Trivia: 'Local' bus routes that extend into another county

[175mph]

An example: The Grimsby/Cleethorpes and North East Lincolnshire area local Stagecoach buses mainly operate under the 'Simplibus' brand. There is a bus route numbered 5 which has extensions outside of Grimsby to Immingham and the nearby MIC plant. However, the furthest extension on this route is actually to a village called South Killingholme which is just over the border in North Lincolnshire and looking at the timetable, South Killingholme has a fairly regular connection with Grimsby in this way, Monday to Saturday, (although the route still runs as far as Immingham on Sundays).

Can anybody here come up with a similar example?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

An example: The Grimsby/Cleethorpes and North East Lincolnshire area local Stagecoach buses mainly operate under the 'Simplibus' brand. There is a bus route numbered 5 which has extensions outside of Grimsby to Immingham and the nearby MIC plant. However, the furthest extension on this route is actually to a village called South Killingholme which is just over the border in North Lincolnshire and looking at the timetable, South Killingholme has a fairly regular connection with Grimsby in this way, Monday to Saturday, (although the route still runs as far as Immingham on Sundays).

Can anybody here come up with a similar example?

Jeez - they’ll be thousands.

In major conurbations, there’s loads as local services run from Manchester into Trafford or Salford, or from Bristol into South Gloucestershire, or from Stockton into Middlesbrough. Or from Oxford into the suburbs in Oxfordshire like Botley. Or from Darlington into Co Durham (Hurworth). Lord knows how many in Wales where there’s loads of unitary authorities.

You may as well ask “I’ve been to Cleethorpes and there’s a bus that runs on a road parallel to the coast; are there any other examples of similar coastal routes?”

 

[higthomas]

“I’ve been to Cleethorpes and there’s a bus that runs on a road parallel to the coast; are there any other examples of similar coastal routes?”

Well; there's the X4 from Middlesbrough to Whitby, the U4 from Penzance to Helston...

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Well; there's the X4 from Middlesbrough to Whitby, the U4 from Penzance to Helston...

Perhaps a better question (but one which isn’t Lincolnshire centric) is a local bus that enters a different country.

16 Chester to Saltney and 761 Chepstow to Beachley are examples of international locals!

However, listing every local service that crosses from one county to another - might as well count the pebbles on the beach!

 

[carlberry]

Jeez - they’ll be thousands.
?”

You're just guessing! I reckon there were 3565 as of Jan 2017.

 

[adrock1976]

Of course, it also depends on if present day counties or the pre 1974 Metropolitan ones are being referred to here.

For example, there are several buses that run between Manchester (Lancashire) and Stockport (Cheshire) based on the pre 1974 counties. Obviously, as both Manchester and Stockport are today part of Greater Manchester County Council [sic], this would be excluded.

Another one in the West Midlands would be the 9 that runs between Birmingham and Stourbridge (Warwickshire and Worcestershire respectively) based on pre 1974. The present day West Midlands County would see the former 161/171 and later 59/90 Birmingham - Coleshill circular that would leave the post 1974 West Midlands County to pass through Coleshill (which remained in Warwickshire) and re-enter the West Midlands county again.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

You're just guessing! I reckon there were 3565 as of Jan 2017.

If anyone would know, it would be you!!

 

[AM9]

OK, as two counties is such a low bar to set how about three or even four?
The route 724, (admittedly a Green Line limited stop service but perfectly acceptable as a local service for ENCTS purposes), Starts in Harlow Essex, goes into Hertfordshire through Hertford, Welwyn Garden City, St Albans, Watford and Rickmansworth, then into Buckinghamshire for Denham and finally into Greater London for Uxbridge, Hillingdon and on to Heathrow.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Perhaps a better question (but one which isn’t Lincolnshire centric) is a local bus that enters a different country.

My lass is Cornish, and so she would (if she cared about buses) propose the Plymouth CityBus 5 to Saltash

 

[AM9]

Slightly more ambitious is between two countries, (not nations like within the UK). I suppose there are quite a few local bus routes crossing the Eire/NI border, (at the moment).
I've travelled from Menaggio on Lake Como in northern Italy to Lugano in Switzerland on a local service bus (route C12). It took just under 1 hour and involved passing through a border with (very laid back) armed guards. They peered into the bus as we went through at about 5 mph. A strange experience for me.

 

[carlberry]

OK, as two counties is such a low bar to set how about three or even four?
The route 724, (admittedly a Green Line limited stop service but perfectly acceptable as a local service for ENCTS purposes), Starts in Harlow Essex, goes into Hertfordshire through Hertford, Welwyn Garden City, St Albans, Watford and Rickmansworth, then into Buckinghamshire for Denham and finally into Greater London for Uxbridge, Hillingdon and on to Heathrow.

