Trivia: What is the most indirect bus route?

[Rhydgaled]

In mainland Britain, ie. Scotland, Wales and England, what is the bus indirect bus route, in terms of journey time compared to private car travel? Or, is there a train route that is even less direct than the most indirect bus route?

I'll start of with the 412 service (Cardigan - Newport - Fishguard - Haverfordwest) which is:

• 118% slower than driving (journeys via Trecwn and Mathry Road) or
• 98% slower than driving (journeys via Mathry Road only)

In this case, there is no regular public transport service between Haverfordwest and Cardigan that is any more direct than that.

 

[CallySleeper]

Edinburgh, the 30 between city centre and Musselburgh wins hands down.

 

[pemma]

Knutsford to Altrincham is around 15 minutes by train or 20 minutes by car by the 88 bus (via Wilmslow) it takes 55 minutes: http://ghagold.co.uk/

Manchester to Macclesfield can be done in 22 minutes by train or under 50 minutes by car, using the 130 bus (again via Wilmslow) it takes over 90 minutes: http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/north-west/130---manchester-to-macclesfield/?direction=outbound

Huddersfield to Manchester can be done in 30-35 minutes by train or under 1 hour by car, using the 184 bus (via Oldham) it takes 1 hour 55: http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/gre...4/184X&routeid=10913671&operator=11&source=sp

In terms of an indirect train on Sundays there's a Chester to Southport via Stockport service with a journey time of around 2 hours 45, by road it would take you around half that time.

 

[Statto]

Arriva North West 413-414 Woodside-Seacombe/New Brighton, 413 & 414 take 71 minutes, yet there are faster routes 410-411 which take about half an hour Woodside-New Brighton. 411 takes 17 minutes Woodside-Seacombe.

 

[Rhydgaled]

Do check my calculations of percentages in case my spreadsheet is incorrectly set up.

Edinburgh, the 30 between city centre and Musselburgh wins hands down.

Looked it up: 14mins by car versus 56 by bus. 300% slower. Does't seem to be the only public transport option for that journey though, but even the faster service I found is 40mins, 186% slower than the 14min car journey.

Knutsford to Altrincham is around 15 minutes by train or 20 minutes by car by the 88 bus (via Wilmslow) it takes 55 minutes: http://ghagold.co.uk/ 20mins vs 55mins = 175% slower

Manchester to Macclesfield can be done in 22 minutes by train or under 50 minutes by car, using the 130 bus (again via Wilmslow) it takes over 90 minutes: http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/north-west/130---manchester-to-macclesfield/?direction=outbound 50mins vs 1hr 30mins = 80% slower

Huddersfield to Manchester can be done in 30-35 minutes by train or under 1 hour by car, using the 184 bus (via Oldham) it takes 1 hour 55: http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/gre...4/184X&routeid=10913671&operator=11&source=sp 1hr vs 1hr 55mins = 92% slower

All faster by train than by car though, and only one with a worse percentage than the 412. Maybe I should have asked a second question as well, what is the most indirect service which is the best (or only) public transport option available?

In terms of an indirect train on Sundays there' a Chester to Southport via Stockport service with a journey time of around 2 hours 45, by road it would take you around half that time. 1hr 22mins vs 1hr 45mins = 100% slower

 

[Bletchleyite]

Edinburgh, the 30 between city centre and Musselburgh wins hands down.

A great many Milton Keynes bus services have termini of convenience, but you wouldn't use them between the two termini as they take a very wandering route. For instance, many routes run Bletchley to Wolverton, but the only sensible ones to actually use for that (other than the train) are the 5 and 6.

There is a part-circle route, I forget the number, that has the two termini only about 3 miles apart but via a route of about 15 miles. But you'd never use that end to end, as it would be substantially quicker to walk, let alone use another better route.

Neil

 

[Shrimper]

Off the top of my head, in Manchester:

The Arriva 18 (Altrincham to the Trafford Centre) and 19 (Altrincham to the Airport) are both particularly circuitous; it's a shorter journey to use the 18 between Altrincham and the Airport.

The 84 between Piccadilly and Reddish is 80 minutes, or 15 minutes/4 miles by car and only 22 minutes by direct bus.

However I'd suggest the 53 from Cheetham Hill to Pendleton via everywhere (it loops all the way around the city centre) is probably the winner at 90 minutes off peak. To go between the two by car would be 13 minutes and 3 miles by Google's estimation. In fact by the same estimation, it would be quicker to walk!

 

[Statto]

Off the top of my head, in Manchester:

The Arriva 18 (Altrincham to the Trafford Centre) and 19 (Altrincham to the Airport) are both particularly circuitous; it's a shorter journey to use the 18 between Altrincham and the Airport.

The 84 between Piccadilly and Reddish is 80 minutes, or 15 minutes/4 miles by car and only 22 minutes by direct bus.

However I'd suggest the 53 from Cheetham Hill to Pendleton via everywhere (it loops all the way around the city centre) is probably the winner at 90 minutes off peak. To go between the two by car would be 13 minutes and 3 miles by Google's estimation. In fact by the same estimation, it would be quicker to walk!

Manchester the 84 Reddish-Piccadilly which takes about 80 minutes, the direct route 203 only takes 20 minutes.

189 Wakefield-Leeds via Castleford the direct Wakefield-Leeds route 110, quite a few other routes in West Yorkshire that operate indirect.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Northampton to Market Harborough

Car - 25 mins
X7 - 42 mins
X43 - 120 mins......it goes via Kettering

 

[Deerfold]

Leeds - Huddersfield

Train TPE (from) 19 mins

Bus X6 (via Bradford) (up to) 99 mins

 

[CallySleeper]

Looked it up: 14mins by car versus 56 by bus. 300% slower.

