... Boxing Day.
We’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating: today has become one of the biggest shopping days of the year, even busier that New Year’s Day. This year could be busier still, with VAT on the rise and a certain pent up need for shopping, thanks to pre-Christmas winter weather. Boxing Day used to be a family day and it’s actually a sad indictment of our consumer culture that it is no longer.
It’s taken some years to catch up but the bus is nevertheless beginning to rise to the challenge of retail mania by reintroducing Boxing Day buses, with more and more operators now running service in 2010. Patchy, it isn’t anywhere near universal, though. Here’s a flavour of things.
| OPERATOR | BOXING DAY OFFER |
| Abellio Surrey | No service save 441 (Heathrow) |
| Brighton & Hove | Special timetables on 19 routes |
| First Berkshire & Thames Valley | No service save for 71 & 78 (Heathrow) |
| First Devon & Cornwall | No buses |
| First Dorset & Hampshire | No Service |
| First West | No Service save for A1/A2 Bristol Airport |
| Metrobus (provincial) | Special timetables |
| Oxford Bus Co | No service |
| Plymouth Citybus | No Service |
| Reading Transport | Special timetables |
| Southern Vectis | Sunday service |
| Stagecoach Oxford | Special timetables (city and country) |
| Stagecoach South East | No service |
| Stagecoach South West | No service |
| TfL | Sunday service |
| Thamesdown Transport | No service |
| Transdev Yellow Buses | Special service |
| W&D Bluestar | Special service |
| Wilts & Dorset | Special service |
In some areas, you cannot get to the shops but you can get out of the country!
May I be permitted to focus on the way in which two neighbouring operators are delivering their new Boxing Day services, predictably Trandev Yellow Buses and Wilts & Dorset. Both are new to Boxing Day. TYB has achieved everything with a dozen or so single shifts, with scheduled-in lunch breaks. This is by far the more efficient way of doing it, though it does leave gaps in the middle of the day.
W&D has continuous coverage, requiring more costly driver reliefs. W&D therefore affords its passengers the luxury of a memorable timetable. Theirs is passenger focused whereas TYB’s is what we used to call a scheduler’s timetable, something that’s generally no longer acceptable. So, whereas TYB operates thrice an hour on the 1A/B/C twixt Bournemouth & Boscombe but with an 80 minute gap between 1200 and 1320, W&D’s M2 runs twice an hour consistently.Similarly, W&D operates half-hourly on the M1 along the Charminster Road between Bournemouth and Castlepoint, TYB run the 3 at hourly intervals but misses the 1230 departure.
And look what’s happening beyond Boxing Day. Four days of holidays and the picture’s far from consistent, with some operators running normally or a Saturday service on Tuesday 28th bank holiday, while others prefer a more traditional Sunday timetable.
W&D’s situation is particularly worthy of note. Whereas its group sister Southern Vectis operates a limited service even on Christmas Day (its third), SVOC gives its passengers a Sunday service on 28th. Siblings W&D and W&D Bluestar will run a Saturday timetable. The motivation is the staff agreement during a four day holiday, which means locally drivers will need paying regardless of whether or not W&D makes service.
It therefore becomes a bit of a postcode lottery as to whether you will see a bus from after 2000 on Christmas Eve to first journey on 29th December. Even where Sunday services are available, these are increasingly limiting. Many will be without a bus for the whole four days.
12 comments:
How come everywhere has "no service" apart from First D&C which have "no buses"? Is there something you're not telling us? :P
Here in Greater Manchester, both First and Stagecoach are running services on selected main routes. First's services are mostly hourly, whilst most of Stagecoach services are every 20 minutes. Most of these cease after 6pm.
The only Christmas day service was the hourly 42 from Manchester Airport to Manchester City centre.
What amazes me is the lack of service on Christmas eve. The last Arriva/First/Stagecoach services were between 5pm and 7pm. Yet, National Express West Midlands operated a normal evening service, most Network Warrington evening services finished at around 8pm, and TYB buses finished at 10pm.
I can completely understand that services on Christmas Eve need to wind down earlier, but 5-6pm in a large metropolitan county seems ridiculous.
but on the Isle of Wight....
