Trivia: Most isolated country routes operated with double-deckers?

[nw1]

The opposite thread to 'towns without double deckers' I guess: what are the most isolated country routes to be regularly operated with double deckers?

Happens more often than you think, because a one-or-two-journey a day service is often done by school or college vehicles when not needed for that purpose.

I can recall the 31 Southampton to Fritham, sadly no longer with us but a route which managed to survive into the early years of the 21st century. Granted it's initally within an urban area, but - the last mile or so of this is on very narrow winding dead-end country road and the village is basically a pub and a few cottages, admittedly popular with visitors. At least one journey (arriving Fritham around 1500, I recall catching it in November 2002 and having only about 90 minutes of daylight to do a walk - and yes, there was no return - I was meeting someone in the pub and getting a lift back) was a double decker 6 days a week. I think it presumably then went empty to Brockenhurst College to do college work.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Depends how you measure "ruralness"? From a big city into the most rural surroundings OR between two small towns?

There are plenty I can think of that are intensely rural. A couple of months ago, I did the Exeter to Bideford route and the section via North Tawton and Winkleigh is very rural. The Swindon to Ludgershall route goes through some very sparse territory between Tidworth and Marlborough. Then you have open top routes like Minehead to Lynmouth, and Helston to Lizard that go through some very picturesque and rural territory. You could also point to the 59 from Harrogate to Skipton (which I also experienced a few weeks ago) which goes over Blubberhouses Moor.

In my youth, United Auto had a couple of rural routes from Northallerton to Leyburn (78) and Northallerton to Richmond (34). The former was DD operated for the schools and went into Wensleydale though it kept mainly to the A684. The latter was largely operated by DDs every two hours and it went down some very narrow roads from Morton on Swale to Catterick Village.

 

[carlberry]

Unfortunately another one from many years ago however South Wales Transport used VRs on it's 4 a day Swansea-Brecon service until the mid 1980s; post deregulation they were replaced by Optare City Pacers minibuses at the same frequency! The Sennybridge to Abercraf section is 14 miles of prime sheep country.

 

[GusB]

The Far North operations of Highland Scottish would surely qualify here, with the now erstwhile Dounreay contracts.

 

[RELL6L]

Lots of possibilities here, I don’t know how you can compare. Many routes in Cornwall and Devon. How about the T3 in mid Wales? Some routes in Lincolnshire. The X93 and 840 to Whitby. Would you allow the 78 in Cumbria, every 30 minutes 7 days a week from Keswick to nowhere?

 

[James H]

297 in rural Kent - Tenterden to Tunbridge Wells

 

[DanNCL]

Southern Vectis will have a few. The 7 from Newport to Alum Bay is the one the comes to mind first, the only place it serves that isn't either a very small town or a village is Newport.

 

[NorthOxonian]

There are quite a lot of examples in the North East, perhaps because once you get away from the larger towns and cities the population density is much lower than the rest of England.

The 685 would be a decent contender - while the start and end of the route are both very urban, the service spends most of its time in rural Northumberland, and the section between Haltwhistle and Brampton is particularly remote. The Stagecoach journeys tend to be operated with double deckers (indeed they have a very attractively branded one).

In a similar area, some of the Tynedale local routes appear to be temporarily operating with double deckers - in particular I know they have been used on the 680 and 688. This was mainly to do with school flows (and possibly no longer happens - since I assume it was for social distancing purposes), but the same bus seems to operate for most of the day on those routes. Bellingham or Allenheads are not places you'd expect to see a double decker bus turn up - both are very small villages in the back of beyond. And in the only slightly larger village of Newbrough, double deckers are the norm, since it's the terminus of one of the X-Lines routes (the fastest Newcastle - Hexham express was merged with a local service to create better cross-Hexham links)

The X14 runs from Newcastle to Thropton via Morpeth. The route seems to be allocated whatever Ashington depot fancy at any given time, but double deckers certain can appear. The southern part of the route is a little pedestrian but it quickly gets into the wilds of Northumberland, and Rothbury and Thropton are very rural indeed.

Lastly, Arriva operate peak time extensions of some of their Durham routes which go deep into the dales. The X1 and X46 extend to Stanhope, and the 6 extends to Barnard Castle. The latter two both normally operate with double deckers - and pass through areas which are about as rural as it's possible to get in England.

 

[nw1]

Interesting replies. Just to clarify in case it's unclear: I was specifically referring to those routes which operated at least partly over narrow, unclassified, country roads, even if they originate in large towns or cities - as opposed to main roads through sparsely-populated country.

 

[RELL6L]

There are quite a lot of examples in the North East, perhaps because once you get away from the larger towns and cities the population density is much lower than the rest of England.

The 685 would be a decent contender - while the start and end of the route are both very urban, the service spends most of its time in rural Northumberland, and the section between Haltwhistle and Brampton is particularly remote. The Stagecoach journeys tend to be operated with double deckers (indeed they have a very attractively branded one).

