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  • Confusing Times

    New timetables have brought confusion to the bus stop displays on the 1 1A and 100

    Lancashire County Council deserves praise for the comprehensive provision of information at bus stops throughout its area. Most stops on main routes and many on minor services have displays containing lists of the departure times of buses and their destinations.

    With several thousand bus stops to look after, it’s obvious that the council needs to use an automated system to produce the displays, but it’s a pity that the system chosen is inflexible and apparently not geared to tailoring the displays to local conditions. The system is also designed to produce extremely comprehensive information – some times too much so – and therefore falls foul of one of the golden rules of information provision – you can be comprehensive or comprehensible – but not both – and Lancashire errs on the side of comprehensiveness!

    Service Revisions Cause Confusion

    One feature of Lancaster’s bus services that does not apply throughout Lancashire is the timetable variations between University terms and holidays. In the holidays, service 1 from Heysham terminates at the Bus Station rather than the University and service 1A is similarly curtailed in the evenings and on Sundays. At the start of the current holiday period Stagecoach brought about further complication by a swop of routes within the campus that only applies during the holidays: service 100, which previously served the stops in the south of the campus including the Graduate College, is cut back to the central Underpass stop, whilst service 1A is extended in its place. In a classic example of the Law of Unintended Consequences the move has brought much complication – and hence confusion to the county council’s bus stop displays.

    The following display is from the stop at the Infirmary, but similar ones will be found along the A6 or Bowerham Road towards the University. The first thing to notice is that the 1 and the 1A are treated as completely separate services. This is despite the fact that the difference between them is a route variation in Heysham. Between the bus station and the University they follow exactly the same route and to all intents and purposes they are one service, but one that requires passengers to consult two departure lists to see the full picture.

    Service 1A

    Let’s look at the 1A in more detail

    The first thing to notice is that every journey comes with a qualification: On Mondays to Fridays this is either UTMF or UTH; on Saturdays and Sundays UT or UTH. The “Notes” explain that UT = University Term time; UTH = University Holidays and UTMF also means “University Term Time”! The “MF” part of this last code is not explained, but presumably means “Mondays to Fridays”, but quite why that is necessary for a departure list headed “Mondays to Fridays” is unclear. Also, if “UT” stands for “University Term time”, shouldn’t the code for University Holidays be “UH” – what does the “T” stand for here?

    Journey Duplication

    But are these qualifications necessary in the first place? Every departure is shown twice, one bus runs during term time and the other in the holidays – at exactly the same times! The BUG suspects that because the 1A follows different routes through the campus according to whether it is term time or not, the system treats it as two completely different services. The UTH departures have an additional code (7) which explains that the journey “continues to Lancaster University Graduate College”. But all service 1A buses run to “Lancaster University” and the system doesn’t feel it necessary to explain where on the campus the “UTHMF” journeys terminate. The system is being “comprehensive” but not “comprehensible”!

    A simpler and more easily understandable display would merely list each departure time just once, with the 1 and 1A shown together and with no qualification other than a note somewhere to explain the different routings according to time of year.

    Service 100

    Turning now to the 100.

    Once again, every journey is shown twice, but on Mondays to Fridays, unlike the 1A, the code UTMF is not used. Journeys are coded “UT- University Terms” or “UTH – University Holidays” Every UTH journey has an additional note: (8) explaining that it “terminates at Lancaster University, Underpass” although as the service header just describes the terminus as “Lancaster University” one wonders how many passengers understand the significance of the note.

    Again for simplicity, if it is really necessary to say so, each journey could be shown just once, with a code to explain that “In University Holidays this journey terminates at the Underpass, not the Graduate College”

    Rubbish In…..?

    Any automated system is only as good as the data it is given to work with and unfortunately it is not just Stagecoach’s service changes that are causing confusion. Let’s have a look at the Saturday service on the 100 in more detail:

    At first glance it appears to be a very frequent service, albeit with some departures very close to one another. The duplication between term times and holiday departures doesn’t help, but that is not all that is misleading.

    Comparison with the public timetables issued by Stagecoach reveals the following:

    • The journeys shown at 0804 0816 0834 0849 0901 0916 0931 0947 0959 1020 and 1035 are not in the timetable and presumably do not exist!
    • Every journey between 1054 and 1824 and at 2017 and 2037 is shown twice – once to say that it terminates at the Underpass in Holidays and once with no qualification at all.
    • The journeys at 1854 1924 1938 2007 2100 2118 2138 2207 2218 2238 2307 2318 2338 and crucially, the “last bus” at 0007 are not in the timetable and presumably do not exist!

