Lincolnshire InterConnect

{{Short description|Rural bus network in Lincolnshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}} {{Use British English|date=January 2015}} {{Redirect|InterConnect|the discontinued Microsoft personal information manager|Microsoft InterConnect}} [[File:Stagecoach Lincolnshire RoadCar 'InterConnect' 10900 - YX67 VCN.jpg|thumb|An InterConnect Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC operated by Stagecoach in Lincolnshire departing Scunthorpe bus station]] '''Lincolnshire InterConnect''' is a rural bus network in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England.

A number of ''InterConnect''-branded interurban bus routes with fixed timetables are complemented by demand-responsive, flexible ''CallConnect'' minibuses, on which journeys must be booked in advance. Many of the InterConnect services are provided by Stagecoach in Lincolnshire; CallConnect services are run by a variety of operators including TransportConnect Ltd who are a wholly owned company of Lincolnshire County Council.

InterConnect was first established in 1999, when the existing Lincolnshire RoadCar "Connect 6" Lincoln–Skegness bus (introduced in 1998 as part of Route 6's rebrand) was rebranded and its service frequency increased.<ref>{{cite news |last=Booth |first=Gavin |date=14 March 2006 |title=Making connections in Lincs |url=http://www.busandcoach.com/featureStory.aspx?id=658 |url-status=dead |work=Bus & Coach Professional |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060528235708/http://www.busandcoach.com/featureStory.aspx?id=658 |archive-date=28 May 2006 |access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref> CallConnect was established in 2001. The network and its services are subsidised by Lincolnshire County Council and Norfolk County Council. Some services were scaled back between 2011 and 2012, following cuts to local government funding and reductions in the Bus Service Operators Grant fuel duty subsidy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/Number-bus-services-face-axe-fuel-duty-cut/story-15255385-detail/story.html |title=Number of bus services in North East Lincolnshire face axe over fuel duty cut |work=Grimsby Telegraph |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222123059/http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/Number-bus-services-face-axe-fuel-duty-cut/story-15255385-detail/story.html |archive-date=22 February 2012 |access-date=20 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=29 February 2012 |title=BREAKING NEWS: Six buses a day for Market Rasen says Stagecoach boss |url=http://www.marketrasenmail.co.uk/news/local/breaking-news-six-buses-a-day-for-market-rasen-says-stagecoach-boss-1-3570882 |work=Market Rasen Mail |access-date=1 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629183853/http://www.marketrasenmail.co.uk/news/local/breaking-news-six-buses-a-day-for-market-rasen-says-stagecoach-boss-1-3570882 |archive-date=29 June 2016}}</ref>

==List of InterConnect routes==

===Current routes=== {| class="sortable wikitable" width="100%" |- ! Route name !! Map colour<ref name="map">{{cite web|url=https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/east-midlands/interconnect-services |title=InterConnect Services |website=Stagecoach East Midlands |access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref> !! Destinations !! Route variants !! Operator !! Date introduced !! Timetable link !! Does it run on Sundays and Bank Holidays? |- | InterConnect 1 ||style="background:#F59700; color:white;"|Orange || Lincoln–Grantham || — || Stagecoach in Lincolnshire || November 2002 || [https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetable-pdf?ServiceId=XGAO001.O]|| Yes, every two hours between Lincoln and Grantham and hourly between Lincoln and Waddington. |- | InterConnect B5 || Red || Lincoln–Woodhall Spa–Boston<ref group="note">This service formerly continued to Spalding.</ref> || B5X<ref group="note">Serves Lincoln and Conigsby only, except for one schoolday service from Tattershall to Boston.</ref> || Brylaine Travel || July 2002 || [https://www.brylaine.co.uk/_files/ugd/281a5d_d67bc409d36a4dc89f285d1edb1bc645.pdf]|| No |- | InterConnect 37 || Unlisted || Spalding–Peterborough || — || Stagecoach in Peterborough || May 2010 || [https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/East/PETERBOROUGH/PB-37-291023.pdf] || Yes, 5 times each way. |- | InterConnect 51 || Unlisted || Lincoln-Louth-Mablethorpe || 51B<ref group="note">Serve colleges and schools in Grimsby and Louth.</ref> || Stagecoach in Lincolnshire || April 2006 || [https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/East%20Midlands/Grimsby/Gy_051%20091023Rev.pdf]|| No |- | InterConnect 53<ref group="note">This service was originally numbered InterConnect 3 and the route formerly continued to Cleethorpes.</ref> ||style="background:#5D9C2A; color:white;"|Green || Lincoln–Market Rasen / Market Rasen–Grimsby<ref group="note" name="connection">This route is divided into two, in order "to comply with Department for Transport guidance". Connections are guaranteed at the route dividing point, and the journey often continues on the same vehicle.</ref><ref group="note">From 2010–2011, the InterConnect 3 service was extended to Newark-on-Trent as the 'executive' service '''X3''', in order to meet East Coast Main Line trains at Newark North Gate railway station. This extended service was cancelled in March 2011, with the operator citing a lack of passenger demand.[http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Lincoln-London-bus-service-axed-lack-passengers/story-11201465-detail/story.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202221739/http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Lincoln-London-bus-service-axed-lack-passengers/story-11201465-detail/story.html|date=2 December 2013}}</ref>|| 53a;<ref group="note">Serves Linwood.</ref> 53b<ref group="note">Does not serve any stops between Market Rasen and Grimsby.</ref> || Stagecoach in Lincolnshire || February 2004 || [https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetable-pdf?ServiceId=XGEO053.O]|| No |- | InterConnect 56 ||style="background:#FFCC00; color:black;"|Yellow || Lincoln–Horncastle / Horncastle–Skegness<ref group="note" name="connection" /> || — || Stagecoach in Lincolnshire || February 1999 || [https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetable-pdf?ServiceId=XGAO056.O]|| Yes, every two hours. |- | InterConnect 57/B7 ||style="background:#E00279; color:white;"|Hot Pink || Skegness–Boston || X57<ref group="note">Continues from Skegness to Chapel St Leonards and back and also has Boston College as the start and end of route.</ref> || Stagecoach in Lincolnshire / Brylaine Travel || March 2005 || [https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetable-pdf?ServiceId=XGAO057.O] [https://www.brylaine.co.uk/_files/ugd/281a5d_8605038f9913423d853b3d48585b56c4.pdf]|| No |- | InterConnect 59<ref group="note">This route originally only ran between Skegness and Mablethorpe, but in 2009, the route was extended to Louth on Monday to Saturday.</ref> ||style="background:#781E63; color:white;"|Purple || Skegness–Mablethorpe / Mablethorpe–Louth<ref group="note" name="connection" /> || — || Stagecoach in Lincolnshire || March 2005 || [https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetable-pdf?ServiceId=XGBO059.O]|| Yes, every hour during the summer season only. |- | InterConnect 100 ||style="background:#1EB9E8; color:black;"|Light Blue || Lincoln–Gainsborough / Gainsborough–Scunthorpe<ref group="note" name="connection" /> || 101<ref group="note">Early-morning departures from Scunthorpe serving Queen Elizabeth High School in Gainsborough.</ref> || Stagecoach in Lincolnshire || April 2006 || [https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetable-pdf?ServiceId=XGAO100.O]|| No |- | InterConnect 505 ||style="background:#009199; color:white;"|Blue-green || Spalding–King's Lynn || — ||Stagecoach in Lincolnshire || February 2002 || [https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetable-pdf?ServiceId=XGAO505.O]|| Yes, every hour. |}

