The Number 12 service was recently part-funded by the parish council in LongtonĀ Pic: Mike Rhodes
A raft of changes to bus services in Preston are coming into force from early September.
Services on Preston Bus vehicles across the city are being withdrawn, re-routed and adjusted.
Here’s what’s happening to each of the routes affected by the new timetables from Monday 5 September.
During the busy travelling times in the afternoon, services have been getting delayed in traffic around the Red Scar Industrial Estate. In order to improve reliability, buses will operate every 12 minutes during this period, with more time to complete their journeys. Buses will also operate every 12 minutes all day on Saturdays, and will combine with service 19 to provide a 6-minute service along Deepdale Road. Some early morning journeys have revised timetables to improve reliability.
Minor changes have been made to the times of certain journeys early in a morning. Please check the new timetable before travelling.
In partnership with Longton Parish Council, the afternoon peak-time timetable is revised to improve reliability. In addition, a later journey from Preston is introduced at 1816 in response to passenger requests. The 2230 journey on Friday and Saturday is revised to operate to and from Preston Bus Station, and will still serve the Lune Street stop.
Unfortunately, the first journey from Longsands Lane is withdrawn due to very low levels of usage. There are no further changes to this service. For a later journey back to Longsands from the City Centre, the 2300 (2230 on Sunday) service 23 is extended to terminate at the Anderton Arms after Asda.
The time of some early morning journeys is changed to improve reliability. Please check the new timetable before travelling. Passengers along New Hall Lane are reminded that service X80/280 can be used for local journeys and all Preston Bus tickets and passes are valid between the City Centre at Tickled Trout Hotel.
In response to customer requests, an earlier journey will be introduced to arrive at the Hospital before 6am. In a late afternoon, timetable tweaks are made to improve reliability at the busiest time of day. On a Saturday buses will run every 12 minutes, and will combine with service 6 to provide a 6-minute service along Deepdale Road.
Combined with service 23, we continue to operate up to 18 buses per hour between the City Centre and Royal Preston Hospital.
In order to improve the general reliability of the service, most journey times have been adjusted. During the week, buses will continue to operate up to every 5 minutes at the busiest time of day. Buses will operate every 7/8 minutes during the day, and every 10 minutes on Saturday daytimes.
The 2300 journey Monday-Saturday will extend to Longsands Lane after Asda. The midnight and 0100 journeys on Friday and Saturday nights from the City Centre will be extended to terminate at Sherwood (Barnacre Close).
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In order to improve reliability and punctuality, an additional bus will be used at the busiest times of day. The general 15-minute frequency will be maintained. Some journey times will be slightly amended in order to provide better co-ordination with service 44 between Lane Ends and the City Centre.
In response to passenger requests, earlier journeys have been introduced on Sunday mornings. During the week, buses will operate every 10 minutes during the afternoon peak period instead of every 8 minutes to improve the reliability and punctuality of the service. Buses will now operate every 10 minutes on Saturdays.
Due to overcrowding of service 31 around the Tulketh Mill and Lane Ends area, this service will now operate via Blackpool Road and Lane Ends instead of Lytham Road and Mill Lane. To reflect this revised route, the service will be numbered 44 instead of 43. The service will then continue to Cottam, Lea Road via the existing route. Some timetable changes are made to provide better coordination of journeys between Lane Ends and the City Centre, but buses will still operate every 30 minutes.
In partnership with Lancashire County Council, these services will be revised, reinstating a direct service between Preston and Fleetwood. Final details are still to be confirmed, and will be posted on our website.
In response to feedback from Lea & Cottam Parish Council, this service will now extend to Larches estate, via Lea Road, Blackpool Road, Larches Lane and Greaves Town Lane. To accommodate this, the frequency will be reduced to 30 minutes (from 20 minutes). Unfortunately, due to very low levels of ridership (usually just one or two passengers), the service will be withdrawn after 1930 and all day on Saturdays.
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Minor changes will be made to the service to ensure that buses run punctually. Now that the service diverts into Port Way Park and Ride, buses are very busy at certain times of day, and duplicate buses will operate where required. We thank passengers for their patience while the new arrangements have settled in.
Journey times throughout most of the day will be revised to improve the general punctuality of the service. The majority of journeys will now operate via Barnoldswick on the current 180 route. Services that operate via Craven College will continue to follow the direct X80 route. Journeys in an afternoon have been re-timed to coincide with the closure of Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, providing connections to Preston at 1545 and 1430 on Wednesdays. A revised Sunday timetable has been introduced following consultation with DalesBus in order to improve connection opportunities for passengers at Skipton.
In order to make things simpler, current 180 journeys between Clitheroe and Skipton will use the 280 route number to match the rest of the service between Preston and Clitheroe. Similarly, service 280 journeys between Clitheroe and Preston that continue to Skipton via direct route X80 will be re-numbered X80.
1, 2, 3A, 5/6 (Ormskirk Town), 13, 19A (RPH Shuttle), 112, 114. And no school services change.
They will be in place online four weeks prior to the changes.
Do these changes affect you? Which bus service do you use? Let us know in the comments below