Bargain bus busted

UPDATE on 11/07/11
I can confirm that both Bargain Buses are running, however the BB4 is running limited stop as a circular service from Nottingham Victoria Centre calling at QMC, Bembridge Court, Stapleford Albert Street, New Eaton Road (All stops), Stapleford Chequers Inn and back to Nottingham. All fares are still one pound.
UPDATE on 20/05/11

The timetables in Broadmarsh Bus Station still have the old times from February and the bus station sign has not been updated either, with no times or information on the new Bargain Bus services. I can no longer find the Bargain Bus website on Google. The timetables can be viewed on the County Council's website (see link on the right). If anyone can shed any light on the situation it would be greatly appreciated.

 UPDATE on 06/05/11
The new timetables have just been advertised on the Bargain Bus Live Facebook page with a link to Nottinghamshire County Council's timetables. The Bargain Bus official website still shows the old times and proudly declares "New timetables from 28th of February" and Traveline is showing the BB4 as completely withdrawn. The BB2 is shown under Midland General's (Bargain Buses') bus routes but no timetable can be generated by Traveline.

The changes, according to the council, are as follows:

• The Bargain Bus 2, from Nottingham to Cotgrave, has seven irregular departures a day Monday to Friday in each direction, with one bus a day in each direction running from/extending to Cropwell Bishop. This offers no competition to the Cotgrave Connection or RED2 and even the 22 (Nottingham-Gamston-Cotgrave-Cropwells-Sutton) which runs regularly 6 days a week with earlier and later buses than the BB2. The lack of weekend service and irregular time pattern means the service is unlikely to be profitable with its main competitors running every 20 minutes (Mon-Sat daytimes), however considering the buses every 20 minutes only had one or two passengers on them when I travelled, it may be better for the environment.
• The Bargain Bus 4 now runs from Nottingham to Stapleford and New Eaton Road. This is good for Stapleford customers who complained on the Facebook page about the withdrawal of services through Stapleford in February. It offers no competition with Premiere's RED5 (Sawley-Long Eaton-Dunkirk-QMC-Nottingham) but does compete directly with the Premiere 17. At the same frequency (hourly) these routes are evenly matched, although the 17 has more passengers than the BB4. There are rumours that when Trent Barton's Rainbow 4 is relaunched with Optare Versas or Tempos later this year, some buses on the BB4 will serve Long Eaton.

Similar to the the Beep Bus logo (the profile picture of Bargain Bus
 Live), this is Bargain Buses' logo from the website.
© Bargain Bus 2011



Bargain Bus (or Midland General Omnibuses) has recently pulled down its Facebook page. In its place there is Bargain Bus Live. A spin-off of fellow Wellglade Group company's Facebook page, Trent Barton Live, Bargain Bus Live is simply a page run by a member of the public. No Bargain Bus members of staff comment on any of the posts, and the news is dubious to say the least. According to the Bargain Bus website it is business as usual, with the new times from 28th of February still being proudly displayed. Bargain Bus Live claims a new service started today from Nottingham to Sandiacre whilst Traveline shows the Long Eaton service as being totally withdrawn and the Cotgrave service slashed from every twenty minutes to every hour. More news will follow shortly and if anyone has any comment to make on the situation please feel free to say what you think below.