Tuesday 6th May 2025
It’s always heartening to see another small enterprising bus operator launch a brand new commercial bus route to tap into an unmet market.
Black Cat Travel began a new six return journeys a day, six days a week route between Lincoln and Retford on Saturday before last, so I took a ride on Monday last week to see the potential for a successful addition to the bus network in this rather sparsely served part of the country.
I should say from the outset the family run Black Cat Travel has been based in Harmston, south of Lincoln, since formation in 2009 running a fleet of coaches, buses and taxis as well as offering PCV and HGV training and vehicle maintenance so I’m sure the owners know what they’re doing, with much greater knowledge about the local market than I could ever have.
The company’s new route 2/2X plugs a gap that’s long been missing in this border territory between Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. Blog reader Daniel who kindly alerted me to this surprise development told me he’s never known Lincoln and Retford have a six-days-a-week bus service “in his lifetime”, although he didn’t tell me his age! The previous Friday only shopping journey linking the two locations “stopped a few years ago”. So I was intrigued to see what I’d find on my visit.
It’s quite a commitment, resource wise. With three buses needed for the Monday to Friday timetable and two on Saturdays.
That’s because extra peak hour journeys serve The Priory Academy LSST in Lincoln numbered 2X (to and from the village of Skellingthorpe, not far from Lincoln) on schooldays which I guess were already operating.
I caught the 11:45 from Lincoln’s relatively new bus station on the first weekday morning of the new route, on Monday last week. The timetable incorporates a long layover for buses at Lincoln so it wasn’t surprising to see a plain white liveried Enviro 200 bus belonging to Black Cat Travel parked up in a layover area when I arrived at 11:15.
The driver pulled on to bay M at 11:40 and I was the only passenger to board so took the opportunity to have a chat with the friendly driver. He was looking forward to the new route and had high hopes it would be a success.
The electronic departure board was showing the departure but, as with all other bus routes serving the bus station, there’s no printed departure lists.
As you can see the route across to Retford serves a number of villages, the largest being Saxilby which, as well as having a station, is also served by Stagecoach’s route 100 (see a previous blog).
Before that we called into a rather upmarket venue called Burton Waters where expensive looking yachts are moored alongside flash cars and fancy restaurants, and there’s even a bus shelter with a rather nice seat.
Other villages along the route are lovely and quaint but have suffered from being part of a sparse bus network with very limited travel options.
However, those in Lincolnshire also have the county’s Call Connect DRT option with a zone based on Saxilby…
… while those in Nottinghamshire fall within the Z1 North Ollerton zone of its Nottsbus on Demand DRT so it’ll be interesting to see whether passengers who’ve been used to using those facilities switch to this new scheduled fixed timetable/route option.
One interesting location served by new route 2 is Rampton Hospital but there aren’t many options for visitors with gaps in the afternoon timetable, and it not being a daily service, means it probably won’t suit staff.
Another quirky facet to the route is it crosses the River Trent…
… between the villages of Newton-on-Trent and Dunham-on-Trent where there’s a toll bridge…
… costing £2 per crossing for a bus, so let’s hope there’s at least one passenger per journey to pay for that.
It was good to see copies of the timetable available in print form on board the bus I travelled on…
… and there was a supply of an even better looking version on display in Retford’s small and functional bus station…
… as well as departure signs having been updated, which was good to see.
Sadly, I was the only passenger for the journey through to Retford but as the bus was about to depart on its next journey back to Lincoln I noticed another passenger board.
I think it’s going to take a lot of patience and effort in equal measure to attract sufficient custom on this long abandoned route linking the many small communities between Lincoln and Retford with those locations. The driver told me the timetable has been distributed house to house to many of the villages on the route which is obviously essential to raise awareness.
It will also help if the buses used on the route could have some route branding added so residents in the villages are reminded of its existence.
