On the buses

April 2024 The capped £2 bus fare still has six months to run, but in practical terms you can’t travel very far if you don’t live near a transport hub or on a regional bus route. Most people will want to come home as well, so the £2 becomes £4.

Locally you can travel up to 18 miles to Swadlincote, where you can visit the Snowsports centre. It is open throughout the year for recreational skiing and snowboarding with lessons available for every standard. If the exercise gives you an appetite you can take a 20 minute walk to the 1950s American Diner, at Church Gresley, imported from the USA in 1995.

If you want a longer journey you’ll probably have to go into Leicester, so now your £2 becomes £8, but at least you have a few longer options, such as 20 miles to Rugby or 22 miles to Coventry. But the best value is perhaps the journey through Market Harborough to Northampton, at over 30 miles.

But why would anyone want to go to Northampton?

The answer is twofold – industrial and cultural. The industrial aspect is Northamptonshire’s 900 years of boot and shoe production. With a central location for trading links, an abundant supply of leather from local cattle markets, and local oak bark and water for tanning, it was the perfect place for shoemaking to flourish. It wasn’t just developed in the County town, but also in most towns and villages, often with specific specialisms. Long Buckby, for example, was famous for the very high quality of its long boots, Rushden for safety footwear and Wollaston for its work boots.

Northamptonshire makers provided boots for the American War of Independence and over two thirds of the 70 million pairs of footwear for the 1st World War. The county is still world renowned for the shoes it creates, with over 25 manufacturers producing a huge range of quality footwear such as Dr Martens and Church & Co. With all the supporting industries such as tanneries, leather merchants and designers, Northamptonshire is a world leader and global brand in footwear.

The UK footwear industry employs over 9,000 people and specialist retail outlets and stockists for Northamptonshire’s leading brands can be found throughout the world and its major cities, from London to New York, Paris to Moscow, and Madrid to Shanghai. The UK is the eighth largest exporter by value in the EU with exports in excess of £630m, or 40 million pairs. Demand continues to grow from key international markets in North America, Russia, and the Far East.

Northampton Museum and Art Gallery has the largest collection of historical footwear in the world, designated as being of international importance. Thousands of shoes are on display from the Ancient Egyptians to the present day, including novelties such as Elton John’s ‘Tommy’ boots from the film Pinball Wizard, and the giant boots made for Jumbo, the eleven year old female elephant that took part in the British Alpine Hannibal Expedition in 1959. Galleries include the history of shoemaking and the history of fashions in footwear throughout the centuries.

The cultural gem

But there’s more to Northampton than just shoes – there’s an under appreciated cultural gem at 78 Derngate, a terraced house re-modelled by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1916 for his client, Northampton model engineer, W.J Bassett-Lowke.

Mackintosh was a Scottish architect and designer who was a leader of the Glasgow style in Great Britain and achieved an international reputation in the 1890s as a designer of unorthodox posters, craftwork, and furniture. Although he was nearly forgotten for several decades, the late 20th century saw a revival of interest in his work.

Mackintosh’s chief architectural projects included the Glasgow School of Art (1896–1909), considered the first original example of Art Nouveau architecture in Great Britain. Others, now part of Glasgow’s Mackintosh trail, include Hill House, Helensburgh (1902); the Willow Tea Rooms, Glasgow (1904); and Scotland Street School, Glasgow (1904–06). It’s a bonus for the Midlands to have a fine example of his work in Northampton. The house has drawn many thousands of visitors from around the globe and is the only place outside Scotland in which Mackintosh's mature architectural and interior style can be seen in their original setting. 78 Derngate has been meticulously restored and is open to the public Tuesday to Sunday and Bank Holidays. There’s a dining room for lunch and refreshments.

The quickest way to Northampton is by car, but the capped bus fare makes it an economic and leisurely alternative, and for those with a concessionary bus pass it’s free. How far have you travelled by bus for £2 ?

Have you spotted the talking bus stop?

December 2023 Bus passengers might have noticed that bus stops are changing. New’totem’ posts have been popping up with four sided display boards on them. They’ll not make the buses any more reliable, but at least you’ll have something to read as you wait for a cancelled service. That reading may not, ironically, be a timetable.

“The responsibility for putting up roadside information lies with the commercial operators,” a spokesperson for Leicestershire County Council explained. “We’ll bring it to the attention of the operator as we recognise how beneficial timetable information can be.”

For many of the stops it isn’t critical as they have the latest digital display, much more compact than the one outside the Co-op on Leicester Road. In the city there are many of these new digital stops, but so far only one has been reported in Groby. It’s to be found on the Leicester bound side of the road opposite Marston Drive.