There are quite a few 4s, some helped by the emergence of new counties (around Reading for instance).
Courtney Coaches ran a bus service to Luton airport last year which managed 7.
Fisher Tours in Scotland continue to run several 'bus' services which are long one way circulars around various scenic areas several of which clock up 6 or 7.
Fife's X24 manages 5 as does First's X39 from Stirling and Hughes B66 (likely to be counted as a coach service).

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I think the OP has already done this with their thread "Trivia: Bus routes that run through the most council jurisdictions"

 

[PeterC]

I think that the key word in the OP is "local". I assumed that he or she was looking for local authority tendered routes that go outside their boundaries.
The viillage of Ashley Green in Bucks only has a bus service because the cross boundary route from Berkhamsted to Chesham is supported by Herts CC. Nearby Whelpley Hill in Bucks has a BCC supported service but the only road into the hamlet capable of taking a bus involves driving through Herts. Another hamlet near Tring has just lost its weekly HCC funded shopping trip to Hemel because it involved the bus turning round on the wrong side of the county line.

 

[richw]

My lass is Cornish, and so she would (if she cared about buses) propose the Plymouth CityBus 5 to Saltash

ALong with the 11, 12, 72, and stagecoach 2. There’s 15 buses an hour from saltash to Plymouth!

 

[Ianno87]

In Cambridge, the "citi 7" from Cambridge City Centre eventually (after an hour and a half) reaches Saffron Walden in Essex! Most other "citi" routes barely reach/get over the city boudary.

 

[175mph]

I think that the key word in the OP is "local". I assumed that he or she was looking for local authority tendered routes that go outside their boundaries.
The viillage of Ashley Green in Bucks only has a bus service because the cross boundary route from Berkhamsted to Chesham is supported by Herts CC. Nearby Whelpley Hill in Bucks has a BCC supported service but the only road into the hamlet capable of taking a bus involves driving through Herts. Another hamlet near Tring has just lost its weekly HCC funded shopping trip to Hemel because it involved the bus turning round on the wrong side of the county line.

Correct.

Another I can think of is in North Lincolnshire, in a town called Brigg, one of it's town services calls at a garden centre just outside the town, but the garden centre is just over the border in East Lindsey, then turns around to go back to Brigg again.

 

[MedwayValiant]

Slightly more ambitious is between two countries, (not nations like within the UK). I suppose there are quite a few local bus routes crossing the Eire/NI border, (at the moment).

There are about twenty, yes. Notably, Derry/Londonderry is the nearest town of any size for eastern Donegal, and so the villages in that region have buses to and from that city on the Foyle. Until 2014, while Bus Éireann and Goldline Express both had long distance services which crossed the border, Bus Éireann didn't operate any local routes in Donegal and Ulsterbus didn't cross that part of the border.

They had left that market to Swilly Bus, but they went out of business in 2014. Ulsterbus now runs out to Muff as part of the Foyle network (ie the Derry town services), Bus Éireann runs from Letterkenny and St Johnston into Derry/Londonderry, and the independent McGonagle (Buncrana) runs there from Buncrana.

 

[Tetchytyke]

ALong with the 11, 12, 72, and stagecoach 2. There’s 15 buses an hour from saltash to Plymouth!

We've a winner for the most frequent service between two countries

 

[bussnapperwm]

Another one in the West Midlands would be the 9 that runs between Birmingham and Stourbridge (Warwickshire and Worcestershire respectively) based on pre 1974. The present day West Midlands County would see the former 161/171 and later 59/90 Birmingham - Coleshill circular that would leave the post 1974 West Midlands County to pass through Coleshill (which remained in Warwickshire) and re-enter the West Midlands county again.

One route that I can think of that does something similar in the south of Birmingham is the 63 and 49.

They dip out of the TfWM area to serve Rubery and then go back in to terminate at Great Park/Northfield respectively.

 

[transmanche]

TfL has done its best to eradicate bus routes which cross over the Greater London boundary.

(Just check out the 'Bus Berlin Wall' that exists in Waltham Cross. 'Country' routes which used to cross into Greater London, such as the 310, have been cut back to terminate at Waltham Cross. Whilst TfL routes that had for decades gone beyond Waltham Cross to Upshire, Epping or Hammond Street no longer do so.)

Notable exceptions are the 81 to Slough and the 465 to Dorking.

 

[Mitch in Notts]

Until it's withdrawal last year Centrebus 19 linked Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Rutland, Leicestershire & Nottinghamshire on its route from Peterborough to Nottingham. Five Counties....

 

[DavidGrain]

Back when I was at school before the 1966 Local Government revision, I used to walk 2 miles to school but I sometimes took two buses. By the 1974 local government revision things changed again but by that time I had left school. However the point I want to make is that I left home in Worcestershire crossed Staffordshire and entered Warwickshire where my school was. Those with local knowledge have probably identified that I am referring to Bearwood, Smethwick (home of the Midland Red).

 

[NorthernSpirit]

There's the 47 that runs between Westbury (Wilts) and Frome (Somerset), along with the 94 which runs between Trowbridge (Wiltshire) and Bath (Somerset).

