissions the services receives no public funding for any part of the network of services it provides and relies on donations and sponsorship to supplement income from fares. Neither Lancashire not North Yorkshire Councils will accept these services in their concessionary fares schemes or provide subsidy to bridge the gap between costs and fares income.

Hope for 2024

Following some progress on raising sponsorship funding for the 2024 season, it had been hoped to run both services from Lancaster between early May and the end of October and timetables had been drawn up. However, Dales & Bowland CIC has been unable to find a bus operator prepared to take on the work and has reluctantly concluded that it will not be possible to provide a service again this year.

All bus operators are known to be struggling to find sufficient staff to cover their normal day-to-day operations and both Stagecoach and Lonsdale Buses (as Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire now increasingly styles itself) now have additional service commitments on Sundays. Lonsdale Buses is operating an all-year round Sunday service between Lancaster and Knott End-on-sea for Lancashire County Council, whilst Stagecoach appears to have transferred some work on the 555 Lancaster-Keswick service to its Morecambe depot to provide extra fast journeys via the M6 on summer Sundays as it does on Saturdays and during high summer.

Alternatives?

Anyone looking for a day out in the hills by bus at the weekend may now need to consider the Lake District instead. Stagecoach’s Limited Stop X8 service from Chorley to Keswick will call again at Lancaster’s Caton Road Park & Ride site every Saturday from 30th March to 26th October. Buses will leave Caton Road at 1030 and return at 1801. A full timetable is on our website here X8 Chorley-Lancaster-Keswick

And as mentioned above, the summer Sunday timetable on the 555, introduced on 24 March, will see new express journeys from Lancaster at 0814 and 1014 running via the M6 to Kendal and continuing to Keswick, returning from Keswick at 1600 and 1800. The full timetable is here 555 Lancaster-Keswick

Stagecoach’s Summer 2024 Lakes Guide timetable sees a number of improvements to services in and to the Lakes from 23 March.

Better Sunday buses

Following a suggestion by the Bus Users’ Group to the Lancashire Enhanced Partnership (of bus operators and the county council) there will be improvements to the Sunday service on the 555 between Lancaster, Kendal and Keswick. The Sunday frequency remains two-hourly, but will be improved by the addition of new journeys that operate via the M6 Motorway. Two extra buses will leave Lancaster at 0814 and 1014 and, running fast to Kendal, will offer arrivals at Kendal (0901 and 1101), Windermere (0925 and 1125), Ambleside (0947 and 1147) and Keswick (1038 and 1238) up to 90 minutes earlier than at present.

Extra return buses will leave Keswick at 1600 and 1800; Ambleside at 1649 and 1847; Windermere at 1708 and 1905 and Kendal at 1735 and 1930 to arrive in Lancaster at 1816 and 2011. These buses will continue until the end of the summer timetable on 3rd November.

By using the first and last of the new journeys Lancaster passengers can spend over 7 hours in Keswick (previously just 2½ hrs) or 9 hours in Ambleside (instead of just under five) on Sundays.

Weekday changes

Changes to the weekdays timetable will see most buses leaving Lancaster five minutes earlier than at present, at 05 past the hour (with “motorway” journeys at 14 past the hour), although late afternoon and early evening times are unchanged. The first few southbound buses of the day run at different times (up to the 1015 from Kendal) but unfortunately co-ordination with the 55 between Carnforth and Lancaster is no better – just different!

Service 755 (Heysham (Ocean Edge) to Bowness-on-Windermere remains unchanged.

Changes in the Lakes

Other significant changes in the Lakes include:

• Additional journeys for hospitality workers between Windermere and Barrow, thanks to funding support from Westmorland & Furness Council
• Advance confirmation of the Buttermere shuttle service 77C on peak weekends thanks to funding by the Strategic Visitor Management Group
• Enhanced Ullswater Hopper (UB1) timetable with new service 509 thanks to financial support from SITU.
• Increase in frequency on service 516 between Ambleside and Langdale to every 60 minutes
• Extra journeys on service 554 between Carlisle and Keswick
• Increase of frequency on services X4/X5 to every 30 minutes between Penrith and Keswick thanks to funding from Westmorland & Furness Council

The Summer 2024 Guide to The Lakes by Bus can be read or downloaded from Stagecoach’s website via this link: Lakes by Bus Summer 2024.

Printed copies will also be available from many outlets, including Lancaster bus station and Lancaster Library as well as on most buses in the Lakes.

The new 555 timetable is here: 555 Summer 2024 timetable