English National Concession availability in Lincolnshire

A.    Lincolnshire, the County of:

The county of Lincolnshire is divided into seven district councils as follows:

(i) East Lindsey
(ii) West Lindsey
(iii) City of Lincoln
(iv) North Kesteven
(v) South Kesteven
(vi) Boston
(vii) South Holland

All seven district councils permit free off-peak concessionary travel on all registered stopping bus services in their respective areas. Off-peak travel is regarded as 0930-2300 Mondays to Fridays and at any time on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays.

Residents in all-but-one of the seven districts named above are currently afforded the luxury of free travel at any time in all districts with the exception of South Kesteven.

Residents of South Kesteven and visitors to all Lincolnshire district councils are only currently entitled to free travel during the stated off-peak times. At peak times, full adult fare is charged.

A registered stopping bus service is one that has consecutive bus stops no greater than 15 miles apart. Virtually all bus services in the County of Lincolnshire conform to this criterion and are registered as such. This brings benefit to the operator, who can claim fuel subsidy for the mileage operated, while at the same time, has to accept the free English National Concessionary scheme.

Operators are entitled to choose not to register their bus services in this way even if they do conform to the above criteria. In so doing, they do not receive fuel subsidy from the Department for Transport, but also do not have to accept the free English National Concessionary scheme. To date, we know of only two services operating in the County of Lincolnshire that have not been registered; they are:

Hunt’s of Alford ‘Seaside Express’: Mablethorpe-Skegness-Horncastle-Lincoln-Worksop-Sheffield
Stagecoach in Peterborough X12: Peterborough-Market Deeping-Spalding-Boston-Skegness

Until April 2009, certain National Express coach services had to accept free English National Concession passes due to a loop-hole, through which they fell. This has since been tightened and free travel is no longer permitted on any such service in the County of Lincolnshire.

Other exceptions include rail replacement services, certain school services, excursions and tours. Operators of Park & Ride schemes now have the option to opt out, too, though none have done so to date in the County of Lincolnshire.

Lincolnshire County Council’s online journey planner is now part of the wider Traveline East Midlands site. To search online for bus journeys, click the link below:

http://www.travelineeastmidlands.co.uk/

If you know the service you want to travel on and would like to see its timetable in full, click on the link below:

http://www.travelineeastmidlands.co.uk/em/XSLT_SELTT_REQUEST?language=en

Lincolnshire County Council operates an award-winning network of demand-responsive minibus services, which either compliment the trunk routes in the county or operate as separate entities in their own right. These CallConnect minibuses can be booked up to two-hours in advance of travel, subject to availability, and accept the free English National Concessionary bus passes, subject to the restrictions listed above. Click the link below for further details:

http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/

B.    Lincolnshire, the Unitary Authorities of:

Lincolnshire is comprised of two Unitary Authorities (UA) as follows:

(i) North Lincolnshire Council
(ii)    North-East Lincolnshire Council

Both UAs permit free off-peak concessionary travel on all registered stopping bus services in their respective areas. Off-peak travel is regarded as 0930-2300 Mondays to Fridays and at any time on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays.

Residents of either UA are currently entitled to travel for free without restriction but only within their respective district. For example, a resident of Scunthorpe may travel for free at peak times (pre-0930 or post 2300 on Mondays to Fridays) but only aboard bus services that commence in the North Lincolnshire Council UA area.

Visitors to both Lincolnshire UAs are only currently entitled to free travel during the stated off-peak times. At peak times, full adult fare is charged.

A registered stopping bus service is one that has consecutive bus stops no greater than 15 miles apart. Virtually all bus services in the UAs of Lincolnshire conform to this criterion and are registered as such. This brings benefit to the operator, who can claim fuel subsidy for the mileage operated, while at the same time, has to accept the free English National Concessionary scheme.

Operators are entitled to choose not to register their bus services in this way even if they do conform to the above criteria. In so doing, they do not receive fuel subsidy from the Department for Transport, but also do not have to accept the free English National Concessionary scheme. To date, we know of no bus services in the UAs of Lincolnshire that have not been registered in the normal way.

Until April 2009, certain National Express coach services had to accept free English National Concession passes due to a loop-hole, through which they fell. This has since been tightened and free travel is no longer permitted on any such service in the County of Lincolnshire.

Other exceptions include rail replacement services, certain school services, excursions and tours. Operators of Park & Ride schemes now have the option to opt out, too, though none have done so to date in the UAs of Lincolnshire.

North-East Lincolnshire Council operates two demand-responsive minibus service, named RuralLink and UrbanLink. Similar to the CallConnect minibus services in the County of Lincolnshire, these two services can be booked in advance and accept the free English National Concession bus passes, subject to the restrictions listed above. Click the link below for further details:

http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/transportstreets/phone-n-ride.htm

Principal bus services in Lincolnshire are as follows:

Service 1*: Lincoln to Grantham, every 30 mins – Stagecoach
Service 3*: Lincoln to Grimsby, every hour – Stagecoach
Service 4*: Grantham to Stamford, every 2 hours - Kimes
Service 5*: Lincoln to Boston, every hour – Brylaine Travel
Service 6*: Lincoln to Skegness, every hour – Stagecoach
Service 7*: Skegness to Boston, every hour – Stagecoach & Brylaine Travel
Service 9*: Skegness to Louth, every hour – Stagecoach
Service 9*: Peterborough to Oakham via Stamford, every hour - Kimes
Service 10: Louth to Lincoln, every 2 hours – Stagecoach & PC Coaches
Service 31*: Lincoln to Sleaford, every hour – Stagecoach
Service 37*: Spalding to Peterborough, every hour – Stagecoach
Service 45*: Grimsby to Immingham, every 20 mins – Stagecoach
Service 46*: Lincoln to Newark, approx hourly – Stagecoach
Service 51*: Grimsby to Louth, every 30 mins – Stagecoach
Service 100: The Deepings to Spalding, 5 end-to-end journeys – Shaws of Maxey
Service 101*: Morton/Bourne to Peterborough, every hour – Delaine Buses
Service 102*: Bourne to Peterborough, every hour – Delaine Buses
Service 113*: Spilsby to Spalding, every hour – Brylaine Travel
Service 201: Stamford to Peterborough, every hour – Delaine Buses
Service 250: Grimsby to Barton-on-Humber, hourly – Stagecoach
Service 350*: Scunthorpe to Hull, every 30 mins – Stagecoach & East Yorkshire
Service 353: Scunthorpe to Lincoln via Kirton Lindsey, 4 end-to-end journeys – Stagecoach
Service 399: Scunthorpe to Westwoodsire, 5 end-to-end journeys – Isle Coaches
Service 505*: Spalding to King’s Lynn, every hour – Norfolk Green
Service X51*: Cleethorpes to Skegness, 4 end-to-end Sunday journeys – Stagecoach
Humber Flyer: Cleethorpes to Hull via Grimsby, hourly – Stagecoach

* Service is operated by wheelchair-accessible vehicle.

Prepared by the Lincolnshire & East Yorkshire Transport Review: LEYTR.blogspot.com