Revised Bus-Link at Nailsea & Backwell

[whole diary]

[TheLastMinute]

Sounds good. A clock face timetable always seems to be more popular with the general public - lets hope so.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Yes: thanks, David!

I've just taken something of a liberty, by merging some previous posts from the 'car park at Nailsea' topic to this one here, in the interests of continuity.

Hopefully, this will confirm that the direct bus link between the village of Backwell and the town of Nailsea, via the railway station, is actually a very welcome - and clearly developing - service!

Chris. 

[grahame]

Sadly, I understand (from the operator) that this service is to cease from 16th April 2011, due to low passenger numbers.   The service was a commercial one, as is the alternative service which they offer from the area directly into the centre of Bristol, which is said to be doing very well. 

[clevedonian]

not really surprised, if it anything like the new bus link from Yatton to Clevedon, which is poorly timed and leaves about a minute before the evening peak train arrives 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Actually, as previous posts on this topic will confirm, the North Somerset Coaches bus link at Nailsea & Backwell station is commendably passenger-focussed - timed to connect with trains, and the bus drivers tend to wait, if a train is a few minutes late.

Despite that, it just doesn't pay its way, apparently: nevertheless, it was a commendable effort, and sincere thanks to them for trying to make a go of it!

Chris from Nailsea. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

... the new bus link from Yatton to Clevedon, which is poorly timed and leaves about a minute before the evening peak train arrives 

From the Weston Mercury:

Council cash on a bus service few wanted

North Somerset Council has spent ^38,570 on a new bus service to help transport staff to Castlewood - despite only two per cent of surveyed employees saying they favour catching a bus to work.

As part of the council^s site amalgamation programme, more than 500 employees were asked to transfer to the Clevedon building from Weston, Worle and other satellite bases last year.

North Somerset Council surveyed the staff who had been identified last June as making the move over the following months, asking them about possible transport methods.

But the Mercury can reveal through a Freedom Of Information request that despite only two per cent of those who responded saying they preferred at the time to travel by bus and seven per cent saying they would be likely to do so to Clevedon, a new public service has been created between Yatton train station, Kenn Business Park, Castlewood and the centre of Clevedon at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds to taxpayers.

Wessex Connect started operating it towards the end of last year and the contract runs until the end of August, 2012.

It runs at 30-minute intervals during the morning and evening peaks and sometimes hourly.

The cost of the trip to the public and to council employees is ^1 per single journey.

Campaigner Clare Kingsbury-Bell first brought the news about the transport survey results and the subsequent new bus route to the Mercury^s attention. She said: ^As if it^s not bad enough they^ve wasted millions of pounds buying a second town hall in Clevedon and forced hundreds of jobs to be lost from Weston they^re now wasting this money on a bus service nobody wanted. People who have lost bus services they actually used ^ such as in Worle ^ will be appalled by this. What^s the point of asking people if they just ignore the answer?^

A council spokesman said last year that absence of good services from Yatton was seen as restricting the numbers of staff indicating public transport as their likely means of travel and has also been identified as a key concern for employees.

The council also said that the area was very poorly served by transport links and needed another public service.

[devon_metro]

Is this the 'Coast Connect' bus I saw in Yatton earlier? I wasn't previously aware of said service.

[clevedonian]

the coast connect is a slightly longer service, running congresbury to portishead via yatton & clevedon

the other service is from outside Yatton station to Clevedon only.

[NSCoaches]

Two things to comment here:

Firstly, apologies to Coffee Shop members for being beaten to it! I'd planned to leave it until the end of March before announcing our service changes from 18th April.

Sadly it is true that the Nailsea & Backwell Rail Link service will cease from this date. Having worked hard since August 2008 at delivering the "integrated public transport" that everyone keeps screaming for, the route can't be cross-subsidised any longer (and we have never received a penny of subsidy or support for running it) so will finish... and probably never return, which is a great shame.

Secondly, the Yatton-Clevedon Link was a North Somerset Coaches project, jointly worked through with the North Somerset Council relocation team, based on our experience of actually making it work at Nailsea. Sadly politics that I won't go into saw the route being operated in the current fashion by Wessex Connect with their lovely Mercedes Sprinter. We had planned a flagship operation, that the council and operator could be proud of, with joint/through ticketing and proper marketing... "Clevedon Branch" type of service giving a decent feeder service to the railway at Yatton. Sadly none of those things have happened, and the route will undoubtedly finish when the allocated fixed amount of funding runs out and Wessex walk away.


Dave. (NSCoaches), Nailsea.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for posting that, Dave.

Chris from Nailsea. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

From Nailsea People:

All change on Nailsea buses

Nailsea-based North Somerset Coaches has announced details of important changes to bus services from Monday, November 5.

A slightly revised timetable will be introduced on Nailsea to Bristol Express Service X54  with the first two morning journeys combined and the last evening journey from Bristol at 6.50pm withdrawn. As well as the new Route 55 journeys through the day there will be a new earlier afternoon X54 journey from Bristol to Nailsea departing from Broadmead at 3.25pm.