Not only will the digital display show when the next buses will arrive, there is an INFO button with audio which tells you not only the same information but also which stop you are at. This is an improvement for anyone with a visual impairment. One thousand of these bus stop totems have been installed in the Leicester area since January 2022.

If you are wondering why this technological advance has been at the Marston Drive stop, which doesn’t have the same footfall as other stops such as the village hall, the answer is probably money. The cost of a digital stop was included in the payment the developer of nearby Highway Close had to pay as part of the planning consent.

Nothing is straight forward in the world of public transport. The Co-op stop has a digital display for one bus an hour, but the Stamford Arms stop on the opposite side of the road does not, for the three buses an hour that stop there.

The answer may, or may not, be the availability of a power supply. Perhaps more stops locally will get digital displays, as the latest versions are powered solely by recyclable lithium batteries with a 3 year guarantee – there is no requirement for the fitting of external power or solar systems that require additional installation, maintenance, and a clear line of sight to the sky. But that’s a lot of batteries to change in 3 years time.

Low emission buses

Arriva has announced that it will be bringing 24 new electric double decker buses to the city, their first electric double deckers outside London. These are in addition to 36 new ultra-low emission buses, producing 30% less emissions, arriving into their Leicester fleet this Christmas.

Bus diversions expose Arriva system shortcomings

November 2023 It was inevitable that both drivers and bus passengers would be inconvenienced in October by the essential utility works in connection with Groby flood alleviation scheme. For drivers the position was fairly clear – Ratby Road was closed at the junction of Leicester Road next to the Stamford Arms. But for bus passengers who wanted to use the Arriva 28 service the situation was confusing.

The impact that the road closure would have on the bus route was publicised in good time by Cadent, the contractors. But the map they circulated was distinctly sub-standard. The streets were, at best, barely visible and the street names virtually illegible.

(Go to makeameme.org for great photo ideas)

No temporary bus stops planned

On the day before the road closure, Arriva confirmed that that there would be no temporary bus stops to replace any of the 6 stops that were being closed, despite the fact that on the diversion route the original, but abandoned, stop signs at Oak Tree Close and Elizabeth Woodville School, are still available. Passengers who would normally use one of the closed stops would have to walk to the Brookvale or Village Hall stops. Following a resident’s call to Cllr O’Shea a temporary bus stop was placed on Oak Tree Close.

Cadent pointed out that intending service 28 passengers could use the 29/29A service on Markfield/Leicester Road. Yes, those travelling towards Leicester, or alighting after travelling from Leicester, could use the 29. But the 29 service from the Markfield Road stop, at the intersection with the A50, takes a completely different route to the 28 apart from the final destination – Coalville.

Anyone unaware of the difference between the routes, and following the advice to travel from the Markfield Road stop, might have had a long journey ahead. Passengers wanting to travel to villages such as Bagworth or Thornton and catching the 29 might have just 3 minutes to change buses at Coalville and catch the 28 southbound. The trip from Groby to Thornton, for example, would take more than an hour compared to the normal journey time of less than 20 minutes.

Problems with the journey planner

There has been a great push to encourage passengers to use the internet to plan their journeys, and this can be particularly useful to check whether a bus scheduled within the next couple of hours has been cancelled or delayed. Passengers cannot, however, always assume that what they see on the internet is correct, and bus travel is no exception.

Arriva were told the day before the road closure that the journey planning tool was still showing buses departing from the closed stops for the week of the closure. Perhaps when the software specification was written an easy way of making short term changes wasn’t included. But the temporary route diversion brought another problem to light which may perhaps be the result of a communication failure within the company.

On April 16th the route of the 26 (now the 28) was changed to Ratby Road only, no longer serving Woodbank Road, Lawnwood Road and Stephenson Way. More than six months later the online journey planning service is still giving departure times from the withdrawn stops. Arriva has not responded to a request for a comment.

Although the numbers using the 28 service are relatively small, the demographic of passengers who rely on it is weighted towards the elderly and those with mobility problems. Despite the best efforts of the staff, at a time when the service is still struggling to recover from the Covid passenger losses, driver and maintenance engineer shortages, confidence will be damaged if reliable information is not available and the needs of passengers on diversions aren’t considered at the planning stage. Although our bus services are commercially run the industry does receive some taxpayer funding, including concessionary travel settlements and aid to cap single fares at £2 to encourage bus travel.

Don’t get excited if you see a number 28 bus in Groby

Some readers will be disappointed to hear that this Arriva 28 bus is not the 28 that used to serve the residential streets off Ratby Road, and the Glebe Road/Pymm Ley Lane area. This is a renumbered 26 which passes hourly through the village on Leicester Road and Ratby Road en route to Coalville.

