National Express once daily services.

[whole diary]

[grahame]

"There isn't a direct service from Settle to Thorpe Culvert" ... I read somewhere as an answer to someone's question. And I recall back to pre-2014 days when there was a (one!) Sunday train from Melksham to Westbury and, my goodness, did we struggle to find people for whom was useful.

I have often looked at the once-daily National Express services and wondered at their business model and where they're going (future prospects, not destinations  ).  Our own service - Frome, Melksham, Devizes, Marlborough to London offers day trips and also long distance leisure journeys for people going away for longer periods.  As a link to Heathrow it should be superb - 200 yards from home to the airport.  But it's always too late for checking in for the flights Lisa and I take, and we really don't want to hang around from mid morning to late afternoon when we get back.

From Cornwall Live

National Express coach company axes Cornwall route due to lack of passengers

National Express said it was cutting parts of the 315 coach service from Helston to Eastbourne

Coach company National Express is axing one of services in Cornwall because of a lack of passengers.

The firm is cutting the Cornish part of its 315 service between Helston to Eastbourne.

The route also takes in stops across Cornwall including Falmouth, Penryn, Truro, St Austell and Liskeard.

However, the company said it was cutting the route, which will in future only start at Plymouth. Passengers coming back into Cornwall would have to change at Plymouth for alternative services to Penzance.

[martyjon]

National Express are introducing a late service from London to Bristol, seen it reported on BristolLive in past week. Leave London in early hours and arrives Bristol 04:something if my memory remembered.

[grahame]

National Express are introducing a late service from London to Bristol, seen it reported on BristolLive in past week. Leave London in early hours and arrives Bristol 04:something if my memory remembered.

Look back to old railway timetables of around 60 years ago, and you'll see services much, much sparser in general.  They've typically gone one of two ways - either the service / line have gone completely, or the service has been enhanced beyond recognition over the three score years.

Listening to bus operators talk, they tell of the difficulty of sustaining without support the "thin line" really infrequent services on a commercial basis, but then they're often able and it's worthwhile as a business for them to thicken up lines that are already quite thick.

So - I wonder - is this pattern of strengthening the trunk and cutting off the branches - also applying to National Express?   The dangers of cutting off the branches are that it leaves little or no alternative at times, and that it removes the ability to feed into the main trunk services.  Total Journey and Final Mile onsiderations!