Bus routes which have never quite taken off

Martin2012 · 24 Jun 2019

Are there many examples of bus routes which have never quite taken off for whether reason?

Around this area I would say that Yate to Longwell Green fits into that category as there have been a few different variations of this route over the last decade, all of which ended up being withdrawn.

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RustySpoons · 25 Jun 2019

Transdev's Manchester - Leeds CityZap.

Odd choice of route to start with, using ex service buses extensively refurbed with quilted leather and had mechanical tweaks to help with the high speed slogs across the M62.

Never had a decent flow of paying passengers and by all accounts it was haemorrhaging money. Then Transdev acquired Rosso so the route was scrapped after 6 months.

Now the buses are wasted running what is effectively a shuttle service between Ramsbottom and Bury.

PG · 25 Jun 2019

The Aberdeen Airport rail link between the nearest railway station (Dyce) and the airport itself.

Not really helped by both First and Stagecoach, who have both been previous operators of this service, preferring to publicise their own bus links to the city centre over an irregularly timed minibus service to a single platform unstaffed station.

Yorks185 · 25 Jun 2019

Halifax to various major shopping centres:

- The M62 to White Rose (then onto Leeds) & more recently the X80 (also serving Birstall Retail Pk,but only in 1 direction)

- The M60 to Trafford Centre (Starting in Bradford) what was then replaced by an extension to service 560 (or possibly 561)

- X36/7 to Meadowhall via Huddersfield (The Huddersfield - Halifax express link could work these days,with the various roadworks in West Vale frequently holding up the 503)

If i remember correctly First also tried a summer service from Halifax to Chester Zoo,think it only lasted a year or 2

Typhoon · 25 Jun 2019

Yorks185 said:
If i remember correctly First also tried a summer service from Halifax to Chester Zoo,think it only lasted a year or 2

Similarly, Stagecoach ran a service from Canterbury to Howletts Wild Animal Park, summer only, route 200 for 2 or 3 years using an appropriately liveried bus. Both times I caught it, I was the only passenger. On the second occasion the driver pulled up at the stop where I had got off a couple of months earlier without me ringing the bell. Either she had an amazing memory or there had not been many passengers in the meantime.

NorthOxonian · 25 Jun 2019

There was formerly a Stagecoach service from Gloucester to Bristol known as the Belles Express, but it did poorly and was withdrawn. I think in part it was because Stagecoach tickets weren't valid, and a special ticket was required.

From Oxford there's a few: there was once a service to Northampton but it gradually got split and reduced. Oxford to High Wycombe, two large-ish places with decent road links, have only a very sparse service. The service from Oxford to Aylesbury has also begun to see cuts too. On the other hand, the routes from Oxford to Swindon and Reading seem to go from strength to strength, but perhaps there's stronger community ties there leading to more demand.

PeterC · 25 Jun 2019

NorthOxonian said:
There was formerly a Stagecoach service from Gloucester to Bristol known as the Belles Express, but it did poorly and was withdrawn. I think in part it was because Stagecoach tickets weren't valid, and a special ticket was required.

From Oxford there's a few: there was once a service to Northampton but it gradually got split and reduced. Oxford to High Wycombe, two large-ish places with decent road links, have only a very sparse service. The service from Oxford to Aylesbury has also begun to see cuts too. On the other hand, the routes from Oxford to Swindon and Reading seem to go from strength to strength, but perhaps there's stronger community ties there leading to more demand.

IIRC Oxford - Thame - Aylesbury has been strengthend on the Thame - Oxford section and reduced to 2bph on the Thame - Aylesbury section.

One that comes to mind is Chesham - Aylesbury. Tried as a commercial service, failed. Reintroduced, with a longer route, as part of a service to link Amersham and Stoke Mandeville hospitals. Now reduced between Amersham and Chesham to provide additional cover for schools and colleges at the Aylesbury end.

Thinking further back London Transport tried a couple of regular services through the Dartford Tunnel without much success.

route101 · 25 Jun 2019

Few around Glasgow i can think of.