The change of number seems to have been made quietly and might have led to some confusion, as some passengers identify their bus by number. It seems that the reason for the change is the avoidance of confusion with another service 26 which leaves from another bus station and takes a route nowhere near Groby.

So do not board a First 26 from the Haymarket bus station unless you want to get to Beaumont Leys, Mowmacre Hill or Belgrave. The good news is that in the unlikely event that you do board it by mistake, the First 26 is a circular route, and in less than an hour you’ll be back where you started at the Haymarket Bus station.

If you pay for your bus travel this 55 minute outing will only have cost £2, as the Government’s subsidised single bus fare cap has been extended to the end of October. The Bus Fare Cap Grant scheme is not just for Leicestershire, but applies to most single (including Child and Student) bus journeys across England. How far have you travelled for £2?

If you want a last ride on a 26 (now the 28), and haven’t seen the traffic jams caused by the A50 roadworks, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBOTzclzl_4.

Free bus passes and bus cancellations update

August 2023 Research has shown that older people, and people with disabilities, are not travelling on buses as much as they used to, even though anyone with a disability, or has reached the state pension age, has been entitled to travel free of charge on any off-peak local bus service in England since 2007. The bus passes are free as part of the English National Concessionary Travel scheme. Bus companies, including Arriva, are supporting a campaign to get those people using the bus as much as possible to get around.

Arriva has been part of a working group with the Department for Transport and the Confederation of Passenger Transport to support the campaign. Cora Woodhouse, marketing and customer service director, said: “We’re pleased to be working with the Department for Transport to support and encourage concessionary travel across our network. We know many of those living in the communities we proudly serve are feeling the pinch right now so we are keen to remind that we are here to connect them every day.

“There are many places people can use our services to visit and enjoy days out and taking the bus has an environmental and social benefit too. We want people to keep on using the bus and, for those who use other modes of transport, give the bus a try.”

Google bus pass Leicestershire for information on how to apply.

Bus cancellations

August 2023 Reliability problems and cancellations have perhaps played in part in discouraging passengers, but although they still happen there has been an improvement. Those with internet access can check before they home if their bus has been cancelled by visiting www.arrivabus.co.uk/inspire-me.

Arriva acknowledges the problems. “There are ongoing issues with not having enough bus drivers in Leicestershire and this is no different from the problems suffered by the bus industry nationally, which we are working hard to close by bringing additional qualified drivers into the business,” said a spokesperson.

“There has been an increase in applications for bus driving roles locally, which is good to see, and this is linked to the successful implementation of a revised pay deal for our Leicestershire area. We have a good pipeline of applicants and are continuing to train new drivers as quickly and as safely as we can in order to further improve our services.”

Hop on the new free bus service

April 2023 On April 3 a new circular bus route was introduced in Leicester serving the St Margarets and Haymarket bus stations at a stop on Savoy Street, with the Shires, St Nicholas Circle, Welford Road, the Royal Infirmary, London Road railway station, Granby Street and Charles Street. The route runs anti-clockwise, which is useful for anyone arriving by train who wants to get to the bus stations, but less convenient for those arriving by bus who need to catch a train.

That aside, it’s using small bright green 21 seater electric buses, and runs daily apart from Sundays and Bank Holidays. It’s also frequent, every 10 minutes, and free to use. The buses have audio-visual announcements about the next stop, helpful both for those with disabilities and those less familiar with the route and local landmarks. There’s also free Wi-Fi and USB charging points for phones. tablets and laptops whilst on the move, though the journeys are probably too short to get much of a battery top up.

The new Hop service has a frog as its logo, and this theme is carried forward to the sound that the bell makes when pressed. No doubt the drivers will get used it.

Service 26 route diversion disappoints residents

March 2023 Arriva has announced changes to the route taken by the Leicester to Coalville 26 service from April 16 2023, one of a number of timetable changes that aim to “help keep buses running on time”.

From that date buses will no longer serve Stephenson Way, Lawnwood Road and Woodbank Road and will run directly along Ratby Road, stopping outside and opposite the allotments. The bus stop layby at the allotments is now used as a parking bay and this is unlikely to change. As the 26 service is only hourly from Monday to Saturday, this is a probably a better use in an area where on street parking is in short supply.

“We don’t have any immediate plans to change the parking arrangement at the layby,” said Councillor Ozzy O’Shea, county council cabinet member for highways and transport. “We’ll be reviewing suitable, alternative locations for a bus stop when the relevant service changes come into effect.”

The existing route is difficult for the drivers because of the size of the buses, but is very convenient for residents in the area, particularly those with mobility problems. Further afield, the 26A service diversion is being dropped as there is insufficient demand to serve the warehouses near Coalville.

