Britains biggest PVR

[ChrisPJ]

Apologies if this one has been the subject of a past discussion, but I wondered what route has the highest peak vehicle requirement? I'm guessing in London, but perhaps there is something even more intensive in one of the other large cities?

 

[overthewater]

Route 38 in Glasgow or even Route 192 in Manchester?

 

[plcd1]

London's route 25 (Ilford - Bank / Oxford Circus) has a PVR of 60.

Route 38 (Clapton - Victoria) has a PVR of 59 and route 73 (Stoke Newington - Victoria) has a PVR of 53. Although on separate contracts the 253 and 254 overlap over a long distance and their combined PVR is 62 (28 and 34) (source - londonbusroutes.net).


No idea how large PVRs are outside of London. I'd be surprised if 60 was exceeded.

 

[higthomas]

Route 38 in Glasgow or even Route 192 in Manchester?

Glasgow's 38 looks like it's in the 40s.

The 192 seems like it's about every 3 minutes at peak times and even if every journey takes 1:15 hrs including tun around (which they don't) that's only 50 needed. But it will be less than that due to my generous allowances.

All in all you're never going to beat London with there very long routes (well, slow at least) at ridiculously high peak time frequencies.

 

[90sWereBetter]

The PVR of the Outer Circle in Birmingham must be a fairly large figure. Either that or the 50 is probably the largest PVR in the West Midlands.

I think the biggest PVR with regard to route length must be the Red Arrow routes in London. The 507 gets a PVR of 15 for a route of only 3km, with the 521, being slightly longer in route length, getting a PVR of 25.

 

[ValleyLines142]

The 75/76 in Bristol has a PVR of 48 I believe, a remarkable route if I'm honest! Almost two hours end to end in the peaks, a cross city service serving some key places and running every five minutes!

 

[Mugby]

I've seen it written in articles that the famous X60 Manchester - Blackpool service had a PVR of 250 buses (yes 250!) on summer Saturdays back in the 1950s!

 

[Busaholic]

I've seen it written in articles that the famous X60 Manchester - Blackpool service had a PVR of 250 buses (yes 250!) on summer Saturdays back in the 1950s!

A PVR of 1, but with 249 duplicates perhaps.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

London's route 25 (Ilford - Bank / Oxford Circus) has a PVR of 60.

Route 38 (Clapton - Victoria) has a PVR of 59 and route 73 (Stoke Newington - Victoria) has a PVR of 53. Although on separate contracts the 253 and 254 overlap over a long distance and their combined PVR is 62 (28 and 34) (source - londonbusroutes.net).


No idea how large PVRs are outside of London. I'd be surprised if 60 was exceeded.

Back in 1950 the PVR on the 25 was 89, 81 of which were out of one garage.

 

[AndyW33]

A PVR of 1, but with 249 duplicates perhaps.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Advertised 15 minute frequency on summer Saturdays as late as the the 1970s.
55 mile long route with three joint operators - Ribble, North Western, and Lancashire United. (The original users of these fleetnames, that is).
Each operator supplied as many duplicates as they could from their own fleets, often from depots that normally had nothing to do with the route and usually double deckers, and after that a galaxy of Lancashire and Cheshire municipalities were called on, later being submerged in a tide of Selnec orange, apart from the inevitable Accrington Corporation who went to the extreme of having the destinations on their blinds.

 

[EM2]

Back in 1950 the PVR on the 25 was 89, 81 of which were out of one garage.

Which garage, out of interest?

 

[Teflon Lettuce]

Which garage, out of interest?

one with a very boring rota I should think lol

 

[madannie77]

Which garage, out of interest?

Forest Gate

 

[Busaholic]

Which garage, out of interest?

Forest Gate, long gone. And yes, Teflon Lettuce, a very boring rota as FG ( G code in LT parlance) only operated two or three routes, the others having limited allocations compared to the 25! However, for bus enthusiasts and historians the 25 has always been very interesting, at that time extending from Hornchurch to Victoria, although I would doubt any through journeys were ever made. The only route of the time that might have had as many short workings scheduled would have been the 12. All the buses allocated were RTs, except for Clay Hall's measly contribution of 8 RTLs. CL closed after the prolonged London bus strike in the late 1950s, usually prefaced as the 'disastrous ...' although I've never entirely bought that line myself.

 

[madannie77]

Around 1950 the M-F PVR for the 12 was over 100, shared between several depots (Croydon, Elmers End, Nunhead and Shepherds Bush)

 

[Busaholic]

Around 1950 the M-F PVR for the 12 was over 100, shared between several depots (Croydon, Elmers End, Nunhead and Shepherds Bush)

Even then, the 12 was in effect running as two overlapping routes, which in the 1960s and early 1970s became three overlapping routes. I can't be certain of prior to 1960, but after that Elmers End was the only garage which covered all parts of the route, albeit never in one journey! Peckham replaced Nunhead after that garage closed in the 50s.

 

[Statto]

Glasgow's 38 looks like it's in the 40s.

The 192 seems like it's about every 3 minutes at peak times and even if every journey takes 1:15 hrs including tun around (which they don't) that's only 50 needed. But it will be less than that due to my generous allowances.