In a similar area, some of the Tynedale local routes appear to be temporarily operating with double deckers - in particular I know they have been used on the 680 and 688. This was mainly to do with school flows (and possibly no longer happens - since I assume it was for social distancing purposes), but the same bus seems to operate for most of the day on those routes. Bellingham or Allenheads are not places you'd expect to see a double decker bus turn up - both are very small villages in the back of beyond. And in the only slightly larger village of Newbrough, double deckers are the norm, since it's the terminus of one of the X-Lines routes (the fastest Newcastle - Hexham express was merged with a local service to create better cross-Hexham links)

The X14 runs from Newcastle to Thropton via Morpeth. The route seems to be allocated whatever Ashington depot fancy at any given time, but double deckers certain can appear. The southern part of the route is a little pedestrian but it quickly gets into the wilds of Northumberland, and Rothbury and Thropton are very rural indeed.

Lastly, Arriva operate peak time extensions of some of their Durham routes which go deep into the dales. The X1 and X46 extend to Stanhope, and the 6 extends to Barnard Castle. The latter two both normally operate with double deckers - and pass through areas which are about as rural as it's possible to get in England.

The X14, X15 and X18 north of Morpeth are pretty remote and are mainly run with deckers.

When I got a 101 from St. John’s Chapel to Stanhope a couple of years ago that was a decker, but it was return after a school run.

Southern Vectis will have a few. The 7 from Newport to Alum Bay is the one the comes to mind first, the only place it serves that isn't either a very small town or a village is Newport.

The 6 and 12 from Newport to Niton and Freshwater respectively are on rural country lanes and run deckers.

 

[DanNCL]

The 6 and 12 from Newport to Niton and Freshwater respectively are on rural country lanes and run deckers.

Surprised the 6 now uses deckers, that only used midi buses the last time I used it!

 

[RELL6L]

Surprised the 6 now uses deckers, that only used midi buses the last time I used it!

Definitely still does, two out right now. Last time I got the three days a week 125 from Ringwood to Christchurch that was a decker. And not so long ago I went on a Thursday only bus from Wisbech to Spalding and that was a decker through very empty country and narrow lanes, between school runs, don’t think this still runs.

 

[MotCO]

There are a number of open top routes which go through rural countryside - e.g. the Dartmoor routes recently started; do these count? Or what about Imberbus route 23 across Salisbury Plain?

 

[Jordan Adam]

On the Isle Of Mull West Coast Motors operate most of their services with a Scania Omnidekka, two Scania OmniCity DDs and two Vanhool Astromegas.

West Coast Motors YN55RDV

West Coast Motors Scania N94UD/East Lancs Omnidekka YN55 RDV is seen here working service 95 (Tobermory-Craignure) on the isle of Mull. It was new to Quantock, Wiveliscombe in October 2005 and is now currently in the sister City Sightseeing Glasgow fleet. Mull's main roads are largely single...

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11020 M20WCM West Coast Motors

M20 WCM is a Van Hool Astromega TD927 new as Bluebird Buses 50231 (SV10 DDK) in May 2010. It was new for megabus.com services between Aberdeen, Glasgow and London and later transferred to the Western Buses fleet. It joined the Craig of Campbeltown Group for their West Coast Motors fleet at...

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3 of West Coast’s double-deckers at Craignure on Mull

Explore The Canon's 11618 photos on Flickr!

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WEST COAST MOTORS 11115 YR61RTU

YR61RTU was a Scania N230UD Omnicity H41/22D purchased new by Centrewest as their number SN3604 in October 2011. It joined the Borders Buses fleet in October 2017 after being converted to single-door. It moved to West Coast Motors at Dunoon in April 2019, but is now set to go to Mull.

www.flickr.com

 

[route101]

Interesting replies. Just to clarify in case it's unclear: I was specifically referring to those routes which operated at least partly over narrow, unclassified, country roads, even if they originate in large towns or cities - as opposed to main roads through sparsely-populated country.

The First 31 ran on a unclassified rural road between Glasgow and East Kilbride. I think it was one of few services that used full beam headlights in the dark.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

As I mentioned the other week, I recently took the Arriva service X1 that runs to the moortop village of Tow Law. As my photos show, it actually terminates at Inkerman (a former colliery location) with a turning circle and a location which is bleak and remote.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

Not really what I'd call isolated, but the Stagecoach route 11 between Cambridge and Newmarket (and then onto Bury St Edmunds) is quite rural in parts, with a couple of somewhat narrow roads too.

The route is usually (if not always) operated by double deckers - mostly Enviro 400s.

 

[RELL6L]

Not really what I'd call isolated, but the Stagecoach route 11 between Cambridge and Newmarket (and then onto Bury St Edmunds) is quite rural in parts, with a couple of somewhat narrow roads too.