Elsewhere, the 29/29A/29B/X29, which runs between Leicester and Swadlincote, will also undergo some minor changes. Route 29 will continue to run around Chitterman Way, London Road and Main Street in Markfield as usual, with route 29A now running directly along Leicester Road between the Cemetery and The Queen's Head.

With Spring on the way anyone wanting to travel to Bradgate Park by bus on a Sunday will still have 4 buses each way at 2 hourly intervals.

There are also some minor timetable changes, which you can check at many stops or online at Arriva.co.uk.

Arriva recruiting bus drivers and trainees

December 2022 If you’re passenger who has been inconvenienced by delayed or missing buses because of driver shortages, you may have been frustrated that there seems to be very little you can do about it. But there is one, albeit small, contribution you can make to putting matters right – ensure that anyone you know who might be interested in becoming a bus driver is aware that Arriva is recruiting.

Someone who has an appropriate Passenger Carrying Vehicle licence can earn £13.70 an hour for a 40 hour week with enhancements for evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays. Although trainees earn less initially the company will pay all the training costs in qualifying for a licence.

In addition to full time contracts and Arriva offers a range of flexible part time, evening and weekend contracts available, and free bus travel for employees, their spouse and children. There’s also an Arriva workplace pension and a health assurance programme for employees and their families.

The job may well have attractions for anyone who would enjoy driving as a career and who has targets to meet without a supervisor looking over their shoulders all day. For some, like Vicky from Heckmondwike, it may be an opportunity to change direction.

“I worked as a physiotherapist and decided to look for a career that was less stressful and offered me greater job security,” she explained. “The main benefit for me is the flexibility of work. If you like working long days you can, or you can also work shorter shifts. Overtime is also an option that appealed to me. I like that every day was different and enjoy the characters you meet on the bus.”

More information on Arriva opportunities is available at arrivabusjobs.co.uk, which includes an interesting interactive decision making test to see help screen out unsuitable candidates. Give it a try on a wet afternoon!

Minor changes to local Arriva bus timetables October 2022

Services 29/29A - Leicester to Swadlincote. There will be changes to the times of some journeys, as well as a route change in Whitwick.

Services 26/26A - Leicester to Coalville. There will be minor changes to the timings of some journeys to continue coordinating with services 27 and 29/29A along Groby Road.

Service 27 - Leicester to Coalville. There will be minor changes to the timings of some journeys to continue coordinating with services 26/26A and 29/29A along Groby Road.

How to save £70 - stay out of the Groby Road bus lane

August 2022 Love them or hate them, bus lanes look as if they are here to stay. How you feel about them may depend on whether or not you travel by public transport. If you’re a driver you need to be aware of the latest bus lane addition in Leicester.

New bus lane open

Opened on Wednesday 20 July it’s on the inbound Groby Road (A50) and starts around Mary Road. If you don’t know the street names the best landmark is the flower shop on the Groby side of the Garland Avenue/Brading Road junction. The bus lane then runs down to near Medina Road, on the Leicester side of the BP garage, near the Fosse Road North/Blackbird Road lights.

Lots of income from fines

In August 2018 the Leicester Mercury revealed that cameras set up to catch motorists illegally using Leicester's bus lanes had generated nearly £4 million in the preceding two-and-a-half years. Nearly 116,000 penalty notices had been issued. Groby motorist Ian Walton, told the Mercury “I don’t much like the cameras and, whatever the council says they should just be honest, they’re mainly a cash machine. It’s a tax on the daft. If you’re stupid enough to drive where you shouldn’t, you deserve to pay a fine.”

Two years later, in 2020, another 30,000 fines had generated an income of £900,000, despite the cameras being shut off in April and May during the first national Covid-19 lockdown.

The City Council says the cameras are not a means to generate cash, but are to enable bus journey times to be shortened. “The success of our cameras will be judged on how few rather than how many people they catch,” said City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby. “Their objective is to provide areas where buses can pass freely to improve journey times and therefore make them more appealing as an alternative to private motor vehicles.”

The new Groby Road bus lane will be accompanied by the extension of the 30 mph speed limit. Eight different bus services operate along the route, with up to seven buses every hour travelling into the city via Groby Road. The £50,000 cost will be covered by the first 1428 drivers who pay a reduced fine of £35 within 28 days. Leave it any longer and the fine is £70.

In the past there have been complaints about the quality of the signage, so drive carefully, stay out of the bus lane, and avoid adding to all those other escalating household bills.

Nov 2018

Arriva Saturday services – two buses in two minutes

Will it affect the profitability of the 26 service?