But the daytime local Service 2 which ran from Backwell to Nailsea, and Service 4 the Nailsea local circular routes are being withdrawn because the costs.

North Somerset Coaches boss David Fricker said: "They are now operating at a financial loss and are no longer commercially viable. This is a results of fuel costs having more than doubled during the past four years and a 20 per cent cut earlier this year to Bus Service Operators Grant by the Department for Transport.

Mr Fricker said: "Increased costs cannot be passed on to customers through increased prices because most passengers travel using free bus passes which are repaid at a fixed rate that has changed little since 2009. It is very disappointing to announce that we have to withdraw services 2 and 4 around Nailsea.

"We have worked extremely hard during the past four years to provide the residents of Nailsea and Backwell with a good quality and reliable local service using low-floor buses. However, with costs continually rising, we can no longer operate the services at a loss because the viability of the entire business would be at risk.

"I would like to thank all our customers who have used Services 2 and 4 during the past four years; knowing many passengers on firstname terms has made it a very hard decision to make."

[trainer]

It is a shame when one of the best run bus companies in the country, with an MD committed to good service has to withdraw genuinely public service routes.  Sadly the population of the area served is not economically viable, but it was great to see a bus outside Nailsea and Backwell Station so frequently.  (I have no connection to the company and live outside the area it serves).

[Chris from Nailsea]

From Nailsea People:

Coach operator's blockade protest threat over Nailsea parking

A Nailsea coach operator is threatening to partially blockade a town centre street with his buses to highlight issues with vehicles parking along the busy route.


David Fricker says he is "seriously considering" parking his coaches along Silver Street to highlight the problem of parked vehicles

David Fricker, who runs North Somerset Coaches, says his buses are regularly delayed because of contractors working on a new care home parking their vehicles along Silver Street. He says his buses, which run every two hours around Nailsea and into Bristol, struggle to get along the route and are regularly delayed by up to 20 minutes. And he says that vehicles travelling in the opposite direction along Silver Street are being forced to mount the pavement to allow his buses to get past ^ which could be dangerous for pedestrians.

Work on the care home started several weeks ago and is due to be completed in June. Mr Fricker has contacted the police, North Somerset Council and Nailsea Town Council asking them to intervene. But because there are no parking restrictions along Silver Street, the contractors are not doing anything illegal. Mr Fricker says if the situation does not improve, he will take his fleet of coaches down to Silver Street early in the morning and park them up, preventing the contractors from leaving their vehicles along the route.

Mr Fricker said: "Silver Street has essentially been made into a single carriageway which makes it very difficult to get the buses through. Vehicles coming in the opposite direction have to mount the pavement as the road is very congested and there are limited passing places. I am very concerned that this could lead to a nasty accident with a car colliding with a pedestrian on the pavement. We have complained to the council and the police but everyone seems to be passing the buck and as there are no parking restrictions along Silver Street, there seems to be nothing which can be done. I am seriously considering taking my buses down there early before the contractors arrive and parking them up along the street to highlight the problems which they are causing."

It had been suggested that the contractors park in the nearby Clevedon Road car park and walk to the site in a bid to solve the problem. A request had also been made for them to use the car park at the adjacent former Four Oaks School, which is owned by North Somerset, as a temporary measure but no agreement was reached.

Nailsea Town Council has also received complaints about the parking issue. Nailsea Town Council clerk, Ian Morrell, said: "The town council is well aware of the problems which have arisen at Silver Street. The town council has no direct power to intervene but is working closely with the police and the highways authority."

Bosses at contractor ER Hemmings, who are building the new care home, said they are doing everything possible to limit parking problems. Site manager Kelvin Chard said: "The vast majority of our contractors park at Clevedon Road car park. We have also spoken to the local police and asked North Somerset to allow us to use the school next door to park but it was not prepared to enter into an agreement. I have also asked the police to provide me with an official letter which I can issue to our contractors instructing them to park elsewhere. I would be happy to put cones along the route to stop parking. We are doing all we can but as there are no restrictions our workers are parking legally and I cannot force them to use the car park."

Nailsea Police Community Support Officer Charlotte Thompson said: "We are aware of the issue on Silver Street. "The contractors are parking legally as there are no parking restrictions along the road."

[trainer]

I'm surprised that the police can't do anything about this.  When we had a protest on a housing estate in Clevedon some years ago, some angry residents parked their cars deliberately so that buses could not pass.  I was on a bus which was brought to a lengthy halt and when the police arrived, the owners of said cars claimed that they had just parked outside their own homes on an unrestricted road. The police officer responded that he would charge them with causing an obstruction.  The cars were moved back onto the driveways.

[JayMac]

Whilst there may not be parking restrictions, there is still the possibility that an offence is being committed. Under Section 137 of the Highways Act 1980, it is a criminal offence 'without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway.'

There's also a much older offence. Under Section 28 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, it is 'an offence to obstruct the street to the distraction, annoyance or danger of residents or passengers.'