Saturday 8th November 2025 Earlier in the year I reported on interesting developments in the Thames Valley bus network some of which arose following tender contracts won by Go-Ahead owned Carousel Buses but also some commercial expansion by the company including the restoration of a link between Maidenhead and Reading via Twyford (route 127). Reading... Continue Reading →
Saturday 25th October 2025 Tomorrow marks the exact day 39 years ago, Sunday 26th October 1986, when Britain’s buses were deregulated outside of London. To mark this anniversary - as by the time we get to the 40th next year, much of the country's buses in the large conurbations will be under a franchised regime... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 21st October 2025 Transport for Wales (TfW) staff invited me to speak at the TrawsCymru Operator Forum held in Wrexham on Tuesday and Wednesday last week. It was the second year such an event had been held, bringing together TfW staff involved with TrawsCymru and the bus operators running the services along with some... Continue Reading →
Thursday 16th October 2025 West of England Combined Authority’s (WECA) extensive WESTlink branded DRT scheme saw an interesting new development last month - the addition of a fixed bus route with a fixed timetable. Quite a novelty for a DRT obsessed Authority. Being on the WESTlink database from my previous rides, I was intrigued to... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 7th October 2025 Both TfL and Brighton & Hove Bus Company introduced a new high profile express bus route last week. It was interesting to take a ride on both to compare and contrast. TfL's much hyped route BL1 began on Saturday 27th September providing a quicker alternative for passengers travelling by bus between... Continue Reading →
Thursday 25th September 2025 Welcome to another blog about another bus route numbered 11 and where we head to Nottingham. Interesting developments at award winning bus company Nottingham City Transport (NCT) this month saw managing director David Astill warn staff of tough times ahead following disappointing financial results for year ended March 2025. “The company... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 23rd September 2025 I topped off last week’s epic ride on ember’s route E11 by sampling two very contrasting bus routes also numbered 11. One in the glorious Cotswolds and the other in Nottingham Today's blog describes the former with Thursday's featuring the latter. Image courtesy Troopers Lodge Motor Services And this is not... Continue Reading →
Thursday 11th September 2925 Catching up on last week’s developments with a look at three more new bus routes which began on 31st August/1st September…. First up is a new link between Leigh-on-Sea and Southend Airport and its adjacent Business Park funded by Southend City Council. Stephensons are operating the two year contract with an... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 9th September 2025 As mentioned in recent blogs, last week saw a number of changes to bus routes in Powys, not least significant surgery to the TrawsCymru network through the county. Whereas TrawsCymru had been expanding across mid and south east Wales over the last six years by swallowing up traditionally run local bus... Continue Reading →
Thursday 4th September 2025 Before today's blog - thanks to blog reader and avid Metro reader, John, here's a quick "you're not going to believe this" from TfL and the appalling handling of route 375's temporary withdrawal between Romford station and Chase Cross and its secret amended timetable. On Monday the usual PR hype page... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 19th August 2025 Kent's Thameside Fastrack quietly expanded at the weekend with the opening of a new section of bus only road extending westwards from the new Whitecliife development by Castle Hill to the Bluewater Retail Park. It's definitely a case of getting buses installed before residents move in. Other than a few houses... Continue Reading →
Saturday 2nd August 2025 Before today’s blog a quick update on the mystery of the missing route 15 on 16th July and non replies from AtoB Bus and Coach. Following publication of Thursday’s blog I was contacted by AtoB’s owner Brian who apologised for the silence in response to my emails/phone calls explaining the company... Continue Reading →
Thursday 24th July 2025 Two more new bus routes launched this week and, once again, they're pure commercial ventures and come from one of Britain's newest bus companies. Who said deregulation and entrepreneurialism in the bus industry was dead? New ‘express’ routes X22 and X43 began on Monday linking Chester-le-Street (X22) and Stanley (X43) directly... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 24th July 2025 A new bus route for 2025 has been introduced for the summer season by Southern Vectis on the Isle of Wight. It’s a purely commercial venture with no public support through Bus Service Improvement Plan funding. And it’s not so much a bus route, more an open-top leisure travel experience. Called... Continue Reading →
Sunday 20th July 2025 I’m writing this blog on Saturday morning (yesterday) sitting in the shadow of Scafell Pike at Wasdale Head, in the Cumbrian Mountains, having arrived on one of Britain’s most scenic and quirkiest bus routes, and as the blogpost title confirms, it’s free for all passengers too. Sounds too good to be... Continue Reading →
Thursday 10th July 2025 New bus links to RHS Wisley have been in operation for a few weeks so I thought it was time to give them the BusAndTrainUser once over. Woking Community Transport had been providing a shuttle bus on behalf of RHS between Woking and the Gardens and there was also a bus... Continue Reading →
Sunday 6th July 2025 Back in April readers may recall I blogged about a raft of changes to bus routes in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead involving tendered services passing between Thames Valley and Carousel while in March, after many years absence, the latter introduced a new commercial route (127) between Maidenhead and... Continue Reading →
