[Trivia] Frequent Or Long Bus Services That Don’t Cross (Passenger) Railway Lines

Stan Drews · 20 Oct 2018

Stagecoach East Scotland’s (former Strathtay) route 57 from Dundee to Perth via Blairgowrie.

RailUK Forums

Cambus731 · 21 Oct 2018

30907
of they do do.
Doh!

OwlMan · 21 Oct 2018

There are a few services that go from or through Coalville in Leicestershire; Leicester - Burton, Coalville - Loughborough, Coalville - Burton, Coalville - Hinckley

Mag_seven · 21 Oct 2018

In Swindon services 2, 13/14 - every 15 mins and 10 mins respectively. The routes keep them south of the GWML at all times.

northrob · 21 Oct 2018

30907 said:
Don't they have to cross the Scarborough line?

Yep, my bad! Too busy remembering about them crossing the ECML twice on their entrance to York, that I forgot about the Scarborough line...

bluenoxid · 21 Oct 2018

Leeds

X98/99 Leeds - Wetherby?

CMS · 21 Oct 2018

For frequent, I'd suggest all of the town services in Harlow and Hemel Hempstead and for long-distance, I'd struggle given the density of lines in the South East, the only ones I can think of are 46 Hemel Hempstead-Luton and 505 Harlow-Chingford.

MotCO · 21 Oct 2018

Presumably many of the Southern Vectis services to the west on the Isle of Wight would count.

vlad · 22 Oct 2018

In Devon there's the 21 which runs every 15 minutes from Bideford to Braunton. It serves Barnstaple station but doesn't actually cross the railway.

Cambus731 · 22 Oct 2018

Stan Drews said:
Stagecoach East Scotland’s (former Strathtay) route 57 from Dundee to Perth via Blairgowrie.

youbeat me to it with that one. But I wasn't sure if it may cross a railway line in Dundee.
It is one of my regreats that I never got round to riding on this route when Strathtay were using their Alexander bodied Metrobuses on this route as this route goes right past the Guest House where I usually stay in when I visit Perth.

AlastairFraser · 23 Oct 2018

Kennections (ex-Newbury and District) route 4 Newbury to Lambourn(17.5 miles). Crosses the former Lambourn Valley Railway but not any railway in Newbury. Route 6 Newbury to West Ilsley (11.1 miles). Crosses the old D,N and S Railway but again not any current railway.
64 Alton to Winchester Stagecoach (18.3 miles). Passes over the Watercress line but I don't think that counts as a preserved railway.
54 Chichester to Petersfield Stagecoach (circa 20 miles).

Wirewiper · 23 Oct 2018

randyrippley said:
are there any Dorset / Devon coastal services that would qualify? Wareham-Weymouth-Exeter?

The X53 in its current shortened form (Weymouth-Axminster) doesn't cross any railway lines - it even manages to stay just the right side of the tracks at Axminster Station. And whilst it encounters former branch lines at Abbotsbury and West Bay, it doesn't actually cross over their routes.

Its companion route, the X51 (Dorchester-Axminster) almost manages this feat but has to cross the Weymouth-Castle Cary line near Dorchester West.

In Weymouth itself, the frequent route 1 to Portland runs up to every 10 minutes ( and even has a weekend night service) and does not cross any open rail lines although it does pass over the Rodwell Trail, the footpath/cyclepath that follows the route of the former rail line to Portland.

Wirewiper · 23 Oct 2018

goldisgood said:
Oxford has a few - the most frequent would be the 1/5 which run every 3-4 minutes (if you count them as one route, which they are basically), the longest either the T1 to Watlington or the X8 to Thame, both around 14 miles.

The X38, X39 and X40 Oxford-Reading routes would almost manage not to cross any railway lines, if they were to terminate at Reading Station North Interchange instead of continuing into the Town Centre.

In Reading itself, the busy and frequent 5 and 6 services to Whitley (each up to every 8 minutes) and the 21/21a to the University and Lower Earley do not cross any current or former railway lines. The 11 to Coley Park does not cross over any current rail route, but does cross the route of the former Reading Central Goods Branch - the bridge which carries Berkeley Avenue over the A33 was originally a railway overbridge.

transmanche · 23 Oct 2018

Hogg's service 131 from Newcastle to Jedburgh is a contender for longest. Although it starts by Central Station, it doesn't cross any heavy rail lines. It's about 60 miles and takes two hours.

wiltshirebloke · 23 Oct 2018

TransWilts Express (Stagecoach) 49 : Swindon > Trowbridge via Devizes.

Stays just south of the GWML in Swindon Town Centre, and then runs parallel on Bythesea Road in Trowbridge. Other than that travels through the heart of Wiltshire bereft of any sort of Train service since the closure of the Devizes line back in Beeching times.

AlastairFraser · 23 Oct 2018

Wirewiper said:
The X38, X39 and X40 Oxford-Reading routes would almost manage not to cross any railway lines, if they were to terminate at Reading Station North Interchange instead of continuing into the Town Centre.

In Reading itself, the busy and frequent 5 and 6 services to Whitley (each up to every 8 minutes) and the 21/21a to the University and Lower Earley do not cross any current or former railway lines. The 11 to Coley Park does not cross over any current rail route, but does cross the route of the former Reading Central Goods Branch - the bridge which carries Berkeley Avenue over the A33 was originally a railway overbridge.

