PlusBus Tickets

[90sWereBetter]

I use PlusBus whenever I fancy a day out on the buses in Norwich. Recently, both AnglianBus and KonectBus have signed up, joining First and Norfolk Green, meaning it's pretty good coverage in Norwich. I haven't had many problems using it, one memorable instance was a First driver loudly exclaiming 'What's this?' when I showed him it. Fortuantly, he let me on.

 

[Lrd]

A further comment on PlusBus - when booking train tickets online, if I book two tickets for me and my husband, but only want one PlusBus ticket as he has a pensioners' bus pass, I have to book the train tickets in two operations. Doesn't make much difference on the services I use as they don't give seat allocations anyway, but for those TOCs that do, it could be a nuisance as there's a chance of getting non-adjacent seats.

Also sometimes the Eastcoast website doesn't offer a PlusBus ticket at all, so on those occasions I have to cancel my order and re-do it on the ATW site. It seems quite random as to whether Eastcoast offer them - it's always the same journey, usually same days of the week, yet sometimes it offers me a PB add-on and other times it doesn't.

Just buy the two rail tickets online, collect your tickets, then go to the ticket office and purchase one Plusbus.

 

[trainophile]

Just buy the two rail tickets online, collect your tickets, then go to the ticket office and purchase one Plusbus.

Thought of that, but wondering whether my departure station ticket office would be able or willing to print me a PlusBus ticket for my destination town. (Some of) the counter staff are not known for falling over themselves to be helpful!

 

[Lrd]

Thought of that, but wondering whether my departure station ticket office would be able or willing to print me a PlusBus ticket for my destination town. (Some of) the counter staff are not known for falling over themselves to be helpful!

The Plusbus website states they are available from any National Rail station, so as long as your ticket has the town/city name on it then you should be fine.

 

[LexyBoy]

You can get it at your destination if that's more convenient. Ask to keep your tickets if there are barriers so you can show them when buying the PlusBus tickets.

 

[mancnq]

One thing to watch out for, especially in the Northern PTE areas is that Plusbus tickets are only available with train tickets to or from certain stations within the zone. For example, travelling from Manchester/Rochdale into West Yorkshire, the first station at which Plusbus is available is Halifax, even though a Halifax Plusbus ticket is available throughout West Yorkshire - even on those buses running near the train stations in Todmorden and Hebden Bridge. So if I want a day out in Haworth, it's either a train ticket to Halifax and a Plusbus (even though I'm only getting the train as far as Hebden Bridge) or a train ticket to Hebden Bridge and a K-Day ticket for the Transdev Keighley bus to Haworth, which I think works out slightly cheaper, but doesn't give you the flexibility of being able to use WY's other buses later in the day.

I think Plusbus should be available with trains tickets to/from ANY station in the bus validity area. It would be a lot easier to use if that were the case.

Peak District Plusbus is another example - available only with train tickets to/from a handful of stations, but not Hope or Bamford, both served by buses and really useful for daytrippers from the Manchester direction. OK, people from GM can use the excellent integrated TfGM Wayfarer ticket, but what if someone's travelling from further afield and also wants to use the bus from a station in the Plusbus zone, but not a designated Plusbus station?

 

[transmanche]

There may be similar tickets in other counties neighbouring London, even if cross-border services are now somewhat rarer (and shorter) than they used to be!

Ah, I can remember going all the to St Albans on a Red Bus Rover, when it was still an LT route. Nowadays, you can't even go through Waltham Cross on one bus... only TfL routes go south, and only non-TfL routes go north & east.

 

[Be3G]

Although somewhat confusingly, back when the 84 used to accept Oyster cards (i.e. until this year), I routinely used to see 242s roll up at Waltham Cross using buses from the 84, in TfL+Metroline livery and with an Oyster reader! I never catch the 242, but I was sorely tempted to try my Oyster on it one day just to see…

 

[barrykas]

Although somewhat confusingly, back when the 84 used to accept Oyster cards (i.e. until this year), I routinely used to see 242s roll up at Waltham Cross using buses from the 84, in TfL+Metroline livery and with an Oyster reader! I never catch the 242, but I was sorely tempted to try my Oyster on it one day just to see…

Logically, there should be some way for the driver to disable the Oyster reader if running on a non-TfL route, or possibly not to enable it in the first place by coding in their "module"...