It’s a very courageous development by Black Cat Travel to introduce this commercial venture and very well done for giving it a go. It’s not going to be easy to generate enough passengers to make it viable but I very much hope it’s a success against the odds and wish the family the best of luck in that endeavour.
Meanwhile down in south London, TfL extended route 315 on Saturday from its Balham Station terminaus to a massive new development on the site of Springfield University Hospital close to Tooting Bec Underground station.
The 315 is a five mile London suburban route running every 20 minutes (half-hourly on Sundays) linking West Norwood and Streatham with Balham. The previous end-to-end journey time was around 30-35 minutes with the extension adding 10 minutes journey time, so could have been achieved with an increase of one bus, but this being London, operator Transport UK has increased the peak vehicle requirement by 50% (from four to six), perhaps helped by the Developers of the hospital site handing over Section 106 funding for the extension.
This also being London you won’t be surprised to know the planned extension has been in the offing for well over two years, having been consulted on in April 2023 with a report and response issued six months later in October that year.
That’s a shame as although some redevelopment and building work is still continuing…
… including repurposing former hospital buildings for residential use…
… with impressive new replacement facilities for the hospital …
… many residents have already moved in and established their travel patterns…
… including utilising one of the many buildings with car parking spaces I noticed have been incorporated into the development.
I wasn’t surprised to be the only passenger having a ride yesterday morning as I suspect the newly extended route has taken residents by surprise.
Aside from the bus stops on Balham High Road (A, B, G, H, J, K, L) served by bus on routes 155, 249 and 355 and Trinity Road (A, B) served by routes 219 and 319, the consultation showed two new bus stops on the newly served roads previously with no bus route (Glenburnie Road and Springfield Drive) but only the former have appeared…
…and both of those are devoid of timetable information.
The distance from these bus stops to the new terminus will do nothing to encourage passengers nor will the confusion created at the terminal point with the new bus stop (with new shelter) confirming it’s for alighting only…
… and obviously displaying no timetable information either on the bus stop or in the shelter…
… (although route G1 which calls in from Burntwood Lane, to the north of the development site, in both directions picks up and sets down here)…
… with arriving buses on the 315 then continuing to a new bus stand around the corner which also makes it clear passengers can’t board there.
So where do they catch a bus? Nowhere, it would seem. So no wonder buses weren’t carrying anyone yesterday. Just to add to the confusion and ineptitude the timetable case at the Bus Stand (Z) did have a 315 timetable on display (the only one I spotted) even though “Buses do not pick up passengers here”.
The driver kindly did let me board there and admitted he and other drivers had no idea what was going on and where passengers were supposed to board.
Still, it’s only been two years in the planning so I’m sure our ‘world leading’ TfL, beloved of politicians ‘wanting control’, will soon sort it all out.
Roger French
Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS
BusAndTrainUser 
What a contrast, independent attention to detail, and Tfl couldn’t care less.
Let’s hope Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire can support Black Cat with the vast amounts of BSIP money that they are struggling to spent sensibly.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Some local context for the 315. There has been a lengthy battle over planning permission for the next phase of the development, this may have held up the route or it’s funding. The delay was caused by some Labour councillors siding with the Tories, despite being elected on a manifesto committed to new hosing in the area.
The development is only a short walk from Garrett Lane which is served by the 44, 77 and 270 which provide a frequent service to much wider range of destinations. The non car users (probably the majority of residents given the planning rules around here) have almost certainly got used to using these routes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
In London, even the extended 129 which has been running almost a month has yet to have any timetable information at the new stop serving the Gallions Reach housing area. A few other things missing along both the 129/SL4 routes. Standards really have slipped at TfL.
AMB.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d be interested to know how you would achieve the 315 extension with +1 PVR! In the peaks it would mean 0 minutes recovery time at each end, which wouldn’t be very sensible.
As others have alluded to, anything with s106 funding takes forever and a day to get through, not least because operators don’t understand or don’t want to understand how expensive is it to operate buses.
Publicity-wise, very poor effort from TfL.
