Somerset’s Slinky DRT

Saturday 1st June 2024

I was going to spare you another blog about DRT and just give Somerset Council’s new Slinky branded service a passing mention in Thursday’s ‘Seen Around’ blog.

But that was before I remembered the sorry state of Yeovil’s bus station and environs which deserves more than a passing mention.

I managed to arrive into Yeovil Junction railway station on Tuesday morning on an on-time SWR train from Waterloo meaning I easily caught the hourly connecting bus the Council runs on route 68 for the two mile trek into town (train arrives xx38 and bus departs xx47). So far so good.

In this part of Somerset you get the impression bus timetables are just about clinging on with the norm being roughly two-hourly frequencies from Yeovil to Shepton Mallet, Taunton, Wincanton, South Petherton, Chard, Blandford and Dorchester making the First Bus hourly service to Glastonbury and Wells (route 77) seem like a luxury. Local routes 11 (South West Coaches) and 51 (First Buses of Somerset) both operate half-hourly.

It’s good to see all these routes serve the town’s 12 bay bus station as described when I published the Y is for Yeovil blog in December 2022.

As described then “it’s all a bit grim with some of the bus shelters having seen better days” and despite some repairs and patching up since that visit it sadly still gives a rather down-at-heel impression.

Indeed the adjacent Glovers Walk and Quedam shopping centre which I reported as being dominated by abandoned empty units in 2022 …

… was still in the same sorry state 18 months on, and aside from a small newspaper and confectionary kiosk, it’s now completely empty of retail activity. And judging by local media reports that situation is set to continue for many years to come.

The whole site was put up for sale by owners Martin Property Group (a Northern Ireland based investment company) at the beginning of the year with a guide price of just £1,750,000. It had purchased the site as recently as 2018 when the guide price was £3,500,000, so it doesn’t look as though its been a particularly successful investment for them.

As well as the bus station and public toilets, the plot includes 26 retail units, a kiosk, restaurant and five flats. It comes with a vision to transform the area into a mixed use development including 216 apartments, commercial space, 93 car spaces and …. “a 2,200 sq ft bus interchange” (as depicted above and below). However nothing has come of these plans over the last six years and one has to conclude it will be many years before such a development will happen.

In the meantime there’s been understandable consternation since the beginning of the year as a result of the Council’s planned closure of the bus station waiting room and toilets.

The waiting room has had a stay of execution “for at least another few months with the support of the Somerset Bus Partnership and First Bus South West” but the toilets finally met their fate yesterday and closed for good. A great shame, as many bus journeys to and from Yeovil involve considerable distances and time spent on the bus. The lack of toilet facilities is not good for passengers especially as the bus station is sited a long way from any other town centre retail activity and facilities.

As you can see from the notices photographed above, there’s an active Yeovil Bus Users Group which has lobbied to keep the waiting room open, and I suspect is behind the posting of timetables for all the bus routes.

The good news is Somerset Council are in negotiations to purchase the site and issued a statement “reassuring bus passenger groups that it is committed to keeping Yeovil Bus Station operational as a vital part of a rejuvenated town centre. The Council will ensure the bus station remains a key transport hub in the county and it is currently involved in commercial discussions with the owner with a view to buying the site. These talks are ongoing and have been for some time as part of Yeovil’s regeneration. Once the Council has secured ownership of the site it will eventually look to remove some of the existing ageing buildings with a view to making long term improvements to the site.”

And so to Slinky.

Somerset Council has been operating Dial-A-Ride services branded as Slinky for some time. To be eligible to use the services passengers must register as a member and not have access to public bus services, or not have their own transport, or have a disability meaning they’re unable to access a public bus (it’s not clear from the online information whether you have to satisfy all three criteria or just one of the three to be an eligible user). Journey bookings must be made 24 hours before travel with fares costing £2.50 or £3.50 depending on whether the distance is up to (or over) three miles with return prices of £4 and £5. Concessions and children 5-16 travel for half fare rounded up to £1.30 and £1.80.

Slinky has been operating in four separate areas – Mendip, Sedgemoor, Taunton/West Somerset and South Somerset with each sub-divided into zones from where passengers have an option of a journey to different destinations according to the day of the week. For example the Mendip area is divided into three zones with Mendip East divided again into a North and South pick up area taking passengers to either Frome or Shepton Mallet on different days.

From this week Somerset Council has added a new Slinky service using Padam’s digital software to provide a DRT operation based on Somerton, ten miles north of Yeovil, with anyone eligible to use it.

It’s a rural area as you can see from the Ordnance Survey map extract below.

First Bus operates its hourly route 77 (Yeovil to Wells) south to north through Somerton…

… with two-hourly route 54 (Yeovil to Taunton) also heading north to Somerton then west via Langport.

Two minibuses are being used for the new DRT version of Slinky which operates between 07:00 and 19:00 on Mondays to Fridays with no evening or weekend service.

Bookings can be made by the Padam app, a web page or by phone.

The digital Slinky is being paid for from Somerset’s Bus Service Improvement Plan funding for a two year pilot and if successful it’s envisaged the aforementioned Dial-a-Ride Slinky services will also have a digital option added.

I headed from Yeovil up to Somerton, the “Royal Capital of Ancient Wessex” on a late running bus on route 77 on Tuesday, Slinky’s first day, but luckily not late enough to miss my pre-booked DRT ride (it was touch and go with a 16 minute connection and the 77 arriving 15 minutes late into Yeovil from its previous trip but thankfully made up time to be only seven minutes late arriving into Somerton) …

… and spot on time at 12:50, as booked, the brand new Mercedes Sprinter minibus arrived at the Market Square bus stop with Hazel in the driving seat and Claire on board.

Hazel and Claire will be the two regular drivers on the two buses allocated to the new Slinky service but had teamed up on the one bus for the first day as there hadn’t been enough bookings to justify two buses.

Indeed my presence was celebrated by me being the very first passenger with balloons and cup cakes.

Somerset Council has produced a leaflet explaining how the service works which I understand is being distributed around the area as well as a dedicated web page.

Surprisingly, fares are cheaper than those charged on the original Slinky services with concessionary passes giving half price.

I enjoyed a journey across to Langport and had a lovely chat with Hazel and Claire who are hugely excited about the new service and, aside from all the logistical and financial issues about DRT we’ve discussed on these blogs ad nauseam, if success is just judged on drivers’ enthusiasm, then Slinky is already a sure fire winner.

I left Hazel and Claire in Langport to take a look round this delightful Somerset village before heading back to Somerton and Yeovil on route 54. Interestingly the app gave me an option of having a ride as far as Somerton with Hazel and Claire more or less at the same time as a scheduled journey on the 54.

Back in Yeovil I made my way to Pen Mill station to catch one of SWR’s trains that returns to Waterloo via Frome, Westbury and Warminster before getting back on track at Salisbury.

Except a ‘police incident’ delayed the joining together at Salisbury with the train from Exeter and it was another very late running train home for me on this jinxed line.

Roger French

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