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TRIVIA - Longest distance with ONE bus ticket

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Does the Stagecoach Manchester network currently connect up with their Cheshire / Cumbria / Lancashire / Merseyside networks? Or is it an isolated network these days?
 
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neilmc

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That would have been the 106 via Shap - again, a wonderful run out on the top of the Pennines!! It did get withdrawn but now survives only on certain days of the week.

Think the 108 was the Penrith to Patterdale (Ullswater) service but it's now the 508 to fit in with the other Lakes services

You can still do Dumfries (or Newcastle!) to Chester - but not Manchester - using this ticket. The Penrith-Kendal section is the weak link, the shoppers bus 106 runs one journey Kendal-Penrith and return on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. There is also a college bus from Appleby to Kendal via Penrith and return on college days (506) which might be useful for the northbound return. Of course, you can always divert via Keswick instead which is much easier with regular services south to Kendal and Lancaster, north to Carlisle and east to Penrith, also west to Workington. The 508 still runs to Patterdale but maybe best leaving this service till summer when alternate buses go all the way to Windermere over the Kirkstone Pass.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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You can still do Dumfries (or Newcastle!) to Chester - but not Manchester - using this ticket. The Penrith-Kendal section is the weak link, the shoppers bus 106 runs one journey Kendal-Penrith and return on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. There is also a college bus from Appleby to Kendal via Penrith and return on college days (506) which might be useful for the northbound return. Of course, you can always divert via Keswick instead which is much easier with regular services south to Kendal and Lancaster, north to Carlisle and east to Penrith, also west to Workington. The 508 still runs to Patterdale but maybe best leaving this service till summer when alternate buses go all the way to Windermere over the Kirkstone Pass.

I guess you can do Dumfries to Bolton though?
 

ChrisC

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I agree that it’s personal choice and some people like to travel long distances and lots of routes or travel on lots of different buses.

For me the advantage of these day and weekly rover tickets is to travel around interesting areas getting off in interesting towns and villages and walking around to explore. I’d much rather explore one area in depth or even spend a day just hopping on and off buses on one route and exploring locations. That for me is the advantage of a rover ticket to be able to get on and off when and where you like, sometimes without any definite plan at the beginning of the day. If I pass through somewhere that looks interesting I get off for an hour and explore until a later bus.

Some people love All Line Rail Rovers but travelling from one end of the country to the other without getting off to explore historic cities and towns is not for me. I’d rather have a 7 day regional rover and explore an area slowly. I can spend a whole day just on one line getting on and off trains at interesting locations and walking.
 

Slower Travel

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I guess you can do Dumfries to Bolton though?

Yeah, Bolton to Dumfries is possible with a bright & early start. Not planned out the reverse direction, but for the marathonners out there:

905: 125, Bolton - Preston (arrive 1049)
1105: 40, Preston - Lancaster (1220)
1315: 555, Lancaster - Keswick (1614)
1735: 554, Keswick - Carlisle (1853)
2112: 79, Carlisle - Dumfries (2245)

I'm sure there'll be faster ways of doing it if you leave earlier, but the earlier connection from Keswick goes at half 1, so it might mean getting the X4 over to Penrith and the 104 to Carlisle.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Yeah, Bolton to Dumfries is possible with a bright & early start. Not planned out the reverse direction, but for the marathonners out there:

905: 125, Bolton - Preston (arrive 1049)
1105: 40, Preston - Lancaster (1220)
1315: 555, Lancaster - Keswick (1614)
1735: 554, Keswick - Carlisle (1853)
2112: 79, Carlisle - Dumfries (2245)

I'm sure there'll be faster ways of doing it if you leave earlier, but the earlier connection from Keswick goes at half 1, so it might mean getting the X4 over to Penrith and the 104 to Carlisle.
Quicker the other way

I had it that if you left at 0700 from Dumfries (you could do 0745 but you'd only have 12 mins gap in Carlisle and miss your 554), then you could be in Bolton by 1808! That way you can see the sun rise over the Solway Firth, enjoy the delights of Bassenthwaite and the central Lakes, and then arrive in Bolton in the dark!
 

Slower Travel

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Quicker the other way

I had it that if you left at 0700 from Dumfries (you could do 0745 but you'd only have 12 mins gap in Carlisle and miss your 554), then you could be in Bolton by 1808! That way you can see the sun rise over the Solway Firth, enjoy the delights of Bassenthwaite and the central Lakes, and then arrive in Bolton in the dark!

In fairness, that's the best way to arrive in Bolton :p
 

Mitchell Hurd

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If I might add, sorry, the 85/685/X85 to and from Carlisle and Newcastle.

