Last Bus

[Martin2012]

A bit random I know but I would be interested to find out, has anyone on here ever had an experience of missing the last bus of the night on a service?

If so what was the reason and how did you end up getting home?


Closest I've ever come to this was missing the last 342 of the night back from Bristol to Yate one evening after a shift manager at my work wouldn't let me leave in time to catch the bus. Fortunatley as it was a Saturday the nightbus route(N50) was running so I caught that instead

I also nearly missed the last bus to Yate one evening after a National Express trip back from Birmingham where the coach was delayed. I thankfully made it with about 10 minutes to spare.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I've had the last bus of the night fail to turn up before now. Taxi home and a stroppy letter to First.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

The train from Peterborough was late so missed connection to Grimsby at Doncaster. A taxi was provided who was getting there faster than train until he made a wrong turn. We then had to hop into another taxi.

 

[Mojo]

About 8 or so years ago I went to catch the last bus on a Saturday on a local authority contracted route. This was also the last day of that particular operator running buses. After waiting about 20 Min after the bus was due, I called the telephone number on the timetable. They are a minicab operator who had a sideline in running stage-carriage services. I was informed that the number I had called was for taxis and that the bus people only work weekdays!

As it was the last stage-carriage that this company would be running I assumed that it would simply not be coming. Lucky for me "Mum & Dad's Taxis" were on call

 

[Bletchleyite]

Must admit I think it should be a legal requirement for all operators of stage carriage buses to be contactable[1] by telephone during the full hours of operation.

[1] Or to have contracted another organisation to provide that support, but they must have the knowledge of what is operating and the authority to deal with problems.

 

[Busaholic]

I've mentioned this before on here, but left a musical event which included Jimi Hendrix, whom I didn't get to see, to catch the last bus home and it didn't run! Almost 50 years on and it still makes me cross, mostly at myself for being so stupid.

 

[neilmc]

I used to live in Leeds, in Cross Gates which fortunately was on the 25/26 route worked by Seacroft garage so always had the very last service bus out of the city, followed by the first night service half an hour or so later. I kept a mental list of other night services to Halton/Seacroft which would take me at least half way home in the event that I was out at a silly time.

Now that I live in Manchester on the 43 Airport route I can safely say I have a guaranteed bus home from now until Christmas Eve, at any time of day or night.

 

[Statto]

Christmas/New Years Eve is always tricky as a lot of operators don't list final services, just generic last buses run between 7-8pm or 8-9pm so you end up guessing the final service, fortunately i don't go far on those days back by about 6pm.

I was in Liverpool City Centre a few years ago having a Saturday night out, missed the last train [11.30pm]& last bus[11.47pm] however the bus company had night routes only operated on Saturdays which stopped near my local with a 10 minute walk home, so i caught the night bus which wasn't bad for £4 compared to a taxi, then 10 minute walk home.

 

[Springs Branch]

My experiences are a bit historical, and relate more to last buses which were missing, rather than me missing the bus.

In the late 1980s, after bus deregulation came on the scene, I used late-night buses to get home on Friday & Saturday nights after a refreshing beverage or two with mates beyond my local area.

All of a sudden, familiar bus routes and timetables which had been unchanged for donkey's years (and certainly for my lifetime) were turned on their head. Bus operators chopped & changed names and ownership, bus wars came and went on some routes, while other services were abandoned.

Being prior to the Internet era, it was hard to know if the timetables posted at stops and in bus stations were out of date (they changed at random, frequent intervals, I suppose "responding to market demands"). Even if timetables were current, it seemed buses either ran or didn't run on a whim and finding someone to complain to was not as easy as pulling out your mobile and dialling the phone number on the bus stop you were standing at.

After a number of "no-show" last buses, followed by long walks home (in summer) or unexpected taxi trips (in winter), the solution was to meet only at pubs accessible by rail. The last DMU home was punctual and reliable and there was no danger of the routes being changed every 3 months. Bus deregulation certainly caused an increase in BR's share of local transport in my area, whatever the time of day or night.

 

[Martin2012]

Thanks to all those who have responded so far. And very interesting to get a bit of an insight into how bus-deregulation had an impact on late night journeys

I remember towards the end of 2005 the buses between Bristol and Yate being cut back on a sunday evening(got a feeling it was the 329 service and South Glos council stopped subsidising these journeys). When I found out about it my thought was something along the line of "That's no big loss. Who travels between Yate and Bristol on a sunday evening".

Almost 5 years to that date I found myself in a situation where my dad was unable to pick me up from an 11PM finish at work on a sunday night after the car broke down and I had to leave at something like 8:30PM in order to catch the last bus home.

 

[johntea]

A few months ago I didn't miss the last bus, I got on it as usual, was a bit tired that evening (not even due to fizzy pop!), drifted off for what must have only been 10 minutes.

Anyway I woke back up and as I was a bit groggy from just doing so and it was quite dark outside I thought the bus was reaching the terminating stop so I got off.

I very quickly realized upon getting off that it was only the halfway point! The bus didn't wait around, and to top things off I had no phone battery! After walking around a bit dazed and confused for half an hour contemplating knocking on a strangers door to book a taxi I decided against it and eventually started to follow bus stops until I managed to navigate the 3.5 odd miles back home on foot!

 

[quarella]

In the mid eighties I remember going to the cinema with my brother and, edging backwards up the aisle to try to see the end of the film and make the last bus shortly after 10pm. If we missed it at the Town Hall it would then be a sprint across town to another stop while the bus looped round the town centre via the sea front. I don't think we ever missed it but if we had I expect it would have been taking another route that ran a bit later to the nearest point and walking home from there.

 

[Statto]

I'm lucky in my area the local PTE funds the last couple of bus routes of the night so they run 99% of the time, last buses used to be 11.30pm now its an hour later.

 

[quarella]

I'm lucky in my area the local PTE funds the last couple of bus routes of the night so they run 99% of the time, last buses used to be 11.30pm now its an hour later.

You are indeed lucky. While the last bus was just after 10pm in my youth, the last one from the town centre to where my parents still live is now at 1722! So many services are one shift only operation with gaps for a school run and a driver's break.