18/12/2009 - EYMS announces service changes
Please note that finalised details of the service changes mentioned in this press release are now available here.
East Yorkshire Motor Services has announced details of the service changes which the company regrets are necessary because Hull City Council is to cut by £160,000 a year the amount it pays EYMS for concessionary travellers in Hull under the government’s travel concession scheme, and from February EYMS will lose the financial contribution it currently gets from the Priory Park and Ride contract following the loss of the contract to a new operator. EYMS has already been hit from this month by a reduction of £350,000 a year in the concessionary travel payment from North Yorkshire councils.
EYMS Chairman Peter Shipp has again strongly criticised the Concessionary Travel Scheme which is administered and paid for by local councils but in many cases without enough grant from central government.
“People think we should be happy to get even a small payment for carrying concessionary passholders because they are only filling spare seats” said Mr Shipp, “but this is not true. In many cases these passengers were previously paying to travel so we have lost out because the payment we get now is only around half of the adult fare.”
“Often the seats are not even ‘spare’ as we are now carrying so many concessionary passengers that on some longer routes buses are full and we know that sometimes farepaying passengers cannot get on our buses. Between Hull and Scarborough some people have transferred to the train because our buses are so often full. In some areas of the country the reimbursement from local councils is so low that even a full bus can lose money if most or all of the passengers are concessions. For one company in North Yorkshire a £5.50 adult fare is replaced by a payment of just £1.48 for a passholder.”
The EYMS services planned for complete withdrawal in February are 1C (hourly between Kingswood and Anlaby Park via Mizzen Road and Bridlington Avenue), 41 (every 20 minutes from Greatfield Estate to the city centre) and 109 (a few daily journeys between Bricknell Estate and Cottingham). These routes have been losing money for some time and with the big reductions in income it is no longer possible to continue supporting them using profits from the better routes.
However the company has stressed that it is possible that the Councils will decide to support a full or partial replacement of some or all of these routes so it is by no means certain at this stage that they will actually finish in February. Any decisions about this by the Councils will not be known until sometime in January. (Jan 2010 - service changes finalised - click here for details)
It has also been possible to save two buses, and therefore costs, on the Willerby corridor with only very small timetable changes and there will actually be improvements on some of these routes and some new bus links will be created. In summary these changes are:
Route 154 (Hull to Cottingham via HRI and Willerby) will terminate at Castle Hill but will link with route 115 (Hull to Cottingham via the University) to form a complete circular route on today’s 20 minute daytime frequencies so there will be new links from places on the 154 route to Cottingham and Castle Hill Hospital, and between the University area and the Willerby and Anlaby areas.
Route 154 will also be enhanced to run hourly on Sundays when it will also link with the Sunday 115 route as on weekdays, providing better facilities for Castle Hill Hospital. The short section of 154 between Cottingham centre and Cottingham station will be lost but this is used by only a very few passengers.
Route 64 (City centre to Castle Hill Hospital via Calvert Lane, Priory Road and Cottingham) will terminate at Castle Hill instead of continuing as 47.
Routes 45 and 47 (City centre to Willerby) will be withdrawn but replaced by route 44 which will increase to every 20 minutes.
Route 33 will also increase to every 20 minutes.
Route 35 will reduce to hourly but will extend to Willerby Square via Kingston Road and the Parkway. These changes will also mean there will be a new 10 minute daytime frequency between Hull and County Road South (using routes 33 and 44) and between Hull and Willerby (44/154).
ENDS
Issued by Peter Shipp
Chairman and Chief Executive
East Yorkshire Motor Services Ltd
18 December 2009
Important note to editors: If it is not possible to include all the individual service details due to lack of space PLEASE include a note to say that the details in this press release can be found here on our website www.eyms.co.uk and complete timetables will be on the website early in the New Year.
Note to passengers: More information on all our service changes will be available from late January 2010 - look out for posters on the buses. For the latest updates, sign up to our email newsletter - just click on our homepage and scroll down to the red box on the left hand side. Printed timetables will be available from Hull Travel Centre and other local outlets (e.g. libraries, tourist information centres) a week before the changes and will be available to download from our website from mid-January.
Jan 2010 - timetables now available to download - click here for details.
Photo by Dennis Hartley
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