Trivia: Bus routes that run through the most council jurisdictions

[175mph]

For example with the Stagecoach Humber Flyer:

Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Laceby - North East Lincolnshire

Keelby - Lincolnshire

Humberside Airport, Barton - North Lincolnshire

Hessle - East Riding Of Yorkshire Council

Hull - Hull City Council

Can anyone think of a bus route that beats that?

 

[Jordan Adam]

Stagecoach East Scotland's X7 (Aberdeen to Perth) matches.

Aberdeen City Council (Aberdeen)
Aberdeenshire Council (Portlethen, Newtonhill, Stonehaven)
Angus Council (Montrose & Arbroath)
Dundee City Council (Dundee)
Perth and Kinross Council (Perth)

If you were to include long distance express coach services then Megabus's M11 or National Express's 590/592 maybe near the top.

 

[Teflon Lettuce]

I'm not sure that this one counts but NAT's 64 Ammanford- Brynammon- Ystradgynlais follows the county boundary of Carmarthenshire/ Powys for much of it's route and hops back and forth between the 2... at some points every couple of hundred yards... if each crossing counts as a separate authority then it must pass through about 30 different jurisdictions at the very least!

 

[pemma]

Of course council districts vary considerably in size. Take the TransPeak service between Manchester and Newton (under 1 hour) it's done Manchester, Stockport, Cheshire East and Derbyshire but once it enters Derbyshire it stays there for 2.5 hours to get from Newtown to Derby.

 

[overthewater]

When the X51 changes in may, it will be: Fife, City of Edinburgh, West lothian, North Lanarkshire and Glasgow.

 

[CatfordCat]

I take it we're talking transport authorities (shire county / unitary / whatever PTEs are called this week) not boroughs / districts that don't have transport responsibilities within two-tier counties / London / PTE areas.

In which case Berkshire has potential (the county council was abolished about 20 years ago and the existing small unitary councils were made unitary councils without merging them as happened in some bits of England.)

Courtney 53 Bracknell - Wexham Park Hospital serves 4 (Bracknell Forest, Windsor & Maidenhead, Bucks, Slough (although it crosses boundaries 5 times as it goes - eastbound - from Bucks to Slough then Bucks to Slough again.)

Reading Buses' Green Line 702 is marketed as limited stop, but is registered local bus service throughout (although it may be registered in two chunks because of the 50 Km drivers hours rule - it was under First) - if you treat it as a single route, it manages 6 on the journeys that run to / from Reading (Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Windsor & Maidenhead, Slough, London) - although it doesn't have any bus stops in Wokingham Borough (it runs along the A 329 M / A 329.)

If we're talking all local authorities, it must clock up a few London boroughs between the Slough / London boundary and Victoria.

Bee Line 192 when it ran Reading - Heathrow also managed 6 but this was split in to smaller chunks in the early 2000s.

 

[route101]

When the X51 changes in may, it will be: Fife, City of Edinburgh, West lothian, North Lanarkshire and Glasgow.

Extended to Glasgow?

 

[ChathillMan]

X5 goes through at least 6 - Cambridgeshire County Council, Bedford Borough, Central Beds, MK Council, Buckingham, Oxfordshire

 

[iantherev]

Stagecoach in SouthWales’s X4 Service begins in Monmouthshire and passes through Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taff and Cardiff.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Stagecoach X3 runs from (City of) Cardiff to Hereford (Herefordshire) via Newport, Torfaen and Monmouthshire.

First’s X10 manages (City of) Cardiff, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Bridgend, NeathPortTalbot and Swansea but the T1C does that AND Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion so seven (and classed as a bus service)

 

[DavidGrain]

This is one from my youth as I lived on the route, Midland Red X96 Shrewsbury to Northampton. Even between Wolverhampton and Birmingham it would have travelled through about 6 or 7 local authorities. It must have been licensed as a stage carriage service as it stopped at all stops if required but did charge a minimum fare except in the evening when it charged the normal fares charged on the local buses.

The longest route staying within one local authority would have been Birmingham Corporation no. 11 Outer Circle, still said to be the longest urban bus route in Europe. However following de-regulation it now runs through Bearwood (the home of the Midland Red) instead of round back streets to avoid crossing the city boundary.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Also, X9 from Middlesbrough to Newcastle has those two unitary authorities plus Stockton, Hartlepool, South Tyneside, Gateshead and Co Durham in not much more than an hour!

 

[MedwayValiant]

Is any of the X5 in Central Bedfordshire? The Bedford / Central Beds border lies south of the Black Cat, so the Bedfordshire section may all be in Bedford.

The run from Castor to Stamford on the Centrebus 9 (Oakham to Peterborough) could give you Peterborough - Cambridgeshire - Peterborough - Northamptonshire - Rutland - Lincolnshire in the space of eight miles. The Northants section is 200 yards on the A1 west of Stamford, while Cambridgeshire depends on the driver putting discretion ahead of valour. According to Traveline, the driver of a northbound bus must enter Wansford from the A47 to the north, turn in the road in the middle of the village, and leave the village the same way he entered. If he does that then he never enters Cambridgeshire, but it would be a whole lot easier to drive straight through the village and turn left onto the A1 to head north to Wittering. That goes through half a mile of Cambridgeshire, but which way the drivers actually do it I don't know.

