Great Britain interurban bus map

[TheSel]

What a great resource! Many Thanks.

Just a few minor things I've noticed:

Betws-y-Coed is misspelled (or is it misspelt!) as 'Betwys-y-Coed'.

Runcorn and Liverpool are linked by not only the 79C (as shown) but also by the 82A (every 20ish) and the (new) hourly X4. (All Arriva)

The map implies the 44 links Southport with Liverpool - actually the 44 operates no further south than Formby (which is - perhaps deliberately?) not shown, so only the 47 & 300 (plus Stagecoach's x2) link these two points

Stagecoach operate service 59 linking Preston with Blackburn (every 20 mins) and extending to Accrington hourly.

 

[WibbleWobble]

A few observations....

CR2 needs to be orange as operated by South West Coaches.
CR8 and X51 need extending to Weymouth.

X50 runs via Wareham. The line needs to be broader and dashed red/blue as it is joined by the Morebus 30 which is also summer only. There's also a summer 35 between Wareham and Swanage. I would have suggested a deviation to show Lulworth but it gets very complex as (i) the 30/X50 serve it in the summer, but the X54 only serves it in the winter (via other attractions when the X50 runs), and (ii) there's also a 31 between Wool and Lulworth which is summer only but with a longer season than the others.

X6 extends from Ringwood to Bournemouth, albeit less frequently.

X7R needs showing between Romsey and Southampton.

You've omitted Christchurch, which is a sizeable town in itself. I also suggest adding Lyndhurst onto the line of the Lymington - Southampton 6, as that is a major focal point for the New Forest. Totton and Eastleigh are also missing despite being towns, but I 'd put that to space constraints (you'd need the map to be twice the size really!)

If you add Amesbury at the point where the X5 and Activ8 split, you could add a thicker line for the common X4/X5 corridor (or merge it with the Activ8).

Salisbury - Devizes 2 needs to show 2, 2A, X2 due to variants.

Swindon - Tidworth 80 broadly follows the X5 north of Marlborough.

Gosport is missing, which is a sizeable town!

Southampton X5 also runs through to Portsmouth.

 

[Parebunks]

What a great resource! Many Thanks.

Just a few minor things I've noticed:

Betws-y-Coed is misspelled (or is it misspelt!) as 'Betwys-y-Coed'.

Runcorn and Liverpool are linked by not only the 79C (as shown) but also by the 82A (every 20ish) and the (new) hourly X4. (All Arriva)

The map implies the 44 links Southport with Liverpool - actually the 44 operates no further south than Formby (which is - perhaps deliberately?) not shown, so only the 47 & 300 (plus Stagecoach's x2) link these two points

Stagecoach operate service 59 linking Preston with Blackburn (every 20 mins) and extending to Accrington hourly.

A few observations....

CR2 needs to be orange as operated by South West Coaches.
CR8 and X51 need extending to Weymouth.

X50 runs via Wareham. The line needs to be broader and dashed red/blue as it is joined by the Morebus 30 which is also summer only. There's also a summer 35 between Wareham and Swanage. I would have suggested a deviation to show Lulworth but it gets very complex as (i) the 30/X50 serve it in the summer, but the X54 only serves it in the winter (via other attractions when the X50 runs), and (ii) there's also a 31 between Wool and Lulworth which is summer only but with a longer season than the others.

X6 extends from Ringwood to Bournemouth, albeit less frequently.

X7R needs showing between Romsey and Southampton.

You've omitted Christchurch, which is a sizeable town in itself. I also suggest adding Lyndhurst onto the line of the Lymington - Southampton 6, as that is a major focal point for the New Forest. Totton and Eastleigh are also missing despite being towns, but I 'd put that to space constraints (you'd need the map to be twice the size really!)

If you add Amesbury at the point where the X5 and Activ8 split, you could add a thicker line for the common X4/X5 corridor (or merge it with the Activ8).

Salisbury - Devizes 2 needs to show 2, 2A, X2 due to variants.