All in all you're never going to beat London with there very long routes (well, slow at least) at ridiculously high peak time frequencies.

Manchester's 192 is a weird timetable, even middle of the day it's every 2-3 minutes, however the full end to end of the journey is every 10 minutes other journeys start/terminate at Stockport or Stepping Hill, & looking at the timetable from the Stagecoach site which lists every journey, unlike the lazy GMPTE effort, it's only around 8am on a normal Schoolday the journey takes 70-75 minutes, other times its around 50-60 minutes.

 

[Busaholic]

Glasgow's 38 looks like it's in the 40s.

The 192 seems like it's about every 3 minutes at peak times and even if every journey takes 1:15 hrs including tun around (which they don't) that's only 50 needed. But it will be less than that due to my generous allowances.

All in all you're never going to beat London with there very long routes (well, slow at least) at ridiculously high peak time frequencies.

You're right about slow routes, but very long routes in London are non-existent now, with the possible exception of a handful of night routes. Also high peak time frequencies, if you're referring to four minutes or less, are (almost) a thing of the past. The real growth in London bus services over the last fifteen years or so has been in the outer suburbs and serving housing estates off the main roads: some of these routes now have frequencies almost matching so-called trunk routes.

 

[Teflon Lettuce]

a bit off topic... but has anyone got any idea what the TOTAL PVR for the whole UK is?

 

[Tommy1581]

The biggest PVR at Arriva North East is this;
Sapphire X21/X22 Newcastle to Ashington: 16 (20-25 miles)

But, the X18, over 70 miles from Newcastle to Berwick via the Coast, 5.

 

[Ianno87]

The PVR for the 125 from Preston to Bolton (around 20 miles) is at least 21 by my reckoning.

Incidentally, the 125 runs every 10 minutes Mon-Fri. Is there a route anywhere else of such a length (or longer) that operates to such a high frequency?

 

[ValleyLines142]

The PVR for the 125 from Preston to Bolton (around 20 miles) is at least 21 by my reckoning.

Incidentally, the 125 runs every 10 minutes Mon-Fri. Is there a route anywhere else of such a length (or longer) that operates to such a high frequency?

Yes, the 12 in Brighton also runs every ten minutes and is a distance of 24 miles.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The biggest PVR at Arriva North East is this;
Sapphire X21/X22 Newcastle to Ashington: 16 (20-25 miles)

But, the X18, over 70 miles from Newcastle to Berwick via the Coast, 5.

Would the X21/X22 be separate services as they don't have much in terms of common route, albeit they are marketed as one and have an interworked fleet?

For a single route, would it be the 63 Middlesbrough to Redcar which is 13? Takes just over an hour and has a 10 minute frequency. However, it's a mere 14 miles

 

[Kuyoyo]

Would the X21/X22 be separate services as they don't have much in terms of common route, albeit they are marketed as one and have an interworked fleet?

For a single route, would it be the 63 Middlesbrough to Redcar which is 13? Takes just over an hour and has a 10 minute frequency. However, it's a mere 14 miles

X21/X22 is PVR 15 anyway, which means weekdays it ties with another Redcar depot interworking pattern, the 22/64/64a.

The 63 is tied with Durham's 6 which is also PVR 13 however not all 13 are in use all day and at the same time.

 

[Robertj21a]

Stagecoach 700 Brighton - Southsea has only recently been split into 3 sections. Prior to that it was about 50 miles long, over 4 hours, and large sections were every 10 mins.

 

[ChrisPJ]

The PVR for the 125 from Preston to Bolton (around 20 miles) is at least 21 by my reckoning.

Incidentally, the 125 runs every 10 minutes Mon-Fri. Is there a route anywhere else of such a length (or longer) that operates to such a high frequency?

Lothian's 44 in Edinburgh at one point was something like a three hour round trip at 10min daytime freq, but First also ran a competing 44 to similar frequency with some journeys extended beyond the Wallyford eastern terminus. No idea what the combined PVR wouldve been, somewhere above 35 I guess. It's changed days now with Lothian Country Buses and reduced First presence on the corridor

 

[Tommy1581]

Would the X21/X22 be separate services as they don't have much in terms of common route, albeit they are marketed as one and have an interworked fleet?

The X21/X22 interwork at Newcastle on weekdays, all 15 are on the X21 rotas.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The X21/X22 interwork at Newcastle on weekdays, all 15 are on the X21 rotas.

I did say they interwork and are jointly marketed but they are two distinct services. For a single route, the 63 (or as Kuyoyo said, the Sapphire 6 too) has a larger PVR.

 

[childwallblues]

Interesting thread

 

[DaveHarries]

Biggest PVR in southern England possibly goes to the 700 (Brighton - Arundel / Portsmouth) via. Worthing, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, Chichester & Havant, but, with the fact that there are connecting services, I am not even going to try and work out the PVR for that. Any ideas?

Dave

 

[ValleyLines142]

Biggest PVR in southern England possibly goes to the 700 (Brighton - Arundel / Portsmouth) via. Worthing, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, Chichester & Havant, but, with the fact that there are connecting services, I am not even going to try and work out the PVR for that. Any ideas?

May be worth tweeting Stagecoach and asking for it