First 601 East Kilbride to Braehead
Arriva 600 East Kilbride to Glasgow Airport
Stagecoach G1 -g3/?
Stagecoach x17
SG X18 East Kilbride to Silverburn
Stagecoach Ayr to Edinburgh via East Kilbride
McGills 204x Glasgow to Balloch
Arriva Braehead to Airdrie using coaches , not sure exactly

NorthOxonian · 25 Jun 2019

PeterC said:
Thinking further back London Transport tried a couple of regular services through the Dartford Tunnel without much success.

There is an hourly X80 service now, but that almost certainly would not exist if it wasn't for the existence of Bluewater and Lakeside, which are more recent developments.

Another tunnel with poor service is the Tyne Tunnel. Nexus have to fund the route through there, and Go North East have chopped and changed which route goes through the tunnel, to little effect. I suspect the ferry probably takes most of the demand for cross-Tyne journeys east of Newcastle.

TheGrandWazoo · 25 Jun 2019

NorthOxonian said:
There was formerly a Stagecoach service from Gloucester to Bristol known as the Belles Express, but it did poorly and was withdrawn. I think in part it was because Stagecoach tickets weren't valid, and a special ticket was required.

From Oxford there's a few: there was once a service to Northampton but it gradually got split and reduced. Oxford to High Wycombe, two large-ish places with decent road links, have only a very sparse service. The service from Oxford to Aylesbury has also begun to see cuts too. On the other hand, the routes from Oxford to Swindon and Reading seem to go from strength to strength, but perhaps there's stronger community ties there leading to more demand.

I did have a trip on the Belles Express. Think it failed because there wasn't enough demand for the hourly frequency and the revised sporadic frequency wasn't attractive.

Oxford to Northampton is a corridor I know well. It was a long standing service pre 1986 and has had a number of incarnations as a Coachlinks service and then later with the X88 and even the 8 to Bicester. It's only in recent years where it's really waxed and waned.

The reality is that you have two decent services; Silverstone is a fair sized village as is Whittlebury and you get enough trade for the service to Towcester and Northampton. The you have Bicester to Oxford. However, in the middle, there's very little (other than Brackley) and little end to end traffic. The service from Brackley to Silverstone/Northampton had all but gone when NCC pulled the subsidy. The X91 has now been resurrected to Towcester but only with developer funding. With Bicester mushrooming in size, will it sustain anything north??

The S6 (aka 66) has really grown since 2008. Part of that is the partnership between the councils and Stagecoach to pump prime improvements when it moved to half hourly with new e300s, plus new shelters on the route etc, and that's created a virtuous circle but also, you just have to see the new housing going up on the route. Southmoor has massively expanded, Faringdon has grown from 6000 inhabitants in 2001 to somewhere approaching 10000 now, and now a massive development going up at Watchfield.

Red Onion · 25 Jun 2019

PG said:
The Aberdeen Airport rail link between the nearest railway station (Dyce) and the airport itself.

Not really helped by both First and Stagecoach, who have both been previous operators of this service, preferring to publicise their own bus links to the city centre over an irregularly timed minibus service to a single platform unstaffed station.

In fairness to stagecoach, they had a service that was timed to meet the majority of trains. It just never caught the early trains or evening ones I seem to remember. There was a fair bit of money spent installing a bus circle to improve reliability etc. It did see usage but I think it became a victim of economics more than anything. As an aside, Dyce is actually a two platform station!

On the related Aberdeen Airport theme, the recently launched 747 Ellon to Montrose via Airport and 757 Newtonhill to Airport are both experiencing difficulties getting off the ground due to extremely low passenger numbers despite an alleged demand for the services. Stagecoach have put out a timetable consultation which could lead to the complete withdrawal of the 757 and the 747 being placed on a reduced timetable. It’s a shame as both are good routes but if nobody is using them then it’s not sustainable. I have to say I have never seen anyone on the 757 services I’ve passed and (living in Ellon) the 747 doesn’t fare much better with buses either empty or just a scattering of passengers. I have a couple of suggestions I’ll make to stagecoach but I fear neither would be implemented, nor probably make a huge difference.