The route is usually (if not always) operated by double deckers - mostly Enviro 400s.

The 753/754 from Colchester to Sudbury to Bury St Edmunds is also double deckers and runs through some delightfully rural parts of Suffolk. Also the 374 from Bury St Edmunds to Clare has deckers at least on school runs, similarly Bury to Haverhill and I went on a Simons Omnidekka from Bury to Diss. Quite a good area for deckers given the long school runs.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Stagecoach S3 Oxford to Charlbury, every hour via Woodstock, Combe, Stonesfield and Fawler. Here's part of the route: https://goo.gl/maps/x8w4TWiYrY6bWeum9

It fairly regularly gets stuck on the very narrow Browns Lane in Charlbury, and we're probably going to have to take out a couple of parking spaces there because motorists are seemingly incapable of parking their cars within the white lines.

 

[robertclark125]

Dublin bus route 65, lower Abbey Street to Tallaght, extends a few times a day to Ballyknockan in County wicklow. The terminus is 35km away from the city centre, and some of the roads are barely big enough for a double decker. Yet it went over to Olympian operation in 1991, and has been double decker operated since.

 

[berneyarms]

Dublin bus route 65, lower Abbey Street to tallaght, extends a few times a day to Ballyknockan in County wicklow. The terminus is 35km away from the city centre, and some of the roads are barely big enough for a double decker. Yet it went over to Olympian operation in 1991, and has been double decker operated since.

The 65 is actually Dublin City Centre (Poolbeg Street) to Blessington - two services a day extend further to Ballyknockan, and others extend to Ballymore Eustace in Co. Kildare.
The Ballyknockan extension is one of the most scenic trips that one can take on a Dublin city bus.

 

[REVUpminster]

Try the double decker between Dartmouth and Kingsbridge for a hair raising ride as it weaves down to Slapton sands.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Try the double decker between Dartmouth and Kingsbridge for a hair raising ride as it weaves down to Slapton sands.

Deckers on there are now very rare - booked for e200mmc though a decker is an experience when it does happen.

 

[RELL6L]

Deckers on there are now very rare - booked for e200mmc though a decker is an experience when it does happen.

Which is a great shame as this is a very scenic route. This was even good in First days as the 93 I think with deckers in a special livery.

In contrast further north in Devon the 5A, 5B, 5C, 6, 6A, 155, 319 are regular decker routes with much rural territory.

 

[dgl]

The Jurassic Coasters in Dorset also go through a mixture of towns and villages, including a few very steep hills, some near impossible turns in Abbotsbury and Lyme Regis and some excellent views of the Jurassic Coast.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Which is a great shame as this is a very scenic route. This was even good in First days as the 93 I think with deckers in a special livery.

In contrast further north in Devon the 5A, 5B, 5C, 6, 6A, 155, 319 are regular decker routes with much rural territory.

I think they've done the sums and realised there's no point in having deckers (despite the views) for much of the year. Perhaps with schools and colleges finishing, perhaps they could send a few over for the summer though.

The fives, sixs and 319 were all sampled by me in May and they are intensely rural. With the 319, I assume the Atlantic College explains the need for deckers.

The Jurassic Coasters in Dorset also go through a mixture of towns and villages, including a few very steep hills, some near impossible turns in Abbotsbury and Lyme Regis and some excellent views of the Jurassic Coast.

However, ain't that the point? They go through a series of towns and villages and so it's not really that isolated. Perhaps the most isolated bit is on the X51 from Winterbourne Abbas to Bridport. They're great routes but not really "in the wilds"

 

[geoffk]

In contrast further north in Devon the 5A, 5B, 5C, 6, 6A, 155, 319 are regular decker routes with much rural territory.

Indeed. I had a drive out to Winkleigh today since, as some of you will know, the nearby airfield is the home of the West of England Transport Collection, which used to have open days until recently, but is now a secure storage site with no public access. I came across a field containing buses and, as there was no-one around, was even able to get close to identify one. The village is very isolated and must have been there before the airfield was built in the 1940s!

 

[6Gman]

Interesting replies. Just to clarify in case it's unclear: I was specifically referring to those routes which operated at least partly over narrow, unclassified, country roads, even if they originate in large towns or cities - as opposed to main roads through sparsely-populated country.

Many years ago now I travelled from Kyle of Lochalsh to Plockton on a 'decker.

Definitely "narrow, unclassified, country roads" !

The conductor (yes, really) recommended a different school bus from Plockton which, he assured me, used a narrower road . . .

 

[mikeg]

One that surely must count granted it terminates in an urban area is the Thirsk / easingwold to York service by reliance sometimes is or at least was until recently run by double deckers sometimes. Sometimes, not always.

 

[Eyersey468]

The Pocklington/Market Weighton shoppers buses were run by double deckers when Pocklington depot ran them, though that was purely down to them being run off the back of school runs.