Catching the Guernsey Vibe

Saturday 19th August 2023

I’ve previously blogged about visits to Jersey and Alderney so thought it was high time I spent a couple of days on Guernsey. After an aborted visit back in April when fog prevented any flights from landing I spent a very enjoyable couple of days exploring the Island in perfect summer weather a few weeks ago.

Guernsey’s buses are run by the Australian company Tower Transit but other than their name and logo on the front cover of the timetable book, you’d never know that. All references to the Island’s bus operator continue to name CT Plus or CT Plus Guernsey, one of the subsidiaries of the former HCT Group which went bust last year.

It could well be that CT Plus still exists as an entity and it’s that which Tower Transit purchased.

The company’s 90 page timetable book is widely available including at the airport information desk.

I saw many passengers making use of it during my travels not least the very helpful colour coded network map which clearly shows where the routes go….

…. although I find some of the route numbers in the listing a challenge to differentiate on the map, eg the greens and blues.

The Island’s 20 bus routes are numbered 11, 21, 31, 41, …. through to 91. Where there’s a circular or “frying pan shaped” route the number 32, 52 or 92 is given to its pairing to denote which way round the buses go although whilst the 31 and 91 denote clockwise with 32 and 92 anti-clockwise, oddly the 51 is anti-clockwise and the 52 clockwise. Also the 41 and 42 are two different “frying pan shaped” routes with a common “handle” and again the 41 is anti-clockwise and 42 is clockwise.

The 11 together with routes 12 and 13 as well as the 21 all leave St Peter Port heading north along the east coast with each route performing a circular at the northern end with the 11, 12 and 13 serving The Bridge at St Sampson Harbour on the east coast.

Routes serving the airport on the most direct route from St Peter Port are numbered 91, 92, 93, 94 and 95. Routes 91 and 92 circle around the island’s entire coastline and are particularly popular with tourists.

There’s also a route numbered P2 and some evening and late evening/night journeys numbered S1, S2, S3, S4 and N1, N2, N3 and N4. These are shown on a separate map.

Routes mainly run hourly with a half hourly frequency on the 11, 41, 42 and 95 and two-hourly on the 51/52, 60, 93/94 and P2.

All routes serve the Island’s capital St Peter Port in the south east of the Island where 30% of the population live.

Buses all display Town Terminus as the destination which has seven bus stops in a row …

… with a layover area for about eight buses …

… sited opposite the large harbour …

… where tenders land from the cruise ships.

There are three rather nice bus shelters with ornate ironwork for the seven bus stops …

… with bus stop flags showing the colour coded route numbers …

… and timetable cases showing departures.

There’s a bus information shop alongside the terminus …

… where control staff are also based and staff take their breaks.

Timetable books are available as well as wall displays of the network map (below) and timetables (above).

Guernsey’s buses don’t accept cash on the bus but passengers can buy tickets with cash at the shop as well as purchase a pay-as-you-go “puffinpass” which along with contactless bank/credit cards are accepted on buses. My credit card wasn’t accepted (neither does Stagecoach accept it) but luckily I have an alternative debit card to use for such times.

There’s a flat rate “standard fare” of £1.25 per journey (75p with a “puffinpass”) on the Island although this isn’t available on high profile circular routes 91/92. Day passes are available on these (and all other routes) costing £10 with a two-day pass costing £11 and a week for £21 both giving great value. There are also family tickets.

Most buses in the fleet are 31 seat Wright StreetVibes with the latest acquisitions being a handful of 15 seat Mercedes Sprinters. The former are a narrower and lighter version of the StreetLite making them ideal for the Island’s narrow roads but not so good for coping with sumner tourist capacity loadings as I found out.

Arriving at the airport (located in the south of the island) I began my travels on the aforementioned circular route 91.

There’s a well marked bus shelter immediately outside the airport’s terminal building with a wealth of information about the bus network.

As explained, route 91 runs hourly on a clockwise circuit of the Island with the 92 hourly anti-clockwise.

It’s hugely popular and the bus arrived having begun its journey at St Peter Port with three passengers already standing. I realised my visit had coincided with a cruise ship day – and in fact I later saw there were two cruise ships moored outside the harbour entrance.

These bring much welcome business to the Island but do tend to overwhelm the popular tourist centric bus routes, not least with the limited capacity of the buses. It was even worse pre pandemic when the flat fare across the Island was £1 and this was available on routes 91/92. Cruise ships used to promote seeing the Island for a £1 but in reality the buses simply couldn’t cope hence the decision to remove this route from the “standard fare” regime. Instead, visitors have to buy the £10 day ticket, but it’s still very popular with some great coastal views.

It takes just over an hour and a half to do the full circuit and after a while some passengers alighted and I managed to get a seat and thoroughly enjoyed the views along the way.

Many tourists also take the more organised tours operated by Island Coachways which provide a commentary on its £15 a head 90 minute tour with two stops including one at the famous Little Chapel.

Island Coachways was one of the two original bus operators on the Island (along with Guernseybus which ceased in 2000) prior to the Government contracting the network out to HCT Group in 2012. Island Coachways decided not to continue an involvement in bus operation and instead concentrate on private hire and tours.

I later saw passengers queuing in St Peter Port for a mid morning trip on routes 91/92 …

… with the controller supervising boarding and, once the bus was full, explaining to those unable to get on that the next departure would be in half an hour (both routes run hourly).

A few other observations during my Island exploring….

Roads and road junctions on the Island are narrow. There’s often a narrow footpath on one side of the road only, meaning bus stops are often marked with just the word BUS painted on the surface. It’s quite common for vehicles to pass each other by mounting the low kerb and the footpath.

There are very few traffic lights and many junctions operate a FILTER system rather than Give Way whereby vehicles merge alternately across the junction with each arm having equal priority. It seems to work, albeit traffic approaches cautiously.

I didn’t see any articulated lorries on the Island.

Because of the narrow roads cyclists tend to slow other traffic down as it’s not always easy to pass them.

Buses display a sign requesting passengers to use headphones/ear buds…

… but interestingly one journey I took on a Mercedes Sprinter had BBC 6 Music from the bus radio playing out from the cab.

I enjoyed my thirteen rides around the Island but ended as I began on an overloaded bus, but this time not helped by the company itself. Route 95 is the direct half hourly bus between St Peter Port and the airport but at school times there’s an hour’s gap between 13:50 and 14:50 with the 14:20 diverted off to do a school run. The next departure at 14:35 is a route 94 which on the day I travelled was allocated a Mercedes Sprinter which patently couldn’t cope with the numbers travelling, not least with all the luggage, a buggy and ‘walker’ on board too. That journey definitely needs a StreetVibe.

That experience aside I was impressed with the service provided. It’s a lovely island and I reckon I’ll return for another visit – provided that fog keeps clear (and there’s no cruise ships).

Roger French

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