 

[snail]

You can get it at your destination if that's more convenient. Ask to keep your tickets if there are barriers so you can show them when buying the PlusBus tickets.

I've bought them on the train when having my ticket checked.

 

[causton]

Logically, there should be some way for the driver to disable the Oyster reader if running on a non-TfL route, or possibly not to enable it in the first place by coding in their "module"...

They did.

The 84 and 242 were designed to have the same buses (the ones with LED screens) and indeed they still do! There was some coding that disabled the Oyster reader between Potters Bar and St Albans (i.e. the section that did not accept Oyster) and on the 242 route

 

[mikeg]

I often find I get funny looks with PlusBus tickets, but never had one not accepted by the driver. I was asked where I was going on a Transdev York bus from Clifton Moor to Monks Cross the other day, so presumably the drivers are familiar with the zone boundaries.

Incidentally one of the most variable levels of customer service within 30 seconds I have received happened whilst purchasing PlusBus at a Northern station which will remain nameless - I asked if I could buy a PlusBus with a rover ticket only to be told gruffly 'you have to buy PlusBus when you buy your tickets (not true). I asked again stating that this was just a query, so he fetched another member of staff who asked to see my rover and railcard, said 'of course you can!' and sold me the ticket. I later learnt that the ticket should not have been issued but not for the reason given by the first member of staff but for reasons mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[34D]

One thing to watch out for, especially in the Northern PTE areas is that Plusbus tickets are only available with train tickets to or from certain stations within the zone. For example, travelling from Manchester/Rochdale into West Yorkshire, the first station at which Plusbus is available is Halifax, even though a Halifax Plusbus ticket is available throughout West Yorkshire - even on those buses running near the train stations in Todmorden and Hebden Bridge. So if I want a day out in Haworth, it's either a train ticket to Halifax and a Plusbus (even though I'm only getting the train as far as Hebden Bridge) or a train ticket to Hebden Bridge and a K-Day ticket for the Transdev Keighley bus to Haworth, which I think works out slightly cheaper, but doesn't give you the flexibility of being able to use WY's other buses later in the day.

I think Plusbus should be available with trains tickets to/from ANY station in the bus validity area. It would be a lot easier to use if that were the case.

I thought it was the case. Quoting from page 41 of WYPTEs current Staff Ticket Guide:

ISSUING A PLUSBUS TICKET
Plusbus ticketd can be issued at any National Rail station ticket office, provided that at least one station of the train journey is located outside of West Yorkshire
...
Staff can obtain more information about issuong PlusBus tickets from www.plusbus.info/how-to-issue

And from page 40 (accepting a plusbus ticket)
PlusBus tickets that are valid for bus travel throughout West Yorkshire will have one of the following destination names printed on them:
Bradford+bus
Castleford+bus
Dewsbury+bus
Halifax+bus
Huddersfld+bus
Keighley+bus
Leeds+bus
Wakefield+bus
These town names are only shown on the ticket to illustrate the railhead through which the customer travelled by train, they do NOT limit the bus travel to the vicinity of the town shown

So I guess this is ambiguous to the issue at hand. Does anyone want to email WYPTE - I will proof-read if required.

 

[Deerfold]

I thought it was the case. Quoting from page 41 of WYPTEs current Staff Ticket Guide:


So I guess this is ambiguous to the issue at hand. Does anyone want to email WYPTE - I will proof-read if required.

Why do you want to e-mail Wypte? You don't seem to be arguing about anything.

I suspect only the main stations are used to confuse drivers less. There are probably drivers in Keighley who don't know where Streethouse or Brockholes are.

