tbtc
Veteran Member
This might be a bit of a niche thread, but bear with me...
Lots of suburbs have a service into the nearest town/city centre (too many to list!). Some have a service beyond the town centre to a larger town (e.g. the majority of Glenrothes - Kirkcaldy services were/are a service from suburban Glenrothes - into the town centre and then on to Kirkcaldy... I think New Adventure Travel had a service that was a "local" route in Newport but also ran through to Cardiff...) as operators combine services it seems increasingly common to combine services like this to minimise resources and provide through journeys. First's operations around Glasgow have seen "town services" in Dumbarton/ Cumbernauld/ East Kilbride etc combined with routes into central Glasgow, so your bus into the local town centre is also the same bus that continues through to the "big city". These services tick multiple boxes (suburb into the local town plus town to the big city gives you the bonus of service from the suburb into the city).
But there have been some services in the past that ran from a suburb into a different town/city centre, without actually serving the local town centre.
For example, there have been services from Greasborough/Wingfield in northern Rotherham to Sheffield that didn't go anywhere near central Rotherham (there was a 44 in Sheafline days, there was a 36 recently with First - until they extended it into central Rotherham - now withdrawn). So a service starting/terminating in suburban Rotherham that ran to central Sheffield but crucially didn't serve central Rotherham.
The First service 208 links southern Rotherham to Sheffield, without going near Rotherham town centre - same as the 36 and 44 (but serving different suburbs of Rotherham).
The First service from Bradford to Leeds via Greengates/ Calverley/ Kirkstall (670) was cut to become the 35 from just Greengates to Leeds. So a service starting/terminating in suburban Bradford that ran to central Leeds but crucially didn't serve central Bradford.
When competition was at a peak in 1990s Fife, Fife Scottish introduced a 35A from Caskiberran in Glenrothes to Kirkcaldy. So a service starting/terminating in suburban Glenrothes that ran to central Kirkcaldy but crucially didn't serve central Glenrothes.
Are there any other examples you can think of? I appreciate that the boundaries between "suburb" / "town" / "city" can be a bit vague, but hopefully there are some examples we can agree on.
(to avoid doubt, I'm not talking about routes like the Arriva 410 which links suburban Castleford to Leeds, since this is a service from Pontefract to Leeds which skirts the edges of Castleford rather than serving the town centre - I'm talking about routes that have a terminus in the suburbs without serving the local town centre)
Lots of suburbs have a service into the nearest town/city centre (too many to list!). Some have a service beyond the town centre to a larger town (e.g. the majority of Glenrothes - Kirkcaldy services were/are a service from suburban Glenrothes - into the town centre and then on to Kirkcaldy... I think New Adventure Travel had a service that was a "local" route in Newport but also ran through to Cardiff...) as operators combine services it seems increasingly common to combine services like this to minimise resources and provide through journeys. First's operations around Glasgow have seen "town services" in Dumbarton/ Cumbernauld/ East Kilbride etc combined with routes into central Glasgow, so your bus into the local town centre is also the same bus that continues through to the "big city". These services tick multiple boxes (suburb into the local town plus town to the big city gives you the bonus of service from the suburb into the city).
But there have been some services in the past that ran from a suburb into a different town/city centre, without actually serving the local town centre.
For example, there have been services from Greasborough/Wingfield in northern Rotherham to Sheffield that didn't go anywhere near central Rotherham (there was a 44 in Sheafline days, there was a 36 recently with First - until they extended it into central Rotherham - now withdrawn). So a service starting/terminating in suburban Rotherham that ran to central Sheffield but crucially didn't serve central Rotherham.
The First service 208 links southern Rotherham to Sheffield, without going near Rotherham town centre - same as the 36 and 44 (but serving different suburbs of Rotherham).
The First service from Bradford to Leeds via Greengates/ Calverley/ Kirkstall (670) was cut to become the 35 from just Greengates to Leeds. So a service starting/terminating in suburban Bradford that ran to central Leeds but crucially didn't serve central Bradford.
When competition was at a peak in 1990s Fife, Fife Scottish introduced a 35A from Caskiberran in Glenrothes to Kirkcaldy. So a service starting/terminating in suburban Glenrothes that ran to central Kirkcaldy but crucially didn't serve central Glenrothes.
Are there any other examples you can think of? I appreciate that the boundaries between "suburb" / "town" / "city" can be a bit vague, but hopefully there are some examples we can agree on.
(to avoid doubt, I'm not talking about routes like the Arriva 410 which links suburban Castleford to Leeds, since this is a service from Pontefract to Leeds which skirts the edges of Castleford rather than serving the town centre - I'm talking about routes that have a terminus in the suburbs without serving the local town centre)