Statto · 25 Jun 2019

NorthOxonian said:
There is an hourly X80 service now, but that almost certainly would not exist if it wasn't for the existence of Bluewater and Lakeside, which are more recent developments.

Another tunnel with poor service is the Tyne Tunnel. Nexus have to fund the route through there, and Go North East have chopped and changed which route goes through the tunnel, to little effect. I suspect the ferry probably takes most of the demand for cross-Tyne journeys east of Newcastle.

I went on the X80 last Autumn, & quite a few school pupils going to Dartford use it, X80 can get affected by the traffic on the Dartford Crossing, i was lucky i just missed the traffic by half an hour.

Stagecoach Express, Sheffield-Hull [think it was 909], seem to remember this every 30 minutes at one time in the mid 90s, now long gone
A few of the Stagecoach Ribble express routes have bit the dust
X51 Southport-Morecambe, although the Southport-Preston still operates as X2, Preston-Morecambe has been withdrawn never really taking off, after being reduced to a couple of journeys in the peaks
X63 Preston-Burnley, Preston-Blackpool section is now the 59, Blackburn-Burnley never really took off ended up being withdrawn.

Jordan Adam · 25 Jun 2019

PG said:
The Aberdeen Airport rail link between the nearest railway station (Dyce) and the airport itself.

Not really helped by both First and Stagecoach, who have both been previous operators of this service, preferring to publicise their own bus links to the city centre over an irregularly timed minibus service to a single platform unstaffed station.

The service was originally Nestrans subsidised, then as passengers picked up Stagecoach continued it for a few years before axing it in their savage 2017 cuts. First are away to relaunch the link on a much improved 15 minute frequency as a X27.

Red Onion said:
In fairness to stagecoach, they had a service that was timed to meet the majority of trains. It just never caught the early trains or evening ones I seem to remember. There was a fair bit of money spent installing a bus circle to improve reliability etc. It did see usage but I think it became a victim of economics more than anything. As an aside, Dyce is actually a two platform station!

On the related Aberdeen Airport theme, the recently launched 747 Ellon to Montrose via Airport and 757 Newtonhill to Airport are both experiencing difficulties getting off the ground due to extremely low passenger numbers despite an alleged demand for the services. Stagecoach have put out a timetable consultation which could lead to the complete withdrawal of the 757 and the 747 being placed on a reduced timetable. It’s a shame as both are good routes but if nobody is using them then it’s not sustainable. I have to say I have never seen anyone on the 757 services I’ve passed and (living in Ellon) the 747 doesn’t fare much better with buses either empty or just a scattering of passengers. I have a couple of suggestions I’ll make to stagecoach but I fear neither would be implemented, nor probably make a huge difference.

The 747/757 actually got off to a really good start, but the vehicle types used have turned most passengers off, while the lack of good publicity means that many don't know of the service. The 747 can get 20 passengers from the Airport to Stonehaven during the peaks, but the rest of the time it's a ghost bus.

tbtc · 25 Jun 2019

Statto said:
Stagecoach Express, Sheffield-Hull [think it was 909], seem to remember this every 30 minutes at one time in the mid 90s, now long gone

I could get quite nostalgic for the days of Stagecoach Express, some of the routes that they tried to build up in the 1990s (before trains upped their game).

A "fast" Sheffield to Doncaster is something that's been tried a few times without much subsequent success. Stagecoach's latest attempt is the X6 (replacing the 737), an hourly link from Doncaster Sheffield Airport via the Amazon/ iPort place and the M18.

"Fast" services from Sheffield to Barnsley used to exist (the long established X32/X33 direct up the M1, the Chestefield & District X12 via Rotherham) but gradually withered away (the X32 diverted over the route of the much slower X10 south of Barnsley, Arriva losing interest in the X33) until Stagecoach's brief X65 was replaced by the extended X17 (Barnsley - Meadowhall - Sheffield - Chesterfield - Matlock on a "Gold" double decker).

