Mousehole, Cornwall: a bus route change (for the worse)

[whole diary]

[Mark A]

Given my personal 'Don't drive into Cornwall' rule of quite a few years standing, the Mousehole bus has done me more than a few favours. For the likes of festivals, double deckers were (eventually) put on the route and turned before the point at which the road descended to the harbourside. For the rest of the time, the route until a few years ago was serviced using the likes of an Optare bus that, special events aside, sort of met the demand (albeit a bit cosy at times). The Mousehole bus route, being on a frequent schedule, was a good fit with Penzance's rail service.

More recently, something smaller was put on the route (and definitely felt capacity constrained).

Now, a decision to abandon the Mousehole end of the route completely, with (larger) buses turning short of the village. This will (sort of) suit the casual (and fit) visitor, but will no longer meet the needs of more committed travellers , not to mention the residents themselves (and Mousehole still manages to retain some of those...).

There is, not surprisingly, a petition.

This situation belongs to a super-set though: lip-service paid as to the benefits of public transport, but decisions on the ground that make it more awkward to use.

Photo from below from 2014, the Mousehole bus mixing it with one end or other of the Sea Salt and Sail festival.

Mark

https://www.change.org/p/save-the-mousehole-harbour-bus-stop

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[Mark A]

The change to the Penzance to Mousehole number 6 announced on the following page.

https://www.transportforcornwall.co.uk/plan-your-future-journeys-february-network-information-now-available

Service will operate half-hourly throughout the day, hourly during the evenings and on Sundays. To provide additional capacity at busy times buses will no longer serve the Harbour and will terminate at the Coastguard Hotel.

Had to read that twice and am tempted to ask Graham to set his pedantry loose on that sentence.

Mark


Edit note: Sorry, Mark: just amending your quote marks, for clarity. CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum).

[Kernow Otter]

They did similar in Fowey a couple of years back

[grahame]

They did similar in Fowey a couple of years back

Bus routes need to change at times ... and we have an example locally in Melksham too.  These are difficult calls.

Last September, the incoming 271 from Bath no longer calls at the Market Place on its way to Bowerhill.   At first glance a significant negative - however, this route used to double up and down the High Street.   The High Street has become a traffic jam zone for various reasons beyond the control of Faresaver and the time taken to reach and unreach the main stop was impacting reliability, to the extent that the timetable could not be maintained clockface without adding an extra vehicle ... and now the 271 in the Bowerhill direction misses out the main Town Centre stop. 

[GBM]

For those of us less mobile than we used to be, busses not serving the harbour is a massive problem.
Yes, the walk is 'only' around 500 or so yards, but it's very steep; encounter traffic each way. and will be soaking wet when it rains.
Three Sprinter 'vans' currently used by First will be replaced by a half hourly decker service, which will turn just pass the Old Coastguard Hotel.
That turn is tight, and can be problematic with traffic and pedestrian flow, especially when summer traffic comes in.

[Mark A]

TBH^▸ ('to be honest') 500 yards can in itself be an issue for anyone, not because people cannot walk 500 yards but because it introduces friction into what's meant to be a journey by bus. And then of course, for good measure, a few hundred of those yards facing the Cornish weather on that exposed coast. I hear Graham's point about bus routes sometimes needing to be changed, but when they're changed for reasons of traffic congestion, or in this case because the operator doesn't have suitable vehicles, that should ring alarm bells. The frequency's fallen too, is this route that ran every 20 minutes now stretched to every 30 minutes? That changes a service that was almost turn up and go to something rather less attractive.

Mark

[GBM]

I hear Graham's point about bus routes sometimes needing to be changed, but when they're changed for reasons of traffic congestion, or in this case because the operator doesn't have suitable vehicles, that should ring alarm bells. The frequency's fallen too, is this route that ran every 20 minutes now stretched to every 30 minutes?
Mark

Correct, every 20 minutes down to half hourly.

[Richard Fairhurst]

For those of us less mobile than we used to be, busses not serving the harbour is a massive problem.
Yes, the walk is 'only' around 500 or so yards, but it's very steep; encounter traffic each way. and will be soaking wet when it rains.
Three Sprinter 'vans' currently used by First will be replaced by a half hourly decker service, which will turn just pass the Old Coastguard Hotel.
That turn is tight, and can be problematic with traffic and pedestrian flow, especially when summer traffic comes in.

Cornwall Council should be restricting private motor vehicles in the village centre so that the buses can get in, not the other way round.

[Mark A]

Now picked up by the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page).

Mark

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg10w27n0yo

[Kernow Otter]

For those of us less mobile than we used to be, busses not serving the harbour is a massive problem.
Yes, the walk is 'only' around 500 or so yards, but it's very steep; encounter traffic each way. and will be soaking wet when it rains.
Three Sprinter 'vans' currently used by First will be replaced by a half hourly decker service, which will turn just pass the Old Coastguard Hotel.
That turn is tight, and can be problematic with traffic and pedestrian flow, especially when summer traffic comes in.

For those disembarking at The Old Coastguard, do go in.  One of my favourite places for dinner, bed, and breakfast.

https://oldcoastguardhotel.co.uk/

Edit to add link

[Mark A]

Good to hear. Never stayed there, mind, but their lawn and its outlook could hardly be better.

Mark

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