M1, M3, M4 Via M32 And EL1

… along Newfoundland Way, and splurging into the inner ring road (above map, bottom left), might not have been the best traffic management scheme ever. 

Helpfully, there is a bus lane inwards almost the full length of Newfoundland Way …

… and much of it is the centre lane. Riding into town on these routes is impressive whilst outbound is usually quite clear, even at busy times.

Space for reserved tram tracks could be found, especially if car traffic could be encouraged to avoid the inner ring.

The Metrobuses have their own M32 junction which is very impressive.

This exit leads to a stop for gardeners of the allotments! There is a path through from nearby housing …

… bit it doesn’t say “To The Metrobus” so you would have to know!

There already is an extra lane down the hill from UWE (University of the West of England) …

… to join the M32. This is how the buses get to/from UWE.

There is plenty of room at the Uni bus stops themselves …

…and once across the A4174 …

… most of the roads have been built with space for widening – ideal room for the tram tracks. Or there are green verges which could easily become attractive green tram tracks.

See Angers again.

Maybe Mayor Marvin should abandon his pipe-dreaming Underground trains; get out his abacus, slide rule and comptometer and have a guess at the cost of turning the Metrobus routes into trams.

Then drop Rishi a line and ask for the money. Or drop Sir Keir a similar line. After all both parties are keen environmentally and want to encourage the use of public transport and “go zero”.

Trams will help enormously.

EdgeLink EL1

Of course, when fbb travelled on the EL1 (12 years ago) it ran from Barking to Dagenham Dock …

… and was operated by buses that were definitely not “all red”.

But the Stagecoach EL1 is very much “oop noorth” because it serves Edge Hill University,

Now everyone knows that Edge Hill is in Liverpool, but our astute readers may not know that Edge Hill University is in …

… Ormskirk – where else? 

Here is a video which explains all.

So below, c/o Google Earth, is an aerial view of the Uni …

… and a street level view of the building which started its Ormskirkian expansion.

Passing the gate is Huyton Travel 152 …

… too infrequent to serve a busy campus. Hence the EL1.

It used to be operated by South Lancs Travel …

… a company sucked up by Diamond Bus North West.

Various timetables litter the internet, dating from the South Lancs days. One shows a 15 minute frequency Monday to Saturday …

… and one shows a reduction to every 20.

The current Stagecoach timetable is also every 20 minutes.

Effectively, buses run non stop to the Uni campus then loop round the site before returning to the bus station. As you can see from the timetable, the driver has an enjoyable shift belting up and down the St Helens Road in his “one bus in steam”!

Ormskirk bus station has had a varied history. Once it was integral to the Ribble bus garage.

A later version became a “U” shaped loop with a terminal building on the left …

… stands round the loop …

… to the exit and a car park in the middle.

Originally, there were plans to develop the site with buses (presumably) squeezed into a cramped background.

What is left is just a collection of shelters with no terminal building, which has been demolished and is not being replaced.

So it’s just the same as before but a bit prettier! Tough luck if you want any information or necessitous “facilities”.

 Next Mystery To fbb blog : Friday 21st July