NHBUG feedback and comments.
This page expands upon the information in the News page by including extra detail and personal views from members. Views expressed are not necessarrily those of the North Herts Bus User Group.
Content from members is welcome. Please email any comments and news to ,
Herts CC decide against Bus Franchising
It is very disappointing, although perhaps predictable, that Herts County Council has decided against introducing Bus Franchising in Hertfordshire. Bus services in Hertfordshire are among the worst in the UK and this would have been a chance to improve them rather than continuing with the current deregulated shambles and the meaningless 'enhanced partnerships'. The reason given is a cost estimate of 'up to 174 million'. This is of course nonsense. The figure includes £160 million for electrifying all buses, which is totally unnecessary and has nothing to do with franchising. Without this the cost estimate would be around £14 million. Even that seems on the high side considering the economic benefits to the county of a reliable bus system. It seems obvious that the council does not consider bus services a priority.
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I expect most Letchworth residents, like me, have received a survey form from Letchworth's Lib Dem Team.
The first of what will probably be many publicity shots in the run up to the May local elections.
The survey asks for you priorities for local issues so:
Now is your chances to put buses on the agenda as an election issue.
Most respondents will probably moan about the usual issues, bins, litter, parking etc etc,
If you care about bus services return this form with Public Transport ticked as one of your priorities.
Add a note about any issues you have about bus services in and around Letchworth.
NHDC is not now involved in buses leaving this to the tender mercies of HCC.
This need not be the case: In south Hertfordshire Hertsmere Council stepped in to provide the 84B bus service and prevent a route being axed, when HCC and TfL were unable to resolve differences
Where there is a will there is a way.
You do not need to fill in the part where asked whether or not you support the Lib Dems.
NHBUG is politically neutral but will publicise on the NHBUG website and on X, any relevant content from political parties.
The survey can be found at https://tinyurl.com/letchworthsurvey or via the feedback page on the nubug website.
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Regards
David Wakelin - Secretary, North Herts Bus User Group.
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2023 like most preceding years was not a good year overall for bus users in Hertfordshire, especially those in North Herts.
On the positive side, following grants from Central Government under the BSI Plan, several new routes were introduced (see the nhbug website for details) mostly based in Stevenage and connecting to other Hertfordshire towns not served by direct rail e.g. Ware and Cheshunt.
However, the new routes in places duplicate parts of existing routes, possibly leading to reductions in frequency and usage for the latter making them unviable. Also a major constraint on bus services is the current shortage of drivers so the extra drivers for the new routes will have to come from existing routes, which are already suffering frequent cancellations.
Existing routes in North Herts have seen yet further reductions in frequency and later starts and earlier finishes, especially on Saturday (see nhbug website for details), possibly because drivers prefer to take time off rather than work weekends or overtime. The recent tax hikes certainly don’t help.
How viable will the new limited stop routes be when the BSIP money finishes and with continued cuts to ‘feeder services’ into Stevenage from Letchworth and other towns?
Worst performer of 2023 is definitely Arriva, with unreliable services, little or no information, frequent cancellations and general ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude. It is sad to think how many people have turned away from using buses because of their abject performance.
In the ‘Could do better’ category come Herts County Council and Intalink. Despite an ‘enhanced partnership’ with Arriva they have shown little appetite for tackling the shortcomings above. They are also happy to show incorrect information at bus stops (see website) and we STILL do not have real-time information on the vast majority of services in North Herts. With a few honourable exceptions most councillors have no interest at all in bus services. They obviously think there are no votes in them. Perhaps, with local elections in May, 2024 is the year to change this?
Ending on a positive note users have commented on the excellent services provided by Richmond on the 91/2 routes and Landmark on the 53 Letchworth service, while in South Herts the 84/84B has been restored to its former glory thanks in large part to Hertsmere Council.
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM NHBUG!
Feedback receive from Councillor Fiona Hill:
Thank you for the updates, which I always read! I was disappointed to read your comments about the lack of interest from councillors. As you know, there were a number of us who regularly attended the meetings when they took place and in fact there was little interest from the NHBUG when the bus between Royston and Cambridge was threatened with closure. Had it not been for the interest of councillors and the officer from Hertfordshire County Council (HCC), we would have no bus service. We arranged a public meeting, where the room was packed, made representation to the GCP, CCC and other stakeholders and our officer managed to find another provider to keep a service going.
I am aware that many of my colleagues across the county and officers from HCC have fought hard to keep services. There is also regular dialogue between officers from Hertfordshire County Council, Cambridgeshire County Council and the service providers.
Response from NHBUG:
First can I namecheck the 'honourable exceptions' I refer to in the newsletter. : Paul Marment (when he was a councillor), Guy Brigden (when he was Network and Travel Planning Officer, now retired and much missed), Councillors Fiona Hill, Steve Jarvis, Tony Hunter. There may well be others (let us know) and thank you for your efforts.
However I stand by the comment that ‘most councillors have no interest at all in bus services.’. Other bus users have also voiced this sentiment.