 

[Wirewiper]

In Transport for London land, most cross-boundary services only run through one other Council jurisdiction outside Greater London.

The 331 however runs through two, as Denham is in Buckinghamshire and it also enters Hertfordshire briefly at Batchworth Heath, round the back of Mount Vernon Hospital. It is also the only route to cross the Greater London boundary four times, more than any other route.

Amongst non-TfL routes, Ensignbus X21 and X81 to Lakeside pass through three jurisdictions as they start off in Essex, pass through Greater London briefly at North Ockendon, then enter the Borough of Thurrock which is a Unitary authority.

 

[overthewater]

Extended to Glasgow?

Yes, full details here: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/east-scotland/service-change-proposals

 

[TUC]

Go Ahead Northern's X10 runs though Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool, County Durham, Sunderland, Gateshead and Newcastle council areas.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Go Ahead Northern's X10 runs though Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool, County Durham, Sunderland, Gateshead and Newcastle council areas.

I cited the X9 (post 12). Think I missed off Sunderland whilst you missed South Tyneside so....

1. Middlesbrough
2. Stockton on Tees
3. Hartlepool
4. Co Durham
5. Sunderland
6. South Tyneside
7. Gateshead
8. Newcastle

 

[matt_world2004]

X26
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Richmond
Kingston
Sutton
Croydon

 

[K219UHA]

Some examples in North Wales:

11/11F/11G/11X - Rhyl to Chester (change route number at Holywell) covers Denbighshire, Flintshire and Cheshire
T2 - Aberystwyth to Bangor covers Ceredigion, Powys and Gywneed.
T3 - Wrexham to Barmouth covers Wrexham Borough, Denbighshire and Gwyneed

 

[Deerfold]

X5 goes through at least 6 - Cambridgeshire County Council, Bedford Borough, Central Beds, MK Council, Buckingham, Oxfordshire

Is any of the X5 in Central Bedfordshire? The Bedford / Central Beds border lies south of the Black Cat, so the Bedfordshire section may all be in Bedford.

According to the VOSA entry, this service passes through Bedford, Central Beds *and* Bedfordshire, taking it up to 7.

 

[DunsBus]

Borders Buses X95, the one journey which still does Edinburgh to Carlisle end-to-end:

City of Edinburgh
Midlothian
Scottish Borders
Dumfries & Galloway
Cumbria
Carlisle City Council

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Borders Buses X95, the one journey which still does Edinburgh to Carlisle end-to-end:

City of Edinburgh
Midlothian
Scottish Borders
Dumfries & Galloway
Cumbria
Carlisle City Council

Is Carlisle a unitary authority?

 

[DunsBus]

Is Carlisle a unitary authority?

It isn't, but I thought that I'd include it for completeness since the X95's southern terminus is in the jurisdiction area of both Cumbria and Carlisle City. They are in fact the only two non-unitary authorities on the X95's route!

 

[DunsBus]

I'm not sure that this one counts but NAT's 64 Ammanford- Brynammon- Ystradgynlais follows the county boundary of Carmarthenshire/ Powys for much of it's route and hops back and forth between the 2... at some points every couple of hundred yards... if each crossing counts as a separate authority then it must pass through about 30 different jurisdictions at the very least!

Stagecoach Hants & Surrey's 18 also leapfrogs between two neighbouring authorities:

Aldershot (Hampshire)
Farnham (Surrey)
Whitehill, Bordon and Grayshott (Hampshire)
Hindhead and Haslemere (Surrey)

 

[Wirewiper]

Can Stagecoach South West's Falcon be counted as a "bus" route?

Plymouth
Devon
Exeter
(Devon again)
Somerset
North Somerset
Bristol

I don't think it strays into BANES (Bath And North East Somerset).

 

[A0wen]

Green Line 724 -

Harlow Council
Essex County Council
East Herts
Welwyn Hatfield
St Albans
Watford
Three Rivers
Herts County Council
South Bucks (Denham)
Buckinghamshire CC
Hillingdon

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Can Stagecoach South West's Falcon be counted as a "bus" route?

Plymouth
Devon
Exeter
(Devon again)
Somerset
North Somerset
Bristol

I don't think it strays into BANES (Bath And North East Somerset).

It doesn’t go into BaNES though I’d not count Exeter as it’s not a unitary authority.

 

[Wirewiper]

It doesn’t go into BaNES though I’d not count Exeter as it’s not a unitary authority.

My bad, I thought it was.

 

[Wirewiper]

Green Line 724 -

Harlow Council
Essex County Council
East Herts
Welwyn Hatfield
St Albans
Watford
Three Rivers
Herts County Council
South Bucks (Denham)
Buckinghamshire CC
Hillingdon

I'm not sure all the local Hertfordshire Boroughs count as none of them has Unitary Status - nor do Harlow, South Buckinghamshire or Hillingdon (although the last one comes under Greater London, which you haven't listed).

 

[Wirewiper]

X26
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Richmond
Kingston
Sutton
Croydon

These are all Boroughs under the jurisdiction of Greater London and not Unitary Authorities in their own right. The X26 probably wins the award for passing through the most Boroughs though.