A long time ago the 20 ran from Barnsley (South Yorkshire) to Huddersfield (West Yorkshire), the 61A ran from Holmfirth (West Yorkshire) to Buxton (Derbyshire) - it was unoffically regarded simply as the 61A since upon departing Huddersfield carried that number to Buxton, only once did I see it display both "Holmfirth 61A" and "Huddersfield 310" and that was on the last day of operation Sunday 16th March 2008.

There's the 7 (formally the 70/71 & 770/771) which runs between Leeds and Harrogate.

 

[MedwayValiant]

TfL has done its best to eradicate bus routes which cross over the Greater London boundary. (Just check out the 'Bus Berlin Wall' that exists in Waltham Cross. 'Country' routes which used to cross into Greater London, such as the 310, have been cut back to terminate at Waltham Cross.)

I have to remind you that Waltham Cross is actually in Hertfordshire, albeit only by a few hundred yards. The point is a fair one all the same though. Is the 251 (Hammond Street to Upshire) now the only route which goes through Waltham Cross Bus Station without terminating? (I tried to use Traveline to answer that question for myself, but it seems not to be working properly and doesn't want to admit the existence of a town called Waltham Cross.)

All the same, and leaving aside Waltham Cross, there are still TfL routes to (clockwise from the A1) Potters Bar, Loughton, Chigwell, Brentwood, Lakeside, Aveley, Dartford, Swanley, Halstead, Knockholt, Westerham, Tatsfield, Warlingham, Caterham, Redhill, Banstead, Ewell, Epsom, Dorking, East Molesey, Sunbury, Ashford, Slough, Denham, Watford, and Borehamwood. They haven't been fully eradicated yet!

 

[Hophead]

And some of those services (for example to Knockholt, Westerham & Warlingham) were, historically, Country services, not Central. I presume that TfL wishes to offer a level of service to parts of Greater London that would not exist if left to commercial operations. That they extend beyond the boundary is a side-effect.

 

[AM9]

I have to remind you that Waltham Cross is actually in Hertfordshire, albeit only by a few hundred yards. The point is a fair one all the same though. Is the 251 (Hammond Street to Upshire) now the only route which goes through Waltham Cross Bus Station without terminating? (I tried to use Traveline to answer that question for myself, but it seems not to be working properly and doesn't want to admit the existence of a town called Waltham Cross.) ...

The 251 route and timetable can be seen here:
https://www.intalink.org.uk/routes/2395/

We are lucky in Herts to have the Intalink website. It's not as good as TfL's offering but I've not seen such a comprehensive source for all bus operators in an area outside London.

 

[MedwayValiant]

It's better than most counties offer, certainly. I can't help thinking that Hertfordshire might do better to spend more on services and less on having a pretty website, but certainly no complaints about the website.

From the maps on the Intalink site, I discover that the 251 is in fact one of two services which pass through Waltham Cross Bus Station. The other is the 410, which appears to start in an estate half way between Waltham Cross and Waltham Abbey before wending its way north to Harlow.

 

[Mwanesh]

TfL has done its best to eradicate bus routes which cross over the Greater London boundary.

(Just check out the 'Bus Berlin Wall' that exists in Waltham Cross. 'Country' routes which used to cross into Greater London, such as the 310, have been cut back to terminate at Waltham Cross. Whilst TfL routes that had for decades gone beyond Waltham Cross to Upshire, Epping or Hammond Street no longer do so.)

Notable exceptions are the 81 to Slough and the 465 to Dorking.

You have just reminded me.The 310 used to go Enfield and i used to catch it to work .Then Tfl said no more Arriva aquamarine in London .It meant i had to catch 2 buses to get to work .We protested but Tfl just shrugged us off.I just gave up the job it was not worth it anymore.This is what i fear for Greater Manchester with franchising.

 

[transmanche]

You have just reminded me.The 310 used to go Enfield and i used to catch it to work .Then Tfl said no more Arriva aquamarine in London.

In later years, Arriva even used a red livery on their route 310 buses.

 

[185143]

A few round here:
First Manchester
100 Warrington-Manchester (Cheshire to GM)
184 Manchester-Huddersfield (GM to WY)

First West Yorks:
589/590 Rochdale-Burnley/Halifax (GM to WY (and onto Lancashire on the 589)

Transdev:
Several Lancashire-Greater Manchester routes.

High Peak:
199 Manchester Airport-Buxton (GM-Derbyshire)
TransPeak Manchester-Derby (GM-Derbyshire)

Stagecoach:
X2 Liverpool-Preston (Merseyside to Lancs)
1, 2, X8 Liverpool-Chester (Merseyside to Cheshire)

Arriva:
7 Warrington-Liverpool (Cheshire-Merseyside)
11 Chester-Holywell-Rhyl (Cheshire-Flintshire-Denbighshire)
329 Warrington-St. Helens (Cheshire-Merseyside)
360 Warrington-Wigan (Cheshire-Merseyside-GM)