The various models of double and single-decker buses used by Stagecoach in Lincolnshire for its InterConnect services are painted in a special purple livery with the strapline "Connecting people with places" and the logos of the network's council partners also applied.<ref>{{cite news |author= |date=5 September 2023 |title=Stagecoach gives InterConnect a makeover |url=https://cbwmagazine.com/stagecoach-gives-interconnect-a-makeover/ |work=Coach & Bus Week |location=Peterborough |access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref> Before the network was rebranded in 2023, buses formerly had a version of the previous Stagecoach livery in purple-and-gold branding, with some buses featuring route-specific numbered branding, in particular the flagship InterConnect 6 service,<ref>{{cite news |author= |date=11 April 2012 |title=InterConnect 6 service fleet upgrade |url=https://cbwmagazine.com/interconnect-6-service-fleet-upgrade/ |work=Coach & Bus Week |location=Peterborough |access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref> and a "Coastal Connect" brand used on the routes serving towns and villages on the Lincolnshire coast. Buses from the other InterConnect operators tend to carry that operator's standard paint scheme.

==Former routes==

{| class="sortable wikitable" width="100%" |- ! Route name !! Destinations !! Operator !! Date introduced !! Date removed |- | InterConnect 5 || Boston–Spalding || Brylaine Travel || July 2001 || Route Rebranded to B3 (not to be mistaken as the Lincoln to Newark route). The route is the same. |- | InterConnect 18 (Rail Link) || Lincoln–Sleaford–Spalding–Peterborough || East Midlands Trains || April 2011 || ? |- | InterConnect X3 || Lincoln–Newark || Stagecoach in Lincolnshire || June 2010 || April 2011 |- | InterConnect 3 <ref group="note">This route still runs as Interconnect 53, but with it only running between Lincoln and Grimsby.</ref> || Lincoln–Cleethorpes || Stagecoach in Lincolnshire || February 2004 || 2016

|- | InterConnect 6x <ref group="note">Lincoln to Skegness "the quick way": first ran in the 2012 school summer holidays; added to the main timetable in March 2013. 20% faster than the basic number 6 service; does not serve Raithby, Spilsby, Partney or Burgh-le-Marsh.</ref> || Lincoln–Skegness (the quick way) || Stagecoach in Lincolnshire || July 2012 || 2014 <ref group="note">For unknown reasons, the 6x was withdrawn in 2014.</ref> |}

