Supermarket free bus services

[Jordan Adam]

It is a shame to keep seeing so many of these supermarket free bus services get withdrawn especially as the cost of living keeps getting higher making these very useful to save money on bus and train fares.

It is a shame however the reality is that the bulk of people who used these services historically have moved to online shopping which in many cases comes with free or relatively cheap delivery.

 

[ACBest]

So now yet another supermarket free bus service is being withdrawn.

Waitrose have confirmed that the Newark Waitrose Free Bus will be permanently withdrawn in April at the same time that Travel Wright close. This is their final Waitrose Free Bus (the second to last service was their Saltash Waitrose Free Bus which was withdrawn about five years ago) so after April there will no longer be any Waitrose Free Bus services anywhere in the country.



It is a shame to keep seeing so many of these supermarket free bus services get withdrawn especially as the cost of living keeps getting higher making these very useful to save money on bus and train fares.

And I’ve just travelled in on the Wednesday journey from Long Bennington - excluding me, one passenger from Claypole, and one from Balderton. Easy to see why it’s being withdrawn, though a shame all the same.

And I’ve just travelled in on the Wednesday journey from Long Bennington - excluding me, one passenger from Claypole, and one from Balderton. Easy to see why it’s being withdrawn, though a shame all the same.

Bizarrely enough though, six plus me on the return! The driver tells me that passengers get the Centrebus 24 in from Long Bennington, then this back, to give them a little more time - they have a mosey through town, ending at Waitrose.

 

[jfollows]

I don't know for certain that it's still running, but D&G, TfGM and Google all reckon it still exists.

The T2 was reported as running and busy today Wednesday 23 March (Knutsford-Handforth Dean Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat): https://www.wilmslow.co.uk/news/art...to-keep-130-bus-service-running#comment-47699

WEDNESDAY 23RD MARCH 2022 AT 3:59 PM
Used the T2 free service this morning and it was very busy at Lacey Green. Doesn’t this tell Cheshire East anything? The 88, 130 and T2 are totally un-coordinated and with some careful thought could be re-arranged as a useful little network. If Tesco are prepared to pay for the T2 why couldn’t other businesses be encouraged to chip in a bit too ?

In Cheshire: as far as I know, D&G Bus still operates free services from Offerton, Hazel Grove, Poynton and Bramhall (service T2) and Knutsford, Mobberly, Wilmslow and Handforth (service T3) to Tesco at Handforth Dean Retail Park, though I can't imagine this will last particularly long. Handforth Dean in the past had a free service from Cheadle as well - that's gone, and there is now Stagecoach route 42C, though that of course charges fares.

T2 operates on Tuesdays and Fridays with three services per day in each direction, and T3 on all other days (except Sundays) with one service per day in each direction.

NB You have T2 and T3 reversed; the T3 (Tue, Fri) is the one from Offerton whereas the T2 (Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat) is the one from Knutsford. I was confused by the apparent contradiction in my earlier post. Since the first T2 goes past the end of my road I ought to try it one day. More realistically, I'd like to walk to Handforth Dean and be able to come back on the T2.

 

[railwaytrack]

And I’ve just travelled in on the Wednesday journey from Long Bennington - excluding me, one passenger from Claypole, and one from Balderton. Easy to see why it’s being withdrawn, though a shame all the same.


Bizarrely enough though, six plus me on the return! The driver tells me that passengers get the Centrebus 24 in from Long Bennington, then this back, to give them a little more time - they have a mosey through town, ending at Waitrose.

I did all five of the Newark Waitrose Free Bus routes a few weeks ago so i could tick them off before they get withdrawn and i noticed the same. They were all very quiet. On all ten journeys i travelled on (each of the five routes in both directions) the passengers numbers were all in single digits. So like you say it is not surprising that it is being withdrawn.

I did notice that on a few of the journeys that there were a different amount of passengers on the outward and return journeys. So that is interesting to know why. I was wondering about that.

I notice that most of these supermarket free bus routes are very quiet these days with no more than a couple of passengers using them. However i personally think that is down to poor publicity. Most of these routes are just so poorly publicised that hardly anyone knows that they exist. Maybe if they did a better job at publicising these services than they would get more passengers.

The T2 was reported as running and busy today Wednesday 23 March (Knutsford-Handforth Dean Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat): https://www.wilmslow.co.uk/news/art...to-keep-130-bus-service-running#comment-47699



NB You have T2 and T3 reversed; the T3 (Tue, Fri) is the one from Offerton whereas the T2 (Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat) is the one from Knutsford. I was confused by the apparent contradiction in my earlier post. Since the first T2 goes past the end of my road I ought to try it one day. More realistically, I'd like to walk to Handforth Dean and be able to come back on the T2.

Thank you for the confirmation. I guess it must be paid for by the retail park if it is still running as py_megapixel suggested. As i know Tesco withdrew all of the funding for their routes last summer. It must popular seeing as it is still running.