Changes to the Arriva timetables from November 18th 2018 have resulted in some buses leaving the Village Hall within 2 minutes of one another on Saturdays. There are concerns that this might impact on the viability of the 26 hourly Saturday service along Woodbank Road and Stephensons Way.

Although the main daytime service on Mondays to Fridays still means 4 buses an hour from Groby centre into Leicester, the Saturday service change that means in practical terms the service from the Village Hall is reduced from 3 buses hourly to 2. Previously on Saturdays the 29 left this stop at 20 and 50 minutes past the hour, with the 26 leaving at 42 minutes past.

On Saturday's revised timetable the 26 is unchanged but the 29 is rescheduled to 10 and 40 minutes past the hour on Saturdays. Passengers will generally take the first bus that arrives and this means that if the 29 is on time all the available passengers at stops between the Village Hall and Leicester will take the 29. In these circumstances Saturday passenger numbers on the 26, which is scheduled to arrive 2 minutes later, are likely to be reduced.

Starburst service failed

The experience of Veolia when they introduced their Starburst service in 2009 from Coalville to Leicester suggests that when two buses travel part of a route at more or less the same time one becomes less cost effective.

When the Starburst 50 was subsequently withdrawn in 2010 a spokesperson said “On some portions of our route there was an existing service but on other portions we were on new territory. It soon became obvious that existing operators within the area made a decision to defend their existing routes by registering a service that mirrored ours and ran it a few minutes before our own. We have no desire at this moment in time to start what can only be described as a bus war so after due consideration we decided to cancel the service....We are also aware that the increased services by these other operators were indeed reduced again following our withdrawal. We would like to go on record to thank the passengers that travelled with us during our 6 months on our Service 50 and hope that they appreciate the commercial reason as to why we needed to withdraw."

Arriva's explanation

Commercial Development Manager(South) explained that when making the November 2018 changes they weren't able to maintain a reasonable spacing of the times of the two services on the inward route to Leicester. “We have reviewed the journey times and made some slight changes to the core timetable introduced in February 2017, as well as adjusting the vehicles’ layover (recovery time) at either end of this long interurban route to help deliver a more punctual service. Whilst we have been able to retain good coordination along Groby Road on Saturdays in the outbound direction (towards Groby) it is not possible to achieve this in both directions within the new vehicle cycles.”

He added that “we have no plans to change the route or frequency of service 26 at this time.” Routes have to be profitable, however, so there are concerns that the change may reduce the viability of the Saturday service by the time of the next review. If this is the case it need not mean the end of the Saturday service as presumably Arriva could cross subsidize the 26 from a profitable route as it is the only bus service available to some Leicestershire residents. But it could mean a less frequent Saturday service or even a change of route back to Laundon Way. Residents who depend on the service in the Woodbank Road area, and who still regret the withdrawal of Service 28, will be pleased to hear the route is safe for the moment.

Arriva has made a change to the way they link the vehicle workings on their Groby Road services that, together with a couple of minor route amendments around Ashby and some judicious tree cutting by the County Council, now allow the company to use double decker buses on the 29/29A route. “ These buses provide additional capacity which is much welcomed on the busy commuter and school journeys, and, come the spring, will give some amazing views over the National Forest as they travel out to Swadlincote and Burton-on-Trent.” The spokesperson added the bigger buses are needed partly because of the increased demand created by the Amazon warehouse “but more significantly the need is for school movements which have changed considerably in the past 12 months.”

Sept 2017

Arriva says passengers stand on “odd occasions only”

The company is asked to comment

A Groby Spotlight reader has complained about the Saturday bus service following the changes introduced in February which reduced the number of buses on the Leicester Road routes from five an hour to three an hour. "Are Arriva aware that it is often standing room only on Saturday morning 29 & 29A bus services between Groby and Leicester?” he asks. “Should Arriva consider reinstating the 20 minute frequency on Saturdays?” He added that he understands that it is difficult getting on the early morning buses out of Leicester at the time of the buses for the Amazon shift, despite there being a double decker on the service.

As the reader did not specifically refer to the 40% reduction in the Saturday service resulting from the withdrawal of the 28 and 29X services a spokesperson for Arriva declined to comment on this issue, but said that he had reviewed cumulative passenger boardings on a journey-by-journey basis for every Saturday since the network change. “Although there are some odd occasions where the total number of passengers using a specific journey is greater than the seated capacity of the vehicles there is no discernible pattern; indeed there have been no such journeys in the past five weeks. I should also highlight that it is cumulative boardings I have assessed, which assume that nobody gets off the bus between Coalville and Leicester – a worst-case scenario we know not to be realistic.”

