When a small locally managed bus company takes on one of the big five operators it’s of particular interest when the people behind that business are already well-respected in the industry. Andy Izatt has been to King’s Lynn to experience the ongoing competition between Lynx and Stagecoach in Norfolk
It’s almost two years since a small independent bus company, North Runcton-based Coastal Red trading as Lynx started competing with Stagecoach in Norfolk between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton. What marked that operation out as being of particular interest was that it was [wlm_nonmember][…]
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Julian told me at the time: “It’s what we know and what we do. I’ve been in this industry 26 years. I like running buses and latterly at Go-Ahead I wasn’t doing that. If you’re an MD in a big organisation you don’t get your hands dirty. You’re remote. It’s not the same as knowing all your staff and seeing all your buses out every day. Andy (Warnes) and I have worked together for a long while. We wanted to get back to the coalface.”
Stagecoach in Norfolk, what had been privately-owned Norfolk Green until it was acquired by Stagecoach in December 2013, operated three routes between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton prior to Lynx starting. Route 10 ran half hourly via Gaywood and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, Dersingham, Ingoldisthorpe, Snettisham and Heacham. Route variations took place in and out of Hunstanton, parts of Heacham and in Dersingham where some services operated via the main road and others via the Mountbatten Estate.
Service 11 operated hourly via Gaywood, Castle Rising, West Newton, Sandringham (including the visitor centre), Dersingham, Ingoldisthorpe, Snettisham and Heacham (main road not the village) while the Coasthopper which extends along the Norfolk coast to Cromer ran between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton via South Wootton and Knights Hill and then along the A149 main road missing out Dersingham, Ingoldisthorpe and Snettisham. Lynx started operating service 35 from January 26, 2015 between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton via the ‘northern bypass,’ South Wootton, Knights Hill, Dersingham including the Mountbatten Estate, Ingoldisthorpe, Snettisham and Heacham. Daytime frequency was hourly, increased to half hourly from May 23, 2015.
For a period in 2015 Stagecoach in Norfolk changed route 11 so that it only operated from King’s Lynn to Dersingham via Castle Rising, West Newton and Sandringham. The frequency was also reduced. This meant that there was no longer a direct service to Sandringham from Snettisham, Heacham and Hunstanton, but after a short time the original service was reinstated.
Stagecoach in Norfolk then made changes to the Coasthopper, rerouting it through the villages and via the Mountbatten Estate in Dersingham. This operates half hourly and connects with buses to Wells and Cromer at Hunstanton which operate half hourly during the summer, but only hourly during the winter. In effect during the winter there’s a Coasthopper bus running between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton every hour which is just an extra King’s Lynn to Hunstanton service as there’s no onward connection.
After Lynx won a Norfolk County Council winter Coasthopper tender for part of the route in 2015, it registered Hunstanton-Wells and Wells-Cromer services numbered 36 from October 12 that year and additional vehicles were acquired to operate it. Stagecoach in Norfolk operated Coasthopper commercially during the summer, but then registered the service commercially for the winter and in response to the Lynx registrations, wanted to start from October 12 as well. The short notice registration was not approved by the Traffic Commissioner so Lynx ran for a few weeks and continues to provide a return school/college run between Hunstanton, Burnham Market and Wells.
With Stagecoach in Norfolk having withdrawn the fast Coastliner service, Lynx saw an opportunity to provide a fast service between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton which operated hourly from March 2016 and was also numbered 36. It was timetabled to start at King’s Lynn railway station and then call at the bus station before running out of town via the 35 route and used the A149 to miss out the villages to reach Hunstanton. The service was reduced after the summer peak and has been suspended for the winter.
From September 5, 2016 Lynx introduced King’s Lynn-Marham route 39 and college service 67 between Three Holes and King’s Lynn, both replacing facilities operated by Stagecoach in Norfolk.