    The nett result of there errors is that what appears to be a very generous service of 100 buses per Saturday is, in practice one of just 49 journeys with the last departure of the day operating ten minutes earlier than shown.

    …and on the 1A

    There is also a problem with the Saturday times on the 1A in the evenings. A departure is shown at 1843 which is the only one of the day NOT to be coded “UT” This does not correspond with the printed timetable booklet that shows it, along with all the others, as running Term Time only. More seriously, after 1933 the times shown do not correspond in any way with Stagecoach timetables, right up to the last bus which supposedly leaves at 0028, eight minutes after Stagecoach says it runs!

    Service 1 as well

    Service 1 only operates south of the city during University terms (“UT” or perhaps “UTMF”), but here’s what the bus stop displays show:

    The service header shows it as running between “Heysham” and “Lancaster University”, which in term times is what it does. So why does every journey have a code (9) to say that it “Continues to Lancaster University, Uni Underpass, by.” “Continues to from where?!

    More seriously, every journey is marked with “Sch” to mean “Schooldays only”. Lancaster residents may not know exactly when University terms begin and end (another problem with the displays) but they do know that they are different to school terms. Lancashire’s system does recognise that the Saturday service runs “UT” or “University Term Time” rather than “Schooldays”, presumably because it doesn’t expect Saturday to be a school day.

    Pedantry…and the missing night bus

    The 1A departure lists (see image above) include a journey on Monday to Friday at 0020 and on Saturday at 0028 (although this latter is incorrect). They are shown at the end of the operating day. But any time after midnight is, strictly speaking, part of the following day’s service, so the buses actually run on Tuesday to Sunday mornings! LBUG realises that this is being pedantic and that nobody who is capable of being out and about at that time of night is likely to misunderstand. But just when does the “day” change? Would a journey at 0100 be shown at the end of the day or the beginning; how about 0230 or 0345?

    For the avoidance of doubt, we would suggest that such journeys be shown at both the end of the day and at the beginning of the next one. So the 0020 on “Saturday” would be shown at the end of the Saturday timetable as well as at the beginning of the Sunday one.

    Following discussions with LBUG, Stagecoach now shows its N1 “Night Bus” service as operating “Early Hours Tuesday to Thursday” or “Early hours Friday to Sunday”

    We feel this is a reasonable compromise that is correct enough to satisfy us pedants and at the same time is actually helpful to the travelling public.

    We were interested to see how LCC treated this on its bus stop display at the Infirmary, but we can’t tell you, because the N1 is completely missing from the display.

    Bus companies are unusual in relying on third parties, in this case Lancashire County Council, to maintain their “shop window” publicity. The BUG understands that they are required to make a contribution towards the costs incurred by the council but we wonder whether they ever check to see that they are getting their money’s worth.

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  • School Bus Changes

    Stagecoach has announced changes to two services that mainly affect buses around school and college start and finish times.

    A double-decker bus on service 5 at Carnforth

    From 31st August 2025, Service 5 Overton – Morecambe – Carnforth will have a new timetable. The changes are around school times and are aimed at improving reliability.

    Also from that date there will be a new timetable for services 40 40C and 41 Lancaster – Garstang – Preston. The changes are mainly in the morning and afternoon peak periods and will cater for changes to start and finish times at Preston College, although a number of other adjustments to improve reliability will be made at the same time.

    No other changes are expected during August.

  • Stagecoach Fares to Rise

    In what appears to be a co-ordinated move across much of the Stagecoach Group, bus fares are set to rise in July.

    The government’s national £3 fare cap restricts bus companies’ ability to increase fares, but it does still allow some scope, especially with daily and weekly tickets that are not covered by the cap.

    Locally, Stagecoach says that its £2 fare will rise to £2.10 and journeys priced at £2.30 will rise to £2.40 but that there will be no other changes to single fares and the £3 cap remains in place.

    The company claims that most customers will not see a change to the fare they pay, but the popular Bay Area DayRider ticket, which currently operates as a surrogate day return for many passengers, will increase from £5.70 to £6 and will no longer offer a discount over two capped single fares. The Lancashire Day Ticket, which covers a wider area, remains at £10 and the North West Explorer , covering Lancashire, Cumbria and into Scotland and Northumbria has also been frozen at £12.