I was thinking of Sheffield - Worksop as a subject when I saw this thread - there have been a few attempts over the years (mainly the X85 but Stagecoach also tried the 727 IIRC) - the problem is that it's a long detour to serve anywhere intermediate of size (Dinnington) but if you don't then it's a fairly quiet journey to Worksop (which the train competes with).

We've also had a few attempts at (non-National Express) services over the Woodhead/Snake Pass(es). SYT had the X48/X49 every hour to Manchester/ Airport. Mainline ran a 401/402 circular from Sheffield to Glossop via Ladybower/ Woodhead. There was a 373 from Manchester to Ladybower (and the Hope Valley). Stagecoach ran an hourly extension of the 57 beyond Stocksbridge to Holmfirth (via the A628/ Dunford Bridge), and the M68 used to be a busy Sheffield - Holmfirth service on a Sunday. It's an area busy with walkers/ tourists at weekends but it seems very hard to get viable numbers for a bus service (compared to established Peak District links). Possibly because it'd involve three councils, there's no one party agitating for improvements.

route101 said:
Few around Glasgow i can think of.

First 601 East Kilbride to Braehead
Arriva 600 East Kilbride to Glasgow Airport
Stagecoach G1 -g3/?
Stagecoach x17
SG X18 East Kilbride to Silverburn
Stagecoach Ayr to Edinburgh via East Kilbride
McGills 204x Glasgow to Balloch
Arriva Braehead to Airdrie using coaches , not sure exactly

Given how regular some of the "orbital" services are around Edinburgh (the 21/200/400 don't serve the city centre, other routes like the 2/300 only skirt the edges of the city centre), it's surprising that there's not a market for something reasonably regular around the edges of Glasgow, given the large number of places on the western side of the city (the Airport, QE Hospital, Braehead, Silverburn etc, as well as linking the town centres in Paisley/ East Kilbride). Instead there are bumper-to-bumper McGills/ First buses along Paisley Road West but not a lot of non-radial routes.

mlambeuk · 25 Jun 2019

First York Aircoach. York to Leeds Bradford airport

Martin2012 · 25 Jun 2019

I did a couple of trips on the Belles Express.
One was a mid afternoon trip from Gloucester towards Filton and the other a trip from Central Bristol to Gloucester, a few weeks before it was withdrawn. On the first trip there were probably about 10 other passengers on, mostly passholders and on the second, only one other passenger.

I can't remember did they accept concessionary passes on that service or offer a reduced rate?

Red Onion · 25 Jun 2019

Jordan Adam said:
The service was originally Nestrans subsidised, then as passengers picked up Stagecoach continued it for a few years before axing it in their savage 2017 cuts. First are away to relaunch the link on a much improved 15 minute frequency as a X27.

The 747/757 actually got off to a really good start, but the vehicle types used have turned most passengers off, while the lack of good publicity means that many don't know of the service. The 747 can get 20 passengers from the Airport to Stonehaven during the peaks, but the rest of the time it's a ghost bus.

Yeah, I must admit I wasn’t impressed with the 747 the first couple of times I used it when faced with a Mercedes Sprinter! There’s been slightly better stock since then but it’s still not ideal. It’s a shame the old 727 stock isn’t kicking around still, with a refurb they might have been decent enough.

Reliability is a big thing, I’ve never once caught one that was on time departing, though frequently on time or even early on arrival. It’s much of a mystery!

I’ll miss the hourly 747 if it goes but as you say, it’s a ghost bus most of the time.

As for First relaunching the rail link, it’s a good idea, I’ll be interested to see how the loadings are on it.

175mph · 25 Jun 2019

Stagecoach's 909 service (not to be confused with the express service they used to run between Sheffield, Doncaster, Scunthorpe and Hull) from Doncaster to Scunthorpe to Brigg. Was launched in 2009, later cut back drastically, then withdrawn in 2011, replaced with a number 90 service from Crowle to Scunthorpe to Brigg, then a year later the Brigg part withdrawn and the remaining Scunthorpe to Crowle part now run by a different operator.