The latest change took place on October 2 when Stagecoach decided to reroute service 10 so that it no longer serves Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Traffic delays particularly in the afternoons in the Gaywood area where there are three high schools close together used to lead to late running. It was not uncommon for journey times from the town centre to the hospital to take 40 minutes or longer instead of the scheduled 20 because of the severe traffic congestion. Some afternoon timings didn’t serve the hospital grounds, only a stop on the road outside. Service 11 was rerouted to serve the hospital on its hourly run from Hunstanton to Kings Lynn. That meant that as the 11 doesn’t serve Heacham village, it and parts of Dersingham lost their hospital connection all together. Castle Rising also lost its regular bus service.
Lynx responded by introducing service 34 from October 24, which operates hourly from Hunstanton to King’s Lynn via Heacham, Snettisham, Ingoldisthorpe, Dersingham including the Mountbatten Estate, the hospital and Gaywood.
Timings from King’s Lynn have also been subject to change. Stagecoach in Norfolk’s latest timetable shows departures from the town at 00 and 30 past the hour (service 10) and 15 and 45 past the hour (Coasthopper) with service 11 hourly at 15 past the hour. Lynx used to depart at 00 and 30, but brought their departures forward when Stagecoach changed theirs so now depart at 25 and 55 past the hour with the 34 at 10 past the hour.
Lynx fares between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton start for an adult from £3.40 for a single and £5.50 for two-trips. A weekly is £22, £30 for a 10 trips and £82 for a monthly ticket. Different fares are available for children and young people. Stagecoach in Norfolk adult single and return fares are the same as Lynx although it also offers a £5.50 Norfolk Dayrider Plus ticket covering the old Norfolk Green operating area and includes service 505 to Spalding in Lincolnshire. A Norfolk seven-day Megarider Plus is slightly cheaper than Lynx at £21 and it the same for the monthly ticket at £80. Both are smartcard-based, although a paper weekly alternative, the Norfolk Seven Day Coasthopper is available at £33. In fact there seem to be quite a wide range of tickets for a day or longer.
Professional approach
The day I decided to sample the competing services before Christmas there was just one bus on stand in the bus station in King’s Lynn when I arrived. It was a blue-painted Optare Tempo waiting to make the 0955hrs departure on Lynx route 35 to Hunstanton via South Wootton, a journey scheduled to take 52 minutes.
The smartly attired female driver was courteous and pleasant, selling me a £5.50 two-trip ticket. When I proffered a £10 note and a 50p coin I was given a mint £5 note in change which had been stored flat with others in similar condition in what looked like a leather wallet.
I sat at the back and was immediately impressed by the saloon cleanliness and by the clean smell – air freshener or something similar had clearly been used. It was evident from the lack of grime on the windows that the exterior of the bus had been washed prior to going out that morning. There was also a good stock of Lynx timetable leaflets available from dispensers positioned by the front nearside wheelarch.
There were eight onboard, including me and a minute before departure our driver switched on the engine and pulled back from the stand on time. Our route out of King’s Lynn was along the A1078 ‘northern bypass.’ While this is a busy road, progress was steady and it was not long before we were passing North Lynn Industrial Estate and making our way through South Wootton. The vehicle’s brakes were a little sharp although our driver was doing all she could to mitigate that. No saloon rattles although the back axle did whine a little bit – from experience an Optare Tempo trait.
After making the gentle climb to the Knights Hill roundabout we joined the A149 Queen Elizabeth Way north towards Hunstanton. This is beautiful Norfolk countryside with Castle Rising off to the left and Sandringham to the right, the turnoff for the latter being passed at 1010hrs. Stagecoach Norfolk Coasthopper-liveried Enviro200 MMCs heading for King’s Lynn were a regular sight and our driver exchanged friendly waves.
In Dersingham we turned off the main road into the Mountbatten Estate comprising mostly bungalows. A pensioner with her shopping trolley wanted to get off at the first stop and after pressing the bell remained seated until the bus came to a stop, a pattern that was to be frequently repeated. There was a friendly exchange with our driver who after turning into Station Road called out the next stop for the benefit of three more women passengers. The trio departed at the stop opposite Torc Motors.
