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Most Frequent Routes With Prefixes and Suffixes (or no numbers at all)?

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tbtc

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Whenever there's a thread about "most frequent" routes, the same services keep cropping up (mainly in London and Manchester). But these are generally routes with just numbers - no prefixes or suffixes. So, to try to do something different, what are the most frequent services that involve letters (either at the start or the end)?

In Sheffield, the most frequent service with a prefix is the First X78 (Sheffield - Doncaster) every ten minutes.

The most frequent service with a suffix if the First 52a (Wisewood - Woodhouse).

The "entirely letters" SL service runs every ten minutes from Middlewood P&R to Stocksbridge.

I can't think of anything more frequent involving a letter in Yorkshire, though happy to be corrected...

Probably the most famous frequent examples will be the 11a/11c in Birmingham, I'd guess?
 
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SS4

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As well as the 11A/C the X51 from Brum to Walsall is every 10 minutes during the day
 

Hophead

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Brighton & Hove routes with suffixes running every ten minutes:

5B: Hangleton - Hollingbury; Mon - Sat daytime frequency
12X: Brighton - Eastbourne; Mon - Fri peak frequency (otherwise generally every 30 minutes)
25X: Portslade / Hove - Universities; Mon - Fri daytime frequency (does not operate at weekends)

Don't think any do better than that.
 
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vicbury

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Here in the West of England we have:

  • X39 Bath - Bristol every 12 minutes
  • U1 University of Bath - Oldfield Park every 3-7 minutes
  • A1 Bristol Airport - Bristol City Centre every 10 minutes

In Southampton there is:

  • U1 Airport Parkway - City Centre every 7-8 minutes
  • U2 Mayflower Halls - University of Southampton every 10 minutes

All of the above are weekday daytime (term-time where applicable) frequencies.
 
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Sandy Drew

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The Stagecoach Glasgow X25 is every 5 mins in the morning peak if that counts (every 15 off-peak)
 

Deerfold

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Whenever there's a thread about "most frequent" routes, the same services keep cropping up (mainly in London and Manchester). But these are generally routes with just numbers - no prefixes or suffixes. So, to try to do something different, what are the most frequent services that involve letters (either at the start or the end)?

In Sheffield, the most frequent service with a prefix is the First X78 (Sheffield - Doncaster) every ten minutes.

The most frequent service with a suffix if the First 52a (Wisewood - Woodhouse).

The "entirely letters" SL service runs every ten minutes from Middlewood P&R to Stocksbridge.

I can't think of anything more frequent involving a letter in Yorkshire, though happy to be corrected...

Probably the most famous frequent examples will be the 11a/11c in Birmingham, I'd guess?

There's few lettered routes with high frequencies in West Yorkshire:

Leeds Park and Ride PR1 is every 10 minutes.

Then there's the assorted city/town buses, some of which are free:

Wakefield's WCB is every 10-12 minutes

Bradford's BCB is every 10 minutes

Huddersfield's HTB is every 10 minutes

Dewsbury's FTB is every 10 minutes

Leeds's LCB is every 8-10 minutes.
 

Robertj21a

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Entirely letters - Trent's Indigo, Red Arrow, TWO, the Threes (all x10 or better)
 

duncanp

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Lothian's 44A runs every 10 minutes for most of the day.

Lothian buses 44A is a variant of service 44 that reaches the terminus at Balerno via Johnsburn Road and Cockburn Crescent, rather than the 44 which goes via Bavelaw Road and Mansfield Crescent.

There are two buses an hour on the 44A, and four buses an hour on the 44. All buses from Balerno towards Edinburgh go via Mansfield Crescent and are numbered 44.

The way they have it on their website is a bit misleading though, as it gives the impression that the 44A runs every 10 minutes from Balerno.


Suffix routes have all but been eliminated in London, but what you tend to get is routes that would have had suffixes in the past being given similar number, such as the 257 (Stratford - Walthamstow) and the 357 (Whipps Cross - Chingford Hatch).
 

Bletchleyite

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Entirely letters - Trent's Indigo, Red Arrow, TWO, the Threes (all x10 or better)

Don't most of Trent's routes just have names rather than numbers/letters, with the blinds showing only the destination? Or have they packed that in now?

That also used to be common practice on Austrian regional buses; may still be.
 

moogal

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Would night routes in London count, given they have an "N" prefix?

The N8, N38, N155 and N207 all run about every 7-8 mins on weekends, and the N29 every 3-4 mins.
 

MarkyMarkD

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The Thanet LOOP route is unnumbered - the name "LOOP" is use as a number substitute. This is a very regular route around Thanet (Margate, Ramsgate), Kent - around every 7 minutes all day M-F but less frequent late at night or at weekends.
 

Dent

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The London Route W7 is more frequent than most of the routes mentioned so far.
 

krus_aragon

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In North Wales, the highest frequency I can think of with a pre/suffix is the 5C Bangor-Caernarfon, running every 15 minutes.

(This is an renumbered portion of the 5 and 5X services between Llandudno and Bangor, for reasons of driving hours regulations: all daytime services operate as through services. The only services with greater frequency are the two Sapphire services: 1 Chester-Wrexham (12 mins) and 12 Llandudno-Rhyl (10 mins) )
 

Liam

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In Fife, I think it's the 39B every 15 minutes between Glenrothes Bus depot and the bus station. Although the 99 (St Andrews-Dundee) operates every 10 minutes in its A/B/C/D guises.
 

Hophead

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Would night routes in London count, given they have an "N" prefix?

The N8, N38, N155 and N207 all run about every 7-8 mins on weekends, and the N29 every 3-4 mins.

Thanks for the tip! Forgot Brighton & Hove N25: every 10 minutes Old Steine - Universities, 6 nights a week (during term time).
 

Busaholic

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The W4 in London was introduced in 1968, on the same date as the opening of the Victoria Line to Walthamstow, though utterly unconnected. Its peak frequency between Wood Green and Palmers Green was every 3-4 minutes, though that was not sufficient to quieten the hordes who had got used to through buses (and, before that, trolleybuses) to places like Moorgate.
 

ValleyLines142

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Here in the West of England we have:

  • X39 Bath - Bristol every 12 minutes
  • U1 University of Bath - Oldfield Park every 3-7 minutes
  • A1 Bristol Airport - Bristol City Centre every 10 minutes

The 48A is the most frequent in Bristol, running every ten minutes.
 

fairysdad

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The m1 and m2 routes in Poole and Bournemouth run every five minutes during the day (unless it's changed in the past year!), and the U1 had a ten-minute frequency.

This is more speculation than fact, but the 21A between Barnstaple and Bideford seems to be fairly frequent as well as I usually end up seeing loads when I'm driving around up there.
 

Statto

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10A Liverpool-St Helens which is every 6 minutes although that's an Arriva/Stagecoach QBP, also 86A Liverpool-JLA every 12 minutes.

Glasgow have plenty of suffix A/B/C/D/Es which are quite frequent

Cheltenham has a few routes just A/B/C/D/E ecc, & about every 10 minutes on some of those routes too
 

WestCountry

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Cambridgeshire Busway services are lettered, so:

A - Alternating 5- and 10-minute intervals in the peaks; every 15 minutes otherwise.
B - Every 15 minutes
R - Every 15 minutes, peak only.
 

Dai Corner

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Here in Newport we have the Stagecoach X24 which runs every 10 mins to Blaenavon via Cwmbran and Pontypool and the New Adventure Travel N1 every 15 mins between Duffryn on the Western edge of the city and Ringland in the east.
 
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