He disagrees with the comment that “it is often standing room only on Saturday morning” and says the level of service provided is one that is appropriate to customer demand and financially viable. He will, however, arrange for Arriva Inspectors to survey journeys through Groby and “undertake manual passenger counts to reconcile against the data we hold to ensure there are no anomalies, and also to investigate why customers might be standing if there are seats available.”

Early morning service to Coalville

With regards to the observation concerning the early morning service that serves the Amazon warehouse shifts the spokesperson said “the journey that is timed for the Amazon shift workers uses a double-decker and departs Leicester for Coalville at 0632 in the mornings. This journey has been provided specifically to meet the needs of staff at Amazon and was introduced in February this year. We are aware that this journey is extremely busy and we are working with Amazon to provide additional capacity as their staffing levels continue to grow. I can only apologise if residents of Groby are finding it difficult to board this journey for travel to Coalville early in the morning, but as the journey did not exist prior to February I would hope that readers do not feel they are being unduly disadvantaged. Should readers require any further information please contact Arriva on 0344 800 4411.”

May 2017

Will Arriva drop the Stephenson Way service?

It's nearly 3 months since changes were made to the buses serving Groby. The major changes were the withdrawal of the 28 and 29X services and the re-routing of the 26 up Stephenson Way/Woodbank Road once again. But one reader wonders whether this diversion off Ratby Road will also get dropped.

The route change means that the bus stop outside the allotments on Ratby Road is redundant, so the question put forward last month for readers to comment on was whether it could be re-allocated to parking to ease the pavement parking problems.

Reader Peter Castell suggests that the current diversion of service 26 up Stephenson Way may not last. He points out that while it is true this stop is not currently used it should be remembered that the 26 has previously been removed from it’s present route to Ratby Road to improve punctuality. He adds that “as it rarely runs to time now it is reasonable to wonder if it will revert to Ratby Road once the dust has settled after the removal of the 28 route.” This is an interesting thought, but probably not one which those residents of the Stephenson Way and Woodbank Road areas who rely on the service would wish to countenance.

Another reader, Carol York, says we have been in this situation before. Sometimes it is a bus stop, sometimes it isn't. It was used for about a year by the short lived Starburst service to Coalville and later it came into use again when the route of the 26 bus to Coalville was changed. Now it is redundant again as the 26 is serving Stephenson Way and the other residential roads instead.

Bearing in mind it has been redundant before Carol asks “who knows when it might be needed again?” She believes it is still used each week by the Tesco bus and is concerned that “if parking is allowed it will be very difficult to stop it.” Carol adds that when cars are parked on the opposite side of the road it makes the carriageway quite narrow and the bus stop is useful for cars to pull in and allow oncoming vehicles through.

July review for proposed route change

Arriva has not yet reviewed the suggestion put forward by County Councillor O'Shea that the route of the 26 is changed to include the Glebe Road/Pymm Ley Lane area, bypassing the Post Office and the village centre. “It is too soon to review this just now, as I we do not believe we have sufficiently gathered enough information to accurately reflect the changes,” a spokesperson said. It will be included in the next wave of reviews scheduled for July.

Timetable errors

A reader warns Sunday travellers to beware of the timetables on the Groby village centre stops on Leicester Road. He reported timetable errors to Arriva some months ago but no corrections were forthcoming, though they hope to have put them right by the time this edition of the Spotlight arrives. “The times on the bus stop opposite the Post Office are wrong,” he pointed out. “The departures given as at 50 past the hour are in fact at 55 past, so you will have an extra 5 minutes to wait. Not too serious. But watch out if you are going the other way, towards Coalville.”

It seems that the time given outside The Stamford Arms as 12 minutes past the hour is incorrect. It should read 2 minutes past the hour, so the chances are you'll miss your bus and have to wait nearly an hour for the next. “Is it unreasonable to ask that the posted times should be correct?” he asks.

A spokesperson for Arriva said : “We have removed the information at the Stamford Arms and the Post Office as the information was indeed incorrect. These stops are the responsibility of the Local Authority who are still in the process of receiving updated information from their print supplier. We are supporting them with the roadside updates as they come through and envisage this to be completed in the week commencing 8th May.”

If you are affected and want to check the current timetable online, or see an interactive map showing whether your bus is on time and where it is, just Google grobylinx and click through.

Smaller buses

After years of travelling to Leicester on a clearly oversized 28 bus those who use the buses have been dismayed to see that, although there are fewer buses, the size of some buses has shrunk as well. On some services 12 passengers have boarded at the stop opposite the post office and they sometimes travel onwards with standing room only. This has been mentioned to Arriva.

Parking at Rugby station

The Spotlight articles on how to save money on rail fares by travelling from Rugby rather than Leicester were very well received. The station is easily accessed in 30 minutes and there is plenty of station parking. After the articles were published parking charges were increased but are still only £4 a day at weekends, and £5 cheaper than Leicester station on weekdays.

