Trivia: Longest Bus Route in the UK?

[Aictos]

I'm not referring to Coach operated services but rather Bus operated services, am interested to know exactly which is the No1 longest bus route in the UK.

Please note all bus routes are valid, just not valid if coaches operate the route.

I know the X1 between Peterborough and Lowestoft operated by First is a candidate as is the X4 between Peterborough and Milton Keynes operated by Stagecoach, any more?

 

[12CSVT]

The Oxford - Cambridge X5 route ? Journey time is usually 3 hr 15 min.

 

[90019]

The Firstbus X95 must be in with a shout.
It runs Edinburgh - Carlisle via Galashiels, Hawick and Selkirk. I think it's about 120 miles and uses Wright Solars.

 

[TSR :D]

11A/11C easily.

 

[142094]

The Firstbus X95 must be in with a shout.
It runs Edinburgh - Carlisle via Galashiels, Hawick and Selkirk. I think it's about 120 miles and uses Wright Solars.

Good shout on that one (beat me to it).

 

[anthony263]

172 Aberdare - Rhondda Valleys - Bridgend - Porthcawl journey time is 2 hours 15 minutes.

Can we include that X53 Exeter - Bournemouth since the vehicle does do the full route?

Another set of routes have to be the Trawscambria X40 Aberdare/Swansea - Carmarthen - Lampeter - Aberystwyth & 704/T4 Cardiff/Merthyr Tydfil - Brecon - Llandrindod - Newtown both use Optare Tempo's.

There is the 60-60 coaches service 470 which runs between Cardiff & Brecon however any vehicles can turn up on it usually 2 darts and 1 coach.

I just thought of another route in south wales, Stagecoach Wales service X4 Cardiff - Merthyr Tydfil - Brynmawr - Abergavenny - Hereford via Pontypridd & Ebbw Vale & uses low floor Enviro 300 bodied MAN's although 1 of the alexander PS bodied Volvo B10M's has made an appearance on it recently

 

[Aictos]

11A/11C easily.

What operator is that, where is it and what is the route in question?

 

[thameslink2000]

I'm not referring to Coach operated services but rather Bus operated services, am interested to know exactly which is the No1 longest bus route in the UK.

Please note all bus routes are valid, just not valid if coaches operate the route.

I know the X1 between Peterborough and Lowestoft operated by First is a candidate as is the X4 between Peterborough and Milton Keynes operated by Stagecoach, any more?

Brighton to Portsmouth route 700

 

[sonic2009]

11A/11C easily.

What operator is that, where is it and what is the route in question?

National Express West Midlands outer circle.

 

[TSR :D]

What operator is that, where is it and what is the route in question?

National Express West Midlands outer circle.

Yes, upon posting it in thread, I would've thought it was longest route (according to wiki). But then people started posting bus routes that links the city.

11A/11C is longest route within a city, it doesn't connect to other cities or anything.

 

[Liam]

Doesn't run anymore, but the Fife Scottish/First Edinburgh 23 used to run from St Andrews to Glasgow via Cupar, Kinross, Dollar, Tillicoultry, Stirling, Denny, Kirkintilloch, Kilsyth and Bishopbriggs.

Used to take about 4 hours with 10-15 wait at Stirling.

 

[Schnellzug]

X53 Poole-Exeter? Don't know the distance, but it's 4 hrs + end to end.

 

[richw]

Western greyhound service 510 newquay to exeter. Normally operated by an optare solo. Last time i seen a timetable was 4hrs 5mins, although I believe that some of the around the towns of north cornwall has been removed so may be shorter time now

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

[starrymarkb]

Western greyhound service 510 newquay to exeter. Normally operated by an optare solo. Last time i seen a timetable was 4hrs 5mins, although I believe that some of the around the towns of north cornwall has been removed so may be shorter time now

Is a mix of Solos on short runs and E400s on the full route, you get the occasional olympian too

 

[ushawk]

Id of thought the Stagecoach 700 as already mentioned is one of the longest - runs through most of the towns along the coast between Brighton and Portsmouth/Southsea - has a journey time of just over 4 hours, although its unlikely people would use this to go from Brighton to Portsmouth as the train (which calls at most of the same places as the bus) takes just over 1 hour.

 

[richw]

Is a mix of Solos on short runs and E400s on the full route, you get the occasional olympian too

Ok, i made an assumption as the last few times I've passed the service it had been a solo. Also only timetables 3hr 30 now for the slowest trip.

