Bus routes which have never quite taken off

[158756]

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X51 Southport-Morecambe, although the Southport-Preston still operates as X2, Preston-Morecambe has been withdrawn never really taking off, after being reduced to a couple of journeys in the peaks
X63 Preston-Burnley, Preston-Blackpool section is now the 59, Blackburn-Burnley never really took off ended up being withdrawn.

Preston-Morecambe is now back as a regular stopping bus.

Which route did the X63 take between Blackburn and Burnley? Unless you use the motorway the fastest route is that taken by the now Transdev 152. Blackburn-Accrington avoiding Oswaldtwistle was culled last year and the direct route between Burnley and Accrington has never been much good.

 

[Statto]

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

Rather oddly [looking from the outside], Stagecoach North East have an express X34 Newcastle-Horsley Hill Square, which a suburb of South Shields, & doesn't go into South Shields town centre

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Rather oddly [looking from the outside], Stagecoach North East have an express X34 Newcastle-Horsley Hill Square, which a suburb of South Shields, & doesn't go into South Shields town centre

Because the Metro covers Shields to Newcastle

 

[Statto]

Because the Metro covers Shields to Newcastle

And the Metro serves Newcastle-Sunderland as well, but Stagecoach operate X24 Sunderland-Newcastle express.

 

[Eyersey468]

Are we including open top bus routes? If so I nominate the Hull Explorer, it ran during the summer holidays in 2017 and a slightly extended timetable last year, however due to very poor loadings last year it isn't returning

 

[Deerfold]

Are we including open top bus routes? If so I nominate the Hull Explorer, it ran during the summer holidays in 2017 and a slightly extended timetable last year, however due to very poor loadings last year it isn't returning

Halifax had a town centre bus run by an open top minibus (Benji the bus) linking its tourist attractions (!) - I think that just ran the one summer before the bus was used on normal bus services (including through some pretty rough areas).

https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6156/6178192173_4669333a05_m.jpg

 

[RustySpoons]

Preston-Morecambe is now back as a regular stopping bus.

Which route did the X63 take between Blackburn and Burnley? Unless you use the motorway the fastest route is that taken by the now Transdev 152. Blackburn-Accrington avoiding Oswaldtwistle was culled last year and the direct route between Burnley and Accrington has never been much good.

It used to run via Accrington, direct to Blackburn. Burnley & Pendle ran it between Burnley and Blackburn when Stagecoach withdrew that section of the route, eventually cut it back to Accrington and still runs today as the 9.

Back then there was plenty of competition running direct between Accrington and Blackburn though, M&M Coaches, Lancashire United, Blackburn Transport, Pilkingtons... Now there's nothing! You have to take the long way round via Ossy. Shame.

 

[NorthOxonian]

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

My experience of the X24 is that it works due to the lack of metro services: most passengers are travelling from West Sunderland to/from Newcastle, and the end to end journeys are fairly minimal (though not non existent).

 

[Wirewiper]

I am surprised that the Stagecoach 46 (formerly X46) between Torquay and Exeter went into decline after the opening of the South Devon Highway. Although it didn't use the new road, the journey times decreased as the traffic delays through Kingskerswell were eliminated. Now (since April 2019) it doesn't run at all, replaced by a minimal peak-hours-only 7A which detours via Newton Abbot and Sandygate, adding a good 20 minutes to the journey time.

 

[AM9]

The short-lived revived Green Line service 712 from St Albans to London Victoria. Originally the route ran from Dorking to St Albans/Luton/Dunstable in the heyday of LT Green Line services. In 2009, Arriva relaunched the route with a Daf coach in contemporary Green Line livery. That was in the bad old days of FCC struggling with Thameslink when some peak services were still running as 4-car class 319 consists. Receipts were minimal but Arriva persevered until 2011 when they withdrew the service. Uno took the route up for a while with one of their best Citaros, but like Arriva, eventually threw the towel in as receipts were far to low to justify a 90 minute run (each way) - and that was with no traffic issues.

 

[Wirewiper]

The short-lived revived Green Line service 712 from St Albans to London Victoria. Originally the route ran from Dorking to St Albans/Luton/Dunstable in the heyday of LT Green Line services. In 2009, Arriva relaunched the route with Daf coaches in contemporary Green Line livery. That was in the bad old days of FCC struggling with Thameslink when some peak services were still running as 4-car class 319 consists. Receipts were minimal but Arriva persevered until 2011 when they withdrew the service. Uno took the route up for a while with one of their best Citaros, but like Arriva, eventually threw the towel in as receipts were far to low to justify a 90 minute run (each way) - and that was with no traffic issues.

Uno also took on the 797 Green Line (Stevenage - London Victoria) when Arriva pulled out, as a useful link between the University Campus in South Hatfield and North West London. In theory it should have worked well, as the Campus is right beside the A1 and the A1/A41 provides fast (usually!) journeys to the Underground at Hendon Central and Baker Street. However it only lasted a couple of years. Uno does of course provide connections to the Underground via its well-established 614 service to Edgware and Queensbury Stations.

