Areas that still have night buses?

Further to the in-depth post by @higthomas above, since July Stagecoach in Hants & Surrey's route 1 'Gold' now runs hourly overnight Monday to Saturday (or I guess technically Tuesday to Sunday mornings!) on the Aldershot > Farnborough > Frimley > Camberley section.

https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s...ables/South/Aldershot/AL1Timetable28Jul19.pdf

Nat now run their 303/304 Bridgend- lantwit major -barry-Cardiff with last service from Bridgend at 0115 with first bus mon-sat at 0545

PeterC said:

Beaconsfield will be getting a night service to Uxbridge and Heathrow from 29 December and I believe that there are other night services being introduced from the airport. Everywhere else in that part of Bucks a "night bus" is something that runs after 6pm.

The Oxford services that I have checked are Fridays and Saturdays only but I haven't gone through every route by all the operators.

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Strictly speaking the 102 won't be a 24-hour route - there are no departures from Beaconsfield between 23.04 and 02.44 and no departures from Heathrow Airport between 00.10 and 03.50.

Your comment about a "night bus" in that part of Bucks being one that runs after 6pm isn't far short of the mark, though.

Glasgow has them at the weekend , though theres a good few areas like Castlemilk that dont have any nightbuses now . Used to run during the week for a while .

Wirewiper said:

Strictly speaking the 102 won't be a 24-hour route - there are no departures from Beaconsfield between 23.04 and 02.44 and no departures from Heathrow Airport between 00.10 and 03.50.

Your comment about a "night bus" in that part of Bucks being one that runs after 6pm isn't far short of the mark, though.

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There again a lot of what are mentioned here are just late services up to around 1am rather than all night services.

route101 said:

Glasgow has them at the weekend , though theres a good few areas like Castlemilk that dont have any nightbuses now . Used to run during the week for a while .

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A lot of night buses have been killed by cheap taxi fares like Uber especially for groups. Last few times I've used them, they have been quiet and it seems most people using them take them quite far out the city rather than the inner suburbs.

NorthernSpirit said:

The only routes in York that could run into the early hours would be the 5 from Acomb to Strensall (with part of the route rerouted to run on part of the 12 between City Centre, Heworth and Huntington) and the 10 from Poppleton to Stamford Bridge.

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I actually think they could do a hybrid of 1&5 covering New Earswick/Haxby/Strensall/Huntington with some sort of circular route overnight (at least on weekends) and something similar at the other end of York to cover Acomb and surrounding area. They could talk to their first colleagues at TPE and schedule these to connect with their overnight services from York to Man Airport (probably too much like joined up thinking...) Might be one for another thread at some point though.

In Scunthorpe, the last 1a evening circular arrives back at the bus station a couple of minutes after midnight, we have two 1a circulars that run during the evening, the first one leaves the bus station at 18:10.

There are also a few Scunthorpe to Brigg number 4 runs, tied in with the shift patterns at one of the industrial estates, the last bus leaves Brigg at around 23:00 and arrives in Scunthorpe but not at the bus station, at the operator's depot in the Ashby area instead around 25 minutes later.

Additionally, the last bus from Scunthorpe to Hull leaves the bus station at 20:10, arrives in Hull for 21:17, leaves at 21:20 and arrives at Scunthorpe bus station just after 22:30.

Isn't the Slough Heathrow 7 a night bus

matt_world2004 said:

Isn't the Slough Heathrow 7 a night bus

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There are early and late journeys on the 7 (and the 8) but they are not 24-hour services.

roadierway77 said:

Lothian have quite a few night buses.

Here in Dunfermline we have the N55 which runs in the early hours on Saturday and Sunday nights to/from Edinburgh.

The 747 also runs 24/7 to Edinburgh Airport.

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First West Lothian also run the N23 and N25 at weekends from Edinburgh.

Reading has two, the 17 which goes east to west across the whole town and the 21 which goes south from the town centre to Lower Earley via the University.

nottingham city transport run the n4 n6 n26 n27 n28 n34 n36 n48 n58 n68 n77 n89

Manchester operates a number of all night services

https://tfgm.com/public-transport/bus/night-bus

Variants of the 86 in Liverpool run 24/7. There are also some post midnight services at weekends on other routes.

175mph said:

In Scunthorpe, the last 1a evening circular arrives back at the bus station a couple of minutes after midnight, we have two 1a circulars that run during the evening, the first one leaves the bus station at 18:10.

There are also a few Scunthorpe to Brigg number 4 runs, tied in with the shift patterns at one of the industrial estates, the last bus leaves Brigg at around 23:00 and arrives in Scunthorpe but not at the bus station, at the operator's depot in the Ashby area instead around 25 minutes later.

Additionally, the last bus from Scunthorpe to Hull leaves the bus station at 20:10, arrives in Hull for 21:17, leaves at 21:20 and arrives at Scunthorpe bus station just after 22:30.

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They’re evening buses rather than night buses

The major arterial roads in South Manchester have all night services on Fri/Sat. I think the 43 service from Piccadilly to Ringway (Manchester airport) is 24/7 all week.