    Child and Young Person Fares

    Child and Young Person (under-19) fares are also going up, with slightly higher increases in percentage terms to bring them up to 2/3rds of the Adult fare. The £1.30 and £1.50 child fares both increase by 10p

    Despite the steadily diminishing number of passengers paying in cash, bus companies still feel the need to round-up fares to the next 10p to reduce the need to handle change, which inevitably means higher percentage increases for some fares. A major victim this time is the Child and Young Person DayRider, which rises from £4 to £4.30 – a 7.5% increase compared to the 5.3% applied to the adult ticket, both increases being above the prevailing level of inflation.

    Weekly Tickets

    The 7-day Bay Area MegaRider is increased by £1 to a new rate of £22 but still offers a substantial discount over paying day or single fares. The North West Gold MegaRider also goes up by £1 to £37.

    When?!

    In a move that makes it look as if Stagecoach desperately needs the money, the increase comes into effect on 16 July – a Wednesday! It appears that the days when new fares were introduced on a Sunday, to give drivers and passengers a chance to get used to them on a quieter day of the week, are long gone and perhaps, in the days of payment by card, phone or app, no longer necessary.

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  • Lonsdale Buses updates its website

    After a lengthy period during which the Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire website was not updated, leading to the display of out-of-date information, including timetables, the company now has a new site, which reflects its current “Lonsdale Buses” branding.

    Designed in a similar way to the company’s app launched earlier this year, the site includes details of timetables and fares (although not ordinary single and return fares) along with details of its coach hire operation and a contact form for more information. Also included is a map based “live times” page, although when the Bus Users’ Group attempted to use this it still appeared to be at a developmental stage. The site is illustrated with images of the company’s buses, some of which were supplied by the Bus Users’ Group.

    Minor Issues

    Although there seem to be one or two minor issues to be ironed out, it is good to see an up-to-date website from Lancaster’s “other” bus operator to complement Stagecoach.

    Whilst it would be better still if someone – the “Enhanced Partnership” perhaps? – could develop a unified site that held ALL bus related information in one place, the new site is a great improvement on what was there before.

    To access the site, go to https://klch.co.uk from where you can use the contact form to supply feedback (to Lonsdale Buses, not the Bus Users’ Group!) and please note that the old address: www.klch.co.uk no longer works.

  • Combating confusion in Cockerham

    For a small village with a modest bus service, catching a bus in Cockerham is not always as easy as you might think. The regulars have no problem of course, they’ve been using buses for years and know where they go – and where they stop – but what about newcomers, visitors and those non-bus using residents that might be tempted to give the bus service a try?

    Cockerham has two bus services – the 88 and 89. Both run from Lancaster to Knott End-on-sea with the 89 taking the direct route along the A588 and Pilling and the 88 going the longer way round on the B5272 to serve Garstang; the two routes diverging just south of the Manor Inn in the centre of the village as shown on the map below.

    Passengers travelling south from Cockerham have no problems. The stop outside the Manor Inn is served by both routes and is equipped with a display case giving departure times for both the 88 and 89.

    Going north isn’t so easy. Buses on service 89 call at a stop on the A588 just south of its junction with the B5272 shown below.

    The “Manor Inn” stop for service 89 towards Lancaster

    The stop is adapted for level-access boarding and equipped with a display case and “bus stop clearway” markings, looking for all the world as if it is the main stop for northbound buses. However,assuming a would-be passenger checks the display case he or she would find that it contains only the times of service 89 and has nothing to inform passengers about where the other half of the village’s buses to Lancaster might stop.

    In fact, service 88 buses call at the stop on the B5272, also called “Manor Inn” but just out of sight of the A588 stop.

    Service 88 stop on the B5272

    This stop has neither level-access boarding, nor a display case, but just to add to the confusion it has a sticker advising that it is for “School services only” – a hangover from before service 88 was introduced in August 2023.

    The Third Stop

    What passengers for Lancaster need to know is that there is a third stop – back on the A588 but just out of sight around the bend – and called “Rectory Gardens”

    Rectory Gardens: The stop for all buses to Lancaster

    This is now the timing point for northbound buses, but despite this there is no display case to show the departure times. Neither does it have level-access boarding. The lack of a display here and at the B5272 Manor Inn stop means that nowhere in the village is there a display of northbound service 88 bus times.