 

[Samuel88]

Uno also took on the 797 Green Line (Stevenage - London Victoria) when Arriva pulled out, as a useful link between the University Campus in South Hatfield and North West London. In theory it should have worked well, as the Campus is right beside the A1 and the A1/A41 provides fast (usually!) journeys to the Underground at Hendon Central and Baker Street. However it only lasted a couple of years. Uno does of course provide connections to the Underground via its well-established 614 service to Edgware and Queensbury Stations.

Which has also been cut in frequency (at least during Uni holidays) to hourly.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

And the Metro serves Newcastle-Sunderland as well, but Stagecoach operate X24 Sunderland-Newcastle express.

My experience of the X24 is that it works due to the lack of metro services: most passengers are travelling from West Sunderland to/from Newcastle, and the end to end journeys are fairly minimal (though not non existent).

Absolutely right NorthOxonian. The not the end to end travel that is behind the X24 but providing links from the intermediate stops to the two cities. City to city traffic is hovered up by the Metro mainly

 

[ValleyLines142]

The 16 in Bristol, Longwell Green to Bristol Parkway. Lasted about a year, if that?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The 16 in Bristol, Longwell Green to Bristol Parkway. Lasted about a year, if that?

Wasn't the 16 the renumbered 81?

 

[ValleyLines142]

Wasn't the 16 the renumbered 81?

I don't think so, because the 81 went onto Yate, and only went to Kingswood the other way.

 

[Martin2012]

The 16 actually was a replacement for the 81.

From April 2014 when it launched up until September 2015 the route ran between Yate and Kingswood but in September 2015 it got cut back to either UWE or Bristol Parkway. It then got re-extended to Longwell Green in January 2016 but in September 2016 was renumber

 

[Ken H]

stagecoach had a go at a brum -oxford route by linking the brum stratford on avon route, and the route onward through Shipston and on to Woodstock. now you change at Stratford and Chipping Norton

vanguard used to do an Atherstone - Birmingham via Nuneatin and the M6. Dont think there are any Atherstone - brum buses now. used to be some via tamworth that took ages.

Donny Waites used to run a Settle - Hawes service on Tuesdays. Just one a week on summer Sundays run by Arriva West Riding by extending the Wakefield - Hawes bus.

Grand Prix of Brough used to run a Penrith -Kirby Stephen service. Stagecoach now do just the Appleby - Penrith bit, leaving Warcop, Brough and Kirby Stephen with very few buses.
But bus provision in East Cumbria is woeful.

 

[robk23oxf]

Stagecoach's SW1 service from Carterton and Witney to London (Tower Hill) a few years ago. It ran at weekends with spare Gold E400s fitted with seat belts. The buses used to layover at West Ham depot during the day. It didn't last long, many passengers still preferred to get the local bus to Oxford and then change onto the Oxford Tube which has air conditioning and toilets. The service was axed before the start of the summer so it never really got a chance to prove itself.

 

[dazzler]

First York tried to run the X64 between York and Leeds (along the A64) with stops at Tadcaster and Seacroft, in direct competition with Yorkshire Coastliner. There were 2 buses per hour during most of the day. The service only ran for just over a year between April 2009 and July 2010 and was served by standard single deck buses from the First York fleet, reupholstered with (faux) leather seats - one of which is still running in that condition in York today.

At around that time, Yorkshire Coastliner/Transdev announced the increase of services to 4/hour between York and Leeds, the extra services eventually becoming the York - Leeds CityZap in 2016, and this put paid to the First service, as Coastliner have a far better reputation locally than First!

 

[swifty]

I don't think so, because the 81 went onto Yate, and only went to Kingswood the other way.

The Longwell Green to Parkway route can be traced back to the early 90s. It had always been marginal so was a surprise when First took it on commercially, but we know why!

The 81 was cut back to its original route and renumbered to 16 as it shared common sections of route with the 17. When the 44 went back to the original route, and the 17A diverted via Oldland, the 81 loop around Hanham Common was added so that Hanham to Kingswood still had a 30 min frequency.

 

[Non Multi]

X9 First Berkshire.
Route: Maidenhead, Frascati Way to High Wycombe Bus Station via the A404.
Operated: 23/11/2013 to 16/8/2014. Significantly faster trip compared with Arriva's route 37 between the two towns.
First Berks gave their new X9 express route minimal publicity and unsurprisingly ended up carrying minimal passengers.

 

[freetoview33]

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.

But it still runs Yate - Kingswood!

I think a good example is Clevedon - Yatton. It has had quite a few services over the years which get withdrawn for a year then they come back again for a year and so on.

