Zakforbes4
Member
This is the thread for useless and strange bus service you have found anywhere in the UK. These can run anywhere from once a month services to regular services that make no sense.
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Useless Bus Services.
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Zakforbes4
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I will start it off https://bustimes.org/services/5-spateston-circular-johnstone
Key coaches route 5 is covered completely by the Mcgills 38 service.
Key coaches route 5 is covered completely by the Mcgills 38 service.
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[.n]
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What makes it useless, it seems to run every 15 minutes so surely there is a demand for it? Is it cheaper than the other service? Is the other service a short section of a much longer infrequent route?
Zakforbes4
Member
The 38 runs every 10 min there I think
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I suspect it'll be pretty hard to find useless bus services, as a useless bus service doesn't make a profit (or fulfil a social need, if subsidised) and thus doesn't last very long - it's a very different market to rail.
Zakforbes4
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Some are govenment funded tho
[.n]
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Thanks
Stan Drews
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Key Coaches run a handful of local services around Johnstone. They seem to do okay, surviving largely on concessions. I’d imagine it’ll be more reliable than the 38, which is lengthy route subject to potential delays. The 5 is also more frequent at every 15 mins, than the 38 at every 20 ...in normal times!
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Money isn't usually wasted on subsidising entirely useless bus services, though.
Zakforbes4
Member
Ah okay I dont really know that area.
Zakforbes4
Member
pfft tell SPT that lmao
lxfe_mxtterz
Member
Rawtenstall bus 13, quoted from my thread on "Britain's Strangest Bus Routes":
https://bustimes.org/services/13-rawtenstall-rawtenstall-2
Zakforbes4
Member
Oh yes I seen that on a website I wonder if people actually use it
Rawtenstall bus 13, quoted from my thread on "Britain's Strangest Bus Routes":
https://bustimes.org/services/13-rawtenstall-rawtenstall-2
In the same vein, the K8 in Keighley. It's temporarily suspended (and not on bustimes) but runs between the bus station and an ASDA just a few minutes' walk away.
For useless duplication, how about the 61 from Inverness to Ullapool. It entirely parallels the 961 which is a much nicer Scottish Citylink service - and the fares seem to be much the same. The timetables even seem to be similar - perhaps with both aiming for the Stornaway ferry.
The 23A in Wiltshire might also be included, running from Warminster to an uninhabited village. However, the Imberbus is a bit of a tourist attraction in its own right now!
Zakforbes4
Member
I think many people would see a coach and not get on it it's like seeing a virgin train going to your local you probably wouldnt get on it assuming its booked or something
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lxfe_mxtterz
Member
I expect it could be somewhat useful for those with impaired mobility, but yes, considering its short distance and the fact that it only has four stops, I'd be surprised if many, if any, people use it!
Inverness, Garve, and Ullapool are all fairly far apart, so most of the journeys made aren't local. And a lot of coaches get put on "local" routes in the Highlands anyway - I recall a thread on here which attempted to find a route north without coaches and it became nearly impossible beyond Inverness.
Edit: Actually the point of the 61 seems to be fairly clear now - it goes into Dingwall rather than bypassing it, and also runs through to Raigmore Hospital.
lxfe_mxtterz
Member
I personally wouldn't class the service as useless! When I travelled to Imber in 2018, near enough every bus was full of people. But as you rightly say, it is a bit of a tourist attraction now – not just for the classic Routemasters, but for the village itself.
It's certainly more well utilised than some of the "useless" bus services in my local area, some of which I've never actually seen anybody use, but I think those are funded by the local authorities.
The least frequent bus of all is the 112 from Tavistock to Dawlish, running over Dartmoor. This route runs on summer Saturdays (from April to September) - but only on the fifth Saturday of the month! That means most years there are only two services in each direction, with three services in a minority of years (the last year to have three runs was 2017, the next will be 2023). I imagine the rather gimmicky frequency draws quite a lot of passengers in!
Zakforbes4
Member
That is one of the strangest frequencies I have ever seen
I went on this bus last August but I didn’t realise it was that infrequent!
It seems to run every Saturday (at least for most of the year), rotating between Exeter, Falmouth, Barnstaple, and Torquay for the other four Saturdays. Each of those monthly routes has its own service number though!
If you'd missed it, you'd have had to wait at least a year, and that's assuming there's a run this August (if not, you'd have had to wait until May 2021 - 21 months)!
Zakforbes4
Member
Next time I'm down visiting my gran who lives in Totnes I might try get on it
gingerheid
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Years of efficiency savings in subsidised routes (and postbus cuts) make it harder for this to be a thing?
I can think of a couple of examples of subsidised evening or Sunday services that outlived their daytime (or weekday) counterparts for a while, but really not a lot now!
I can think of a couple of examples of subsidised evening or Sunday services that outlived their daytime (or weekday) counterparts for a while, but really not a lot now!
Zakforbes4
Member
Or when a company buy's another company and has alot of random routes lying about
Whisky Papa
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Rawtenstall bus 13, quoted from my thread on "Britain's Strangest Bus Routes":
https://bustimes.org/services/13-rawtenstall-rawtenstall-2
I thought there might be an obvious explanation for the 13, but no, apparently not, the route seems to be completely in the valley bottom rather than climbing the steep hill I had imagined. The T2 in Todmorden (currently TLC-operated) is only a little longer at 4 minutes, but does at least climb about 170 feet in that time.
Mitch in Notts
Member
Years ago on the Council funded Sherwood Arrow in Notts the last bus from Retford terminated in Tuxford and returned back to Retford at 22.22hrs. At 22.26hrs the through bus from Nottingham arrived at Tuxford en route to Retford. 2 journeys in 4 minutes covering the full route at that time of night in a very rural part of Nottinghamshire! Why the 22.22 wasn't sent direct back to Retford (in 13 minutes rather than the 30 minute full route) I never understood.....
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Planning gain[1] for the named "business park", almost certainly. Very common indeed.
[1] For those not familiar with the term, it's granting of planning permission conditional on the funding of the startup costs (typically 3-5 years) of a public transport connection for those working or living there. It's done pretty universally in MK and has resulted in some slightly odd bus routes - not useless but certainly unremunerative - that just disappear after those 3-5 years.
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