Swindon - Tidworth 80 broadly follows the X5 north of Marlborough.

Gosport is missing, which is a sizeable town!

Southampton X5 also runs through to Portsmouth.

Thank you, again appreciated - made most of those changes except Gosport which I'll add later, may also take another look at Wareham which seems more complicated than I'd realised. Should again be reflected on the google drive version, but I'll carry on uploading directly here as it doesn't take long and I'm not sure what's causing the google issues.

 

[Whisky Papa]

Hi,

Like others on here, I'm very much in awe of your efforts!

A couple of typos I've just noticed up in Cumbria:

Sedbergh, not Sedburgh

Windermere, not Windemere

If I may make a suggestion which hopefully would not be too difficult to incorporate, on my home patch on the borders of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire, it would be more accurate if the 590 could leave Rochdale on the diagonal the 587 uses, then branch due north to reach Todmorden in a straight line from the south. This would reflect the split of the 587 and 590 in Littleborough.

As a bonus, the 464 could then continue due north rather than veering north-west as it does currently where it leaves the 590. It would then turn west at 90 degrees where the 7 comes in from Todmorden, representing where the two services join at Bacup. I know the 7 wanders off the main road between Bacup and Rawtenstall, but that is irrelevant at this scale. Admittedly the 464 would then also need to do a 90 turn to the north at Rawtenstall, which you might think would be too confusing, especially as all the routes are the same colour in the area.

 

[Snex]

Thank you all! That Tyneside suggestion in particular is much appreciated given the closest I've been to the area is through it on a Megabus, implemented a lot of it now and will try the rest in future. The latest version *should* now always be at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eqWOsCWPDWsJp4VEyyYu6rp6IQ8IwFPc/view?usp=sharing, do let me know if that doesn't seem to be working.

No worries, glad I could help. Only little comment I'd make is I'd probably remove the X8 from the Blyth to Newcastle expresses. It goes a different route from Cramlington to Newcastle joining the X7 route but there's not enough space for all of that.

The Northern spike out of Newcastle, mapping wise, generally means the Great North Road corridor (ie. through Gosforth and also connecting to the Metro at the Regent Centre which all the other expresses do).

 

[stevieinselby]

It works - but the resolution of the image is awful - numbers are just blobs!

It isn't an image, it's a PDF and all the text is there as text, so it should be crisp at any zoom level.
If you're getting a fuzzy display then that sounds like something that is going wrong in your browser.

 

[Buzby]

If you're getting a fuzzy display then that sounds like something that is going wrong in your browser.

Perhaps so - but the same browser worked fine using the original files. (And now works again with the updates direct from the forum) - the only variable is Google who are downgrading the resolution of the PDF, now there’s a surprise! Safari is the Browser, so not an unknown quantity, but this is a side issue to the main event.

 

[Flange Squeal]

An excellent map. I have one proposed amendment though, down in southern England.

The Guildford > Woking > Camberley route 34/35 corridor, operated by Stagecoach, has been amended over the last couple of Septembers.

In short, the Guildford > Woking > Camberley corridor can have the 35 number removed (the 35 is now just a fairly infrequent Guildford to Woking service via some small settlements), but the corridor can be made bolder as the 34 now runs the full Guildford > Woking > Camberley length every 20 minutes Mon-Sat.

 

[Parebunks]

An excellent map. I have one proposed amendment though, down in southern England.

The Guildford > Woking > Camberley route 34/35 corridor, operated by Stagecoach, has been amended over the last couple of Septembers.

In short, the Guildford > Woking > Camberley corridor can have the 35 number removed (the 35 is now just a fairly infrequent Guildford to Woking service via some small settlements), but the corridor can be made bolder as the 34 now runs the full Guildford > Woking > Camberley length every 20 minutes Mon-Sat.

Thanks, this is the kind of thing that's particularly hard to catch! This version is in the middle of having a few things shifted round a bit, if anything's obviously out of place it may be deliberate whilst I move something else.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Thanks, this is the kind of thing that's particularly hard to catch! This version is in the middle of having a few things shifted round a bit, if anything's obviously out of place it may be deliberate whilst I move something else.