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[Blindtraveler]

some of the McEWANS DUMFRIES TO edinburgh runs are pritty lengthy but not a patch on some of the 4 hour stuff in this thread! Stil long enough though seeing as about the best you get quality wise is a solo but more often its any old junk
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
oh wate, iv just put Solo and Qualitty in same sentence. Must be ill

 

[Liam]

Of course, the absolute winner is the Citylink 916 Glasgow-Uig at almost 7 hours (there is a 1 hour wait in Fort William on some services). Although operated by coaches, it is a mix of local and long distance travellers, especially North of Dumbarton.

 

[90019]

Of course, the absolute winner is the Citylink 916 Glasgow-Uig at almost 7 hours (there is a 1 hour wait in Fort William on some services). Although operated by coaches, it is a mix of local and long distance travellers, especially North of Dumbarton.

Which means it doesn't count.

Please note all bus routes are valid, just not valid if coaches operate the route.

 

[gnolife]

does the TransPeak count, as you can get normal buses on it, as well as coaches?

 

[Eagle]

Please note all bus routes are valid, just not valid if coaches operate the route.

Define "operated by coaches". I take it you were trying to exclude NatEx, Megabus and the like, but with some operators it's more woolly.

I can think of routes about a mile long that are operated by either coaches or buses seemingly at random. (De Courcey's local services in Coventry to be precise.)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Not the longest by far, but I've been on a bus journey that took 2h40m.

It was the NX Coventry number 12, between Leamington and the University of Warwick. Average speed of about 3.8 mph.

(Okay, so there was snow-related gridlock in Leamington on the day in question, and no one else was bothering with the bus except me, because it was warmer than walking back home.)

 

[Liam]

Which means it doesn't count.

Define coach service.

What about routes where sometimes coaches operate the route? I've seen coaches on Stagecoach Fife routes 36, 23, 24, 55, 95, X1 and others. I've also seen buses on the X24/X26 routes.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The TP service (TransPeak) runs Nottingham-Derby-Matlock-Buxton-Stockport-Manchester and is one of Trent Barton's routes.

 

[90019]

Define coach service.

Um, one operated by coaches.
Ones which use a mix of coaches and buses, I don't know, but that doesn't apply to any Citylink route.
You'll have to ask the OP to be certain, though.

 

[Aictos]

Um, one operated by coaches.
Ones which use a mix of coaches and buses, I don't know, but that doesn't apply to any Citylink route.
You'll have to ask the OP to be certain, though.

I was interested in buses and not coaches however if more then half of the services on a route which uses a mix of buses and coaches uses buses then it can be accepted.

National Express type coaches running local services then no.

 

[harz99]

You might be better off using the following definition:

A bus service is one where (irrespective of vehicle type) pax are able to make local short journeys throughout the route with the appropriate local fares.

A coach service is one where (irrepective of vehicle type) pax are carried on a limited stop or express basis without the opportunity or fare to make a local journey within a town/city/village.

That would probably exclude many of the "X" routes already mentioned, and leave services such as Mc Ewans 100 as the contenders,

 

[Mutant Lemming]

The 555 Keswick to Lancaster is quite a long and scenic trip by double decker through the Lakes.
Why not categorise further...

longest coach service,

longest single deckroute

longest double deck route.

 

[ashworth]

The 555 Keswick to Lancaster is quite a long and scenic trip by double decker through the Lakes.

Yes I've used the 555 from Keswick to Lancaster using an Explorer ticket. This can be a journey of up to 3 hours, especially when traffic is heavy in the Kendall area. Quite a long journey on what is not always the most modern or comfortable double decker.

 

[richw]

You might be better off using the following definition:

A bus service is one where (irrespective of vehicle type) pax are able to make local short journeys throughout the route with the appropriate local fares.

A coach service is one where (irrepective of vehicle type) pax are carried on a limited stop or express basis without the opportunity or fare to make a local journey within a town/city/village.

That would probably exclude many of the "X" routes already mentioned, and leave services such as Mc Ewans 100 as the contenders,

The Western Greyhound i mention still falls under your definition of bus service, as it calls to every town, and village along the route!

 

[Schnellzug]

You might be better off using the following definition:

A bus service is one where (irrespective of vehicle type) pax are able to make local short journeys throughout the route with the appropriate local fares.

A coach service is one where (irrepective of vehicle type) pax are carried on a limited stop or express basis without the opportunity or fare to make a local journey within a town/city/village.

That would probably exclude many of the "X" routes already mentioned, and leave services such as Mc Ewans 100 as the contenders,

I'd say it was much simpler to go the other way round, and decide on the basis of whether coaches or Buses are used. There's not usually much doubt what is a coach and what is a Bus.