FROM PAUL JOHNSON, TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENT
As a strong supporter of public transport I decided to try out the new X4 bus service from Scunthorpe to Brigg.
This new service, which has recently been introduced, gives a much faster direct service on a Monday to Friday timetable, with an hourly service for most times of the day.
Our first problem was actually trying to find where the bus went from in Scunthorpe Bus Station.
We eventually found where the X4 went from by asking a number of people. It departs from stand M but nobody has updated the information on the outer bit of the bus shelter to show this (see picture above).
Despite it being a non-market day, the 10 a.m. departure to Brigg actually had 19 people on board.
The journey time was a very impressive 23 minutes, with 2 minutes of this actually spent sat at the traffic lights in Brigg waiting to turn right into Cary Lane.
Feedback about this new service seems to be very good. However, there are a few issues that need to be dealt with.
Because there is no direct train service to/from Brigg during the week, it would be helpful if the X4 could terminate at, or go via, Scunthorpe railway station.
This is what's called an integrated transport system - something that, sadly, North Lincolnshire lacks.
Other feedback includes that the last X4 from Scunthorpe, which departs at 17:00, should actually be extended to Barnetby and Kirmington, as the present timetable for the last bus service departing 16:00 hours is far too early.
Elsewhere, the problematic evening timetable on the Service 4 has been highlighted again, this time when travelling from Brigg to Scunthorpe.
An 18:30 and then 20:50 is a service, with nothing in the middle, that takes you into Scunthorpe; concerning, as is the last bus which you would have thought would depart Brigg at least between 22:00 and 22:30.
N.F ADDS: The X service runs directly from Brigg to Scunthorpe via the Ashby Lakeside Retail Park; the No 4 service takes in Castlethorpe, Wressle, Broughton, Forest Pines, Ashby Lakeside Retail Park, Ashby town centre and Oswald Road, Scunthorpe (including the stop outside the museum and close to the town's railway station).
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| Cary Lane, Brigg, on Friday, August 10 at 10:25 a.m., showing the Number 4 bus to Scunthorpe and (behind it) the X4 that had arrived from Scunthorpe. |
I only wish that some degree of coordination was possible between bus and train at Scunthorpe but as the bus is run for the convenience of Mr. Hornsby and the train runs at the whim of the DfT I see a yawning gap which there is not the will to bridge at present. With the railway in its current overheated state and Network Rail's Planners stuffing every section of line with trains stood at signals waiting for nothing much to happen I suspect that any attempt at coordination would soon fall to pieces given Transpennine's lamentable punctuality particularly in the Manchester-Cleethorpes direction.
ReplyDeleteno connection on sat for the brigg town service,the last bus leaves 5 mins before the return bus gets in leaving passengers tp either walk or get a taxi back holme.
ReplyDeletegetting to grimsby via humber flyer again no connection.