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Stagecoach’s new Winter edition of the Lakes Guide, valid from 4th November, sees a number of changes to timetables, including the 555 and 755 that link Lancaster and Morecambe to the Central Lakes.

Service 555 Lancaster-Keswick

As usual, the additional journeys that operate via the M6 between Lancaster and Kendal are withdrawn for the winter period. This includes the Sunday morning and afternoon journeys that ran for the first time this summer. Again as is usual, the winter Sunday timetable sees extra buses at 08.20 from Kendal to Lancaster and 18.45 return, both running via the motorway.

On Monday to Saturday, the 05.40 Kendal to Lancaster bus runs five minutes earlier and arrives Lancaster at 06.56. The 07.05 Lancaster to Keswick bus leaves Lancaster runs five minutes earlier at 07.00 but has extra running time so that arrival times at Kendal (08.27) and Keswick (10.08) are unchanged.

There are also new evening journeys funded by Westmorland & Furness Council. The 18.30 bus from Keswick to Kendal is extended to Lancaster, leaving Kendal at 2015 and arriving at 21.26. There is also a new bus at 21.30 from Lancaster that arrives in Kendal at 2241.

The new 555 timetable is on this link

Service 755 (Heysham (Ocean Edge) – Bowness-on-Windermere

The changes to the 755 are more radical. In recent years this service has been almost unique in having a seven-day-a-week timetable, with very little variation between Mondays to Fridays and weekends. It has also remained largely unchanged since being extended at the Heysham end to Ocean Edge in 2021.

Now there are separate Monday to Friday and Saturday & Sunday timetables with buses running at different times.

On Monday to Friday there is an extra journey at 11.05 from Ocean Edge to Euston Road and the 13.50 from Ocean Edge to Euston Road is extended to Bowness in school holidays. Also in school holidays, the 16.15 Morecambe to Bowness bus will start back from Ocean Edge at 15.50. The journeys at 16.50 and 19.05 from Ocean Edge are withdrawn and replaced by a journey to Euston Road at 18.05

The 09.45 Kendal to Morecambe bus is extended to Ocean Edge, arriving at 11.03.

The 16.27 Euston Road to Ocean Edge is withdrawn.

In Lancashire school holidays there is a new journey at 16.05 from Bowness to Ocean Edge. On schooldays this will start from Euston Road at 17.37.

The Saturday and Sunday timetables are completely different and the full

755 service is shown on this link.

Full details of all Stagecoach services in the central Lakes area are shown in the new guide and a copy can be seen at this link: Lakes Guide Winter 2024-5

Copies are also available at Lancaster bus station and on board the 555 bus.

Lancashire County Council has announced its intention to change the terms and conditions under which Disabled Persons’ Concessionary Bus Passes (NoW Cards) can be used.

At present, holders of cards issued on grounds of disability can be used before 09.30 on Monday to Friday on payment of a flat fare of £1. This concession is not available to holders of NoW cards issued on grounds of age. The council intends of remove the additional concession so that all pass holders would have to pay the full adult fare if travelling before 09.30.

The £1 fare was increased from 50p in 2018 and at the time the council said that the biggest use of the concession was by people travelling to medical appointments, followed by leisure, education, shopping and then work. A consultation exercise at the time claimed that only 4% of respondents said the increase would make their journey unaffordable. However, the consultation also showed that for some users the ability to pay with a single coin was important. This was maintained in 2018 but will not necessarily be so this time, depending on what happens to the £2 cap on adult bus fares in the budget. This is what we said in 2018: https://lancsbus.blogspot.com/2018/11/fare-increase-for-disabled-passholders.html

You can read the council’s statement here: https://news.lancashire.gov.uk/news/have-your-say-on-proposed-changes-to-nowcard-trans-scheme

New Consultation

The council is running a consultation on the move, which will be open until 18th November. It takes the form on an online question-and-answer form that asks about the effect the change would have on individuals. The Bus Users’ Group will be responding to the consultation via other means, but if you or anyone you know is likely to be affected here is the direct link to the consultation questionnaire. https://online1.snapsurveys.com/interview/5d962249-3fe0-48f7-8d31-e640eb813d67

If you need the questionnaire in a different format please telephone 0300 123 6734 or visit www.lancashire.gov.uk/haveyoursay  

What do we think?

The Bus Users’ Group understands the financial position that all councils are in after ten years of austerity during which their funding from central government has been severely cut. However, it seems odd that at a time when a county council initiative has seen a £1 fare offered to all passengers in the evenings and on Sundays throughout the county, a very similar offer should be withdrawn from one disadvantaged sector of society.

We also wonder how much the council will save as a result of this move. Any passholders travelling for leisure or shopping will be able to rearrange their journeys so as to travel after 09.30 and the same will apply to those who are able to arrange medical appointments to later in the day, as senior passholders already do. The council will still have to reimburse bus companies for these journeys but will lose the £1 contribution that passholders currently make.