Cardiff, for a city of its size, used to have night buses but they were all withdrawn due to poor ridership (although I personally feel that Cardiff Bus couldn't afford to run them - how when the 18 departures at 0030 and 0130 were almost full and standing on a Friday and Saturday night is beyond me). The last departures for most services is at 2320, which is pretty poor when smaller cities have later services, although New Adventure Travel have introduced later journeys on the X1 meaning that they now have the privilege of running the last service of the day (currently 2345).

Coincidentally, Cardiff Bus have shot themselves in the foot, as New Adventure now run late journeys on the X1 and X8, which mirror their 18 and 27 services respectively, which were the last two night buses before they were withdrawn!

njlawley said:

Poole/Bournemouth have the N1 and N2 (night bus variations of the m1/m2), but they don't run on Sunday nights/Monday early mornings.

As for Southampton, the only night bus is the Unilink U1N from Southampton to the university, Airport and Eastleigh on Fri/Sat nights.

And in Manchester, there are no First (or successor operator) night buses. They are all operated by Stagecoach with the sole exception of the X43 Saturday night buses.

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For a few years, GMPTE tendered several night buses. These ran to Rochdale, Oldham, Bolton and Leigh if I remember correctly. There were also night buses from Bolton and Wigan into the suburbs but all have gone now.

When I went to Sheffield as a student in 1965 there was quite an extensive night bus network there, whereas my home city Bristol had none. Now the position is reversed.

I used to use the 43 in Manchester, every half hour all next every night, with a short break on Christmas Day. Coming into Manchester Airport from Turkey at half past two in the morning it was bliss to be on a bus to my door and in bed in half an hour. Moving to Cumbria was an experience - if you see a bus at all in most places it's like spotting a rare migratory bird. However Stagecoach do run a 104 bus from Center Parks to Carlisle via Penrith at 00:35, a time at which all other buses are safely in their depots. I do wonder if they ever get any passengers whatsoever and what on earth they'd do once they arrived in Carlisle in the middle of the night. On Friday and Saturday, the answer is, get straight back on the bus and return to Penrith at the unearthly hour of 02:07!

Must make a profit otherwise it wouldn't run at that hour, last buses would be around 11pm.

About 10 years ago Liverpool used to have night routes mostly ran Saturday night, last buses ran 3am, however they were cash fares only, seem to remember £4, no pre paid tickets were valid, i remember catching one one Saturday night, a taxi would have cost £20-£30 as i was going through the tunnel, the night buses ended up being withdrawn 2012/13.

There used to be all night bus Liverpool-Birkenhead operating every night numbered 150, that too has since been withdrawn, think similar time the rest of the night buses were withdrawn

Stagecoach have night journeys Fridays & Saturdays on the 1 Liverpool-Bromborough only, they used to run through to Chester via Ellesmere Port, but put up for withdrawal, after consultation Stagecoach cut them to Liverpool-Bromborough

geoffk said:

For a few years, GMPTE tendered several night buses. These ran to Rochdale, Oldham, Bolton and Leigh if I remember correctly. There were also night buses from Bolton and Wigan into the suburbs but all have gone now.

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Correct, run by First - there was also one to Bury. The Oldham tender was Friday nights only as Stagecoach was already running the Saturday night service commercially.

The tenders were designed to be a kickstart, with the operators taking over the services commercially. Eventually they did, Saturdays first - but then the new licensing laws kicked in. Interstingly, some of these routes saw periods of competition from Finglands and JP Travel.

DanTrainMan185 said:

Cardiff, for a city of its size, used to have night buses but they were all withdrawn due to poor ridership (although I personally feel that Cardiff Bus couldn't afford to run them - how when the 18 departures at 0030 and 0130 were almost full and standing on a Friday and Saturday night is beyond me). The last departures for most services is at 2320, which is pretty poor when smaller cities have later services, although New Adventure Travel have introduced later journeys on the X1 meaning that they now have the privilege of running the last service of the day (currently 2345).

Coincidentally, Cardiff Bus have shot themselves in the foot, as New Adventure now run late journeys on the X1 and X8, which mirror their 18 and 27 services respectively, which were the last two night buses before they were withdrawn!

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Cardiff Bus couldn't be bothered to run the night buses more like. They were all reasonably busy throughout the week in fact the network would have done better if it had bern expanded.

Local rumours suggest Cardiff bus are looking to pull out of local services around Barry with the exception of services which run to or from Cardiff.

As for nat they got future plans to run the X1/X8 24/7 with a early morning service from Cardiff to
Barry and Cardiff Airport around 0345 which would benefit workers at the airport as well as local passengers.

Reading buses run a 24 hour service on the Purple 17 and Spritzer 21 routes. I think that the Emerald Green and Yellow services also run late at night

There used to be a Bristol to Yate night bus service (Friday and Saturday only) which was pulled off in April 2017. Nowadays the last departure from Bristol to Yate and Chipping Sodbury is 2335 but the last one back towards Bristol is 0032 from Chipping Sodbury. I do think a later journey from Bristol to Yate wouldn't go amiss- particularly on Friday and Saturday.

As well as the other Bristol night bus services mentioned in this thread Service 39 to/from Bath runs until the early hours of the morning.