It is a shame however the reality is that the bulk of people who used these services historically have moved to online shopping which in many cases comes with free or relatively cheap delivery.

Yes that is very true. Especially with the corona virus online shopping has become even more popular. I am sure it will not be long until every remaining supermarket free bus route gets withdrawn too. Most of them are just so quiet these days.

 

[Steddenm]

I remember years ago there was a free bus from Hinckley Bus Station to Asda Fosse Park in Leicester which went via Barwell, Earl Shilton and Enderby. I am curious when this ended? I think it was operated by Arriva Midlands (and before that Midland Fox as a Fox Cub?)

 

[railwaytrack]

Service 288, which is run by Stephensons of Essex runs around Maldon Town Centre to the Tesco every half an hour Monday to Saturday. It is free however I am unsure if this is funded by Tesco or the Council itself.

It’s a pretty handy link, even if you just want to pop into the town itself, wonder why it’s not really promoted though…

Interesting route. I was not aware of this one. I have just checked online and it seems to be fully registered local bus route which seems strange if it is free. Why would they register a free route? Is it definitely still free? I can not find anything online confirming it is free so perhaps it used to be supported by Tesco but no longer is so they now charge fares?

Bus Services - Gibson Direct Ltd

www.gibsondirectltd.co.uk

Gibson seem to still operate 2 services on behalf of Asda - A1 and A2 for Asda Summerston.

Asda withdrew the funding for all of their free bus routes a few years ago which is why i think it is unlikely that it still runs. Unless perhaps they have now registered it and now charge fares like the Crawley Asda (Compass Bus) and Poole Asda (Go Ahead South Coast) services did. But their website does not mention that. Are you sure that still runs? Maybe they have just not bothered to remove it from their website yet? Are there any recent photos or has anyone seen it recently?

I remember years ago there was a free bus from Hinckley Bus Station to Asda Fosse Park in Leicester which went via Barwell, Earl Shilton and Enderby. I am curious when this ended? I think it was operated by Arriva Midlands (and before that Midland Fox as a Fox Cub?)

Asda withdrew the funding for all of their remaining free bus routes in 2020 so that is when most of the Asda Free Bus routes were withdrawn. However many others were withdrawn earlier as they slowly withdrew many every year starting from around 2010 until around 2020 when they were all finally withdrawn. I have searched online and can not find any information about the Asda Free Bus to Fosse Park (i can not even find any photos of it) so i am not sure when it was withdrawn. Like most of these free bus routes they are so poorly publicised so it is very difficult to find out any information about them. But it was probably some time between 2010 and 2020 as that is the main period when Asda were withdrawing their free bus routes every year.

 

[Mainline421]

I doubt it still runs as Tesco got rid of all of their free bus contracts last year (and Asda got rid of all of their free bus contracts the year before) so if it is still running than that means that it would be running without any funding from Tesco which i think is highly unlikely. I remember contacting Tesco via email and they confirmed to me that every Tesco free bus route in the UK was being withdrawn. So although i can not find any evidence online that the Handforth Dean free bus was withdrawn i think it most likely was last summer when they withdrew all of their contracts. Unless of course this is an exception and they have decided to keep this one running for longer.

From reading other posts above in this thread and doing a bit of research online i believe that these are the only remaining supermarket free bus services:

• Coop - Hove - Go Ahead Brighton & Hove
• Coop - Oundle - Dekker Bus
• Marks & Spencer - Torquay - Stagecoach
• Morrisons - Penzance - Williams Travel
• Morrisons - Pool - Williams Travel
• Sainsburys - Bognor Regis - Compass Bus
• Sainsburys - Chichester - Compass Bus
• Sainsburys - Crawley - Compass Bus
• Sainsburys - Harrogate - Connexxions Buses
• Sainsburys - Littlehampton - Compass Bus
• Sainsburys - Newport - New Adventure Travel
• Sainsburys - Team Valley - Go Ahead North East
• Sainsburys - Watchmoor Park - Stagecoach
• Waitrose - Newark - Travel Wright

The one to Coop at Oundle may well have already been withdrawn but i am struggling to find anything to 100% confirm this. The one to Waitrose in Newark is being withdrawn next month in April as confirmed above.

Also as mentioned by someone else in an earlier post Compass Bus (Asda in Crawley) and Go Ahead South Coast (Asda in Poole) still operate the Asda Free Bus services as commercial services that charge normal Single fares and Return fares but as it is mostly OAPs most passengers still travel for free.

Feel free to correct me if you know of any other ones that are definitely still operating.

Abus are still advertising Sainsbury's services in Bristol, and although totally unadvertised by anyone Go South Coast were operating a number of routes to a Sainsbury's in Ferndown in 2017 (one from as far as Burley in Hants) which may still exist.