In their ’regular dialogue’ with providers, have the officers or councillors raised any of the issues NHBUG and others have been raising throughout 2023?
- Why since Covid has bus usage declined more in Hertfordshire than any other English county? What is being done to reverse this?
- Why, after years of promises and the installation of numerous expensive electronic screens, do we still have virtually no real time information in North Herts / Stevenage?
- Given that HCC has an ‘enhanced partnership’ with Arriva, why are their services getting worse to the point of being unusable? Could HCC not pressure them to release some routes to other companies?
- Why was Arriva awarded new contracts to run some of the BSIP routes? Because of shortage of drivers they cannot run their existing services properly so taking drivers to run the new routes will obviously make things even worse.
And have any councillors asked Intalink why it allows incorrect information to show at bus stops? .(see details in Letchworth and Hatfield on the nhbug website) Apparently it is intent on replacing all bus stop signs with new eco-friendly vinyl even though the existing signs are perfectly good. Apparently it does not matter if the wrong information is shown in the meantime!
David Wakelin - NHBUG
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In August 2023 I wrote on behalf of NHBUG to Intalink regarding the problem with their website not showing Bank Holiday services correctly. They have promised to fix this and have added a warning to check operators' sites if intending to travel on a Bank Holiday.
They had also promised to update the 53 Letchworth timetable to show the correct start / end point, which is no longer stop D at the station but stop H in the Broadway (outside Morrison's).
UPDATE: BUT: Apparently the new stops have not yet been 'officially agreed' so until then Intalink will not update the information.
This will take about 6 to 8 weeks during which time the timetables will continue to show the wrong stops!
Another similar Intalink oddity in Hatfield, where the signage in Hatfield Avenue shows the wrong stop information. When a member in South Herts pointed this out the reply was that they were 'currently part way through a programme to update all the bus stop flags in Hertfordshire with our new Intalink vinyl'. The cost of changing all the bus stops in Herts must be astonomical. Given the current signage is perfectly good, is this really the best use of taxpayers money for the sake of a new trendy 'vinyl'?
Presumably Intalink think it is more important to change the logo than to actually show correct information!
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A sad letter from two pensioners in this week's Comet (26 November 23) who have given up on the appalling service provided by Arriva on the Stevenage SB7 and SB2/3 Great Ashby Pin Green routes. Having used those services myself I can sympathise. I gave up on the SB7 when the frequency was reduced with no corresponding increase in the very poor reliability! I second their call for a new bus company who can deliver better services.
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It looks as if Arriva Buses will be taken over, effective from April.2024.
There have been rumours of this for some time now with owners Deutsche Bahn making attempts in the past to sell off all or part of their network.It has been said that they only took on the bus network in the first palce as part of a deal to secure lucrative UK train contracts.Certainly they have shown little interest in running decent bus services in North Herts.
Thanks to a member for providing the following details from a reuter report.
"BERLIN, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bahn has agreed a deal to sell its international transport business Arriva Group to Miami-based infrastructure investor I Squared Capital, the companies said on Thursday.The sale is expected to complete in 2024, pending approval of Deutsche Bahn's supervisory board and the German transport ministry, they said in a statement.
They did not disclose the sale price. Reuters reported last week that the sale would value Arriva, which operates red London buses and train services in the UK, at around 1.6 billion euros ($1.69 billion) including debt, citing sources familiar with the deal.
I Squared's Managing Director Mohamed El Gazzar told Reuters on Thursday that his company plans to invest 2 billion euros in Arriva to grow and electrify its fleet. It would consider complementary and "synergistic" acquisitions in Arriva's key markets including the UK, Italy and the Czech Republic, he said, adding that it is open to both small or sizeable deals of more than 1 billion euros in value. Citigroup advised Deutsche Bahn, and I Squared was advised by Morgan Stanley and UBS.
Arriva transports 1.5 billion rail and bus passengers a year with operations across 10 countries and more than 34,000 employees, according to its website.
Deutsche Bahn, Germany's state-owned railway company, has attempted selling parts of Arriva in the past to raise cash to lower its debt and invest in its domestic infrastructure."
Arriva has been providing a very poor standard of service for some time now (see below), and apparently the trains in Germany are pretty awful as well
Let's hope that the new owners can improve the current dismal service standards in North Herts and Stevenage!
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Despite claims of improvement the Stevenage town services provided by Arriva continue to be poor (to say the least), especially on Saturdays. A couple of weeks ago the SB4/5 service failed to show at 14:05, 15, 25 and 35. At least four (I suspect the 45 did not show either but had given up by then) consecutive missed services. A complaint to Arriva led to the following response:
'Thank you for your recent contact. I am sorry for the inconvenience you experienced which led you to contact us.
The Stevenage Depot Manager has advised that operational difficulties at the depot, will occasionally result in buses being unable to run to their advertised route or destination. This would mainly be as a result of the depot not having a vehicle to run the route or suffering with last minute staff absence.I can confirm that some services were unable to run on the day in question. I understand this did inconvenience some passengers but please be assured that this step was taken as a last resort.'