I don't know what other parts of the country are like but back when the pubs kicked out at half ten Newcastle buses were rammed to the next hour Friday and Saturday but hardly anyone paid and those that did didn't get a ticket!

Bungle158 said:

Reading buses run a 24 hour service on the Purple 17 and Spritzer 21 routes. I think that the Emerald Green and Yellow services also run late at night

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Yes, emerald 5 & 6 (Whitley), purple 17 (Wokingham Road - Tilehurst), claret 21* (Lower Earley) and yellow 26 (Calcot) all have 24-hour service now. Each route runs hourly every night, and the 17 and 21 have extra buses on Friday and Saturday nights until 02.30.

Orange 13 (Woodley) also has late-night departures on Friday and Saturday nights but the last one is at 02.30 so not a 24-hour service.

* "spritzer" is the branding for the 21a short journeys that run to the University in term time.

Speaking of Manchester as well as the 24 hour 43;
142 Manchester-East Didsbury, last journey's 3am.
192 Manchester-Stockport-Hazel Grove, has a few night journey's depending on day of the week, last bus 03.35 Friday & Saturday
216 Manchester-Ashton Under Lyme, hourly until 3am
219 Manchester-Ashton Under Lyme/Stalybridge finishes 02.40 with last bus goes to Glossop

anthony263 said:

Cardiff Bus couldn't be bothered to run the night buses more like. They were all reasonably busy throughout the week in fact the network would have done better if it had bern expanded.

Local rumours suggest Cardiff bus are looking to pull out of local services around Barry with the exception of services which run to or from Cardiff.

As for nat they got future plans to run the X1/X8 24/7 with a early morning service from Cardiff to
Barry and Cardiff Airport around 0345 which would benefit workers at the airport as well as local passengers.

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Pulling out of Barry? That's absolute wibble and you know it.

As for the night buses - the trial period ended and they still weren't covering their costs without subsidy. Hardly 'couldn't be bothered'.

Company is back in profit, electric buses ordered and with new management at the helm the only way is up.

As for NAT, their recently announced 'night' services are actually until 0013 - the arrival time of the 2345 buses to Pontprennau and Culverhouse Cross respectively.

Statto said:

Must make a profit otherwise it wouldn't run at that hour, last buses would be around 11pm.

About 10 years ago Liverpool used to have night routes mostly ran Saturday night, last buses ran 3am, however they were cash fares only, seem to remember £4, no pre paid tickets were valid, i remember catching one one Saturday night, a taxi would have cost £20-£30 as i was going through the tunnel, the night buses ended up being withdrawn 2012/13.

There used to be all night bus Liverpool-Birkenhead operating every night numbered 150, that too has since been withdrawn, think similar time the rest of the night buses were withdrawn

Stagecoach have night journeys Fridays & Saturdays on the 1 Liverpool-Bromborough only, they used to run through to Chester via Ellesmere Port, but put up for withdrawal, after consultation Stagecoach cut them to Liverpool-Bromborough

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The Arriva Crossriver Saturday night buses were finally axed back July 2014, they had the following -
N23 Liverpool to Liverpool via Birkenhead, Prenton, Upton, Moreton, Bidston, Birkenhead Park,
N37 Liverpool to West Kirby following the day time 437 route however didnt operate a return journey to Liverpool, rather the bus ran back empty from West Kirby. One trips extended the extra couple of minutes to Hoylake for no known reason.
N450 Liverpool to Liverpool via Birkenhead, Duke St, Gorsey Lane, Liscard, Seaview Rd, New Brighton, Rake Lane, Liscard, Gorsey Lane, Liverpool plus one trip which ran as far as Hamilton Square Station only. The N450 ran both Friday and Saturday night whereas the others didnt.

A year or 2 earlier there was also the N51 Liverpool to Spital Crossroads which again ran back empty. Following complaints from residents of Neston that they wanted it extended to serve them, Arriva said yes, nobody used it and the whole route got axed as a result.

The Arriva night buses got axed mainly over costs - they insisted on having security guards loading the buses at Queen Square for no apparant reason which must have cost a fortune, and the use of Queen Square itself made no sense as the normal cross river services don't operate from there, so not exactly making life easier for anybody looking for a bus back to Wirral! Stagecoachs Liverpool to Bromborough night bus which currently runs, picks up from the same stop the day time service does and follows the same route, allows prepaid tickets and passes and charges the usual day fare prices (or it did last time i used it) - its usually very busy when ive been on it. This is another reason Arrivas didnt work, as it was a £4 flat fare and no prepaid tickets allowed, with the exception of ENCTS blue/orange and Mersey Yellow.

On the subject of Merseyside night buses, I believe a number of late night services on weekends have been announced through December running up to Christmas as per previous years but I havn't had chance to look into it yet.

The only 24/7 bus on Merseyside is the 86A which operates from Liverpool ONE to the Airport.

EDIT
Quick look on the Merseytravel website shows no extra night buses are laid on this year, just the usual ones. They have added 2 late night trains on Fri/Sat nights throughout December leaving Liverpool Central at 0130 running limited stop to Hooton on Wirral Line and Southport on Northern.