Merseytravel Timetable Changes

[Barney]

RE: Merseytravel Timetable Changes

(23/04/2014 17:59)507009 Wrote:  Very poor to see the Southport - Liverpool frequency reduced to every 20 minutes as far as I'm concerned. I just don't understand those changes.

I think that the most disturbing aspect of these changes is that the service now finishes much earlier. At the moment, the last 47 from Sir Thomas Street departs at 23.17 but from June, the last 47 will depart Queen Square at 22.02. This means that anybody wishing to travel by bus beyond Crosby (towards Thornton and Netherton via Edge Lane) must catch the last 53A which leaves Queen Square at 22.50. At that time of the year it's not even dark!

A very simple solution for Arriva is to renumber the last (Bootle operated) 53 which departs Queen Square at 23.50 to a 53A and extend it to Aintree. Having said that, I'm not too hopeful that this will happen. When Arriva decided to extend the 53A to/from Aintree Station a few years ago, it decided to operate it's first Sunday departure from Aintree Station at 6.15, more than two hours before the first train! In the past two years a lot of fresh air has been carried by these early Sunday morning 53A's.

If Arriva are unwilling to extend the last 53, which to be honest would cost very little, I'm sure the residents of Thornton could put pressure on their local councillors to demand a reintroduction of the Merseytravel 151 service.