Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

[mrd97]

RE: Arriva North West - Birkenhead Depot

(19/08/2019 17:48)L401CJF Wrote:  The 487s used to run to Neston Brook Street only Mon to Sat daytime until about 2011. Some morning and evening services extended to Greenfields. The evening services used to go to Parkgate 7 days a week, and the same alternate service on a Sunday every other hour a service to Parkgate, and the other a 488 to Ness Gardens direct via Burton Rd.

Around 2011 GHA operated a free bus contract bus which linked various parts of Neston and Little Neston, Arriva took over, extending the 487 Mon to Fri day time service via Greenfields, Ness Gardens, Royal Oak, Breezehill Rd in a circular which meant passengers sitting on the bus during layover at Ness. It was later revised to its current route operating the same in both directions (not the Breezehill/HHinderton Road sections due to the Brook St one way system) and having Ness as a terminus rather than a circular route. Evening services Mon to Sat still ran to Parkgate until about 2016 until they saw sense and rerouted to the Royal Oak. Sunday services remained unchanged bar renumbering the 488 as another 487. So now we have Ness Gardens weekday route. Ness Gardens Sunday route, Royal Oak evening route, Royal Oak via Greenfields Peak route, and Parkgate, all under 1 route number.

See this is where I was getting at. I assumed the extensions were partially funded by CWACC, and I knew the gradual changes of the routes, I just didn’t understand why they have left the Sunday service unchanged, as the different routes in and around Neston are confusing especially under the same route number. For example, ie why bother with Parkgate at all for one day a week, daytime service okay fair enough but why they have it running to Parkgate Sunday evenings I find bizarre considering it doesn’t any other day if the week. I would just have it run to Little Neston Sunday daytime and evening as it does Monday to Saturday evenings