Unfortunately this is the level of customer service we have come to expect from Arriva.
STOP PRESS: Last Saturday I tried again to use this service. This time the 13:05,15, and 25 did not show, so again I gave up.
And of course there was no information available to say when a bus might arrive!
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A reader from St. Albans has written to the Herts Advertiser questioning the HCC strategy of adding new 'fast' limited stop services at the expense of the frequency of previous local services. i.e. trying to encourage new bus users but risking losing existing ones. This does not seem a a sensible plan. See the letter at https://nhbug.org.uk/buscutsoct23.pdf
And a response to the new 908 service (see News) from a member:
The limited stop 908 (Stevenage-Rickmansworth) is not necessarily an 'improvement' as it will probably mean a cut in the frequency of the 301 service (Stevenage to St Albans) just as the new limited stop 721 (Luton - Hemel via St Albans) means a cut in frequency to 321 (Luton to Maple Cross) and 302 (WGC to Hemel).The main problem with the buses is lack of drivers (caused by Brexit creating a lack of lorry drivers, and many bus drivers becoming lorry drivers) so any new routes are at the expense of existing routes. Arriva services are still very unreliable, despite many timetable cuts.Also you do not mention the recent changes to 97/98 service. The earlier 97A/98A changes have been scrapped, so that only the 97 goes round the Purwell Estate in Hitchin, meaning that the service round Purwell is reduced to hourly from half hourly, just as the 81 service round the Highover Estate was earlier reduced to hourly from half hourly.
There is also a new service X10 (Luton-Hatfield) by UNO to cover the large number of students travelling from Luton to Univ of Herts (but is less helpful to those travelling from Hatfield to Univ of Beds), but only in term time and is limited stop and does not go via Harpenden Town Centre and partially replaces the old 366 service. It remains to be seen if there are cuts to the 610 (Luton - Cockfosters) service.Also each alternate 314 (Hitchin - WGC) service is diverted via Kimpton and Whitwell and renumbered 315.Also the A505 is being shut at weekends at Hitchin Station bridge and the 97/98 and 386 diverted via Woolgrove Road and Grove Road, without any notification on the affected bus stops. I have no idea where the 80 (Hitchin-Stevenage via the Wymondleys) is diverted.
Overall the changes tend to mean faster services between town centres, but reduced services outside town centres and in rural areas.
A further comment on this service (908)
Today I went on the new 908 (Stevenage-WGC) service. It is the same as the 301 (Stevenage to St Albans via WGC) service as far as Old Welwyn south then it goes along Digswell Hill and then to WGC town centre via Valley Road (where it replaces the old 366), instead of via Knightsfield in WGC. It is not limited stop. It is hourly.
It does not go to Rickmansworth. The Stevenage - Rickmansworth route has been renumbered 725 and is limited stop, but does go through Knightsfield. I do not know its route south of WGC town centre. This route is stated to start on 19/11/23. We seem to be resurrecting the old Green Line system. The only local remnants are the 757 (Luton - Victoria). and 724 (not branded as Green Line) (Heathrow - Harlow).
The 301 is half-hourly (it used to be 4 an hour combined with the old 300).
More comments still can be found on the reail users forum feedback page:
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/connect-herts-new-limited-stop-7xx-services-from-19-11-23.254871
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A trip to Barnet on the new 84B service from Potters Bar, operated by Central Connect. The Hertfordshire bus pass entitles half price train travel within Herts, so the return fare from Letchworth to Potters Bar was a reasonable £6.40. From there we took the 84B to Barnet for a beer or two in Ye Olde Mitre a well known ale destination (other pubs are available!). The 84B currently has some timing issues due to traffic congestion and an eccentric routing at the Barnet end, where it loops past Barnet Hospital twice. But thanks to the real time information on bustimes.org it was possible to track the bus and minimise waiting time (a luxury we do not have in North Herts!). The bus was busy in both directions and is a tribute to the groups who campaigned to get this link restored and to Hertsmere Council for providing the funding. Together with the 84 St Albans to Potters Bar route, restored by Hertfordshire CC and operated by Sullivan Buses, two well used and necessary routes have been saved.
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We recently tried the new 'flagship' 907 service, operated by Centrebus. We took the bus from Stevenage as far as Ware, alighting for refreshment at The Brewery Tap, followed by a lunch at cafe Truly Scrumptious, and another beer at The Spread Eagle before the return journey to Stevenage and a return to Letchworth on the Arriva 55, or to Hatfield on the 635.
The 907 was well used on the outward journey, although several passengers left at Bragbury End, no doubt preferring an infrequent but reliable service to the appalling Arriva Stevenage town services, The load further thinned out at Ware leaving only a handful onward to Cheshunt.
We returned on the 15:56, the first of three per day services to detour via Watton-on-Stone to drop off children at the end of the school day. The bus was full until then but was quiet on the rest of the run to Stevenage. A point to note is that the return 907 does not stop at the Interchange but at Stevenage rail station. You can pick up the 55 to Letchworth from there, but you have to cross to the Interchange for most other services.