==CallConnect services== There are two kinds of CallConnect services – entirely demand-responsive 'dial-a-ride' services which serve an area with no fixed route or timetable, and semi-flexible services which run to a timetable but which deviate off the route to serve smaller villages. Journeys on CallConnect must be booked in advance on a mobile app, or on the CallConnect website or over the telephone in areas not served by the app. Fares are calculated in six radial 'zones' based from the pick-up point of the journey.<ref name="CallConnectInfo">{{cite web|url=https://lincsbus.info/callconnect/more-information/ |title=CallConnect: About the service |website=LincsBus |access-date=16 December 2023}}</ref>

In 2011, Lincolnshire County Council reported a 23.5% increase in usage of CallConnect compared to the previous year.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Lincolnshire-s-CallConnect-bus-usage-increases-23/story-14986912-detail/story.html |title=Lincolnshire's CallConnect bus usage increases by 23.5 per cent |work=Louth Target |date=21 January 2012 |access-date=20 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505064529/http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Lincolnshire-s-CallConnect-bus-usage-increases-23/story-14986912-detail/story.html |archive-date=5 May 2013}}</ref>

===CallConnect areas=== {{update section|reason=Routes need to be verified and new timetables added in the table|date=December 2023}} CallConnect services operate in 14 named areas across Lincolnshire, including the north side of the city of Lincoln and its nearby villages, and extending into neighbouring counties) – only the remainder of Lincoln and the surrounding area, as well as the unitary authority of North East Lincolnshire, are not covered by CallConnect. The areas covered are:<ref name="CallConnectInfo" /> {| class="sortable wikitable" width="100%" |- ! Route number !! Area covered !! Operator !! Date introduced !! Timetable link |- | 7B || Boston || TransportConnect || April 2011 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20131202225637/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/Boston_Callconnect.pdf] |- | 15B || Bourne || Kier || July 2008 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20110930211313/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/Bourne_CallConnect91.pdf] |- | 53C || Brigg, Caistor and Ridge || PC Coaches || February 2016 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20160223060157/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/Brigg_and_Caistor_CallConnect.pdf] |- | 100G || Gainsborough || Kier || April 2006 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233815/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/gainsborough_callconnect.pdf] |- | 1G/1K || Grantham, Newark & Kesteven || TransportConnect || November 2002 (1G) July 2008 (1K) || [https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230852/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/kesteven_callconnect.pdf] |- | 5C/6H || Horncastle, Coningsby & Woodhall Spa || Kier || April 2001 (6H) July 2002 (5C) || [https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001406/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/Horncastle-Coningsby-Woodhall_Spa_CallConnect.pdf] |- | 505H/505L || Holbeach & Long Sutton || TransportConnect || February 2002 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223731/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/Holbeach_Callconnect.pdf] |- | 51E/51N/51S || Louth || Kier / TC Minicoaches || March 2004 (51N) February 2005 (51S) July 2008 (51E) || [https://web.archive.org/web/20130501233949/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/Louth_CallConnect1.pdf] |- | 9M || Mablethorpe & Alford || Kier || March 2005 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20131203000111/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/Mablethorpe_CallConnect.pdf] |- | 3C/3M || Market Rasen & Caistor || TC Minicoaches || February 2004 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20110724035847/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/market_rasen_callconnect.pdf] |- | 18M/18S || Metheringham & Sleaford || Kier || April 2008 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20130728133138/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/Sleaford_CallConnect_07-04d1.pdf] |- | 4P/4R/4S || Peterborough, Rutland, Stamford & the Welland Vales || TransportConnect || September 2009 (4S) April 2010 (4P) July 2010 (4R) || [https://web.archive.org/web/20131202221331/http://www.wellandcallconnect.co.uk/timetables/peterborough_callconnect.pdf] |- | 9S || Skegness || Kier || April 2011 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223953/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/skegnesscallconnect4.pdf] |- | 16S || Spalding || Kier || March 2009 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20131202234931/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/Spalding_CallConnect.pdf] |- | 6S/7W || Spilsby & Wainfleet || TC Minicoaches || April 2001 (6S) February 2005 (7W) || [https://web.archive.org/web/20110724035741/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/timetables/Spilsby_CallConnect.pdf] |}

===Timetabled CallConnect services===  {| class="wikitable" width="100%" |- ! Route number !! Destinations !! Operator !! Date introduced !! Timetable link |- | 3L/3X || Louth–Binbrook–Market Rasen || TC Minicoaches || May 2011 ||[https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001105/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/call_connect_fix_route_timetables.pdf] |- | 6C || Horncastle–Louth || Kier || April 2001 || [http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/call_connect_fix_route_timetables.pdf] |- | 51M || Louth–Manby || Kier || ? || [https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001105/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/call_connect_fix_route_timetables.pdf] |- | 65/65A || Sleaford–Woodhall Spa–Horncastle || Kier / Sleafordian Coaches || ? || [http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/call_connect_fix_route_timetables.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001105/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/call_connect_fix_route_timetables.pdf |date=3 December 2013 }} |- | 635 || Sleaford-Cranwell || Kier || April 2013 || [https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001105/http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/call_connect_fix_route_timetables.pdf] |- | H1 || Horncastle town service || Kier || ? || [http://www.lincsinterconnect.com/call_connect_fix_route_timetables.pdf] |}

==Notes== {{reflist|group="note"}}

== References == {{reflist}}

Category:Transport in Lincolnshire