Thursday 26th June 2025 It’s a brand name I believe can be traced back sixty years to 1965 when Crosville first launched Cymru Coastliner to promote its lengthy route from Chester all the way along the North Wales coast to Caernarfon. Way ahead of its time, the name stuck for decades, even though in the... Continue Reading →
Sunday 15th June 2025 As the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority gears up for bus franchising, recently elected (six weeks ago) Conservative Mayor Paul Bristow wasted no time launching a raft of new bus roues at the end of last month. But I wonder if he really appreciates what a waste of money some of... Continue Reading →
Sunday 8th June 2025 For some of us of a certain age with knowledge of the London bus scene, the route number 284 will always be associated with the Potters Bar local service operated for a time by the unique FRM 1 vehicle. The route lasted for nine years between 1968 and 1977. Now, hopefully,... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 3rd June 2025 Eyebrows were raised in April 2023 when First Bus made changes to its network of bus routes in Slough and Maidenhead cutting the direct link from Heathrow Airport and Langley to Maidenhead. Route 4 was changed to terminate in Cippenham instead (shown in orange on the network map below) and is... Continue Reading →
Thursday 8th May 2025 Here’s another fabulous bus route that needs adding to the list of Britain’s Most Scenic Bus Routes. Introduced in June 2024, thanks to Bus Service Improvement Plan funding from Derbyshire County Council, it's another star performer in the Derbyshire Peak District. Branded as PeakPathfinder, High Peak operated route 62 comprises three... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 6th May 2025 It’s always heartening to see another small enterprising bus operator launch a brand new commercial bus route to tap into an unmet market. Black Cat Travel began a new six return journeys a day, six days a week route between Lincoln and Retford on Saturday before last, so I took a... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 8th April 2025 Welcome to the brand new cross-River Silvertown Tunnel linking North Greenwich with Leamouth and Docklands with the aim of relieving congestion in the nearby Blackwall Tunnel. It opened yesterday, on time and on budget (£2.2 billion). The 0.9 mile tunnel includes a lane dedicated to buses and lorries and sees one... Continue Reading →
Thursday 6th March 2025 It’s been quite a few years since Reading and Maidenhead were linked with a regular direct bus route. The connection was once a mainstay inter-urban route operated by the old Thames Valley Traction Company Ltd (inevitably numbered 1 in its extensive network across Berkshire) but excellent rail links between the two... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 25th February 2025 Lanarkshire based JMB Travel reintroduced route X1 last month (13th January), reinstating a fast motorway link between Hillhouse, Hamilton and Glasgow that was abandoned by First Bus in 2020. Flashback to happy days when smiling children adorned printed timetables for First Bus Although First Bus cut the route during the early... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 11th February 2025 There was an understandable backlash in December 2024 when Transport for Wales reduced the timetable on the iconic Heart of Wales line between Swansea and Shrewsbury via Llandrindod Wells. Passengers had got used to having an improved five return journeys a day as well as evening journeys at each end of... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 28th January 2025 It's not often a brand new motorway service area opens for business and even more rare for there to be a new bus route laid on to serve it, but that's exactly what happened on Friday before last when the new £40 million (some reports quote £55 million) Welcome Break services... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 14th January 2024 It's good to see Merseyside's Mayor Steve Rotheram provided funding for the reintroduction of the limited stop bus route between Runcorn, Widnes and Liverpool just before Christmas, from 16th December. The new look route X4 is operated by Arriva running hourly on Mondays to Saturdays over an extended day between 05:00... Continue Reading →
Thursday 9th January 2025 In the current era of BSIP funding for exciting new developments you don't find many brand new bus routes being introduced on a purely commercial basis these days, but Milton Keynes is getting a nice helping thanks to the Arriva commercial team’s continued much welcome policy of seeking out new markets... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 7th January 2025 Biggest news on the Changing Hands front this week is of course the start of the third and final tranche of Greater Manchester's Bee Network from Sunday when Metroline took over routes and bus garages previously operated by Stagecoach together with Go North West and Diamond Bus also gaining smaller chunks... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 19th November 2024 I was back in Kent yesterday for a ride on the brand new Dover Fastrack service which began on Sunday. It's been designed to provide a quick link from the expanding Whitfield area, north of the town, with the town centre and Dover Priory railway station where route D (as it's... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 12th November 2024 Whichever way you look at it, from a passenger’s perspective, this week’s takeover of the Kent County Council funded Fastrack branded network in Dartford, Bluewater, Ebbsfleet and Gravesend is an unwelcome downgrade. I know there’s the promise of new electric powered Irizar built ieTram buses to come and note these are... Continue Reading →