And simliarly those in Wakefield who've never heard of Steeton and Silsden.

Perhaps the answer might be to issue it as a Plusbus West Yorkshire - but then issuing stations would have to check that the station was in the correct zone.

 

[kieron]

I see. So just arriva? May I enquire which other operators serve the mapped area here?

The mapped area covers most of the the urban part of Wrexham CBC, so the only service on this list which doesn't pass through the mapped area is the Llanarmon DC-Llangollen/Oswestry one.

 

[sheff'd victoria]

I was hoping in the New Year to get to Pickering in North Yorkshire , but it looks like their is no PlusBus from Malton Station

 

[Deerfold]

I was hoping in the New Year to get to Pickering in North Yorkshire , bus it looks like their is no PlusBus from Malton Station

No, but there is a through fare to Pickering from many stations, changing at York onto the Coastliner for an hour or so.

 

[sheff'd victoria]

No, but there is a through fare to Pickering from many stations, changing at York onto the Coastliner for an hour or so.

Ta muchly for the info

 

[paul1609]

Ive tried the bus from York on a through ticket a couple of times when doing day trips to Pickering for the NYMR but Ive come to the conclusion you are better off booking a rail ticket to Malton changing there and buying a separate bus ticket to Pickering.
The bus from York calls at Malton Bus station (next to the rail station) around 45 mins later when the rail journey takes around 25 mins.
The bus also seems to suffer heavily from traffic congestion in the summer. If you have an advance for the return in an emergency you can get a taxi from Pickering to Malton its about a tenner.

 

[reb0118]

I was hoping in the New Year to get to Pickering in North Yorkshire , but it looks like their is no PlusBus from Malton Station

No, but there is a through fare to Pickering from many stations, changing at York onto the Coastliner for an hour or so.

Is it no longer possible to change at Rillington Jn.?

 

[trainophile]

Does anyone know whether it is possible to change a PlusBus ticket to a different day when it was booked with an Advance train ticket? Having to bring my journey forward a day, I realise I'll need to buy a new train ticket but wondered if the PlusBus I bought alongside the original could just be changed for the previous day without penalty?

 

[34D]

Why do you want to e-mail Wypte? You don't seem to be arguing about anything.

I suspect only the main stations are used to confuse drivers less. There are probably drivers in Keighley who don't know where Streethouse or Brockholes are.

And simliarly those in Wakefield who've never heard of Steeton and Silsden.

Perhaps the answer might be to issue it as a Plusbus West Yorkshire - but then issuing stations would have to check that the station was in the correct zone.

To see whether they expect a plusbus to be sold with a manchester-hebden bridge ticket.

 

[phil35]

Why do you want to e-mail Wypte? You don't seem to be arguing about anything.

I suspect only the main stations are used to confuse drivers less. There are probably drivers in Keighley who don't know where Streethouse or Brockholes are.

And simliarly those in Wakefield who've never heard of Steeton and Silsden.

Perhaps the answer might be to issue it as a Plusbus West Yorkshire - but then issuing stations would have to check that the station was in the correct zone.

I really think this should be the case. I've used PlusBus tickets for a few years, and only recently did I realise that a Leeds+Bus ticket was valid for the whole of West Yorkshire. It doesn't say that anywhere on the ticket itself, and the online pdf maps are actually pretty confusing. I imagine there are a lot of other PlusBus users that don't realise this is the case.

 

[Deerfold]

To see whether they expect a plusbus to be sold with a manchester-hebden bridge ticket.

I's say they quite clearly don't - it's not listed on plusbus.info as a railhead that offers plusbus - it's not shown as one on the map http://www.plusbus.info/sites/default/files/pdfs/West Yorkshire (PTE area).pdf

And as you quoted yourself:

I thought it was the case. Quoting from page 41 of WYPTEs current Staff Ticket Guide:
...
These town names are only shown on the ticket to illustrate the railhead through which the customer travelled by train, they do NOT limit the bus travel to the vicinity of the town shown

I can understand asking them if they'd consider adding it - I assume they keep the list of destinations low to reduce any admin on the tickets and make it easier for drivers who have to accept them. It might be easier for both to just have a plusbus for West Yorkshire (And the othe PTE areas) with no station name but plusbus don't currently seem to have this as an option.

