busestrains
On Moderation
Does anyone remember the Post Bus services? I would love to hear if anyone else used these buses and have any memories of it?
I have used the Post Bus many times over the years. I grew up in a rural village and used the Post Bus multiple times a week when i was younger as it was the only bus that served where i lived. In the late 1960s (which is i believe when they began as i remember riding on them during the first week and reading about it in the news) and 1970s and 1980s and 1990s there was hundreds and hundreds of routes. I have always had an interest in them and have ridden on multiple routes all over, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Berkshire, until they were gone. In the South East there was lots and i think they were all over the country too.
The buses were just small Royal Mail vans with four seats (one seat next to the driver and three seats behind the driver) for passengers. So very little capacity. I believe some busier routes used larger vans with eight seats but most of the ones i used in the South East only had four seats.
It was during the late 2000s and early 2010s that they had a mass withdrawal of all of them. So around the same time that Royal Mail was privatised.
I remember even up until the late 2000s or early 2010s there was quite a few routes in Surrey and Sussex around Dorking and Guildford and Horsham and Tunbridge Wells and surrounding areas. There was a few in Wiltshire around Salisbury and in Hampshire around the New Forest up until around then too. It was really during the 2000s that they started to rapidly withdraw them.
I think i remember it was 2017 when the final routes were withdrawn which were some rural Scottish Highlands services. I think the Scottish Highland had many Post Bus services.
One thing i loved is that you could pay your bus fare with stamps. Many times i used stamps instead of cash to pay. Also regardless of whether you paid with stamps or cash the tickets were simply a piece of card where the driver would stick some postage stamps making up the value of your fare and then stamp an ink stamp over them. Then the driver would write with a pen whether it was a Single or Return and where you boarded and alighted. It was such a unique ticketing system. Even up until the late 2000s and early 2010s this ticketing system was still used and the fares were incredibly cheap too.
It is such a shame they were withdrawn. It was such a fantastic idea. The driver has to deliver post anyway so you might as well take passengers too and provide a public transport service to rural areas. I remember in later years the issue was there was less post and more packages so they needed more space in the vans and carrying passengers reduced the space. It is a shame they could not find a way to continue the Post Bus services.
Does anyone else have any memories of using these Post Bus services? I would be very interested to hear about anyone else experience of these?
I have used the Post Bus many times over the years. I grew up in a rural village and used the Post Bus multiple times a week when i was younger as it was the only bus that served where i lived. In the late 1960s (which is i believe when they began as i remember riding on them during the first week and reading about it in the news) and 1970s and 1980s and 1990s there was hundreds and hundreds of routes. I have always had an interest in them and have ridden on multiple routes all over, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Berkshire, until they were gone. In the South East there was lots and i think they were all over the country too.
The buses were just small Royal Mail vans with four seats (one seat next to the driver and three seats behind the driver) for passengers. So very little capacity. I believe some busier routes used larger vans with eight seats but most of the ones i used in the South East only had four seats.
It was during the late 2000s and early 2010s that they had a mass withdrawal of all of them. So around the same time that Royal Mail was privatised.
I remember even up until the late 2000s or early 2010s there was quite a few routes in Surrey and Sussex around Dorking and Guildford and Horsham and Tunbridge Wells and surrounding areas. There was a few in Wiltshire around Salisbury and in Hampshire around the New Forest up until around then too. It was really during the 2000s that they started to rapidly withdraw them.
I think i remember it was 2017 when the final routes were withdrawn which were some rural Scottish Highlands services. I think the Scottish Highland had many Post Bus services.
One thing i loved is that you could pay your bus fare with stamps. Many times i used stamps instead of cash to pay. Also regardless of whether you paid with stamps or cash the tickets were simply a piece of card where the driver would stick some postage stamps making up the value of your fare and then stamp an ink stamp over them. Then the driver would write with a pen whether it was a Single or Return and where you boarded and alighted. It was such a unique ticketing system. Even up until the late 2000s and early 2010s this ticketing system was still used and the fares were incredibly cheap too.
It is such a shame they were withdrawn. It was such a fantastic idea. The driver has to deliver post anyway so you might as well take passengers too and provide a public transport service to rural areas. I remember in later years the issue was there was less post and more packages so they needed more space in the vans and carrying passengers reduced the space. It is a shame they could not find a way to continue the Post Bus services.
Does anyone else have any memories of using these Post Bus services? I would be very interested to hear about anyone else experience of these?
It has to be said, that was probably one of the most sociable bus journeys I've ever taken, all strangers and the postman just chatting and getting along.