For Wigan-Leigh, the 609 is typically better than the 608.

I wouldn't really say V1 and 35 are worth grouping, the V1 is fast (at quieter times taking 1h end to end) and the 35 is slow (at quieter times taking 2h end to end).
Sure they both connect Leigh to Manchester but it's almost always better to use a V1 if going from centre to centre.

Also it looks like the 237's number is missing between Ashton-under-Lyne and Glossop.


This is a seriously impressive project.
The detail put into Manchester is quite something, I didn't expect it to have most of the big bus stations.

 

[sturfc]

As others have said this is impressive.
One amendment being local, the 101 from High Wycombe to Uxbridge no longer exists due to the upgrade to the 102. So maybe have it has the 102,104 in Uxbridge. Not sure if the 300 between High Wycombe and Aylesbury is worth adding to the 130

 

[Trainguy34]

One other thing I've found - Stagecoach have renumbered and redone services between Dover and Hastings on the wave - can't find the image ATM but there is one on the website under timetable changes with frequency & Destinations

 

[Parebunks]

For Wigan-Leigh, the 609 is typically better than the 608.

I wouldn't really say V1 and 35 are worth grouping, the V1 is fast (at quieter times taking 1h end to end) and the 35 is slow (at quieter times taking 2h end to end).
Sure they both connect Leigh to Manchester but it's almost always better to use a V1 if going from centre to centre.

Also it looks like the 237's number is missing between Ashton-under-Lyne and Glossop.


This is a seriously impressive project.
The detail put into Manchester is quite something, I didn't expect it to have most of the big bus stations.

As others have said this is impressive.
One amendment being local, the 101 from High Wycombe to Uxbridge no longer exists due to the upgrade to the 102. So maybe have it has the 102,104 in Uxbridge. Not sure if the 300 between High Wycombe and Aylesbury is worth adding to the 130

One other thing I've found - Stagecoach have renumbered and redone services between Dover and Hastings on the wave - can't find the image ATM but there is one on the website under timetable changes with frequency & Destinations

Thanks, all appreciated and fixed!

Currently reworking London a bit to loosen up some of the densest areas like Medway and Surrey and remove the coach inset - I've added the 'superloop' routes but would appreciate thoughts on which other (if any) TfL buses merit inclusion

 

[pjnathanail]

Good evening, a few updates in relation to my own operations, so we’re in East Anglia territory here.

Simonds:
Diss and Bury St Edmunds is now linked by route 70/70A, not 304. Diss (and Roydon) has an hourly service to Norwich on route 82, albeit the Go-Ahead 1 does still run. The 581 is now the 81, and is hourly from Diss to Harleston. Diss to Eye is technically 110 and 112, with the 113 and 114 linking Eye to Ipswich.

Central Connect:
LC2 is actually going to be numbered LCC2.
90 continues beyond Newark to Fernwood, which is on the 24 route towards Grantham.
You may wish to show our R4 Uppingham to Peterborough but it is only once a day in each direction so you may not.
Harlow to Ongar is now linked by the 20, not the 420. Buses run via Epping, with additional trips on the 21 Harlow to Epping only.
Bishop’s Stortford to Hertford is now the 35/35C
You may wish to show our 25 Harlow to Cheshunt

New service 67 St Ives to St Neots starts 6th January, may be a handy addition.

26 Royston is now A2B not Centrebus.

And a random one because I travelled on it the other day - High Peak 62 the wrong section is dashed. More buses run between Castleton and Edale than along the full route to Buxton.

As someone who very much enjoys making interurban journeys by bus, even when it’s not the most logical to do so, this is a super handy resource for which I say a big “thank you"!

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

I guess that you have not included the Isle of Wight as it is detached from the mainland, but it is worthy of consideration. Southern Vectis provide a very good and frequent service on the core routes between the major settlements on the island.