Recently I was looking up this route to and from Carlisle and Newcastle or vice versa (a route I'd love to use if I come up to Penrith / Carlisle!) and if I'm right the £10.50 explorer ticket means you can travel either one or both ways / places along this route all for that.

As not bad as Northern's Pacers are / good their other trains are, I wouldn't be surprised if the 85/685/X85 routes have more people using it than the train. Mainly because this route I believe is run by new 68-plate E400 MMC's from Stagecoach which will have leather seats and USB sockets - very useful for a 2 hour 15 minute trip!
 

TheGrandWazoo

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If I might add, sorry, the 85/685/X85 to and from Carlisle and Newcastle.

Recently I was looking up this route to and from Carlisle and Newcastle or vice versa (a route I'd love to use if I come up to Penrith / Carlisle!) and if I'm right the £10.50 explorer ticket means you can travel either one or both ways / places along this route all for that.

As not bad as Northern's Pacers are / good their other trains are, I wouldn't be surprised if the 85/685/X85 routes have more people using it than the train. Mainly because this route I believe is run by new 68-plate E400 MMC's from Stagecoach which will have leather seats and USB sockets - very useful for a 2 hour 15 minute trip!

Think the rolling stock tends to be 156s rather than Pacers for the longer journeys. Most of the long 685s are supposed to be operated by Arriva Scania Omnicities dating from 2007.

The Tyne Valley Line has had a fall in patronage but that’s more to do with higher bus frequencies with the hourly Hexham to Newcastle being upped to 3 BPH once GoNE started competing.
 
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I have done a few trips along the south cost using a Discovery, did a big one a few weeks back which involved Teddington-Portsmouth on local buses and then used a Brittany Ferries day trip offer (£24 return) for an overnight crossing, bashed some buses in Caen and then came back all the way the following evening. Was great fun and cheap for the amount of travel you get.
 

Kuyoyo

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Think the rolling stock tends to be 156s rather than Pacers for the longer journeys. Most of the long 685s are supposed to be operated by Arriva Scania Omnicities dating from 2007.

The Tyne Valley Line has had a fall in patronage but that’s more to do with higher bus frequencies with the hourly Hexham to Newcastle being upped to 3 BPH once GoNE started competing.

One Stagecoach board is now the new E400MMC - works the second journey off Carlisle on a weekday morning and the last journey from Newcastle. Arriva’s 3 boards are supposed to be the Omnicitys new in 2007 - however one board (which happens to be the last one from Carlisle) is usually two buses on weekdays, a single decker works the first full trip to Carlisle and back (as well as - I think - a short from Hexham to Newcastle) arriving into Newcastle at 1230 to be swapped for a decker as the 1245’s return journey from Carlisle at 1515 gets school kids on the way back. Officially it’s supposed to be swapped back to a single for the 1750 departure but normally the decker is just left on.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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One Stagecoach board is now the new E400MMC - works the second journey off Carlisle on a weekday morning and the last journey from Newcastle. Arriva’s 3 boards are supposed to be the Omnicitys new in 2007 - however one board (which happens to be the last one from Carlisle) is usually two buses on weekdays, a single decker works the first full trip to Carlisle and back (as well as - I think - a short from Hexham to Newcastle) arriving into Newcastle at 1230 to be swapped for a decker as the 1245’s return journey from Carlisle at 1515 gets school kids on the way back. Officially it’s supposed to be swapped back to a single for the 1750 departure but normally the decker is just left on.

Yeah, I knew about the Arriva decker doing a round trip, and whilst the Omnicities are supposed to work the service, I seem to recall that Pulsars are not uncommon on there when the Scanias are unavailable.
 

Mitchell Hurd

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I thought they were Omnicities given I've seen pictures of these buses in Cross-Pennine livery.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I thought they were Omnicities given I've seen pictures of these buses in Cross-Pennine livery.

There are 5 boards on the full Carlisle to Newcastle 685 though traditionally there were 6 until they removed part of the route around Gilsland, removing a board and the low bridge that precluded deckers. Two were always operated from Carlisle (i.e. Ribble/Cumberland/Stagecoach) and still are. They were operated with e300s (27141/2) though there were supposed to be two e400mmcs (though read one has been diverted for evaluation purposes to Stagecoach Manchester???)

The other duties were operated from Hexham (i.e. United/Northumbria/Arriva) but were moved to Jesmond when Hexham depot was sold. They have 3 Omnicities in Cross Country colours for the three boards but, as you can imagine, they have to substitute for breakdowns and servicing and so Pulsars will deputise. I'm sure Kuyoyo can add more on this.
 

buses7675

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Does the Stagecoach Manchester network currently connect up with their Cheshire / Cumbria / Lancashire / Merseyside networks? Or is it an isolated network these days?