One reader reports advance online booking problems at Rugby if a stay extends from a weekday into the weekend. The charge rate is for a 24 hour period, but if you want to park on a Friday(£9) and collect your car more than 24 hours later on Saturday(£4), the system will tell you there are no spaces. Don't believe it, just make a booking for each day.

Virgin trains and NCP (who manage the bookings for them) are aware of the issue so hopefully it will be fixed in the near future. “We’re working with NCP to resolve this and we’re sorry for any inconvenience caused,” a spokesperson explained.

“We have been experiencing a few reports of customers being unable to make a booking longer than a day each time,” a booking assistant added. “I would recommend making a booking for each day, then press for assistance at the exit barrier to speak to the advisor over the intercom when you are leaving. If you give them all of your reference numbers and explain that you have made multiple bookings for one stay, they will be able to raise the barrier for you once these have been confirmed.”

If you find yourself in this position check you card statements after the event to ensure they do not charge for an 'excess' stay. If all this puts you off there is alternative parking on the opposite side of the road at £7 for 24 hours (http://millroadparking.co.uk tel : 07855 751787.) There is no online booking facility.

If you missed the article when it was published just google rail fares groby online. The savings are still there – a day return trip to London in mid July, leaving around 10am and London around 9pm, was available at the time of writing at £38 from Leicester and £12 from Rugby. That's a saving of £52 for a couple.

April 2017

Could this ease the Ratby Road parking problem?

Could a redundant bus stop help?

When Groby Spotlight readers were asked whether the bus stop outside the Co-op on Leicester Road should be put to an alternative use those who expressed an opinion thought that using it for on street parking should not be considered as an option. But could another, now redundant, bus stop help ease the parking problems on Ratby Road?

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, says that laws allowing local authorities to ban pavement parking in the capital should be rolled out across the country. The ban on pavement parking has already been in place in London for 40 years - motorists are barred from pavement parking unless expressly permitted by a council.

Outside London mounting the kerb is generally allowed apart from where vehicles are causing an obstruction, or on roads with other restrictions such as double-yellow lines. The use of existing Traffic Regulation Orders to ban pavement parking on certain roads is a time-consuming and expensive process for local authorities.

"Councils in the capital have been able to ban pavement parking for many years and it seems a nonsense that local authorities outside London remain unable to do this,”said LGA Transport spokesman Councillor Martin Tett. "Local authorities need this power to respond to concerns raised by their communities, for example if a street is becoming dangerously congested or pedestrians are being forced to step out into the street to get round parked vehicles. This is particularly dangerous for blind or partially-sighted people and mums and dads with prams.

"Pavement parking and damaged pavements is one of the biggest complaints from pedestrians. In addition, repairing kerbs, verges and pavements damaged by pavement parking is expensive at a time when councils continue to face huge funding pressures as a result of further cuts to funding from government. The money spent on this would be better used to plug the £12 billion roads repair bill we currently face as a nation.

"Councils would carefully consult with communities before banning pavement parking and this is done sparingly in response to concerns which they have raised. This will enable them to better protect vulnerable pedestrians and provide a more consistent approach for all road users."

Locally some local residents are facing difficulties in finding a space to park their cars on Ratby Road. This can result in controversy if cars are parked on both sides, sometimes partly on the pavement. County Councillor O'Shea told Groby Parish Council that he had received numerous complaints from residents and had been working with both police and highway officers to try and discourage parking on the right hand side outside the terraced houses. He added that some vehicles have been parked partly on the road and partly on the pavement creating difficulties for those with mobility scooters or pushchairs.

Two officers from Leicestershire County Council who attended a Parish council meeting last year confirmed that they do not have a resolution to the problem. They explained that their current directive on areas of concern is based on accident levels, speed levels, and a combination of both. The highways budget is being reduced from £26million to £16million by 2020 so the department is having to look carefully how the budget is spent, members were told. As this area has not had an accident in the last 5 years it does not meet the criteria set.

The major cost that would be incurred in introducing parking restrictions, thought by some to be necessary, would be between £3,000 and £5,000 to fund a traffic Regulation Order, but the lack of enforcement is thought by others to make it a pointless exercise. Some councils had paid for these themselves, but even if Groby decided to subsidise the County Council in this way nothing could be done until at least April 2017. One member said “We are having to wait for accidents before something can be done. How sad we have to wait for someone to be killed.”

The bus stop outside the Ratby Road allotments is no longer used following the re-routing of the Arriva 26 service along Stephenson Way and could perhaps be allocated to parking. Although it is not directly within the stretch of road where the pavement parking issues are to be found it is only a few minutes walk away and could accommodate up to three cars.

