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Longest bus route in England?

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AlterEgo

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What’s the longest bus route operating wholly within England? It’s unbelievably hard to find a definitive answer online!
 
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enviro500

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What’s the longest bus route operating wholly within England? It’s unbelievably hard to find a definitive answer online!
I presume you are only after local bus routes and not routes operated by coaches like National Express or Megabus or Flixbus etc.

Ten years ago i would say it was probably either the 700 from Brighton to Portsmouth or the 100/101/102 from Hastings to Dover but these have all been split up now so they are no longer very long. So who knows what it is these days. I am not sure on the exact answer.

Some suggestions i can think of that might hold the record:

• Arriva North East route 685 from Newcastle to Carlisle

• Arriva North East route X15 from Newcastle to Berwick

• Arriva North East route X18 from Newcastle to Berwick

• Arriva The Shires route 724 from Heathrow Airport to Harlow

• First Norfolk Suffolk route EXCEL from Peterborough to Norwich

• Go Ahead Brighton & Hove route 28 from Brighton to Tunbridge Wells

• Go Ahead Brighton & Hove route 29 from Brighton to Tunbridge Wells

• Reading Buses route 702 from London Victoria to Reading

• Stagecoach North East route 685 from Newcastle to Carlisle

• Transdev Yorkshire route 840 from Leeds to Whitby

• Transdev Yorkshire route 843 from Leeds to Scarborough

Those would be my best guesses as to what are the longest distance bus routes but i am not too sure which one is the longest.

Hopefully someone else on here may be able to provide a more exact answer as it is indeed incredibly hard to find anything online.
 

PTR 444

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Although nowhere near as long as it was 15 years ago when it ran Exeter - Poole, First Dorset’s X53 is still a pretty good contender at 30 odd miles between Axminster and Weymouth. It’s cousin, the X51 via Dorchester is a few miles longer too.
 

richw

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Most long routes are maxed at 50km and made up of multiple routes to avoid tacho regs.
All of the long routes (A to D via B and C) I can think are registered A to B, B to C, C to D rather than as one route so wouldn’t qualify to your question on technicality.
The stagecoach southwest Falcon is registered as such between Plymouth and Bristol to keep it under domestic driving regs. I believe it’s broken down into 4 or 5 local service registrations!
 

Statto

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Does the Excel, Norwich - Peterborough still run as a through route, i know it's one of those because of the 50k regs, it's split into multiple sections, but i'm not sure if it runs through?

Most of the long routes have been split into sections, mostly because of reliability & loadings, example, X18 which was a through route Coventry - Evesham, taking 2 & a half hours end to end, passengers now have to change buses in Stratford
 

rg177

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We have the Go North East X11 between Newcastle and Scarborough. Seasonal weekends only but a registered service nonetheless.

*edit* great minds think alike...
 

randyrippley

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When the 555 ran Lancaster-Keswick-Carlisle that was usually accepted as the longest at around 75 miles.
Keswick-Carlisle was split off several years ago as the 554, leaving the 555 at around 45 miles Lancaster-Keswick.
 

embers25

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Falcon at circa 127 miles has to win now as even though registered separate sections it is always a through bus, except when it breaks down lol.
 

Dai Corner

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Falcon at circa 127 miles has to win now as even though registered separate sections it is always a through bus, except when it breaks down lol.
At least it's less arduous for drivers than a typical urban route which has several stops per mile.

Does anyone know how the drivers' duties and breaks work out?
 

Ken H

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Skipton - Lancaster via Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale. Its 4 routes (2 variants between Kirkby Lonsdale and Hornby), 81, 81, 581 and 580 but it definitely runs through 41.5 miles on the 81 variant.

Are some of the Dalesbus routes must be in worth a shout, even if they run summer Sundays only
Preston - Richmond (N Yorks) is 84 miles (I used google maps to calculate it)
Capture.JPG
 
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LAIRA

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At least it's less arduous for drivers than a typical urban route which has several stops per mile.

Does anyone know how the drivers' duties and breaks work out?
I understand drivers breaks are taken at Bristol Airport. Usually take a bus Plymouth to Bristol Airport, drop back a working and continue into Bristol and return to Plymouth. Not done in all cases as I believe Exeter do some workings mainly at night. Falcon drivers do not normally work any other routes.
 
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I might be wrong but the splitting of routes isn't due to tacho regs but domestic driving regs, the Newcastle Berwick X18 mentioned is nearly 4 hours long and due the the distance would be under EU rules and require a break of 45 minutes at one end. I believe as a timetabled service bus no tacho is required, unless things have changed since I was doing them.

As Dia Corner mentioned, it is far easier doing a long route across country than working in the city, yet the regulation hours are worse for the city.

We used to have a Blyth to Hexham through service, X25\ X26\601\602, 5 hours and 4 different routes, much of it in relative countryside, twas bliss.

5 hours plus doing City circles was awful.
 

Delenn

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I was going to say Coastliner 840 Leeds to Whitby at around 84 miles. 4 a day each way (2 on Sundays) all year round.
 