Saturday 2nd November (No 999) This week has seen big Bee news in Greater Manchester. Mayor Burnham has been trumpeting the first new bus route added to the network since he took back control in September 2023. Except it’s not really a new route, more the reinstatement of a route withdrawn in 2020. I’ve not... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 10th September 2024 As the mood music from Government turns up the volume of "local communities put back in the driving seat"; “new powers to take back control of local bus services” and "public control to be delivered faster and cheaper" with yesterday's DfT announcement of its upcoming "bus revolution"... ...recent developments in Derbyshire... Continue Reading →
Sunday 1st September 2024 It wasn’t that long ago (2021-2023) TfL’s bus route planning department was all about frequency cuts and service withdrawals. Justification for cutting long standing routes habitually quoted the Hopper Fare allowing passengers to “seamlessly” change buses without incurring a fare penalty when their direct journey was no longer possible. This period,... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 23rd JULY 2024 Many years ago Stagecoach ran a bus route (numbered VT99) on behalf of Virgin Trains linking Milton Keynes Central station with Luton and its airport. Press fast forward and it became route MK1 and more recently Stagecoach linked the service to its Luton to Bedford bus route creating a pronounced V... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 9th July 2024 Two very different new bus routes began operating on Sunday and I’ve taken a ride on both. First up, thanks to Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) funding, is a cross-city limited stop route in Brighton and Hove. New route 1X links the residential area of Mile Oak (in the north west... Continue Reading →
Monday 17th June 2024 The McGills group of bus companies are building up an impressive portfolio of open top sightseeing operations with a newly introduced tour of Stirling from Bank Holiday Monday at the end of last month, joining its operations in Edinburgh (including a recent addition of a bus and boat tour) and Dundee.... Continue Reading →
Thursday 13th June 2024 Another interesting new bus service I took a look at on my travels last week is Arriva North East’s AIRLINK Northumberland branded route 777 providing an hourly direct link between Morpeth, Ponteland and Newcastle Airport before continuing to the Kingston Park shopping centre on the outskirts of Newcastle. It was introduced... Continue Reading →
Saturday 6th April 2024 No, sorry train fans, this blog isn't about the much hyped Greater Anglia super duper two return journeys a day express linking Norwich with London Liverpool Street in an impressive 90 minutes launched with much hype and self congratulations in May 2019 only to succumb to the Covid retrenchment 10 months... Continue Reading →
Sunday 3rd March It was a big day for buses in London yesterday. As well as the final orbital segment of Superloop taking to the road with new route SL2 running every 12 minutes between Walthamstow and North Woolwich, completing the 1pm to 3pm clock face... Map courtesy of Geoff Marshall ... a raft of... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 27th February 2024 A fortnight ago I explained in the blog about Flitwick's Transport Interchange that Stagecoach was withdrawing its hourly route 2 between Bedford and Flitwick after 17th February. The two buses saved from that cut were redeployed on an extension to the company's half hourly route 9A/9B which perviously ran from Bedford... Continue Reading →
Sunday 25th February 2024 It's the London Borough of Bexley's residents’ turn to enjoy the delights of TfL's Superloop limited stop 'express' buses now traversing their home patch. New route SL3 began yesterday linking Bromley, Sidcup and Bexleyheath with Thamesmead (just over the border in the Borough of Greenwich). It brings the metaphorical clockface Superloop... Continue Reading →
Saturday 24th February 2024 Dates into service for new trains along with openings of new stations are notorious for seriously slipping beyond original expectations. Deliveries of new buses also have a reputation for delays which can sometimes impact new bus route introductions, especially if they’re supposed to be operated with electric powered vehicles with associated... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 20th February 2024 Department for Transport funded Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs) have helped launch a number of new bus route initiatives around the country. I’ve recently caught up with Hertfordshire’s latest addition to the network as well as a new arrival in West Sussex. As reported in recent blogs, Hertfordshire has been introducing... Continue Reading →
Sunday 4th February 2024 The latest segment of TfL's Superloop network launched yesterday. Route SL5 is the shortest section of the loop-round-London-that-isn't-really-a-loop, lying roughly between five o'clock and six o'clock on a clock face analogy. In geographic terms that's from Bromley to Croydon. It has the fewest number of bus stops of the Superloop network... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 9th January 2024 It was good to see Reading Borough Council kicking off the new year last Tuesday with funding for a bus route to serve the new Reading Green Park station which opened last May Perhaps not surprisingly Reading Buses won the tender to run what is an extension of hourly route 9... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 2nd January 2024 For many years Transport for Edinburgh has enjoyed a monopoly on the lucrative travel market between Edinburgh Airport and the city centre. That’s not to say passengers haven’t been well served. Lothian Buses regularly upgrades its Airlink 100 branded frequent bus route by investing in impressive new buses creating a high... Continue Reading →
Tuesday 12th December 2023 I knew there might be challenging peak hour traffic conditions on the North Circular Road on a Monday morning…….but never expected it to be as bad as it turned out yesterday. If TfL knew about the disruptive utility roadworks on the North Circular Road near Colney Hatch Lane (and presumably someone... Continue Reading →
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