What do you think? Would this be an appropriate use? Write or email and share your thoughts with other Spotlight readers. Include your name and address, which need not be published if this is your preference.

Bus service cuts, bus stops and 1964 timetables and more

When Arriva recently announced 'improvements' to the bus services on the Leicester to Coalville routes little was said about the withdrawal of the 28, which terminated in Groby. Even less was said about how the new timetables would affect Saturday services from the village.

On the old timetable there were 5 buses an hour into Leicester from the centre of the village, but with the withdrawal of the 28 and 29X the Saturday service from the post office has been reduced from five buses an hour to three. Although the 29X has been replaced with a 29 on weekdays it has not been replaced on Saturdays. The 26 continues to run hourly from Monday to Saturday. Having managed to reduce the costs Arriva must be pleased to see some of the buses now almost overflowing with standing passengers.

No enthusiasm for more parking spaces

Last month The Spotlight Point to Ponder asked for reader's views about the bus stop outside the Co-operative store on Leicester Road. The southbound stop now only serves the hourly 26 service, and if the 26 is re-routed down Pymm Ley Lane this stop will be redundant. The question posed was what alternative use could it be given to, for example more on street parking spaces. This is very much a case of 'what if ' as there is no plan at the moment to remove the stop.

Reader Richard Riley has given it some thought and suggests another alternative. “If the bus stop is to be removed I would not want to see the space used as a parking bay but instead would like to see the carriageway narrowed and the pavements on both sides of the road significantly widened,” he explained “The pavements could be resurfaced with high quality conservation grade paving, with better lighting, seating and trees introduced. As the photo in the February Spotlight clearly illustrates, this is a very broad section of bland tarmac that not only looks dull, right in the heart of the village and the conservation area, but is an uncomfortable distance for pedestrians to cross over, especially in the face of fast moving traffic during the morning and evening rush hours.

I think it’s the least the County Highways department could do to compensate for its recent scheme to the A50 that saw delays and disruption for over a year and at a cost of millions to the only section of the A50 that seemed to work perfectly well. In fact there seems to be no discernible difference in traffic flows along the A50 now that all the work has been completed.”

Move the bus shelter?

With regards to the future of the bus shelter if the stop is ever removed it was suggested at the March Parish Council meeting that it could be relocated to the other Co-op stop on Laundon Way.

Mr Riley's views are broadly shared by another reader, and she wrote agreeing that if the stop is ever removed it should not be used for more on street parking. “What a ridiculous suggestion,“ she said. “A better idea would be to put a nice long bench under the shelter so us poor souls can sit and rest before walking to the next bus stop.” She adds that for those who live at the top of Ratby Road, or on the side streets and Markfield Road, it is quite a long walk to the next stop. She fears that the changes to the bus services will lead to older people becoming more isolated. “It is sometimes a treat for them to get into town to meet friends and have a coffee. Not everyone has a car or can buy online on the internet and part of the joy is being able to choose your own groceries and talk to people, instead of looking at four walls and the TV. We need to use the village.”

Re-route the 26 or the 27?

Although a proposal to re-route the 26 service down Pymm Ley Lane would be welcomed by some residents others are glad to have their streets bus free once again. This reader objects for a different reason. “That would put extra time on the hourly bus service, so Thanks but No Thanks,” she added. No doubt there will be consultation before the changes, although the promised consultation with stakeholders before the February changes never materialised. A spokesperson for Arriva said they would have to review how the 26 is running before making a decision.

An alternative put forward by another resident is to put the 26 back on it's old route down Laundon Way and bring the 27 through the village. As there are 2 buses an hour the service could be split into 27A which would run down Pymm Ley Lane and Glebe Road, and 27B which would run to the Stamford Arms, then on to Stephenson Way and Woodbank Road back to Ratby Road. This might be welcomed by some but probably not those who catch the 27 from the Laundon Way area.

A website for enthusiasts

Whilst the good folk of Groby have been quietly getting on with their lives, jumping on and jumping off buses, they never realised that the local bus service has been under observation for some years. A website blog dedicated to public transport has reported on all the ins and outs of our local services.

You can Google Publictransportexperience Groby and follow the links. The author knows what he's talking about as he has a friend locally and has seen our buses first hand. You'll find that the Groby articles are full of the things you probably never thought about. If you were around in 1964 you might get all nostalgic about the timetable he reproduced in his article on June 4th 2015. In 1964 the buses reached the Stamford Arms in 17 minutes off peak, compared to 18 minutes on today's congested roads. During the rush hour journey times are inevitably much longer and the current timetable reflects the conditions.