A teenager boarded at Ingoldsby Avenue and then we had a clear run through Ingoldisthorpe to the centre Snettisham where there was no one waiting for us, but several looking out expectantly for a King’s Lynn-bound service. The teenager who had just boarded departed as did an elderly woman with a shopping trolley and there were more friendly exchanges with the driver. By 1026hrs we were back on the A149 which had bypassed Dersingham, Ingoldisthorpe and Snettisham.
Approaching Heacham we turned left into Lamsey Lane which winds passed fields before turning left again into Folgate Road and another pleasant housing area. We slowed along Lodge Road to make sure there was enough space for another Lynx Tempo heading for King’s Lynn.
An elderly man and woman boarded at the stop before the left turn into Staithe Road. Then there was a very sharp left to negotiate to access narrow Poplar Road where we made another pickup. Another tight turn, this time to the right, took us into Station Road.
Three passengers joined us outside the Fox & Hounds pub and another along Lynn Road. It was evident that the forward facing seats over both front wheelarches on our bus were popular as they were frequently occupied even though those on the offside were directly behind the driver’s partition.
At 1036hrs we were back on the main A149 road again heading north. South of Hunstanton we encountered roadworks where the traffic flow was controlled by lights although the hold up wasn’t great. At the top of Redgate Hill we turned sharp left at the roundabout into Princess Drive and more bungalows. A pensioner wanted to board at the stop opposite Tudor Crescent.
Along Windsor Rise we overtook a hi-viz clad pensioner motoring along the road in an electric buggy. As we picked up outside Manor Park we were overtaken by a Stagecoach Norfolk Dennis Trident on route 10 from King’s Lynn and when we got to the Tesco store on Southend Road it was already loading so we overtook it. Then it was a right turn into Westgate and up hill to turn left into St Edmund’s Terrace and immediately left again to access the bus station adjacent to the library. It was an on time 1047hrs arrival.
Different standards
There’s a café at the bus station appropriately called the Bus Station Café with a rather inventively themed menu to match. Rather than sample its delights I elected to catch the Stagecoach Norfolk Trident which was now on stand for a ride on route 10 back to King’s Lynn. An attentive driver checked the Norfolk Day Rider Plus ticket I’d already bought with care and I looked for a seat.
Inside the bus the contrast with the Tempo I’d just left could not have been greater. Sorry Stagecoach, but this vehicle was in a disgusting state both upstairs and downstairs. The seats were so badly worn and stained no one would choose to sit on them. The floor was badly stained and had all the appearance of not having been cleaned for some time. Window pillars and side casings were badly stained and scuffed, and there were numerous deposits within the overhead light casings. The windows were that dirty there was no chance of really seeing out of them at all. The vehicle’s one redeeming feature was that it was warm.
Yes, I appreciate it was winter and grime quickly collects on the outsides of vehicles, but while I could be reasonably confident the Tempo had been washed and cleaned inside and out prior to that’s day’s work, the same certainly could not be said for the Trident. A male dominated bus industry perhaps does not always place the importance on cleanliness that its majority female passengers would like, but no one, regardless of sex, would have wanted to travel on that bus.
At 1055hrs the Lynx Tempo which had been waiting at the stand in front of the Trident departed for King’s Lynn. We made ours, scheduled for 1100hrs, at 1102hrs with around 20 people onboard. Bobble hats, very fashionable at the moment, were much in evidence. We loaded more passengers at Tesco’s and dropped off at the top of Princess Drive. It was soon evident, despite the condition of the interior, mechanically our bus was in good shape. The few rattles seemed to emanate from the doors and hand poles.
There was another brief holdup at the roadworks on the A149 and we made the right turn into Lynn Road and Heacham at 1112hrs. Passengers left and joined us as we made our way through the village, a van driver kindly holding back so we could pass parked cars. At the Fox & Hounds a middle aged couple held back from boarding. Perhaps they were waiting for a Lynx, but if they were, this was the only time I noted anyone doing that for either operator.
Our driver caught the kerb as he accessed the stop in the centre of Snettisham. He had a friendly manner and there was usually a ‘bye-bye’ for those leaving and a friendly wave for bus drivers travelling in the other direction.