I was going to say some of them because I live in Caversham but I realised at the last minutes that they pass under Caversham Road or Vastern Road rail bridge. The X38 would have qualified before they extended it to Reading though. I thought about the 11 but I focused on the long distance routes.

AlastairFraser · 23 Oct 2018

One more: 15 Abingdon to Witney Stagecoach Oxfordshire, not frequent but circa 15 to 20 miles.

TheGrandWazoo · 23 Oct 2018

Pulhams 801 runs from Cheltenham and terminates 24 miles later at Moreton in Marsh station forecourt.

goldisgood · 23 Oct 2018

A few more around the country
First Kernow 95 (Bude to Truro) has some journeys which run to St Columb Major only and are about 45 miles.
Stagecoach Oxfordshire 19 (Witney to Carterton via Bampton) runs every 2 hours and is about 18 miles
Stagecoach Oxfordshire 233 (Burford to Woodstock via Witney) runs every 30 minutes and is around 20 miles
Red Rose 275 (Oxford to High Wycombe) runs infrequently and is around 30 miles

I've also found a route that possibly goes for the longest without crossing a railway line - Trawscymru T5 goes for about 70 miles from Aberystwyth to Wolf's Castle where it crosses a railway line (total route about 80 miles).

DavidGrain · 23 Oct 2018

Alex 2901 said:
If light rail isn't counted, then the X8 between Wolverhampton and Birmingham would be the longest (99 minutes end to end, every 20 minutes).

The X8 crosses the Stourbridge line in Long Lane Blackheath. From the top deck you can see the line as it enters the Old Hill Tunnel below you

Man of Kent · 23 Oct 2018

goldisgood said:
A few more around the country
First Kernow 95 (Bude to Truro) has some journeys which run to St Columb Major only and are about 45 miles.
Stagecoach Oxfordshire 19 (Witney to Carterton via Bampton) runs every 2 hours and is about 18 miles
Stagecoach Oxfordshire 233 (Burford to Woodstock via Witney) runs every 30 minutes and is around 20 miles
Red Rose 275 (Oxford to High Wycombe) runs infrequently and is around 30 miles

I've also found a route that possibly goes for the longest without crossing a railway line - Trawscymru T5 goes for about 70 miles from Aberystwyth to Wolf's Castle where it crosses a railway line (total route about 80 miles).

The 233 crosses the railway at Long Hanborough station - it's even a timing point!

goldisgood · 24 Oct 2018

Man of Kent said:
The 233 crosses the railway at Long Hanborough station - it's even a timing point!

Forgot about that line :oops:

Alex 2901 · 24 Oct 2018

The 1 between Tettenhall Wood and Dudley via Wolverhampton fits the category (runs every 8 minutes*, and although it passes near to Wolverhampton Station, and now goes up the metro line on Pipers Row and at Bilston Street Island, it doesn't cross a heavy rail line)

As do the 15 and 16 between Wolverhampton and Merry Hill Centre (15) or Stourbridge (16), which are every 30 minutes each, and both work out to about 11 miles each, 15 taking about 75 minutes to complete a full trip, 16 taking just under 60 minutes to complete a trip.

* advertised to run at that frequency at least.

AlastairFraser · 24 Oct 2018

goldisgood said:
A few more around the country
First Kernow 95 (Bude to Truro) has some journeys which run to St Columb Major only and are about 45 miles.
Stagecoach Oxfordshire 19 (Witney to Carterton via Bampton) runs every 2 hours and is about 18 miles
Stagecoach Oxfordshire 233 (Burford to Woodstock via Witney) runs every 30 minutes and is around 20 miles
Red Rose 275 (Oxford to High Wycombe) runs infrequently and is around 30 miles

I've also found a route that possibly goes for the longest without crossing a railway line - Trawscymru T5 goes for about 70 miles from Aberystwyth to Wolf's Castle where it crosses a railway line (total route about 80 miles).

Sorry to be a spoilsport, but Red Rose's 275 crosses the Chinnor and Princes Risborough, doesn't it

?

Dai Corner · 24 Oct 2018

AlastairFraser said:
Sorry to be a spoilsport, but Red Rose's 275 crosses the Chinnor and Princes Risborough, doesn't it ?

[Pedant]
Does the C&PR see 'scheduled passenger trains Monday-Friday'?
[/Pedant]

AlastairFraser · 24 Oct 2018

Dai Corner said:
[Pedant]
Does the C&PR see 'scheduled passenger trains Monday-Friday'?
[/Pedant]

Nope though the Brigg line doesn't either

HumberSprinter · 25 Oct 2018

In North East Lincolnshire all bus services cross a rail line except the 17 summer open topper. The 1 only crosses a freight line.
Louth has long routes which don't cross rails like the 59.

SCH117X · 25 Oct 2018

Transdev Harrogate 24 to Pateley Bridge along with local services 3, 6 and X6 (and Connexions X6 [different to Transdevs], X6A and X12) all normally avoid passing over or under the railway which boarders the bus station. Also avoiding a railway is the 780 Knaresborough-Wetherby currently worked by Connexions (cancelled from 25 Nov).

DavidGrain · 25 Oct 2018

Arriva Midlands route 9 from Wolverhampton to Bridgenorth is about 16 miles and is an hourly service.

Cambus731 · 31 Oct 2018

If the Colne branch had been truncated about a hundred yards closer to Nelson, there would be quite a few bus services that go past Colne station that would count

[Trivia] Frequent Or Long Bus Services That Don’t Cross (Passenger) Railway Lines

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