t’s As Easy As A B C – NOT! (3)

To mitigate the complete withdrawal of services 405 and 408/9 with a half hourly service from Askern into Doncaster via Owston, Toll Bar and Bentley, the 51 is diverted via the A19 instead of the Great North Road (A1 as was).

Odd, really, as it only provides a service between Toll Bar and Bentley as shown on the current PTE map above.

In fact there is only the community of Toll Bar to be served by the diverted 51.

But, perhaps, fbb muses, something else happened to the 51 from October 2022, something off the top of the map, possibly dramatic changes in Askern?

Upon investigation, it turns out that the most dramatic change is that Arriva took over the 51 service from First Bus!

So what fbb needs, as he pursues his investigation, is a full route map of the Arriva 51 from October 2022.  There ain’t one! And, to help the public, there appears to have been no printed material for the change, so more tough cheese for the confused passenger! And more frustration for fbb!

Arriva does have a map on its web site …

… which doesn’t work, in common with much of Arriva’s awful web presence.

Moovit has an unhelpful set of wiggles which …

… seem inadequate and incomplete.

Another information provider called Transitland (no neither had fbb) looks a bit better …

… but it is certainly not an adequate map by fbb’s definition. Add this squiggle to the current Attiva timetable for the 51 …

…, and it all revals that the service now diverts via Norbreck estate and Eden Drive (as did the 405 an 408/409) and runs to Norton which was, you remember (of course you do!!) also served by the 408/409.

But, oh for a proper map!

Then fbb had a jackpot idea. If, he guessed, Arrive did once have a map, published for the takeover, maybe it would still lie hidden in the cobweb strewn depths that is the interwebnet.

It did and it was!

Arriva’s cunning plan does something (but not that much) to offset the loss of the 400s along the A19.  On the negative side, everyone who is “rescued” by the revised 51 will have a longer journey and many will inevitably abandon the bus as a result.

Maybe that is already happening, because what now pops up on line is …

… complete with new high quality map. After only about 18 months of the Arriva 51, the company is proposing another major change for its hard-done-by few remaining passengers.

Enter the 44 and 45! There’s a 45A evenings and Sundays!

Buses are hourly each way round.

Arriva tells us proudly how much better this will be than the half houry 51.

Really?

Here are the main points of Arriva-speak with comments by fbb.

Two journeys Monday to Friday in the peak direction replacing 3 or 4 journeys to./from Whitley on the old 51.

It is good to see that Councillors, not Arriva, now decide to reduce services from half hourly to hourly. Twaddle. The new service can only be hourly, Councillor or no Councillor. Bet his/her voters are really pleased.