Steve
LikeLiked by 1 person
Presumably it had recovery time at the previous northern terminous (Balham). Extending it ten minutes down the road doesn’t alter that, it just moves the location of the recovery time to the new terminous.
I assume in TfL land, recovery time is at partly proportional to the route length so it maybe that additional time is needed for the extended route, but its a pretty short extension to an already pretty short route. All-in-all doubling of the additional cost of the extension seems pretty inefficient.
LikeLike
…except that the extension takes longer than 10 minutes. Roger’s observation:
the extension adding 10 minutes journey time, so could have been achieved with an increase of one bus, but this being London, operator Transport UK has increased the peak vehicle requirement by 50% (from four to six)
is not accurate.
Checking the timetable on LondonBusRoutes.net: London Bus Routes – 315 timetable, the extension adds 13 minutes running time in each direction during the daytimes, rising to 15 minutes for school finishing times as well as both peaks.
Malc M
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah well in that case! Trying to think if there is anywhere close by which would be a worthwhile traffic objective and where there is a stand to layover to use the extra PVR better. Coming up blank as I don’t think the Plough Lane idea works
LikeLike
@ anon 7/5 08:42
The layover times may be generous and may, to some, seem inefficient. What they do provide, however, is resilience against unpredictable traffic conditions – even if the bus is delayed on one journey, it stands a better chance of being able to start its next journey on time.
I have in the past driven on services where that resilience was lacking. On paper, everything might have looked fine but once the traffic was bad, you ended up running later and later (or getting curtailed, or ending up so late you lost a complete rounder). Not good for the passengers, with buses not turning up when they were expected – and not good for the driver either.
Malc M
LikeLike
The thing that links Rampton and Springfield Hospitals is the theme of Mental Health. The second wife of a nephew used to work at the latter, Zoe Wiseman, and I think when she worked at the Springfield “forensic” was part of her job title. As to Route 315: many years ago, when there was serious railway engineering work going on at Balham Station the terminal point was moved to Tooting Bec Station with the service traversing the A214.
LikeLike
The new Black Cat service is commendable. Let’s hope they have not over egged the pudding regarding the timetable. Finders crossed it is supported by the local population.
LikeLike
Yes, the new 2 is quite a surprise, certainly plugs a gap and presumably worked off vehicles and staff who would otherwise be sitting around most of the (ever shorter day!) between school duties. But for 25% of the year has to stand alone….so we can but hope some Villagers may wean themselves off their car addiction and those in Lincolnshire at least, abandon DRT. Certainly deserves to succeed.
Regarding the 315, the last sentence in the blog says it all……missing timetables may be fine as most now use their phone, but how can such basics as picking-up passengers at a terminus be confusing?
Terence Uden
LikeLike
Unless it’s a Superloop route which normally entails a photo call with the Mayor publicity for anything else bus related never seems to be a priority for TfL. So much for a world class bus service . .more third world. Meanwhile directors still get paid their bonuses. Is anyone out there questioning their performance?
Martin W
LikeLike
Oh goody! I wanted to photograph Rampton telephone exchange (each to his own) so that will be useful.
LikeLike
I’ve just googled Rampton telephone exchange & must say that although it appears to be unusual, I’m sure there are plenty of other architectural delights to be seen along this new bus route. As you say, each to their own!
LikeLike
Ah well, I’m participating in a project to document telephone exchanges https://telephone-exchanges.org.uk/exchanges/retford-exchanges/
But I see somebody has beaten me to Rampton, and yes there are plenty of better things to look at round there!
LikeLike
I missed the 315 Consultation
Normally TfL contractors are pretty quick at getting timetables in place overnight and publicity was out to the normal media – on line and in print – a couple of days in advance – even if the websites used for “South London” a photo of Morden Bus Station. Ironically the 118 to 45 change did have in place the new timetables in most stop locations overnight . The G1 had also been on diversion away from the normal Springfield routing , essentially road works in the area , which may have not been completed until the start date for the 315 , this may explain the delay.