Deerfold · 25 Jun 2019

Yorks185 said:
Halifax to various major shopping centres:

- The M62 to White Rose (then onto Leeds) & more recently the X80 (also serving Birstall Retail Pk,but only in 1 direction)

- The M60 to Trafford Centre (Starting in Bradford) what was then replaced by an extension to service 560 (or possibly 561)

- X36/7 to Meadowhall via Huddersfield (The Huddersfield - Halifax express link could work these days,with the various roadworks in West Vale frequently holding up the 503)

If i remember correctly First also tried a summer service from Halifax to Chester Zoo,think it only lasted a year or 2

The more recent express to Leeds was the X08 (presumably so drivers just had to swap between a 5 and an X at the beginning of the number) and just ran a few peak journeys.
The M62 ran as Halifax - Brighouse - White Rose and return, Halifax - Brighouse - White Rose - Leeds - White Rose - Brighouse - Halifax, Halifax - Brighouse - White Rose - Leeds - Brighouse - Halifax at various times.
It never worked well as an express to Leeds as it started going in the wrong direction from Halifax and was all stops to Brighouse. From Brighouse it started facing competition from the train to Leeds.
There was briefly a subsidised evening service between Brighouse and Leeds provided by 1 bus, with a late journey from Leeds at 2320, continuing to Halifax. I caught this once midweek and was the only passenger for the entire journey (and annoyed the driver who had been hoping to stop running at the bus garage on the way into Halifax).

The 561 ran for a summer to the Trafford Centre. This was when there was an hourly 560 to Commons and an hourly 561 to Rishworth. Alternate 561s were extended to the Trafford Centre. I don't believe any passes were accepted between Rishworth and the Trafford Centre - there were no intermediate stops either (so 30 minutes on a frequent stopping service, then 30 minutes non-stop). I used to use this service to Ripponden and the bus was generally fairly quiet by then.

I think the Chester Zoo service was the same summer.

Around the same time, First ran a limited stop 565 service from Halifax to Ainley Top via West Vale then on to Ringstone Reservoir. There was one bus around 0900 on a Sunday morning and no return trip. It had a Green timetable in common with Sunday leisure services into the Dales. I assume the idea was for walkers to use it, but the timetable contained no clues as to what First expected people to do with it.

I'd welcome an X36/7 Huddersfield to Halifax - the service from Sheffield ran from at least the 40s to the 90s with a couple of brief revivals of the express service between Halifax and Huddersfield. I suspect it would reduce frequencies on the 503 if it happened. The temporary reduction of frequency on Sundays to every 25 minutes is still in place despite none of the roadworks still being there.
Most recent roadworks on this route have been at Salterhebble rather than West Vale.

extendedpaul · 25 Jun 2019

Night Bus N81 from Central London to Gillingham Kent. Only went beyond Gravesend on Friday and Saturday and the sole departure was at 3.45am.

Deerfold · 25 Jun 2019

mlambeuk said:
First York Aircoach. York to Leeds Bradford airport

Though Yorkshire Tiger have made a good go of the Harrogate - LBA section .

Jordan Adam · 25 Jun 2019

Red Onion said:
Yeah, I must admit I wasn’t impressed with the 747 the first couple of times I used it when faced with a Mercedes Sprinter! There’s been slightly better stock since then but it’s still not ideal. It’s a shame the old 727 stock isn’t kicking around still, with a refurb they might have been decent enough.

Reliability is a big thing, I’ve never once caught one that was on time departing, though frequently on time or even early on arrival. It’s much of a mystery!

I’ll miss the hourly 747 if it goes but as you say, it’s a ghost bus most of the time.

As for First relaunching the rail link, it’s a good idea, I’ll be interested to see how the loadings are on it.

The Sprinter's were being used as a small group of Peterhead drivers were refusing to take the E300s. AWPR is far too demanding for any of the buses in the Stagecoach fleet, so it should really be coaches on the service. The old 747 stock would be worse than the current E300s being used, not to mention on the whole older. Personally what i'd do is cut the 747 to Stonehaven, reintroduce the 107 and then allocate and brand up coaches for the revised Ellon - Stonehaven 747

Reliability has been better since the last set of changes. Currently there are 3 duties at Buchan, 1 at Aberdeen and 1 at Stonehaven, all operated by E300s. Peterhead typically use 27601/2 & 27102, while Stonehaven use 27101 and Aberdeen will use literally anything. It's the Aberdeen duty that tends to be problematic as quite often they've been using a E350H which at best will only do 45MPH, speaking of which 29018 got pulled over by police at Tyrebagger a few weeks back as it was only doing 15MPH!