    There is no corresponding southbound stop at Rectory Gardens. At the time the northbound stop was established there would have been nowhere to place one, as the fields opposite came right down to the road, and there was no footpath or anywhere safe for passengers to board or alight. However, since August 2023 the “Estuary Hill” housing development of 25 homes, mostly 2 or 3 bed properties, has sprung up opposite the new stop and a footway has been provided along the A588 making it possible to provide a southbound stop. We suggested to the county council that it should do so.

    County Council Response

    Responsibility for bus stops and bus stop information lies with Lancashire County Council and to its credit, once the situation in Cockerham was brought to its attention we had an immediate response in which they agreed:

    1 A display case for departure times would be provided at the Manor Inn stop on B5272 and the notice about school services would be removed.

    2. A display case will be provided at the Rectory Gardens stop

    3. Consideration will be given to providing a southbound stop at Rectory Gardens to serve the new development.

    The problem of the bus stops at the Manor Inn not referring passengers to the “other” buses available is apparently rather harder to resolve. The council’s system of producing departure lists for stops appears somewhat inflexible and it apparently does not have the resources to provide bespoke solutions in cases such as this. Nevertheless it has promised to see whether anything can be done that would not impact on staff resources.

    The Bus Users’ Group realises that the problems identified may not be the most urgent facing bus users in Lancashire and they will affect only a small number of people, but we see it as part of our role to seek such minor improvements and to resolve problems that those in authority may not always have the time to identify and resolve by themselves.

    We would therefore wish to place on record our appreciation of the council’s response and hope that this is shared by the bus passengers of Cockerham village.

  • Changes to University Services

    Service 100 will no longer serve Alexandra Park during the week in the University holidays.

    Sunday, 29th June sees the start of “University Holidays” timetables on Stagecoach services to Lancaster University. This year however, as well as the usual reductions to services 1, 4 and X4, there are more significant revisions affecting the Alexandra Park section of the campus.

    Service 100 will, during university holidays, be curtailed to operate only as far as the University Underpass, whilst the 1/1A will be extended around the Alexandra Park loop in its place as announced by Lancashire County Council on its website. It is not clear from the council website, but the Bus Users’ Group understands that these changes to the 1/1A and 100 will apply on Monday to Saturday only. On Sunday, when the 1A doesn’t serve the University at all during the holidays, the 100 will continue over its full route includingh Alexandra Park.

    The county council does not spell out the implications of the change, which are that are that as service 1 is itself cut back to operate only between Heysham and Lancaster City Centre in the holidays, the daytime service to Alexandra Park on the 1A is reduced from the current four buses per hour on the 100 to three. During the evenings there will be no service at all between the city centre and Alexandra Park other than occasional journeys on services 41 to Preston and 42 to Blackpool.

    Stagecoach may feel that reducing the service to the largely residential part of the campus during times when fewer students are likely to be living there is a sensible economy, but it introduces an extra layer of complexity into timetables that are already complicated and difficult to sell to the travelling public, especially those that have no connection with the university and no knowledge of term and holiday dates.

  • New seats at Common Garden Street

    Passengers waiting for buses at the stops in Common Garden Street in Lancaster city centre should find it a more comfortable experience following the installation of new seating by Lancashire County Council.

    The new “Broxap” seating

    This replaces the previous benches that many passengers found uncomfortable and difficult to use due to their low positioning and lack of armrests.

    The need for the new seats was recognised by Lancaster City councillors, who asked LBUG member and city councillor Abi Mills to pursue the matter in her role as the council’s disability champion. After much research and extensive consultation with potential users the “Broxap Ilford” design (illustrated above) was chosen.

    However, with both the city and county councils strapped for cash and the Marketgate Centre’s owners not seeing it as their role, the project was held up due to lack of funding.

    Lancaster Bus Users’ Group was able to identify the Bus Service Improvement Plan, administered by the “Enhanced Partnership” of bus operators and councils in Lancashire, as a potential source and an application for funding proved successful.

    Another example of the Bus Users’ Group working together with the city and county councils to improve facilities for passengers,

  • Dales Bus Returns

    Lancaster will once-again be connected to the Yorkshire Dales by bus after a two-year absence from next month when Lonsdale Buses will begin operating service 80 between Lancaster and Hawes.

    In a change from previous years the service will run on Saturdays between 3rd May and 18th October with two round trips each day.