 

[darloscott]

Just a quick note from the Heathrow area as I was traveling around there last week, White's 446 now runs beyond Staines to T4 & Hatton Cross hourly so may be worth including. It's still half hourly Staines-Woking on weekdays.
Also, the 4 between Heathrow & Slough is now the A4, however terminates at Cippenham and no longer serves Maidenhead. The Slough-Maidenhead corridor now appears to be the (not quite) hourly 6.
Is it perhaps worth including the half hourly 3 between Slough & Uxbridge? Appreciate the map is already complicated in this area!

 

[Ken H]

Works fine for me on android. But I am signed into Google.

You missed my post earleir in that the Clitheroe-Settle 11 goes on to Horton in Ribblesdale. Or is Horton too rural?

In Cumbria you have missed the services from Langdale to Coniston, Hawkshead (505) and Gt Langdale/Old Dungeon Ghyll.(516). Also thecKeswick Seatoller usually called the Borrowdale Bus.
508 is Penrith - Patterdale in winter. Patterdale - Windermere is summer only, but its a through route as 508.

Morecambe? There is a 755 Morecambe - Grasmere bus as well as routes towards Lancaster. I would put Carnforth on too.

Knaresborough? 1A, 1B, 1C run frequently to/from Harrogate. Harrogate Bus Co (Transdev)

Catterick is east of the Richmond - Leyburn route.

156 goes on to Gayle. Which is part of Hawes really but dont say that in Gayle!

There is a 113 Gayle - Hawes - Garsdale Station.

 

[Ken H]

Keighley area.

PS. M4 and 66 follow the same route from Sutton in Craven to Keighley. Except the m4 meanders round Airedale Hospital but the 66 doesnt.
M4 = Burnley - Keighley
66 = Skipton - Keighley

64 and 66 dont share route at all

Further west there is a Skipton - Lancaster through bus. Its the 580 Skipton - Settle, 581 Settle - Kirkby Lonsdale and 81 or 82 K Lonsdale - Lancaster. But the buses run through. Dont know how you wouls show that on a map tho. There are Skipton - Settle and K Lonsdale Lancaster part route workings just to make it complicated.

 

[Buzby]

I guess that you have not included the Isle of Wight as it is detached from the mainland, but it is worthy of consideration.

Well the Isle of Mull has services shown!

 

[Parebunks]

Thanks all, latest version has extra islands and all highlighted corrections/additions. Still working on London, as above TfL thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[matchmaker]

Stirling to Glasgow. Service X10 is via Balfron, service X10A is via Aberfoyle.

 

[WestCountry]

Now you're including 'bus-like' coach services, the RailAir services RA1/2/3 from Heathrow to Reading, Guildford and Watford respectively probably count.

I think the megabus services m82 and m87 (shown on the inset top-right) have ceased?

A friend and I used an earlier version of this map (in conjunction with bustimes etc.) to plan a successful journey from Land's End to John o' Groats by local buses a few months ago. It showed some route options I probably wouldn't have found otherwise, reducing the journey time by about a day. Really useful and incredible work.

 

[Parebunks]

Now you're including 'bus-like' coach services, the RailAir services RA1/2/3 from Heathrow to Reading, Guildford and Watford respectively probably count.

I think the megabus services m82 and m87 (shown on the inset top-right) have ceased?

A friend and I used an earlier version of this map (in conjunction with bustimes etc.) to plan a successful journey from Land's End to John o' Groats by local buses a few months ago. It showed some route options I probably wouldn't have found otherwise, reducing the journey time by about a day. Really useful and incredible work.

M82 and M87 were being run by Thandi for a while after the other English ones stopped, but do seem to have vanished now - does anyone know if this is definitely the case? Are tickets for RailAir available on board the bus? Think that might be my new arbitrary line in the sand, at least in England (I know they theoretically are even on National Express, but in practice people are generally told to buy them on their phone even by the driver in my experience).