Statto · 25 Jun 2019

extendedpaul said:
Night Bus N81 from Central London to Gillingham Kent. Only went beyond Gravesend on Friday and Saturday and the sole departure was at 3.45am.

N81 in the TFL area is now N89 but to

extendedpaul said:
Night Bus N81 from Central London to Gillingham Kent. Only went beyond Gravesend on Friday and Saturday and the sole departure was at 3.45am.

Originally started as NX1 in 1990, replaced by N81 from 93. N81 was cut to Bexleyheath in 99, with Kent extension replaced by commercial routes N80/N82 which didn't last long
https://www.londonbuses.co.uk/_routes/night/nx1.html

Deerfold · 25 Jun 2019

Statto said:
N81 in the TFL area is now N89 but to

Originally started as NX1 in 1990, replaced by N81 from 93. N81 was cut to Bexleyheath in 99, with Kent extension replaced by commercial routes N80/N82 which didn't last long
https://www.londonbuses.co.uk/_routes/night/nx1.html

Wasn't there something similar to Staines?

gingerheid · 25 Jun 2019

People have been trying express buses from East Kilbride to Glasgow since the late 80s (MagicBus was the first that I remember, Stagecoach First and others have tried since), but none ever seem to work out (oddly).

route101 · 25 Jun 2019

gingerheid said:
People have been trying express buses from East Kilbride to Glasgow since the late 80s (MagicBus was the first that I remember, Stagecoach First and others have tried since), but none ever seem to work out (oddly).

Last one was an x20 i recall , none recently though . Think its hard for EK , lots use the train and dismiss the bus as too long . I do remember the stagecoach , used coaches i think . If it was Edinburgh and Lothian , we would see X18 AND X21s

route101 · 25 Jun 2019

Jordan Adam said:
The Sprinter's were being used as a small group of Peterhead drivers were refusing to take the E300s. AWPR is far too demanding for any of the buses in the Stagecoach fleet, so it should really be coaches on the service. The old 747 stock would be worse than the current E300s being used, not to mention on the whole older. Personally what i'd do is cut the 747 to Stonehaven, reintroduce the 107 and then allocate and brand up coaches for the revised Ellon - Stonehaven 747

Reliability has been better since the last set of changes. Currently there are 3 duties at Buchan, 1 at Aberdeen and 1 at Stonehaven, all operated by E300s. Peterhead typically use 27601/2 & 27102, while Stonehaven use 27101 and Aberdeen will use literally anything. It's the Aberdeen duty that tends to be problematic as quite often they've been using a E350H which at best will only do 45MPH, speaking of which 29018 got pulled over by police at Tyrebagger a few weeks back as it was only doing 15MPH!

Used it earlier this year , was the only person beyond Aberdeen Airport to Ellon . Was one of them Uncomfortable Stagecoach e300s with tight upright seats. Im impressed with your knowledge of bus numbers and goings on outside the NE.

route101 · 25 Jun 2019

tbtc said:
I could get quite nostalgic for the days of Stagecoach Express, some of the routes that they tried to build up in the 1990s (before trains upped their game).

A "fast" Sheffield to Doncaster is something that's been tried a few times without much subsequent success. Stagecoach's latest attempt is the X6 (replacing the 737), an hourly link from Doncaster Sheffield Airport via the Amazon/ iPort place and the M18.

"Fast" services from Sheffield to Barnsley used to exist (the long established X32/X33 direct up the M1, the Chestefield & District X12 via Rotherham) but gradually withered away (the X32 diverted over the route of the much slower X10 south of Barnsley, Arriva losing interest in the X33) until Stagecoach's brief X65 was replaced by the extended X17 (Barnsley - Meadowhall - Sheffield - Chesterfield - Matlock on a "Gold" double decker).