 

[atraindriver]

<deleted>

 

[Alex 2901]

The Birmingham - Stratford - Oxford through service long predates Stagecoach as it was introduced by Midland Red in 1976 as part of the Viable Network Plan (MAP) alterations around Stratford, which saw the Birmingham - Stratford stopping service 150 morph into the limited stop X20, and four journeys a day linked with what were previously the jointly operated through Stratford-Oxford extensions of the 544 (earlier 44) Chipping Norton - Oxford. The X50 had two journeys a day operated by Midland Red's Stratford depot and two by City of Oxford's Chipping Norton depot.

After deregulation the X50 went and came and went and came back and went again a couple of times, as indeed did Midland Red South's entire Stratford operation; under Stagecoach, MR(S) tried it one last time as a Stagecoach Express operation, but it failed yet again. And every other operator who has tried through workings has also failed, from Oxford's Citylink service linking Stratford, Oxford and London to Johnson's of Henley who have now also killed off the Birmingham - Stratford route, the X20 being replaced (last year?) by a Shirley Station - Stratford stopping service 20.

The X20 went in October 2018, replaced by the 20, and Sundays Only X50, which operates Birmingham - Stratford - Chipping Norton every 3 hours (roughly).

 

[Martin2012]

Out of interest were there many instances where Wessex attempted to launch a service to compete with First? I know about the 90, the One and the One2 but did Wessex ever launch any other similar services?

Wasn't there a short lived service that went from Bristol to Avonmouth at one time?

 

[SCH117X]

First York Aircoach. York to Leeds Bradford airport

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

The First York service never served Harrogate, Harrogate-LBA has always been a separate service, originally operated by Harrogate & District then Proctors (Dales & District) as a service in its own right and then Centrebus/Y Tiger as an extension of service starting in Bradford.
The First York service had two versions; originally it ran via the B1224 with a timetabled stop, I think at Bilton in Ainsty IIRC. It was then alterted to run, as 121, via Knaresborough St James Retail Park but fundamentally avoided Knaresborough bus station and Harrogate. At the same Harrogate & District tried a X54 Harrogate-York service which eventually proved unviable; Harrogate Coach Travel aka Connexions also tried it but even with their low cost operation could not make it pay. To the west the X59 between Harrogate and Skipton was a popular service but once subsidies were reduced that failed as a commercially operated service by Harrogate & District and Connexions never tried it.

 

[Ianno87]

The Birmingham - Stratford - Oxford through service long predates Stagecoach as it was introduced by Midland Red in 1976 as part of the Viable Network Plan (MAP) alterations around Stratford, which saw the Birmingham - Stratford stopping service 150 morph into the limited stop X20, and four journeys a day linked with what were previously the jointly operated through Stratford-Oxford extensions of the 544 (earlier 44) Chipping Norton - Oxford. The X50 had two journeys a day operated by Midland Red's Stratford depot and two by City of Oxford's Chipping Norton depot.

After deregulation the X50 went and came and went and came back and went again a couple of times, as indeed did Midland Red South's entire Stratford operation; under Stagecoach, MR(S) tried it one last time as a Stagecoach Express operation, but it failed yet again. And every other operator who has tried through workings has also failed, from Oxford's Citylink service linking Stratford, Oxford and London to Johnson's of Henley who have now also killed off the Birmingham - Stratford route, the X20 being replaced (last year?) by a Shirley Station - Stratford stopping service 20.

The X20 went in October 2018, replaced by the 20, and Sundays Only X50, which operates Birmingham - Stratford - Chipping Norton every 3 hours (roughly).

Now when I lived in the area (c. 2005-2008) there was a defunct bus stop mounted on the southbound side A452 in Balsall Common that read (I think) 'X3 Reading'. There was certainly no such route at the time.

Can anybody explain that one, please?

 

[DunsBus]

LRT tried the cross-city 66/X66 between South Queensferry and Seton Sands for a spell in 1989-90. Its length (20 miles end to end), tight timing and frequent delays caused by the infamous Queensferry Road snarl-ups saw it split after less than a year, service 26 covering the Seton Sands end while the 40 covered the South Queensferry - City Centre section.

More recently there was the infamous First Edinburgh 88 between South Queensferry and Rosewell, which amalgamated the long-established 43 and 78 into a cross-city service. It ran from April to August 2001 acd was jointly run by Westfield and Dalkeith depots.

Again, the Queensferry Road traffic played a key part in the 88's short existence, but it also wasn't helped by Westfield depot buses not having Rosewell on their blinds and Dalkeith buses not having South Queensferry on theirs.

 

[Bus Lightyear]

Stagecoach tried some services in Glasgow around 20 years ago to Drumchapel, Milton, Baillieston and East Kilbride but were pulled after 3-4 years. Their presence in Castlemilk lasted longer up until 2006. At the same time First Glasgow ran on the service 11 corridor in North Ayrshire and First Edinburgh ran a service from Edinburgh to Dunfermline and Lochgelly.