#AYearOfBuses 152: Hotline Preston – Burnley
Welcome to June! Today’s winner on #AYearOfBuses is a route steeped in history, being the first route which Ribble Motor Services ran when they were formed in 1919. Named after the river flowing through Preston, Ribble began in 1919 when three entrepreneurs bought out James Hodson, who’d started a bus service nine years earlier linking […]
#AYearOfBuses 101: Peterborough – Morton
We’re (sort of) sticking with the Midlands for today’s winner on #AYearOfBuses – we’re taking a look at Delaine of Bourne’s 101. Delaine, as you probably already know, are famous within the UK bus industry for their traditionally liveried fleet, their immaculate presentation, and quirky policy of buying one new bus each year. Delaine can […]
#AYearOfBuses 96: Woolwich – Bluewater
We’re taking a look at a London bus route which can trace its history to the days of trolleybuses today on #AYearOfBuses. Now in the capable hands of Stagecoach London, the 96 originally began in 1959 as a direct replacement for trolleybus route 696, as part of London Transport’s trolleybus conversion scheme. It runs between […]
#AYearOfBuses 89: Calder Connect Rochdale – Burnley
First West Yorkshire’s ‘Calder Connect’ 589 is our focus for today on #AYearOfBuses. A trio of routes centred on Todmorden in the Calder Valley come together to create ‘Calder Connect’. It’s a brand which has its own liveried buses, complete with green-fronted Volvo B7RLEs, but one which is seen hardly anywhere else – you’ll struggle […]
#AYearOfBuses 74: X74 Glasgow – Dumfries
We’re taking a trip back to Scotland for day 74 on #AYearOfBuses – it’s Stagecoach’s award-winning interurban coach route, the X74. A fleet of ultra high-spec and strikingly-conspicuous Volvo B11RT/Plaxton Elite I coaches runs between Glasgow and Dumfries on the X74, taking a breathtakingly scenic route through western Scotland along the A74(M). They wear a […]
#AYearOfBuses 43: X43 Skipton – Burnley – Manchester
Another long-established interurban route, The Witchway, from The Burnley Bus Company, is today’s winner on #AYearOfBuses. With a long and distinguished history traceable all the way back to 1948, the X43 is one of Lancashire’s most important bus routes. Today, it’s run by Transdev’s The Burnley Bus Company, connecting Skipton with Colne, Nelson, Burnley and […]
#AYearOfBuses 37: Peckham – Putney Heath
We’re heading back to London for day 37 on #AYearOfBuses, and it’s for the capital’s first (proposed) Opportunity Charged route. The 37 connects Putney Heath with Clapham and Peckham in South London, and it’s home to London’s only rapid ‘OppCharge’-capable buses. Two experimental Volvo B5LHCs with Wright SRM bodywork arrived in August 2018 for the […]
#AYearOfBuses 36: Ripon – Harrogate – Leeds
There was only ever going to be one winner for day 36 on #AYearOfBuses – it’s The Harrogate Bus Company’s 36, linking the town with Ripon and Leeds using those signature high-spec double deckers. Back in 2003, a bus company from Yorkshire blew apart the UK bus industry when it revealed the first of 12 […]
#AYearOfBuses 24: Pimlico – Hampstead Heath
The 24 is, quite simply, a central London institution. And it’s day 24 on #AYearOfBuses. Dating back over 100 years to its birth in 1910 and current route in 1912, the 24 has the honour of wearing the crown as London’s oldest unchanged bus route. Not that it hasn’t undergone changes in ways other than […]
#AYearOfBuses 22: Valleyline Blackburn – Clitheroe
Day 22 on #AYearOfBuses takes us into East Lancashire for the first time – Transdev’s scenic Valleyline is our winner today. Connecting Blackburn with Whalley and Clitheroe in the heart of the Ribble Valley, Valleyline 22 passes some of Lancashire’s most spectacular landmarks, including the imposing Whalley Arches and Clitheroe Castle. A fleet of five […]