I was thinking of Sheffield - Worksop as a subject when I saw this thread - there have been a few attempts over the years (mainly the X85 but Stagecoach also tried the 727 IIRC) - the problem is that it's a long detour to serve anywhere intermediate of size (Dinnington) but if you don't then it's a fairly quiet journey to Worksop (which the train competes with).

We've also had a few attempts at (non-National Express) services over the Woodhead/Snake Pass(es). SYT had the X48/X49 every hour to Manchester/ Airport. Mainline ran a 401/402 circular from Sheffield to Glossop via Ladybower/ Woodhead. There was a 373 from Manchester to Ladybower (and the Hope Valley). Stagecoach ran an hourly extension of the 57 beyond Stocksbridge to Holmfirth (via the A628/ Dunford Bridge), and the M68 used to be a busy Sheffield - Holmfirth service on a Sunday. It's an area busy with walkers/ tourists at weekends but it seems very hard to get viable numbers for a bus service (compared to established Peak District links). Possibly because it'd involve three councils, there's no one party agitating for improvements.

Given how regular some of the "orbital" services are around Edinburgh (the 21/200/400 don't serve the city centre, other routes like the 2/300 only skirt the edges of the city centre), it's surprising that there's not a market for something reasonably regular around the edges of Glasgow, given the large number of places on the western side of the city (the Airport, QE Hospital, Braehead, Silverburn etc, as well as linking the town centres in Paisley/ East Kilbride). Instead there are bumper-to-bumper McGills/ First buses along Paisley Road West but not a lot of non-radial routes.

Yep ,on paper a Bus between EK and Paisley should work but in reality no one uses it .They are the 2 biggest towns in Scotland .

tbtc · 25 Jun 2019

gingerheid said:
People have been trying express buses from East Kilbride to Glasgow since the late 80s (MagicBus was the first that I remember, Stagecoach First and others have tried since), but none ever seem to work out (oddly).

route101 said:
Last one was an x20 i recall , none recently though . Think its hard for EK , lots use the train and dismiss the bus as too long . I do remember the stagecoach , used coaches i think . If it was Edinburgh and Lothian , we would see X18 AND X21s

Agreed - there are "express" buses from lots of directions into Glasgow (Cumbernauld, Dumbarton, Motherwell etc) but nothing from East Kilbride, despite the spread out nature of the place meaning that most of the houses are quite some distance from the two train stations in the town (and the train services so busy that I'd have expected passengers to appreciate a seat on a fast bus).

I wouldn't be surprised if someone tries it again in a year or two, it looks a good idea on paper but... it never seems feasible - maybe because the roads are so slow (once inside Glasgow) that there's little time advantage (compared to the motorways from Cumbernauld/ Motherwell etc)? But then Lothian run plenty of "express" buses from Midlothian into Edinburgh (that run on the same roads as the regular services, just limited stop).

route101 said:
Yep ,on paper a Bus between EK and Paisley should work but in reality no one uses it .They are the 2 biggest towns in Scotland .

It's a strange one, there are lots of places that could be served in a "south to west" orbital service around the edges of Greater Glasgow but I guess there's no one simple way to link them all to make a bus route economic (say, a dozen passengers on average?). It just contrasts badly to Edinburgh, where there are regular services on the eastern fringe (linking the Hospital, Fort Kinnaird, ASDA, Musselburgh etc and the Park & Rides) and on the western fringe (linking the Airport, RBS, Gyle, Edinburgh Park, Herriot Watt and the Park & Rides).

That said, there's not a lot of "orbital" services inside Glasgow either, considering the potential attraction of The Fort, Parkhead Forge, University etc. The Overground/SimpliCity networks were more interested in simple radial services.

Megafuss · 25 Jun 2019

I'd add various iterations of Sunderland to/from Newcastle express services. X2, X19 X23, X36, X4, X95, X96 have all come and gone over the last 20 years. Only now does it seem to work with Stagecoach running an X24 service, helped by the fact they run an extensive network at both ends, whereas previous operators didn't

Bus routes which have never quite taken off

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