Every route 99. 2 of 24

Saturday 7th February 2026

Welcome to the second instalment in this year’s fortnightly series looking at all 24* of Britain’s bus routes numbered 99 and after my first outing in East Sussex I’ve moved across into neighbouring West Sussex to explore the long standing link between Petworth and Chichester via Duncton, Upwaltham and Halnaker.

(* Blog subscribers and early morning online readers may be puzzled by the reference to 24 routes numbered 99 having initially referred to a total of 23, but thanks to a commentator on the last blog I realised I’d overlooked Arriva’s 99 in Telford. Also , to clarify it’s not my intention to cover X99 numbered routes nor special one-off style routes which use the number 99.)

I’ve featured this route 99 previously as one following best practice of combining a fixed route and timetable with an optional flexible ‘on demand’ route variation to serve small hamlets either side of the A285 that would otherwise be isolated.

That sensible arrangement was brought to an end by the county council’s consultants when the favoured Book-A-Bus DRT scheme began in Summer 2023. Instead of phoning the operator, Compass Bus, who’d arrange for the bus to divert off the fixed route on a couple of journeys when needed, passengers now have to either use the Book-A-Bus app to book a journey on the segregated 99 Flex route or ring the central call centre that deals with all Pingo’s DRT operations.

However on a Wednesday and Saturday as a nod to the old arrangements one southbound trip from Petworth and one northbound return journey from Chichester regularly diverts away from Duncton on the A285 to serve Sutton and Bignor.

Other than those journeys (09:27 ex Petworth and 12:35 ex Chichester), the timetable comprises four return journeys on Mondays to Saturdays including a morning peak journey arriving into Chichester at 08:21 and an afternoon peak return at 17:38. The timetable utilises one bus with no service on Sundays.

I’ve made a couple of journeys in recent weeks to get a feel for the route including the 11:00 northbound departure from Chichester which is probably a bit early for returning shoppers with the post peak inbound journey only arriving into the city at 10:03.

We only carried two passengers, one boarding at the first stop opposite Chichester Cathedral and the other at St Richards Hospital which the bus serves on its way out of the city, the latter travelling to Duncton and the former all the way to Petworth.

The return journey at 11:52 from Petworth Square was busier, helped by three boarding as the bus wanders around Petworth including a couple of dog legs both involving reverse turns as well as a circuit or two of Petworth Square which I’ve tried to illustrate in the diagrammatic map below.

Two more boarded in Market Square and four more as we neared Chichester with another three at the hospital, so not too bad a journey.

On another day, a Wednesday, I decided to try out both the 99 Flex DRT option (well, it would have been rude not to) and the scheduled return journey from Chichester at 12:35 which runs via Sutton and Bignor.

I tried to book the 99 Flex to take me from Pulborough railway station across to Duncton to link up with the timetabled 99. The ideal would have been a “seamless journey” from train, via DRT, to the fixed timetabled 99. It’s what all the DRT protagonists say is a great use of DRT. They’ve obviously never tried doing it in practice. You’re given a 30 minute window for the pick up – so you have to allow for the worst case scenario of being picked up at the end of that window otherwise you might be left behind if the train hasn’t arrived at the earliest extreme of the window. That causes a challenge at the other end of the route, in that you might miss the timetabled 99.

It was one of the most stressful journeys I’ve made in a long time.

The app wouldn’t let me book it – stating erroneously “we couldn’t find a trip between these locations that fits the current settings” when I tried to book on the Tuesday before travel. Instead I booked by phone and was given a window of 11:20 to 11:50 and was reassured there’d be a note added for the driver to advise ‘passenger arriving by train due at 11:22’.

In the event the train was five minutes late but no sign of the bus when I arrived at Pulborough. By 11:35 there was still no sign of the bus so I gave the call centre a ring for an update but none could be provided as a “glitch” meant they couldn’t see the bus tracking. Luckily soon after that I received an automatic voice message on my phone advising the bus was five minutes away so I reckoned there’d just be enough time to get to Duncton for the 99.

And, thankfully it did work out OK, with an empty minibus arriving at 11:41…

… and we set off a couple of minutes later taking the route via Fittleworth to Duncton arriving there at 11:55 in good time for the Chichester bound 99 at 11:59 (just).

That bus arrived with three on board with one more boarding in Westhampnet on the outskirts of Chichester.

The return journey at 12:35 picked up four passengers three of whom alighted in Bignor, thereby justifying the deviation, and the fourth went to Petworth.

It’s a delightful route with some great views of the Downs…

… and Petworth itself is worth an explore, especially if you like cobbled streets…

… and browsing antique shops.

The diversion to serve Sutton and Bignor takes the bus along some amazing narrow roads including the interestingly named Folly Lane.

Checking out Southdown’s timetable for the route in 1968, then numbered 63/63A, there were eight journeys on Mondays to Saturdays with six on Sundays. Sutton and Bignor were served by a 163 with three return journeys only to Petworth on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

So, although the main timetable has reduced somewhat, those hamlets now have a shopping service to Chichester, albeit just one journey, but, in addition, they do have the benefit of the Book-A-Bus 99 Flex and can try and book a journey to Petworth at any time to suit their needs. I doubt many do.

Roger French

Did you catch the previous blog in this series? 1 of 24 Eastbourne-Hastings.

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