Introducing 100 British Bus Routes
6 February 2022
For some time I have been wanting to do a series of articles showcasing 100 British Bus Routes, choosing one route with each number from 1 to 100. I will be publishing the first of those articles shortly.
The only pretext is that the routes need to be interesting. I know we all have our own interpretation as to what ‘interesting’ might look like, and I confess that, as I have started drawing up the list, routes from which you can enjoy a brisk drive through the countryside seem to be featuring quite heavily. But maybe that’s because there’s such a lot of countryside out there, in England’s (well Britain’s) green and pleasant land.
ABOVE: Nottingham City Transport 643, a Scania chassis beneath the Enviro 400 body, on route 1, somewhere between Nottingham and Loughborough (sorry, can’t do better than that!) on Friday 1st October 2021. This route 1 is not the one I have chosen for my 100, but would come ‘highly commended’, because it suddenly and unexpectedly opens out onto a magnificent view across the Nottinghamshire countryside.
To be eligible, a route must not have a suffix (eg, 47A), or a prefix (eg, X29). It must be a straight number, which rules out most services run by Trent Barton, as well as the 'Excel' service in the east of England (but I’ve already written about that route anyway).
It was my intention to present my list in numerical order. Unfortunately practical reasons prevent me from doing so. It’s a long day trip for me, including a sea crossing, to find my intended route 1, for example, and I’d like to save that trip for the lighter evenings. My choice for route 3 isn’t even possible in a day trip, being about 233 miles each way… And my route 22 is over 400 miles away!
And I confess that I haven’t yet identified all 100 routes that I am going to showcase. There are some possibilities that I am aware of, but haven’t checked out yet. And there are other services that will end up on the list, but that I have yet to discover.
I won’t always choose the ‘right’ route. I know that I could one day stumble on something that is better than a route that I have already written about, or never discover one that you think is the obvious choice! It’s not going to be that quick, either, to compile the list and write 100 articles! No doubt some of my choices will have ceased to be by the time I finish.
But I’ll keep presenting my suggestions every now and then, alongside my other articles. This is a long-term project…
Routes that haven’t made the list
An honorary mention must go to a few routes that I have enjoyed that won’t make the final 100. In most cases this is because they don’t carry a route number in the required range, but there are a couple that have been ruled out because the number clashes with another route that I have found.
So here are a few recommended bus rides that won’t make my list, along with reasons why they probably should be sampled:
- 1 Reading to Newbury – a lovely high-speed drive via the picturesque Theale, and Thatcham Broadway.
- 60 Streatham to Old Coulsdon – from suburban South London, via Croydon and on to the southernmost extremity of Greater London.
- 184 Huddersfield to Oldham – a stunning drive across Saddleworth Moor.
- 218 Sheffield to Bakewell – runs into the grounds of Chatsworth House; I even saw a herd of deer together there before the noise of the bus panicked them.
- 391 Macclesfield to Stockport – twisting and turning through one tiny Cheshire village after another.
- 576 Halifax to Bradford – the most amazing views climbing out of Halifax, like the railway ascent out of Brig (Switzerland) towards Spiez.
ABOVE: Climbing away from Halifax on route 576, somewhere between Boothtown and Catherine Slack, looking west, on Thursday 12th August 2021. I have left the bus seats in the picture to prove that I’m on a bus and not in an aircraft!
- S6 Swindon to Oxford – lovely drive through the Vale of the White Horse in Oxfordshire, calling into Faringdon en route. Used to be numbered 66 and would have made the list if it still was!
- V1 Manchester to Leigh – miles and miles down a guided busway. So much untapped modal shift potential.
ABOVE: First Manchester Volvo B5L Hybrid/Wright Gemini 3 39261, in Vantage livery on the 4.5 mile long Leigh to Ellenbrook Guided Busway in Greater Manchester, whilst working route V2 (Atherton to Manchester) on Tuesday 1st June 2021. Taken from route V1, which uses the full length of the Busway (the V2 branches off before Leigh).
- X44 Norwich to Sheringham – an hour through the Norfolk countryside to one of its prettiest seaside resorts.
- 6.1 Bakewell to Derby – another lovely country drive; Wirksworth is a particular highlight here.
We start with route 14. Traveline turns up about 70 routes with this number, running the length and breadth of the country. Which one have I chosen? You’re about to find out…