It's a shame you can't do this given the size of the area covered, but in other non-PTE plusbus areas you'd not be able to take a bus as far from Hebden Bridge as Keighley...

 

[ashworth]

I've used PlusBus tickets for a few years, and only recently did I realise that a Leeds+Bus ticket was valid for the whole of West Yorkshire. It doesn't say that anywhere on the ticket itself, and the online pdf maps are actually pretty confusing. I imagine there are a lot of other PlusBus users that don't realise this is the case.

The online pdf maps are very misleading as they do only show an area surrounding Leeds and not the whole of West Yorkshire. I only found out by accident when I carefully read the small print. I don't think I will make any complaints about the misleading maps as plusbus covering the whole of West Yorkshire is a great bargain and covers a much a larger area than most other plusbus tickets. I wouldn't want them to withdraw it and make it only available in the area as shown on the map!

 

[dfurn]

To see whether they expect a plusbus to be sold with a manchester-hebden bridge ticket.

I wonder if it'd be possible to get off at Hebden Bridge and ask the person at the ticket off to sell you a 'Bradford' Plusbus ticket or similar? And I quote from http://www.plusbus.info/where-buy-station-or-online

"Ask for PLUSBUS when you buy train tickets at any National Rail station ticket office."

I realise the ticket office isn't open 24/7 of course.

Also from http://www.plusbus.info/frequently-asked-questions

"2. I have already bought my train ticket, can I still buy PLUSBUS for my journey?

Yes, if you take your valid train ticket to any train station ticket office, ask for PLUSBUS for either the origin and/or destination town of your rail journey. You will be asked to pay the appropriate PLUSBUS ticket price."

Hmmm that last bit does state the Plusbus has to be from your origin or destination station actually. Maybe best to get a return from Manchester to Halifax with a Plusbus and get off and on at Hebden Bridge?

 

[Deerfold]

I wonder if it'd be possible to get off at Hebden Bridge and ask the person at the ticket off to sell you a 'Bradford' Plusbus ticket or similar?

Not unless you had a ticket to Bradford.

Hmmm that last bit does state the Plusbus has to be from your origin or destination station actually. Maybe best to get a return from Manchester to Halifax with a Plusbus and get off and on at Hebden Bridge?

That would be valid (assuming you haven't managed to find a ticket that doesn't allow break of journey). You'd have to weigh up the difference in cost with the equivalent local ticket which does not require a rail ticket to be held - the MetroDay at £5.20 (or if just using Keighley and District off-peak, a K-Day at £3.60).

 

[Aictos]

Staff can also buy a Plusbus ticket to use with their staff passes providing of course, the travel involves a train trip as a example this is what a staff brief said a few months ago when I had trouble with a InterCity TOC in them retailing it.

Staff live and work within Cambridge cannot buy a plusbus ticket.
Staff who live in Cambridge but work in Stevenage can buy a plusplus ticket.

 

[sheff'd victoria]

Staff live and work within Cambridge cannot buy a plusbus ticket.
Staff who live in Cambridge but work in Stevenage can buy a plusplus ticket.

I see common sense is alive and well down South then

 

[CompactDstrxion]

I wrote to Plusbus a while ago suggesting that in the case of West Yorkshire you could create a station group called for example WEST YORKS+BUS and have Bradford+bus, Leeds+bus etc link to and print as that instead. You could also then add the Plusbus option for all other stations in West Yorkshire. They didn't fancy the idea.

I have been questioned while using Plusbus tickets outside the respective town/city sometimes but the drivers have always taken my assurance that it is valid throughout West Yorkshire.