Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

[mrd97]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

(03/09/2019 09:30)L401CJF Wrote:  Evening and Sunday 492/495 seems very badly thought out, to me it looks like they've done it deliberately awkward so they can say its not used enough and withdraw it in a few months time.

Sundays run at an alternate hourly frequency, so the 492 is every 2 hours and 495 every 2 hours, plus skips a whole hour trip in the afternoon and runs the bus in so driver can have a break, then runs back out and starts again rather than just relieve the driver for a break for an hour.

Evening service is the same, the 1810 495 extends past laird St at 1846,then operates a 492 at 1910, 495 at 2010, then a short 492 to Laird St at 2110. Realistically the estates only have 1 extra bus in each direction of an evening. Why they couldn't leave a 492 bus out and keep the 495 one on the 495 and just extend the service for 3 hours running at a half hourly combined frequency doesn't make sense to me. Looks deliberately infrequent so it has a good excuse to be culled.

I’m confident a full evening and Sunday service would be well used (each service operated hourly for a combined half hourly frequency). When Avon ran it for Merseytravel, Sunday daytime journeys were usually very busy, sometimes a standing load. Evening services were relatively well patronised (well, no less so than any other generic evening service 410 487 ect). They were happy to introduce a full half hourly Sunday service on the 464, and from observation, it’s never busy. They can’t run that service hourly as it takes approximately 40 minutes from Liverpool to New Ferry and vice versa (which would leave a huge layover time). Yet despite that they gave it the same frequency as the Monday to Saturday service.

Let’s not forget 2 years ago Beechwood had 3 buses an hour evenings and Sundays in both directions (118/119, 492/495) and noctorum 2 (293, 492/495). Call it what you like, but to leave two large housing estates without a bus service is not good. Especially when they waste a bus doing the moreton circulars (which carry fresh air past about 5pm)