The Bus Stand is unusual in displaying a route number. Normally one would expect a red segment qualifier “315 Buses Only” where certain stand can only be used by a given route (its normally ignored by short turning buses on routes that may go past / nearby though)
I would have requested the 315 to be extended further to run to Plough Lane for Wimbledon Stadium at least , or preferably along Plough Lane – Haydons Road (then either via Colliers Wood to Morden to give the much promised industrial estate route serving Dean City Farm , or via South Wimbledon to Morden to give a Wimbledon Stadium-Haydons Road Station – Morden connection useful for football days and a connection to Springfield )
JBC Prestatyn
LikeLike
Your grasp of south London bus details humbles me considering that you are in far off Wales! I merely live in Surrey!
LikeLike
Very enterprising of Black Cat to reintroduce the through Retford to Lincoln bus. I believe the link was severed in the 1980s when Lincolnshire introduced a MAP scheme called East Notts that effectively separated their Nottinghamshire operations from those in Lincolnshire, wondered why they weren’t transferred to East Midland at that time. At deregulation that area was served by tendered routes run by Kettlewells who bought new buses, plus they ran a shoppers bus to Lincoln. Let’s hope the locals appreciate a proper, non DRT service! I’ll have to give it a go myself, wonder if it’s in the £3 scheme?
Richard Warwick
LikeLike
I seem to recall that the MAP scheme was not as far-reaching as anticipated as Nottinghamshire CC coughed up to retain some facilities. It was therefore prudent to call it East Notts rather than Lincolnshire!
Transferring a depot to another NBC subsidiary would be fraught with differing terms and conditions; doubtless, the staff at Newark would’ve been on lower money than the more prosperous East Midland business.
BW2
LikeLike
I remember the A57 Dunham toll bridge on a 1956 family holiday to Skegness, but not the fee. It’s disgraceful that private pockets are still being lined, with apparently no other Trent crossing between Gainsborough and Newark.
LikeLike
Last I heard the reason it’s still privately owned is that Lincolnshire County Council can’t or won’t buy it off the owners, and the tolls are barely keeping up with the maintenance costs.
The Humber Bridge is still tolled too, and you can’t use cash to pay for it, either.
A. Nony Mouse
LikeLike
I believe TfL are currently unable to bus produce timetables, either in print or online, they are also unable to update the data for TfLGo or third party apps. Changes to the 315 don’t appear anywhere online. If you ask TfL journey planner for a journey from Springfield Hospital, to Balham Station, it says walk to Tooting Bec, then get a bus or Northern Line.
I have been complaining to TfL that the times for 481 have been wrong since Feb 2025, and they are still wrong now. Buses run every 32 minutes (only TfL could do that), around lunchtime time are 16 mins out! It also means Countdown doesn’t work either. Once the bus has arrived at the terminal, the system assumes the bus will depart at the time held in the system, and shows arrival times at the stops down the route. But the bus doesn’t depart, because the times the driver has and the ones on the system are different, so stops along the route can show the same expected time for up to 16 mins, until the bus does depart, when they start counting down. You can imagine the exchanges between passengers at drivers, when they start complaining the bus is late!
After 4 or 5 e-mails to TfL they finally admitted they are currently unable to update the online data or print roadside timetables as a result of the Cyber attack in September!
This would explain why there are no timetables on stops, and the route has not been updated on the TfL website or third party apps.
LikeLike
As a local I doubt AFC, the fans or the police are much interested in a low frequency, low capacity bus route running to a station which only has trains every half hour. I believe the main route in for away fans is Earlsfield (trains every 3-5 mins) and then walk or take the 44/77/270 down Garrett Lane. That route offers plenty of pubs for the fans (all designated home and away) and a train operator used to handling large columns of sports fans.
LikeLike
Was meant to be a reply to JBC.