I think both Stagecoach Manchester (Wigan) and Stagecoach MCSL (Preston) both serve Wigan - I'm sure when I was there last year I saw Preston allocated Solo around various Wigan vehicles but that is without checking.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I think both Stagecoach Manchester (Wigan) and Stagecoach MCSL (Preston) both serve Wigan - I'm sure when I was there last year I saw Preston allocated Solo around various Wigan vehicles but that is without checking.

You are correct in that there is the 113 Preston to Wigan and then you can get a number of routes to Leigh and then get to Manchester on the 34.
 

Ken H

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A different Transdev journey would be X43 Witchway Manchester to Skipton, (Maybe a quick trip to Grassington on the 72) 66 to keighley then 60 to leeds and 36 to Ripon as said above
 

Slower Travel

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A different Transdev journey would be X43 Witchway Manchester to Skipton, (Maybe a quick trip to Grassington on the 72) 66 to keighley then 60 to leeds and 36 to Ripon as said above

To add to that, I'm sure they do a day ticket which could get you from Manchester to Whitby/Scarborough. It was definitely available when the CityZap went from Mcr-Leeds.
 

Statto

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You can still do Dumfries (or Newcastle!) to Chester - but not Manchester - using this ticket. The Penrith-Kendal section is the weak link, the shoppers bus 106 runs one journey Kendal-Penrith and return on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. There is also a college bus from Appleby to Kendal via Penrith and return on college days (506) which might be useful for the northbound return. Of course, you can always divert via Keswick instead which is much easier with regular services south to Kendal and Lancaster, north to Carlisle and east to Penrith, also west to Workington. The 508 still runs to Patterdale but maybe best leaving this service till summer when alternate buses go all the way to Windermere over the Kirkstone Pass.

Penrith to Kendal best done by X4/X5 Penrith-Keswick then 555 Keswick-Kendal through to Lancaster, in the spring/summer additional 555s operate Keswick-Lancaster via the M6 Lancaster to Kendal, if you can time it you can do 554 Carlisle-Keswick
 

goldisgood

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The other duties were operated from Hexham (i.e. United/Northumbria/Arriva) but were moved to Jesmond when Hexham depot was sold. They have 3 Omnicities in Cross Country colours for the three boards but, as you can imagine, they have to substitute for breakdowns and servicing and so Pulsars will deputise. I'm sure Kuyoyo can add more on this.
Pulsars or occasionally Streetlites such as here (not my photo) https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulgrindley/24364526927/ poor passengers!
 

Deerfold

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In my opinion £17 is very overpriced for a day bus ticket, even if you can travel all the way from Preston to Whitby with it!

You can get a mobile version at a more reasonable 5 for £42 or 10 for £80. They expire after a year if not used, though.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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In my opinion £17 is very overpriced for a day bus ticket, even if you can travel all the way from Preston to Whitby with it!

To be fair, it's only £10 for the Daytripper (excl Zap and Coastliner) which is really par for the course.

EYMS is a rather chunky £12.50, or Buses of Somerset which is £12
 
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Is the Stagecoach North West Explorer ticket sold and accepted on Stagecoach Manchester buses? It doesn't show on their website when you look at fares for Stagecoach Manchester buses so i am not sure if it is?
 

Samuel88

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Is the Stagecoach North West Explorer ticket sold and accepted on Stagecoach Manchester buses? It doesn't show on their website when you look at fares for Stagecoach Manchester buses so i am not sure if it is?

It used to be accepted, but not sold on Stagecoach Manchester buses, when I travelled to Manchester I actually continued further to a relatives house in Wythenshawe. At first the driver didn't know about the Northwest Explorer, but when I showed him the leaflet saying that the ticket was valid, he let me on with no problems. However, nowadays the Explorer ticket is not valid on Stagecoach Manchester.
 
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That's a shame. It would be useful if they sold and accepted it considering that their networks join up. Any idea why they stopped accepting it? I presume that it is not sold or accepted on Stagecoach North East buses either (other than the 685 service)?
 

Samuel88

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That's a shame. It would be useful if they sold and accepted it considering that their networks join up. Any idea why they stopped accepting it? I presume that it is not sold or accepted on Stagecoach North East buses either (other than the 685 service)?
They don't join up anymore since the X61 was withdrawn years ago, the closest Stagecoach Lancashire get is Bolton on the 125, as for Stagecoach North East, you're correct, they don't accept the North West Explorer, they have the North East Explorer, which is a multi-operator ticket.
 
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Thanks for the info. I think it would be good if Arriva and First and Stagecoach all had their own day tickets that could be used across their entire networks throughout the UK. I am surprised that they don't. It would certainly be useful.
 
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