In reality for a number of reasons it always takes longer than this.

 

[ChathillMan]

32 Newcastle Clayton Street West to Newcastle Market Street, a horseshoe journey of nearly 1 hour 30mins that can simply be done by crossing the road

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

By bus the 450 from Immingham to Brigg.
By train try Northwich to Hartford.

 

[adrock1976]

First Glasgow route 90 from Partick to Braehead Centre.

The journey is timetabled to take at least 2 1/2 hours and goes on a magical mystery tour through the inner city areas.

It would be quicker to travel by car via Dumbarton Road, Clyde Tunnel, and M8 from Partick to Braehead Centre. Using alternative public transport options, a quicker option would be underground to Govan Cross, then the McGills 23 or 26 bus onwards for the short hop to Braehead Centre.

In peace

Adam

 

[90019]

In reality for a number of reasons it always takes longer than this.

I suppose the journey time depends on which of the three that turn up you choose to get on.

 

[Deerfold]

There's the 95 which travels from Burnley to Colne in just 95 minutes.

The Mainline bus routes do it in 28. The train in 12 (though not quite so far into Colne).

 

[bussnapperwm]

Diamond/Hansons/igo route 226 Dudley to Merry Hill via Kingswinford. Takes upto 1 hour.

In comparison NXWM X96 between Merry Hill and Dudley takes 15-20 minutes...

 

[Tom B]

Edinburgh's 42 used to take about 90 minutes between Portobello and Silverknowes, to drive it would probably be about 15-20 minutes.

The 24 once ran between Edinburgh Park and the RIE via absolutely every conceivable intermediate place and took about 2 hours, again a 20 minute drive.

Both were obviously not used for end-end journeys!

 

[90019]

Another from Edinburgh - when the 36 used to run between Ocean Terminal and Holyrood, it was timetabled for between 45 and 55 minutes. You can drive between them in about 10-15 minutes.

 

[Qwerty133]

X44 Leicester to rugby can be done in less than half the time in a car
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The 50 Leicester to Narborough is also much slower than the car (or train), even if it turns up on time and not 90 mins late, like yesterday...

 

[Statto]

300 Liverpool-Southport takes 90 minutes, the fastest route X2 takes 70 minutes, train 45 minutes.

TFL area 61 Bromley North-Chislehurst takes 52 minutes, 269 takes 15 minutes

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Bristol (Temple Meads) to Bath

Train 14 mins
Car 32 mins
X39 bus 43 mins
379 bus 93 mins
178 bus 105 mins

 

[Y961 XBU]

the 920 from St Helens - Haydock industrial Estate takes about an hour as it goes from St Helens - Thatto Heath - Sutton Heath - Sutton Mannor - St Helens Junction - Parr - Blackbrook then into Haydock.

Theres a few other Buses that go from St Helens and go within 5 Mins walk from the Industrial estate and take no more than 20 mins

 

[Bantamzen]

612 Bradford - Shipley (via Five Lane Ends) 42 minutes

Train from Bradford FS - Shipley 8 minutes (and can often be done in 6).

 

[Statto]

Manchester-Stockport
42 takes 52 minutes, 197 takes 50 minutes, 203 up to 45 minutes, fastest 192 about 30 minutes.

Leigh-Manchester
12 & 25 take about 80 minutes, X34 takes 55 minutes

 

[Martin2012]

The section of the National Express 324 route between Sheffield and Huddersfield comes across as being very indirect given the fact it serves Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Bradford and Halifax en-route. I'm sure that this journey is much quicker on the 564 route.

The 327 route between Bristol and Birmingham is also a lot more indirect than other journeys between these locations. Most others either go direct down the motorway, just stop at Warndon Coachway or have one or two other stops at Gloucester and/or Cheltenham whereas the 327 serves Stroud, Gloucester, Cheltenham Evesham and Redditch before reaching Birmingham.

Nonetheless, the time I travelled on the route there were about a dozen passengers who were traveling between Bristol and Birmingham which rather surprised me, given the fact that there are two other services which offer a shorter journey time but still get into Birmingham around the same time as the 327 and offer the same connectional opportunities.

 

[Deerfold]

The section of the National Express 324 route between Sheffield and Huddersfield comes across as being very indirect given the fact it serves Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Bradford and Halifax en-route. I'm sure that this journey is much quicker on the 564 route.

The 324 takes 2 hours 50 to get to Sheffield (2 hours 20 at weekends and it calls at Halifax before Huddersfield). The 564 takes around 1 hour 45. The overnight 465 rakes 2 hours 35.

The old X37 or M1 service buses used to be quicker than any of these, taking about an hour.

The 327 route between Bristol and Birmingham is also a lot more indirect than other journeys between these locations. Most others either go direct down the motorway, just stop at Warndon Coachway or have one or two other stops at Gloucester and/or Cheltenham whereas the 327 serves Stroud, Gloucester, Cheltenham Evesham and Redditch before reaching Birmingham.

Nonetheless, the time I travelled on the route there were about a dozen passengers who were traveling between Bristol and Birmingham which rather surprised me, given the fact that there are two other services which offer a shorter journey time but still get into Birmingham around the same time as the 327 and offer the same connectional opportunities.

Often quieter coaches have lower advance fares...

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Leeds to Batley is pretty damn slow by bus. On Metro's journey planner, the fastest time for the journey of about 6 miles as the crow flies is a whopping 53 minutes (Arriva 229). You could drive it in 20 minutes outside of the rush hour, with the train taking between 17 and 22 minutes.

 

[Liam]

St Andrews-Glenrothes on X59 takes 40 minutes, 64 takes 2 hours.