tbtc
Veteran Member
Modern bus routes are often simple, predictable, intended to be something people can rely on without a timetable
Thirty years ago, things were different, chaotic, much more variety
Often corridors had “express” services at rush hour, something which has become a rarity outside of a few exceptions (e.g. Edinburgh)
Such routes have generally been incorporated into the main service so that there’s no faster option at rush hour
But something rare than these were the rush hour routes that penetrated the city centre better (or differently) to the regular daytime route, or those which extended beyond the city centre to serve somewhere that the daytime routes didn’t
(I’ve said “city centre”, I’m happy to take examples of this in towns too, it’s just that towns were less likely to have rush hour expresses or to have centres big enough to justify alternative routes inside)
Examples I can think of:
Stagecoach expresses from Ayr/ Kilmarnock/ Cumbernauld run beyond central Glasgow to Kelvingrove/ Byres Road/ Hillhead to serve the main University area
One Stagecoach service (X52) from Fife into Edinburgh extended beyond Princes Street to serve the University rather than the bus station. From memory, there were more services that did this in the past
Perth has a few services extended to the big Aviva offices on the edge of the city at rush hour (16, 58a etc) as well as one morning 36 extending beyond the city centre to the High School
Back in Kelvin Scottish days, the Cumbernauld expresses (X40, X50) into Glasgow extended beyond Buchanan bus station on the edge of the city centre to serve the financial area around Bothwell Street
In mid nineties Sheffield, one of the expresses from Killamarsh area via the Parkway into the city centre was extended via the main University area to the Hallamshire Hospital
I’m not talking about rush hour routes that extended further at the “suburban”/“country” end as there’d be far too many examples of those around the country
So the Lothian Buses X31 doesn’t count because, although it serves additional stops at the “country” end (extending beyond the regular Hopefield terminus of the 31 to serve Rosewell), the X31 route in the city centre is the same as the 31 (Princes Street, Haymarket)
However the Lothian Buses X33 does count - not because it extends beyond Danderhall to serve Dalkeith/ Mayfield/ Newtongrange at the “country” end, but because the city centre route sees it serve Lothian Road and Fountainbridge (rather than the daytime 33s which serve Haymarket instead)
Historical/ current examples welcome, but it needs to serve some different stops to the “regular” route, not just skipping some of the stops (a journey running non-stop through the inner city to serve the same terminus as the regular journeys doesn’t count, it needs to have at least one different stop)
Examples can be extended journeys using the regular service number (e.g. the extended Ayr - Glasgow services to serve the University use the same X77 number as the regular journeys) or a separate number for an express service (e.g. the X52 from Fife to Edinburgh University is a separate number to the regular X55 that terminated in central Edinburgh)
Extensions beyond the city centre to schools/ colleges/ universities welcome (as above) but these must be open to the general public rather than requiring school passes to be shown etc. I appreciate that there may be some borderline examples, but the routes I’ve mentioned above are all ones where a regular commuter could use them into the city centre regardless of the fact that they extend beyond it to then serve a school/ college/ university
Thirty years ago, things were different, chaotic, much more variety
Often corridors had “express” services at rush hour, something which has become a rarity outside of a few exceptions (e.g. Edinburgh)
Such routes have generally been incorporated into the main service so that there’s no faster option at rush hour
But something rare than these were the rush hour routes that penetrated the city centre better (or differently) to the regular daytime route, or those which extended beyond the city centre to serve somewhere that the daytime routes didn’t
(I’ve said “city centre”, I’m happy to take examples of this in towns too, it’s just that towns were less likely to have rush hour expresses or to have centres big enough to justify alternative routes inside)
Examples I can think of:
Stagecoach expresses from Ayr/ Kilmarnock/ Cumbernauld run beyond central Glasgow to Kelvingrove/ Byres Road/ Hillhead to serve the main University area
One Stagecoach service (X52) from Fife into Edinburgh extended beyond Princes Street to serve the University rather than the bus station. From memory, there were more services that did this in the past
Perth has a few services extended to the big Aviva offices on the edge of the city at rush hour (16, 58a etc) as well as one morning 36 extending beyond the city centre to the High School
Back in Kelvin Scottish days, the Cumbernauld expresses (X40, X50) into Glasgow extended beyond Buchanan bus station on the edge of the city centre to serve the financial area around Bothwell Street
In mid nineties Sheffield, one of the expresses from Killamarsh area via the Parkway into the city centre was extended via the main University area to the Hallamshire Hospital
I’m not talking about rush hour routes that extended further at the “suburban”/“country” end as there’d be far too many examples of those around the country
So the Lothian Buses X31 doesn’t count because, although it serves additional stops at the “country” end (extending beyond the regular Hopefield terminus of the 31 to serve Rosewell), the X31 route in the city centre is the same as the 31 (Princes Street, Haymarket)
However the Lothian Buses X33 does count - not because it extends beyond Danderhall to serve Dalkeith/ Mayfield/ Newtongrange at the “country” end, but because the city centre route sees it serve Lothian Road and Fountainbridge (rather than the daytime 33s which serve Haymarket instead)
Historical/ current examples welcome, but it needs to serve some different stops to the “regular” route, not just skipping some of the stops (a journey running non-stop through the inner city to serve the same terminus as the regular journeys doesn’t count, it needs to have at least one different stop)
Examples can be extended journeys using the regular service number (e.g. the extended Ayr - Glasgow services to serve the University use the same X77 number as the regular journeys) or a separate number for an express service (e.g. the X52 from Fife to Edinburgh University is a separate number to the regular X55 that terminated in central Edinburgh)
Extensions beyond the city centre to schools/ colleges/ universities welcome (as above) but these must be open to the general public rather than requiring school passes to be shown etc. I appreciate that there may be some borderline examples, but the routes I’ve mentioned above are all ones where a regular commuter could use them into the city centre regardless of the fact that they extend beyond it to then serve a school/ college/ university