All services run through to the "normal" end of day.
Christmas Day from approx 0830 to 2330 hourly on three key routes. West Wight and Bembridge in the far east NOT served.
Either Sunday or Saturday service until normality is restored on all other days.
In the Lothians both First Edinburgh and Lothian have long run very limited services on 25.12 and 1.1 with LA support. Midlothian pays nothing so gets nothing from either company.
In the past the 26.12 and 2.1 services were only a wee bit less limited, but in recent years Lothian have expanded their service, but (surprise!) First have not.
Glasgow, which for years had XMas day service has been pulled! with boxing day at least having a sunday service.
When it comes to Boxing day:
Fife and Tayside areas get a limted service.
Carlisle, hull,Tyne and wear area, Preston and Sheffield all has a limited but decent service today, Its seems Stagecoach is more willing to operate on boxing day!
Why is it First who control more Big city area can not provide a service yet stagecoach can do it? even it council surrport.
The trouble with the Boxing Day sales is that it's not just the high street shops that people go to, it's the big out of town retailers.
I'm sure we can all picture the DFS and B&Q television adverts.
However, while for instance I can see people going to work at Heathrow on Abellio's 441, I can't see anyone bringing home a three-piece suite on a Mini Pointer Dart! (and let's hope no one buys any paint in B&Q...)
Re. Christmas Eve, Rob @ 12:30, Wilts & Dorset and Bluestar not only operated until the normal last bus but also operated the normal Friday nightbuses in the Bournemouth and Southampton areas right through until about 4am Christmas morning. Can anyone beat that?!!
Another remarkable GSC offering this year is on the Isle of Wight, where Southern Vectis ran full service until last bus on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day services as described above, full Sunday service on Boxing Day (which on the Isle of Wight is scarcely different from a weekday service after mid morning), and will be running full Saturday service (which is absolutely identical to the Monday to Friday service) on New Years Day! They will then also run normal Saturday nightbuses from New Years Day into Sunday 2nd.
Annon @ 00:40
Wilts and Dorset, Bluestar and Southern Vectis are to be congratulated for running such services. It is of course on Christmas Eve that people look to buses to get them home after an evening out, and I know that this is exactly the time of year people turn to public transport generally to get home after a works party of a few drinks after finishing work on Christmas Eve, and leave their car at home.
I had to leave a Christmas Eve party at 6:30 in order to get home (most parties probably hadn't even started then!), and ran into problems when waiting for an Arriva bus at 7pm (listed on Traveline and the bus station notice board as being the final bus of the evening), only for an Arriva driver to pull up at 7:05 to say that the last bus had gone at 6:45!! Luckily I had an option of getting a tram.
My thoughts are that services should continue until at least 9pm on Christmas Eve, and run as normal on New Years Eve (although here in GM Stagecoach have several night buses on New Year's Day).
Stagecoach in Inverness withdraw the last buses eg 2320 28 Inverness to Dingwall, 2320 to the Black Isle etc., on Christmas Eve and Hogmanay BUT there are 3 night bus routes specially run in December serving most of the City.
ScotRail withdraws both their 2109 and 2330 trains from INV to Dingwall, Invergordon and Tain on the 24th and 31st ... last train is at 1754, hardly conducive to a 'party hearty' night out!
First in Somerset run a normal service eg 2330 to Portishead, on Christmas Eve and it was only 1 minute early at destination so no 'let's get the heck out of here' attitude. For once, kudos to First!!! Happy New Year.
Now that Boxing Day buses have been seen in the Bournemouth-Poole conurbation for the first time in many years can we now look forward to New Years Day buses as well?
And why oh why do buses stop so early on New Years Eve just when everyone wants to go out? Bravo London for running buses and tube all night long (and for free!) on New Years Eve.
New Year's Day is a strange one, as for many places it's always been a Sunday service, yet in others it's traditionally no service.
Historical and traditional factors are at play of course, but it would be interesting to know where the divide is.
I think this year has seen a reduction in boxing day service, certainly with Next and other large retailers delaying their Sales until the 27th has meant that not so many shoppers and consequentially buses
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