 

[MotCO]

Thanks all, latest version has extra islands and all highlighted corrections/additions. Still working on London, as above TfL thoughts would be appreciated.

You have either overlooked, or decided not to include my earlier comment. Don't mind which!

One small anomaly. Between Crawley and East Grinstead you only list the 291, but the 400 also goes to East Grinstead.

 

[Parebunks]

You have either overlooked, or decided not to include my earlier comment. Don't mind which!

Ooops, extended the line but didn't add the label, thanks for reminding me.

 

[Simon75]

First Essex X10 Stansted to Chelmsford runs to Basildon (via Wickford)

 

[WestCountry]

Are tickets for RailAir available on board the bus? Think that might be my new arbitrary line in the sand, at least in England (I know they theoretically are even on National Express, but in practice people are generally told to buy them on their phone even by the driver in my experience).

Yes, tickets can be - and routinely are - bought on board.

Booking online even in advance is only a marginal saving, e.g. £14 vs £16 for a Guildford-Heathrow single, not like NatEx where walk-on tickets are extortionate vs advance booking.

Some minor Dews corrections for changes made in October:

Dews Coaches - More Buses from 14 October

Starting on Monday 14 October 2024, we'll be running more buses across our network.

dews-coaches.com

Service 305 only operates Huntingdon-Ramsey, not to Chatteris as shown.
Service 303 operates Huntingdon-Ramsey-Chatteris and is missing.
The two alternate for a combined hourly daytime frequency Huntingdon-Ramsey.

The 'Ely Zipper' services are listed on their timetables and BODS as ZIP (not interurban), ZIP2, ZIP3 rather than EZ2 as shown.
ZIP2 operates Ely-Chatteris-March; the map is missing the latter half.
ZIP3 operates Ely-Chatteris and is missing.
These two also alternate for a combined hourly frequency between Ely and Chatteris. ZIP2 and 302 alternate for a combined hourly frequency Chatteris-March.

Most 303 and ZIP3 pairs are actually a through one-seat journey Huntingdon-Ely.
It's a pretty neat timetable.

 

[Railguy1]

Awesome map!

 

[Parebunks]

First Essex X10 Stansted to Chelmsford runs to Basildon (via Wickford)

Yes, tickets can be - and routinely are - bought on board.

Booking online even in advance is only a marginal saving, e.g. £14 vs £16 for a Guildford-Heathrow single, not like NatEx where walk-on tickets are extortionate vs advance booking.

Some minor Dews corrections for changes made in October:

Dews Coaches - More Buses from 14 October

Starting on Monday 14 October 2024, we'll be running more buses across our network.

dews-coaches.com

Service 305 only operates Huntingdon-Ramsey, not to Chatteris as shown.
Service 303 operates Huntingdon-Ramsey-Chatteris and is missing.
The two alternate for a combined hourly daytime frequency Huntingdon-Ramsey.

The 'Ely Zipper' services are listed on their timetables and BODS as ZIP (not interurban), ZIP2, ZIP3 rather than EZ2 as shown.
ZIP2 operates Ely-Chatteris-March; the map is missing the latter half.
ZIP3 operates Ely-Chatteris and is missing.
These two also alternate for a combined hourly frequency between Ely and Chatteris. ZIP2 and 302 alternate for a combined hourly frequency Chatteris-March.

Most 303 and ZIP3 pairs are actually a through one-seat journey Huntingdon-Ely.
It's a pretty neat timetable.

Thanks, sorted out the X10 and Dews corrections and will think about ways to do RailAir

 

[TheNerdCharlie]

Wow - looks amazing, great work

Few routes / corrections I know of that you could add:

• 129 operated by Diamond Bus East Midland that connects Ashby-de-le-Zouch with Loughborough
• From this 9, 19, 401 and X12 (and 129 from above) are operated by Diamond East Midlands (Rotalta Subsidy) yet coloured for McGills
• The 63 in Birmingham doesn't terminate in Longbridge this is operated by the 45 / 47 - the 63 goes to Frankley