 

[SSmith2009]

I remember years ago there was a free bus from Hinckley Bus Station to Asda Fosse Park in Leicester which went via Barwell, Earl Shilton and Enderby. I am curious when this ended? I think it was operated by Arriva Midlands (and before that Midland Fox as a Fox Cub?)

I remember M&S used to have a shuttle bus to Fosse Park back in the 1990s ran by Midland Fox (then Arriva) and if I remember correctly Arriva had a dart painted into M&S livery:

One of the fox cubs in M&S livery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/steves-travels/51900441984

 

[Adtrainsam]

Interesting route. I was not aware of this one. I have just checked online and it seems to be fully registered local bus route which seems strange if it is free. Why would they register a free route? Is it definitely still free? I can not find anything online confirming it is free so perhaps it used to be supported by Tesco but no longer is so they now charge fares?

It is peculiar, I was on it last weekend and the driver simply presses a '288 Free' button on the Ticket Machine. I'm not sure if it's funded by the Council or Tesco, however this link on the council page still shows it is a free bus. Handy for short visits to Maldon!
(Note only the Tesco - Town section is free, as the Heybridge Loop has a single fare of £1.50.)

Tesco Free Bus | Tesco Free Bus | Maldon District Council

Park and Ride, Tesco, free bus

www.maldon.gov.uk

 

[railwaytrack]

Abus are still advertising Sainsbury's services in Bristol, and although totally unadvertised by anyone Go South Coast were operating a number of routes to a Sainsbury's in Ferndown in 2017 (one from as far as Burley in Hants) which may still exist.

Interesting. I was not aware of those. Sainsburys has by far the largest amount of supermarket free bus routes that are still running and continues to fund these routes so perhaps those two are still running. The one in Bristol is probably still running as it is on their website and the Abus website seems to be kept up to date. The one in Ferndown is shown in the Hampshire County Council timetable book from 2019 and is shown as being run by Damory Coaches but i can not find anything newer to confirm whether or not it is still running. I might contact Damory Coaches and see if i can get some confirmation on whether or not it still runs.

I remember M&S used to have a shuttle bus to Fosse Park back in the 1990s ran by Midland Fox (then Arriva) and if I remember correctly Arriva had a dart painted into M&S livery:

One of the fox cubs in M&S livery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/steves-travels/51900441984

Do you know of any photos online of the Dennis Dart that Arriva had in M&S livery? Or what the reg number was? Was a step entrance one or an SLF one?

It is peculiar, I was on it last weekend and the driver simply presses a '288 Free' button on the Ticket Machine. I'm not sure if it's funded by the Council or Tesco, however this link on the council page still shows it is a free bus. Handy for short visits to Maldon!
(Note only the Tesco - Town section is free, as the Heybridge Loop has a single fare of £1.50.)

Tesco Free Bus | Tesco Free Bus | Maldon District Council

Park and Ride, Tesco, free bus

www.maldon.gov.uk

Interesting. That explains why it is registered. As they charge fares for Heybridge Loop section so it has to be registered to charge fares. It would be interesting to know if it is being funded by Tesco or by the council. I would be surprised if the council would fund a free route but as far as i was aware Tesco had withdrawn funding for all bus routes so who knows. Maybe i will ask the council and see if i can find out.

 

[Cesarcollie]

Interesting. I was not aware of those. Sainsburys has by far the largest amount of supermarket free bus routes that are still running and continues to fund these routes so perhaps those two are still running. The one in Bristol is probably still running as it is on their website and the Abus website seems to be kept up to date. The one in Ferndown is shown in the Hampshire County Council timetable book from 2019 and is shown as being run by Damory Coaches but i can not find anything newer to confirm whether or not it is still running. I might contact Damory Coaches and see if i can get some confirmation on whether or not it still runs.


Do you know of any photos online of the Dennis Dart that Arriva had in M&S livery? Or what the reg number was? Was a step entrance one or an SLF one?


Interesting. That explains why it is registered. As they charge fares for Heybridge Loop section so it has to be registered to charge fares. It would be interesting to know if it is being funded by Tesco or by the council. I would be surprised if the council would fund a free route but as far as i was aware Tesco had withdrawn funding for all bus routes so who knows. Maybe i will ask the council and see if i can find out.

it is funded by Tesco as part of a s106 requirement

 

[SSmith2009]

Do you know of any photos online of the Dennis Dart that Arriva had in M&S livery? Or what the reg number was? Was a step entrance one or an SLF one?

Can't remember exactly but it was either a P or S reg low floor dart

 

[ClydeCoaster]

Bus Services - Gibson Direct Ltd

www.gibsondirectltd.co.uk

Gibson seem to still operate 2 services on behalf of Asda - A1 and A2 for Asda Summerston.

This was withdrawn years ago despite bustimes.org and Gibson’s own website saying otherwise. Gibson ceased trading suddenly 2 weeks ago too.