Rather than divert to serve the Mountbatten Estate in Dersingham, we continued along Lynn Road. As we reached the edge of the village the blue-painted Lynx Tempo could be seen ahead. Back on the A149, we passed the Sandringham turn at 1133hrs and made the turn off Queen Elizabeth Way towards South Wootton and North Lynn four minutes later.
We clipped the kerb on Austin Street before our driver had to make a late signalled stop outside King’s Lynn railway station. Two middle aged women who had boarded in Hunstanton with a big heavy case, noticed where they were just in time. Re-entering the flow of traffic is traffic light controlled at this stop and we were held for about a minute. Our driver clipped the kerb again on Blackfriars Road before turning into Railway Road and we arrived at the dropping off stop in the bus station on time at 1151. The Lynx service 35 Tempo followed us in about a minute later.
Hopping along
Depending on the information you look at, a Norfolk Day Rider Plus ticket can be used on the Coasthopper service between King’s Lynn and Cromer or only as far as Hunstanton. Fresh from the experience of travelling on the Trident, I wanted something better from Stagecoach so elected to join the 1215hrs Coasthopper departure which was being worked by a 66-plate Optare Solo that advertising free WiFi and USB charging.
There was a queue of people waiting, but no driver. Then we heard “I’m here, I’m here,” and a smartly dressed, extremely friendly man installed himself in the cab and made everyone feel welcome as they boarded. Most had passes included a wheelchair user whose companion wasted no time in deploying the manual wheelchair ramp himself. A 32-seater, the bus seemed to quickly fill, but it was actually only 17 people. The saloon was clean and warm. It was difficult to tell whether the coat of dirt on the windows was fresh that day.
Just as we reached departure time our driver turned off the engine and left the bus in a hurry promising he would be back. A small queue formed waiting for his return including a woman who wanted to know if the bus went to Wells as the front display showed Hunstanton as the final destination. Those already sitting were able to reassure her that it would. It’s the challenges confronting passengers using routes where shorter service registrations are made to keep it within the scope of UK domestic drivers’ hours regulations.
With departures scheduled to leave at the same time from the same stand, adjacent stands have to be used and so it was at 1215hrs when two Hunstanton-bound routes are due to leave. We watched Stagecoach Norfolk service 11, an Enviro400, go on time.
The reason for our driver’s speedy departure soon became apparent as he returned with a colleague and a watering can and proceeded to refill the screen wash. Those remaining passengers were then able to board including a woman with a heavy bag. The absence of a luggage pen meant there was nowhere for her to put it and she lugged it to the back of the bus. The absence of storage was also an issue for our driver who had placed his substantial bag and jacket on the dashboard by the front door. We pulled back from the stand at 1220hrs.
Our route out of King’s Lynn was again via the northern bypass, the driver switching on the saloon LED lighting as we passed through South Wootton. Good progress was made and it was 1230hrs when we reached the Knights Hill roundabout, passing the Sandringham turnoff five minutes later.
There was a friendly exchange with the first passenger to disembark, a woman laden with Christmas shopping who lived on the Mountbatten Estate. Back on the main road, we were once again just behind the blue Tempo of Lynx which this time was working the route 34 1210hrs departure from King’s Lynn to Hunstanton. We overtook it on the outskirts of Snettisham. “I love your hat,” said our cheerful driver to a little girl who boarded with her mum near the centre of the village at 1245hrs. He made sure they were safely seated before moving off.
There was no diversion to serve the centre of Heacham, the bus remaining on the A149 road towards Hunstanton. However, the queue at the roadworks was much longer and it took us four minutes to get through.
At the Redgate Hill roundabout on the outskirts of Hunstanton we continued along the main road, turning down Sandringham Road where several passengers disembarked ahead of reaching the town’s bus station at 1300hrs. Our driver always had a friendly word for those joining and leaving.