Busaholic

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What’s the longest bus route operating wholly within England? It’s unbelievably hard to find a definitive answer online!
I'm not being facetious in saying that depends on your definition of a bus route, and that is why you'll not find a definitive answer, because there really isn't one, for all the reasons listed by the other posters. How long is a piece of string is almost an easier question to answer. :)
 

embers25

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I understand drivers breaks are taken at Bristol Airport. Usually take a bus Plymouth to Bristol Airport, drop back a working and continue into Bristol and return to Plymouth. Not done in all cases as I believe Exeter do some workings mainly at night. Falcon drivers do not normally work any other routes.
They used to break at the airport which was rather problematic dud to delays but I think now they get their break in Bristol due to increased turn round times. Certainly all my recent trips have. It is solely run from Plymouth as far as I'm aware and one driver does one round trip per day.
 

richw

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I might be wrong but the splitting of routes isn't due to tacho regs but domestic driving regs, the Newcastle Berwick X18 mentioned is nearly 4 hours long and due the the distance would be under EU rules and require a break of 45 minutes at one end. I believe as a timetabled service bus no tacho is required, unless things have changed since I was doing them.
Your wrong and right at the same time!
If it’s over 50km in length it requires a tacho and comes under EU regs.
Take a route that’s 120km. Split it into 3 separate routes all under 50km, and it becomes domestic regs as there is no longer a route that’s 120km In length but three routes each at 40km.
 

RELL6L

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Pretty much all the long routes I can think of have already been mentioned. The X93 Middlesbrough to Scarborough is pretty long but doesn’t match some of the others. Any long Yorkshire Dales Sunday services?

Plus one of my very favourites- the 888 from Newcastle to Keswick. I don’t know if this is registered in 50km sections or not, it does have a break in Alston mid route. This year it’s running only Friday Saturday Sunday and Monday until the end of September. Well worth a trip on a sunny day!
 

Surreytraveller

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I presume you are only after local bus routes and not routes operated by coaches like National Express or Megabus or Flixbus etc.

Ten years ago i would say it was probably either the 700 from Brighton to Portsmouth or the 100/101/102 from Hastings to Dover but these have all been split up now so they are no longer very long. So who knows what it is these days. I am not sure on the exact answer.

Some suggestions i can think of that might hold the record:

• Arriva North East route 685 from Newcastle to Carlisle

• Arriva North East route X15 from Newcastle to Berwick

• Arriva North East route X18 from Newcastle to Berwick

• Arriva The Shires route 724 from Heathrow Airport to Harlow

• First Norfolk Suffolk route EXCEL from Peterborough to Norwich

• Go Ahead Brighton & Hove route 28 from Brighton to Tunbridge Wells

• Go Ahead Brighton & Hove route 29 from Brighton to Tunbridge Wells

• Reading Buses route 702 from London Victoria to Reading

• Stagecoach North East route 685 from Newcastle to Carlisle

• Transdev Yorkshire route 840 from Leeds to Whitby

• Transdev Yorkshire route 843 from Leeds to Scarborough

Those would be my best guesses as to what are the longest distance bus routes but i am not too sure which one is the longest.

Hopefully someone else on here may be able to provide a more exact answer as it is indeed incredibly hard to find anything online.
You say you exclude National Express, but what's the difference between that and other long distance express coaches such as the 702 you include?
 

Mike99

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Pre 50-km regs and splitting of long routes I worked the 400 Eastbourne to Canterbury via (Hastings, Tenterden and Ashford). Using Google Maps I see that the journey was around 65 miles, not the longest in the country. From Silverhill (Hastings) depot we also worked the 700 Dover-Folkestone-Rye-Hastings=Eastbourne-Newhaven-Brighton which on Google maps comes in at around 87 miles, the longest bit we did was a duty that after a break was Eastbourne - Dover at 62 miles before another break and then back to Hastings
 

Man of Kent

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You say you exclude National Express, but what's the difference between that and other long distance express coaches such as the 702 you include?
No National Express service is now registered as a local bus (all deregistered earlier this year) so journeys under 15 miles aren't possible. I'm also not sure if you can pay on board these days, unlike all the other examples mentioned.
 

Busaholic

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The 122 from Gravesend to Brighton was jointly operated by Southdown and Maidstone and District from 1948 to 1970, and buses worked through, with a Southdown bus stabling overnight in Gravesend every 48 hours, similarly a M&D bus at Brighton. The one bus M&D Borough Green depot allocation was scheduled to return home each night. The advent of the NBC saw this enter the annals of history.
 

Deerfold

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Skipton - Lancaster via Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale. Its 4 routes (2 variants between Kirkby Lonsdale and Hornby), 81, 81, 581 and 580 but it definitely runs through 41.5 miles on the 81 variant.

Are some of the Dalesbus routes must be in worth a shout, even if they run summer Sundays only
Preston - Richmond (N Yorks) is 84 miles (I used google maps to calculate it)
View attachment 117432
Although there are plenty of journeys between Lancaster and Skipton, they all change their number twice (you can usually continue to sit on the bus).

 

Ken H

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Although there are plenty of journeys between Lancaster and Skipton, they all change their number twice (you can usually continue to sit on the bus).

If i can get on at Skipton and book through to Lancaster and stay on the bus the whole journey, that's a bus route to me. Blind twiddling is irrelevant.
 
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sk688

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Brighton - Eastbourne 12 is a pretty long route
X5 Oxford Bedford is also there , although that's registered as different routes ofc
 

Deerfold

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If i can get on at Skipton and book through to Lancaster and stay on the bus the whole journey, that's a bus route to me. Blind twiddling is irrelevant.
That's fine, but the post I was replying to was incorrect about them not changing the blinds.
 
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