What are the largest places with just one bus company?

[Simon75]

What are the largest places with just 1 bus company?

Congleton, Cheshire c28,000 has just 1 D&G

 

[Open top 80]

Bournemouth.(Morebus)

 

[A S Leib]

Ryde (32,000 by some counts) with only Southern Vectis that I know of?

 

[AB93]

Aldershot (37,000) - Stagecoach South

 

[Busmansholiday]

Exeter? 130,000, Stagecoach SW

Scunthorpe 80,000, Stagecoach EM

 

[JonathanH]

Crawley comes very close to having one operator, Metrobus, but has a Compass route in from Haywards Heath.

Exeter? 130,000, Stagecoach SW

No, there is a Dartline service from Kenn, and a few other services from villages not run by Stagecoach SW.

Scunthorpe 80,000, Stagecoach EM

No, bustimes shows a hourly service into Scunthorpe from Brigg and one from Doncaster by Hornsbys Bus and Coach

Bournemouth.(Morebus)

Yes, that does seem to be the winner.

 

[A S Leib]

Are there any sizable (well, around ten thousand to twenty thousand people, given by the answers so far) towns where there's, at most, one bus and train company (e.g. only Go Ahead buses and Govia Thameslink Railway trains, or only Go Ahead buses)?

Anywhere on the Isle of Wight except the towns on the Island Line would count, so I think Newport (25,000) and Cowes (14,000; 22,000 if East Cowes is counted with it) would fit.

 

[Flange Squeal]

What are the largest places with just 1 bus company?

Are including or excluding school/college routes, community bus services, long-distance coaches such as National Express or Flixbus, and/or open top bus tours, alongside the traditional public stage carriage bus services?

 

[A S Leib]

Does Peterhead (~19,000 people) have any non-Stagecoach services?

 

[stadler]

Northern Ireland has dozens of cities where Translink is the only local bus operator. Only a few border towns (like Derry and Newry etc) have others.

• Belfast - 671,559 - Translink
• Bournemouth - 401,898 - Go Ahead
• Hastings - 92,855 - Stagecoach
• Ashford - 83,213 - Stagecoach
• Folkestone - 47,352 - Stagecoach
• Aldershot - 37,131 - Stagecoach
• St Helier - 35,822 - CT Plus Jersey
• Douglas - 26,677 - Bus Vannin
• St Peter - 18,958 - CT Plus Guernsey
• Haslemere - 17,279 - Stagecoach

But yes on the mainland i think Bournemouth is definitely the winner. It is difficult to find anywhere else as large with just one bus operator.

 

[gingerheid]

In Scotland I think it is Ayr (population 48k).

 

[IanMac]

When I was in Bournemouth last December I saw some white single-deckers on "Route 1", possibly connected with "Britannia". But I can't now trace them online, so Bournemouth seems to be a valid answer.

 

[James H]

When I was in Bournemouth last December I saw some white single-deckers on "Route 1", possibly connected with "Britannia". But I can't now trace them online, so Bournemouth seems to be a valid answer.

Those are the staff buses for JP Morgan Chase who have big offices out the back of town. They are not public buses

 

[Flange Squeal]

The ‘City Sightseeing’ open top bus service in Bournemouth is operated by Discover Dorset Tours rather than Morebus, but I guess it depends if we are counting that or not?

 

[37114]

Corsham in Wiltshire is 21,000 people and is only serviced by 1 operator. It is probably the largest town to be serviced by an independent operator only (Faresaver)

 

[Ken H]

Workington, Whitehaven. But not as big as Bournemouth. 100% Stagecoach

 

[berneyarms]

Northern Ireland has dozens of cities where Translink is the only local bus operator. Only a few border towns (like Derry and Newry etc) have others.

• Belfast - 671,559 - Translink
• Bournemouth - 401,898 - Go Ahead
• Hastings - 92,855 - Stagecoach
• Ashford - 83,213 - Stagecoach
• Folkestone - 47,352 - Stagecoach
• Aldershot - 37,131 - Stagecoach
• St Helier - 35,822 - CT Plus Jersey
• Douglas - 26,677 - Bus Vannin
• St Peter - 18,958 - CT Plus Guernsey
• Haslemere - 17,279 - Stagecoach

But yes on the mainland i think Bournemouth is definitely the winner. It is difficult to find anywhere else as large with just one bus operator.

St Peter Port is Stagecoach Guernsey.

 

[padbus]

Exeter? 130,000, Stagecoach SW

Scunthorpe 80,000, Stagecoach EM

Ignoring all the “village” services which operate into Exeter, there are 3 lettered city services which are not operated by Stagecoach: G is operated by Greenslades and M, T & U by Dartline. Dartline also operate the Park and Ride service to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and a shuttle service to the Exeter Nightingale Hospital.