    Connections

    Connections will be made with trains on the Settle & Carlisle line at Ribblehead. Buses will meet the “Yorkshire Dales Explorer” train from Rochdale and Manchester at either end of the day to convey passengers to and from Hawes from where further bus connections are available on the Wensleydale Voyager 156 service to Leyburn and the “Garsdale Station Shuttle” 113 to Hardraw and Garsdale station. There are no connections to Swalesdale or Richmond this year. Service 156 does continue to Catterick, from where a connection to and from Richmond is available, but the timetables are such that only a very short stay is possible in the town.

    Round Trips

    As well as providing a facility for Lancaster residents to reach the Dales, a second round trip from Hawes will make it possible for people to make an afternoon’s visit to Lancaster and will restore a direct link between Ingleton and the city on Saturday afternoons.

    Fares and Concessions

    The Dales Rover ticket, which most passengers have used in previous years is only available on Sundays & Public Holidays and will not therefore be valid. However, the £3 maximum single fare cap will apply as will the under-19s offer of a maximum £1 fare per journey.

    At the time of writing the position on concessionary passes was unclear and apparently under negotiation. In previous years North Yorkshire County Council, illegally in our view, did not allow their use on Dales Buses from Lancaster on the spurious grounds that these were provided solely for “tourists”. However the new service provides for a range of journey purposes, including shopping and hospital visiting in Lancaster and we would hope that the new North Yorkshire Council and Lancashire County Council would see sense and accept them.

    Links

    Please follow the links for more information

    Timetable for service 80 Lancaster – Hawes

    Map of Dales Bus services Summer 2025

    Dales Area Bus and Train Times Booklet Summer 2025

  • Update on new service 552

    Our previous post on the introduction of the extension of service 552 to provide a new link from Carnforth, Warton, Yealand and Silverdale to Arnside and Kendal was based on information supplied in good faith by Lancashire County Council, which itself received it from the operator, Lonsdale Buses. The information given matched that on the council’s own website.

    After posting it, we were alerted by a reader to the fact that Westmorland & Furness Council was showing a different timetable on its website. After querying the position with both councils we then received a third version, which we are assured has been provided by Lonsdale Buses and is the timetable that has been registered. Here it is:

    We have amended the previous post and removed the incorrect timetable, as there is already too much out-of-date and just plain wrong stuff on the internet already!

  • Cross-Border Link Reinstated

    Service 552 will be extended from Arnside to Carnforth

    This post has been amended following receipt of new information.

    From Monday, 31st March, in an initiative between Lancashire and Westmorland & Furness Councils, Lonsdale Buses service 552 to Kendal will be extended to start at Carnforth, filling the gap across the county boundary and reinstating in a modest way a long-lost link between Silverdale and Arnside.

    Surprisingly, even at this late stage, a full public timetable is not available, but the Bus Users’ Group has managed to obtain a draft version. which although not complete with details of picking-up points and routes, does give an indication of the service, which will operate on Monday to Saturday inclusive.

    The timing points in Warton, Yealand Conyers and Levens are still to be confirmed as is the route the service will take between through Silverdale village and Arnside, but we will post these as soon as we can obtain the details.

    Service 552 itself was established in March 2020, just before the Covid pandemic struck, but despite this it managed to establish itself and was recently extended from a three to a six day a week operation. A previous service between Arnside and Kendal, operated by Stagecoach was withdrawn in 2019.

    Ribble

    Historically the link was provided by Ribble Motor Services as part of service 554 between Kendal and Lancaster. In 1971 an hourly service was still being operated although by the time of deregulation of bus services in October 1986 it had shrunk to just two journeys a day with additional journeys between Warton and Lancaster.

    The new service provides a facility for passengers from Warton, Yealand and Silverdale to visit Kendal including Morrisons supermarket as well as the town centre. as well as allowing Arnside residents to get to Carnforth and, with connecting services, to Lancaster,

JOIN US

 
Lancaster District Bus Users Group exists to further the interests of bus passengers throughout the Lancaster District, including Morecambe, Heysham, Carnforth and the surrounding rural area.

Membership is open everyone and the subscription is £5 per annum (£2 for Bus Pass holders and students).

You can join either by
 
  • Sending a cheque made payable to Lancaster Bus Users Group to Steve Clarke, 75 Spruce Avenue, Lancaster LA1 5UB together with your full name and contact details  
  • E-mailing office@lancasterbususers.com and asking for details of how to pay us directly by bank transfer
  • Coming along to one of our meetings and paying there by cash or cheque.
  • Meeting dates are shown on the left hand sidebar of this site. 
The membership year runs from January to December, but members joining after 1st October will not have to pay again in January.
 
 
 
We look forward to seeing you soon.