Bus routes that have been lost following the demise of an operator

[Martin1988]

Can anyone think of any examples of bus routes which have been lost following the collapse of a bus operator- eg where the operator providing that service has folded and no other operator has been willing to run it commercially or the relevant local authority has been unable to fund it.

When this situation has occurred has it generally been down to the route not being commercially viable in the first place or the fact the local authority concerned hasn't had available funding?

 

[Statto]

Avon buses Wirral went bankrupt Autumn 2018, Avon had a few Merseytravel contracted routes which have been withdrawn since Avon closed down, prime example 107/208 New Brighton-Woodside early morning route which has been withdrawn ever since, some other routes have been partly replaced, like 18 & 83A partly replaced by Arriva 407, & Stagecoach 38

 

[martinsh]

When GHA went out of busi9ness, route 44 Crewe - Shavington - Nantwich (hourly) wasn't replaced. Now no direct link between Shavington and Nantwich.

 

[Contains Nuts]

When GHA went out of busi9ness, route 44 Crewe - Shavington - Nantwich (hourly) wasn't replaced. Now no direct link between Shavington and Nantwich.

There is... Mikro Coaches service 39 every two hours.

 

[cnjb8]

In my area, Premiere Travel demised in 2013 and the Council chose not to retender some routes

 

[Martin1988]

When GHA went out of busi9ness, route 44 Crewe - Shavington - Nantwich (hourly) wasn't replaced. Now no direct link between Shavington and Nantwich.

I thought DG Bus had a service from Crewe to Shavington via Nantwich

 

[NorthOxonian]

Stagecarriage's disappearance took out the X8 which provided the only service to Stillington and Carlton. I'm surprised Arriva haven't took it on, with a possible extension to Sedgefield.

 

[Andyh82]

The Bradford Free City Bus was lost when Ladies Only Travel went bust.

They’d already taken it on commercially and introduced a £1 fare following the withdrawal of council funding.

 

[Statto]

I thought DG Bus had a service from Crewe to Shavington via Nantwich

That's split into 2 routes now, 12 Leighton Hospital-Shavington via Crewe & 85 Hanley-Nantwich via Newcastle & Crewe

As mentioned above there is a 39 Crewe-Nantwich via Shavington & Wynbunbury, 2 hourly though

 

[martinsh]

There is... Mikro Coaches service 39 every two hours.

That is not a direct service ! It goes via Hough, Wybunbury & Walgherton and takes over 20 minutes, compared to about 5 for a direct route.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Webberbus had a service that they ran (albeit for only a few months before going bust) running from Bridgwater to Yeovil.

There is no direct service now but it was no great loss when it did go as the tendered 16 ran (and still does) from Bridgwater to Langport and the longstanding Taunton - Langport - Yeovil cover it all.

 

[richw]

Western greyhound ran Newquay to Bodmin services. No service between the two towns since their collapse.

 

[Ant158]

When M&M Coaches in Accrington closed the 231 to Clitheroe and 521 Burnley to Accrington Services ceased.

 

[158756]

When M&M Coaches in Accrington closed the 231 to Clitheroe and 521 Burnley to Accrington Services ceased.

Pilkingtons did Accrington-Clitheroe for a bit but it's just down to school journeys now.

 

[Martin1988]

Thanks to those that have responded to my post. Interesting to hear that there are so many examples.

 

[LiviCrazy]

First took over some routes from Nordi Travel and Passenger Travel after they both shut down. But their routes were mostly quickly lost in West Lothian as First just altered their own routes or cut them entirely.

 

[PTR 444]

When Gardbus, an independent operator based in Ringwood, folded a few years back, quite a few of its routes were never replaced. The 132 and Ringwood Town services were luckily also covered by Morebus routes 38, 13 and Ringo, although the 41 (a former W&D route) vanished completely, severing the link between Salisbury and Alderholt for good.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

The Bradford Free City Bus was lost when Ladies Only Travel went bust.

They’d already taken it on commercially and introduced a £1 fare following the withdrawal of council funding.

Had Metro expanded the tender for the 653 Bradford to Otley service from a single journey to six round trips, the BCB could have been bolted on to that in similar stance to the Leeds City Bus being bolted on to the 5.

The West Yorkshire to Peak District service 951 (Huddersfield to Glossop) was also lost when LOT shut, it hasn't ran since 2016 as no other operator wishes to take it on.

There was also a 904 that ran between Otley and Harrogate during evenings and Sunday's, this was lost when Pegasus closed in 2007.

 

[LUYMun]

Not too sure if this can count, but I'll give this one a say, and as short as possible:

An independent bus company called Fleet Buzz formerly operated heavily in the towns of Fleet, Farnborough and surrounding villages and estates.

In 2011 it was bought by Stagecoach as a subsidiary.
Just before the January 2015 timetable changes, which saw Fleet Buzz incorporated into the Stagecoach brand, the subsidiary operated routes 11, 30, 31, 41, 42, 72, 77 and 82.

The 2015 timetable resulted routes 30 and 31, which both went to Basingstoke, axed; partly replaced by two new Stagecoach routes, one severs Fleet from Basingstoke, route 30's original route.

(I think) Route 77 was merged into route 72. The rest were transferred over to Stagecoach. However, Fleet Buzz's old routes were also disappearing under Stagecoach's hands.

In later years, route 42 - a clockwise route - was partially replaced by a new, anti-clockwise route and the other half merged with the route 41. Route 72 stopped running north of Fleet in 2017, and renumbered as 7. Bus services north of Fleet are operated by Reading Buses, also numbered route 7!

Route 82 (renumbered 8) was axed in 2018, replaced by a college bus for Farnborough College of Technology and 6th Form students.

The only bus route that hasn't changed at all is route 11, which is funded from Surrey County Council (unsurprisingly, since most of the routes cutted were funded by Hampshire County Council).

 

[Wirewiper]

When Local Link in Torbay ceased operating buses in April 2017 much of the work was taken on by DF Watts trading as Torbay Buses, but Torquay routes 65 and the northern section of route 64 were not replaced. The 65 was revived for a while as a community bus operated by a not-for-profit organisation, but has since been withdrawn again as the losses were unsustainable. The loss of these routes has caused considerable hardship to some people as Torquay is a very hilly town with an ageing population and with pockets of considerable deprivation, and these routes served areas that were some distance from the main bus network. Torbay Council does not provide any subsidy for local bus services.

 

[childwallblues]

Halton Transport closed down last week. Route 14 Runcorn to Liverpool was closed down between Hough green and Liverpool.

 

[Samuel88]

Halton Transport closed down last week. Route 14 Runcorn to Liverpool was closed down between Hough green and Liverpool.

To be fair though Arriva run a frequent service that duplicated the 14 for most of it's length.

 

[childwallblues]

To be fair though Arriva run a frequent service that duplicated the 14 for most of it's length.

That is true but it was nice to have single deckers for those of us that cannot get upstairs.