LikeLike
Lincoln to Saxilby now has three operators – Black Cat, Stagecoach with the 100 and also the 106/107, plus PC Coaches 77. Then additionally two train operators – Northern Lincoln to Sheffield and EMR Lincoln to Doncaster.
The 106 also serves Lincoln to Newton on Trent and Stagecoach’s 95 also links North and South Leverton to Retford.
Humber Transport
LikeLike
Phil – there are more folk than fans only at Wimbledon including volunteers and paid staff who arrive / depart at different times to the fan flows and the stadium is used for more than just on pitch events
Anon – TfL timetables, that does not explain why the 45 timetable was up in place with no problems ( maybe prepared and printed before the problem arose ? )
Is no one able to run the install software on a new stand alone computer , at least for internal use?
JBC Prestatyn
LikeLike
Typo alert, Button Waters should be Burton Waters. I doubt anyone will ever get on a bus there, it’s definitely car (and boat) territory.
Unfortunately the rest of the route is also car territory with nowhere other than Saxilby to really generate significant traffic so, whilst I wish Black Cat the best of luck, I doubt the service will last beyond the start of the school summer holidays. It’s always been thin bus territory.
I don’t believe Black Cat are in the £3 fare cap scheme, either, so they’re not competitive for fare-paying passengers between Lincoln and Saxilby where both PC Coaches and Stagecoach are.
LikeLike
Many thanks – Button now corrected to Burton.
LikeLike
“The previous end-to-end journey time was around 30-35 minutes with the extension adding 10 minutes journey time, so could have been achieved with an increase of one bus, but this being London…”
In a couple of weeks’ time, Morebus will extend their X3 (Bournemouth <> Salisbury) to Salisbury railway station. I am now looking at the new timetable for Sundays: X3.pdf
The Sunday service is hourly. In the existing timetable, it requires three buses operating on a three-hour cycle. On Sundays, the extension in Salisbury to the railway station adds just one minute to the northbound journey (as there is time saved by not going round to Blue Boar Row), with 5-10 minutes added to the southbound. End-to-end journey times on Sundays will be 1h23m northbound, 1h27m southbound, with a 3-minute pause in Ringwood in both directions. So the extension could be achieved with no increase to the vehicle requirement, allowing a 5-minute stand at each end, as well as the 3-minute pause at Ringwood in each direction.
This is not London, nevertheless the new Sunday timetable shows the hourly service will require four buses instead of three, with layover times of 37 minutes at Salisbury station and 33 minutes at Bournemouth.
Perhaps it isn’t just in London where bus allocations are more generous than what some might consider necessary. (Admittedly I am resting on the assumption that the bus from the X3 won’t scuttle off to do a trip on a local route during those long layovers – my assumption could be mistaken)
Malc M
LikeLike
Two options I can think of here.
LikeLike
Either of those may be possible (although layovers in the current timetable are 10 and 12 minutes).
Referring to point 1, and comparing it to route 315 in south London, congestion can also be unpredictable and problematic, not least in Streatham. So maybe TfL are just doing the same as Morebus – rather than “…but this being London…”
Malc M
LikeLike
Is this Black Cat from Lincoln to Retford anything to do with the Black Cat (Felix) formerly around Ilkeston, taken over by Trent Barton a few years ago?
LikeLike
Travelled from Lincoln to Retford on Friday withmy wife on 1020 from Lincoln. Had bus to ourselves until two more got on inSaxilby to go to Retford, one more joined at one of the villages en route and also went to Retford, so not a lot of business.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I also sampled the 315 extension recently and experienced the same confusion as to where to board at Springfield Hospital as neither of the 2 stops there seems to allow it!
The driver did let me on at the stand and then went round the block again to call at the “Alighting Point Only” stop, which is apparently incorrectly signed and is the official pick up for the G1 and 315.
More details in my “Routeing through Tooting” article on http://www.wattonswanderings.co.uk
LikeLiked by 1 person