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End of the 420?

Posted: 14:56 Saturday 27th July 2019
by AdamH
Looks like DRM are withdrawing most of their 420 journeys, if not all, between Worcester and Bromyard.

Re: End of the 420?

Posted: 18:06 Saturday 27th July 2019
by bringstybeast
AdamH wrote:
14:56 Saturday 27th July 2019
Looks like DRM are withdrawing most of their 420 journeys, if not all, between Worcester and Bromyard.
The biggest surprise would be that they've lasted this long. Anecdotal experience over the last 30 years is that weekday daytimes are very lightly loaded (maybe 5 or so between Rushwick and Bromyard), and weekend daytimes variable with maybe an inbound service full and standing but the return literally empty. Only reliable loadings being the weekday morning into Worcester and the services back leaving between 4 and 5.

The brief period of hourly frequency 2002-2004 saw usage increase - but still wouldn't see buses more than half full. Since the 2004 cuts (which happened to coincide with First royally messing up the timetable with, I think, the timetable being almost completely wrong and timing points renamed Knightswick, Whitebourne, Bromsgrove, Stone Lacy, Whittington...) usage and operation has been in decline and, I guess, everyone that was left gave up when the 3 hour gaps in timetable appeared around 2011.

I'm about as pro-bus as anyone can be and 2011 was when I abandoned for a car as it just wasn't workable any more. Used the bus twice since - the first of these in 2011 P401MLA should have been the bus but the engine blew somewhere by topshop so after 90 mins waiting at Pump Street a Worcester engineer in another Dart (R674DUS I think - a bit of a dud) looking for where to go... Didn't leave a great impression! Second time last year was one of David's 16 year old Scanias - it went pretty well, but only had two people on Worcester to Whitbourne... I was a bit miffed that all the non-First buses had been shifted to the stand in Crowngate without any seating - again not a good impression!

Well done to David for trying to run it commercially. There's not a lot more that can be done without some form of council subsidy. Makes a lot more sense for him to put his resources into improving Bromyard to Hereford - pretty sure that's been carrying the weaker half of the route ever since deregulation.

Re: End of the 420?

Posted: 11:29 Tuesday 13th August 2019
by AdamH
Certain journeys were busy. Before Hereford depot closed the first journey to Bromyard in the morning always carried, but that journey was withdrawn by DRM a while ago. Latterly the first First journey into Worcester would often have a standing loading on school days (in a Solo).

Both the journeys operated by First are withdrawn in September, so with the DRM cuts the route will be almost non existent soon.

Re: End of the 420?

Posted: 21:22 Monday 11th July 2022
by AdamH

Re: End of the 420?

Posted: 10:26 Sunday 24th July 2022
by leslumsdon
I appreciate the difficulties facing bus operators at present, but cannot help feeling that DRM has helped to bring about an untimely demise of the Bromyard to Worcester section of the 420 through a combination of factors: a timetable which is very unattractive to marginal passengers, relatively high fare levels and a complete lack of marketing for leisure business to places such as Brockhampton, Bringsty Common and Bromyard.

I hope that Herefordshire and Worcestershire councils can find contingency funds (for example, if there is a fresh flow of Bus Recovery funds) to offer at least a Monday to Friday service to allow people in Bringsty, Whitbourne and Knightwick to get into their nearest service centre for medical and personal business as well as shopping. It would make sense for DRM to be offered some form of 'de minimus' payment, but if they do not have sufficient driving staff as the news item suggests, then perhaps it would be better for a tender to be issued to allow other operators a chance to rebuild passenger confidence.

Re: End of the 420?

Posted: 19:06 Thursday 29th September 2022
by bringstybeast
Enhanced service again from 7th, or 8th November

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/public ... s-travel/3

No operator listed - I'm assuming it's livening up dead running on the "Village Links" contracts.

Re: End of the 420?

Posted: 11:13 Friday 30th September 2022
by DD12