Only three of us left at the bus station, the mum and little girl and me. Everyone else was going on to points further along the route to Wells and the driver reset the destination display appropriately, leaving on time at 1305hrs. The blue Tempo on Lynx service 34 had arrived a minute earlier, the Stagecoach Norfolk Enviro400 on route 11 joining us at 1308hrs.
Journey of the day
My intention had been to catch Lynx’s 34 service back to King’s Lynn, but with the 1310hrs departure worked by the same driver and bus that I’d travelled on earlier on route 35 I elected to wait an hour. Rather than use King’s Lynn’s northern bypass, service 34 goes via Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Gaywood.
The 1410hrs route 34 departure was worked by a longer-wheelbase Lynx-liveried Tempo with a rather attractive photograph of a church or cathedral taken at dusk mounted on the back of the driver’s partition. While a ceiling-mounted casing remained in situ, the monitor which once inhabited had presumably been removed prior to the bus making the move to Norfolk.
The smartly dressed driver who checked my ticket had a pleasant demeanour and, once again, what was immediately apparent was the cleanliness of the fresh smelling saloon. As with the blue Tempo, seat moquette was in good condition. It was an attractive travelling environment so a shame that the youth seating adjacent to me at the back had one foot on the side-facing seat in front. There were eight of us onboard when we left on time.
I’d mentioned earlier the Coasthopper-liveried Enviro200 MMCs travelling in the opposite direction and now it became apparent why. Some of the buses were being used on route 10 and 11 and one arrived as we were preparing to leave. Given the state of the Trident I’d travelled on, that seemed like a welcome development and it was also perhaps a reflection of the impact competition from Lynx was having.
Rather than use Windsor Rise and Princess Drive our driver turned left on to Oasis Way to exit Hunstanton. By 1413hrs we were heading down Redgate Hill towards the roadworks although there proved not to be the holdup there had been on the way in. Braking and acceleration were smooth and our clearly experienced driver was making it all look effortless and easy.
By 1416hrs we turned right off the main road and back into Heacham. With its longer wheelbase our driver frequently needed to use both sides of the road to negotiate bends, but what little traffic there was didn’t impede his progress. The sharp left-hand turn into Staithe Road was accomplished smoothly. It would have been so easy to have mounted the kerb.
We were back on the main A149 Lynn Road at 1424hrs and two minutes later collecting more passengers in the centre of Snettisham. As we did so, a Coasthopper Enviro200 MMC on route 11 overtook us. Our driver waited for time before proceeding.
Passengers joined and left us as we made our way through Ingoldisthorpe and Dersingham enjoying the sights of the Mountbatten Estate once again. Back on the A149 Lynn Road there was a Coasthopper Optare Solo also heading for King’s Lynn not far ahead.
We passed the Sandringham turnoff again at 1440hrs and we were through the Knights Hill roundabout five minutes later although this time continuing south along Queen Elizabeth Way.
There’s no mistaking Queen Elizabeth Hospital which is adjacent to the A149 and reached via a roundabout and Gayton Road. We were at the hospital’s main bus stop at 1449hrs where a couple departed and two passengers joined us. One, a hospital worker, knew our driver. Back on Gayton Road heading into King’s Lynn there’s another stop almost immediately by the hospital entrance where a woman waiting had plenty of questions for our driver which he patiently answered.
Gayton, Lynn and Gaywood Roads into King’s Lynn are built up and progress was slower, our vehicle’s gear changes seeming to be less smooth than they had been at higher speeds. With no one joining or leave the bus, our driver paused for time again at the stop before Eastgate Street.
There were three off at the railway station at 1501hrs leaving just three onboard for the bus station. The wait for a green light to rejoin the traffic flow was brief and we were in the bus station two minutes later by my watch. Our driver had a friendly word for all those departing.
So it was a day of contrasting experiences on what is now an intensively worked corridor between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton. The variation in routes does give some choice for passengers, although it’s a pity that overall geographic coverage seems to have been reduced as a result of the competition.
Friendly drivers are doing their best to sell their respective company’s products to passengers, but what made the difference for me was something that’s within the control of any bus company – cleanliness.[/wlm_ismember]