 

[Simon75]

Ryde (32,000 by some counts) with only Southern Vectis that I know of?

Isn't the whole of the Isle of Wight (140k) , only Southern Vectis ?

 

[Bedford OB]

Exeter? 130,000, Stagecoach SW

Scunthorpe 80,000, Stagecoach EM

Certainly not the case in Scunthorpe, where Hornsby's have been operating services for over a century.

 

[Hophead]

Obviously not the winner, but Gosport is only served by First, as far as I can tell, and has a population of around 82,000.

 

[Megafuss]

Isn't the whole of the Isle of Wight (140k) , only Southern Vectis ?

FYT runs scheduled services around West Wight as community transport. They are even advertised in the SV timetable book!

 

[Revilo]

Northern Ireland has dozens of cities where Translink is the only local bus operator. Only a few border towns (like Derry and Newry etc) have others.

• Belfast - 671,559 - Translink
• Bournemouth - 401,898 - Go Ahead
• Hastings - 92,855 - Stagecoach
• Ashford - 83,213 - Stagecoach
• Folkestone - 47,352 - Stagecoach
• Aldershot - 37,131 - Stagecoach
• St Helier - 35,822 - CT Plus Jersey
• Douglas - 26,677 - Bus Vannin
• St Peter - 18,958 - CT Plus Guernsey
• Haslemere - 17,279 - Stagecoach

But yes on the mainland i think Bournemouth is definitely the winner. It is difficult to find anywhere else as large with just one bus operator.

Bournemouth itself only has a population of 196,455 (built-up area, 2021). The 401,898 figure relates to the Council area of Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP), but this has other services to it (eg First’s X54 to Poole).

Correction - it seems the X54 doesn’t go to Poole so the 401K figure may well be right.

 

[stadler]

Bournemouth itself only has a population of 196,455 (built-up area, 2021). The 401,898 figure relates to the Council area of Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP), but this has other services to it (eg First’s X54 to Poole).

Poole and Christchurch are part of Bournemouth. They are just areas of Bournemouth. Saying that they are not Bournemouth is like saying that Croydon or Harrow or Hounslow or Romford are not part of London. I think the lower figure refers to the old Bournemouth Council area before it merged with Poole Council and Christchurch Council a few years ago. But it is all one city. The only part of the BCP Council area that is not Bournemouth is the area around Bournemouth Airport and Hurn and also the Canford Magna area. On the other side there are also the areas of Corfe Mullen and Upton which are part of Bournemouth but are outside of the BCP Council area. So getting an exact population statistic is very difficult.

 

[The exile]

Poole and Christchurch are part of Bournemouth. They are just areas of Bournemouth. Saying that they are not Bournemouth is like saying that Croydon or Harrow or Hounslow or Romford are not part of London. I think the lower figure refers to the old Bournemouth Council area before it merged with Poole Council and Christchurch Council a few years ago. But it is all one city. The only part of the BCP Council area that is not Bournemouth is the area around Bournemouth Airport and Hurn and also the Canford Magna area. On the other side there are also the areas of Corfe Mullen and Upton which are part of Bournemouth but are outside of the BCP Council area. So getting an exact population statistic is very difficult.

The three towns may form a conurbation but the name of the Council should be enough to make it clear that Christchurch and Poole are not “part of Bournemouth” - at least not in the way that Hanley, Fenton etc are “parts of Stoke-on-Trent”

 

[WibbleWobble]

Poole and Christchurch are part of Bournemouth. They are just areas of Bournemouth. Saying that they are not Bournemouth is like saying that Croydon or Harrow or Hounslow or Romford are not part of London. I think the lower figure refers to the old Bournemouth Council area before it merged with Poole Council and Christchurch Council a few years ago. But it is all one city. The only part of the BCP Council area that is not Bournemouth is the area around Bournemouth Airport and Hurn and also the Canford Magna area. On the other side there are also the areas of Corfe Mullen and Upton which are part of Bournemouth but are outside of the BCP Council area. So getting an exact population statistic is very difficult.

I think with Bournemouth Airport, Hurn and Corfe Mullen, you are confusing Bournemouth the town with some other definition, possibly the "Bournemouth Urban Area" - also known as "Bournemouth & Poole Urban Area" - which is officially known as the South East Dorset Conurbation to get around that ambiguity. Bournemouth isn't a city in any case.

As for saying Poole and Christchurch are "part of Bournemouth", you would get lynched if you said that in either town! They have equal status, hence they are in the name of the borough - the authority wanted to make sure of that. Both towns are considerably older than Bournemouth. It would be like saying Wigan is "part of Manchester", or England is part of Northern Ireland because the UK's official name is United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.