Trivia: Most profitable rural bus routes

[PTR 444]

Out of interest, are there many, if any, bus routes in the UK away from towns and cities that make a profit from paying passengers alone? Preferably without support from councils, cross subsidy from other services or concessionary reimbursements*.

* By rural route, I mean any local bus service which runs between at least two distinct settlements separated by countryside, so could be a route linking at least two towns/cities or a town/city and a separate village.

 

[carlberry]

Out of interest, are there many, if any, bus routes in the UK away from towns and cities that make a profit from paying passengers alone? Preferably without support from councils, cross subsidy from other services or ENCTS reimbursements*.

By rural route, I mean any local bus service which runs between at least two distinct settlements separated by countryside, so could be a route linking at least two towns/cities or a town/city and a separate village.

By the definition of the question quite a few in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Plus all those in England that are specified as 'tourist' routes such as open toppers. The people who qualify for ENCTS make up a significant percentage of bus passengers so, whoever pays for them, they'd still be a significant part of the revenue for revenue.
The most profitable are always going to be something between two fairly close cities (Bristol and Bath would be a local example) however others would question how 'rural' that would be. Truly rural possibilities would be something Lake district routes in a good summer as long as the winter service is fairly minimal.

 

[miklcct]

I'm thinking morebus X3 and 50 as local examples which may be profitable, but I'm not 100% sure given the recent service reduction on the 50 after September that late evening service is totally gone, and the X3 had to reduce its evening service a few years ago, leaving the late night Salisbury service only running on Friday and Saturday nights.

These 2 routes both run between settlements with no direct rail connection.

 

[NorthOxonian]

I would imagine the Coastliner services are up there - the fares are high and loadings are generally good (even out of season). The western part of the route between Leeds and York is arguably more suburban in nature, but the eastern part is rural by any reasonable definition.

Other routes which might be fairly profitable are those which serve otherwise inaccessible towns. A route like the 28 in Somerset (which is one of the county's busiest according to their Bus Service Improvement Plan) which is Minehead's main public transport link to the rest of the UK will likely turn a substantial profit.

 

[Flange Squeal]

The Winchester to Alton route 64, operated by Stagecoach South, could be a contender? The route registration says it isn’t supported by subsidy. Its current timetable offers a half-hourly frequency until around 1815 Monday to Saturday, then hourly evenings (until around 2300) and Sundays (0900-1800). The route received a fleet of six brand new route branded 67-reg Enviro 400MMCs in 2017.

Loadings can be very good, even post-Covid, with students, shoppers and commuters. A look at the A31 between Winchester and Alton shows the rural nature, with Alresford being the only place enroute of real size, with Four Marks a more linear village. It broadly follows what used to be a railway before closure in the early ‘70s, so it also acts as a link to the mainline network at either Winchester or Alton for the intermediate villages.

Populations en route are as follows, based on quick Google searches:

Winchester - 45,184
Alresford - 5,431
Bishops Sutton - 463
Ropley - 1,602
Four Marks - 4,799
Alton - 17,816

All that said, The Guardian has in the past published an article entitled: ‘We’re being ripped off’: is the 64 from Winchester England’s priciest bus?

 

[station_road]

TrentBartons Red Arrow from Derby to Nottingham - not exactly rural but does cross countryside between the two cities and doesn't accept ENCTS cards in either direction, and manages to run 24 hours a day for most of the week

 

[mmh]

Out of interest, are there many, if any, bus routes in the UK away from towns and cities that make a profit from paying passengers alone? Preferably without support from councils, cross subsidy from other services or concessionary reimbursements*.

* By rural route, I mean any local bus service which runs between at least two distinct settlements separated by countryside, so could be a route linking at least two towns/cities or a town/city and a separate village.

Yes. The vast majority of bus services in North Wales have no subsidy.

 

[PTR 444]

The Winchester to Alton route 64, operated by Stagecoach South, could be a contender? The route registration says it isn’t supported by subsidy. Its current timetable offers a half-hourly frequency until around 1815 Monday to Saturday, then hourly evenings (until around 2300) and Sundays (0900-1800). The route received a fleet of six brand new route branded 67-reg Enviro 400MMCs in 2017.

Loadings can be very good, even post-Covid, with students, shoppers and commuters. A look at the A31 between Winchester and Alton shows the rural nature, with Alresford being the only place enroute of real size, with Four Marks a more linear village. It broadly follows what used to be a railway before closure in the early ‘70s, so it also acts as a link to the mainline network at either Winchester or Alton for the intermediate villages.

Populations en route are as follows, based on quick Google searches:

Winchester - 45,184
Alresford - 5,431
Bishops Sutton - 463
Ropley - 1,602
Four Marks - 4,799
Alton - 17,816

All that said, The Guardian has in the past published an article entitled: ‘We’re being ripped off’: is the 64 from Winchester England’s priciest bus?

At a guess, I would imagine any rural route which gets new buses for it every 5 or so years makes a good profit. Thinking of routes like Bluestar’s 1 between Winchester & Southampton and More’s X3 between Bournemouth & Salisbury which both have the superb Enviro400s with comfy seats and tables.

 

[Dai Corner]

Yes. The vast majority of bus services in North Wales have no subsidy.

There are thirty subsidised services in Gwynedd alone apparently

T64.xlsx

www.whatdotheyknow.com

 

[175mph]

The 350 Stagecoach/East Yorkshire service between Scunthorpe and Hull, since it was relaunched as 'Humber Fastcat' and had it's frequency upgraded to every half hour in March 2009. Stagecoach have invested in new buses for the route twice, once in the original 2009 relaunch, and again in late 2017.

 

[Simon75]

38 Crewe to Macclesfield (Arriva Macclesfield/Winsford
3 Crewe to Hanley (Stoke-on-Trent) First Potteries

These were once (word of mouth quite profitable)

 

[Megafuss]

I could imagine something like the X99 Inverness to Thurso being quite profitable for the number of trips opersted. The single and return fares are quite expensive. Not much resource is used and they use decent kit on there. So it must pay its way (or used to)

 

[daodao]

38 Crewe to Macclesfield (Arriva Macclesfield/Winsford
3 Crewe to Hanley (Stoke-on-Trent) First Potteries

Route 38 Crewe to Macclesfield has no Sunday service and the weekday evening service is subsidised. However, there is competition between Arriva and D&G during the daytime. Route 3 (formerly route 20) Crewe to Hanley has had significant frequency reductions in recent years and no longer extends to Leighton Hospital; it is stated to be "commercial", but some evening and Sunday journeys might be subsidised.

Route 36 from Leeds to Harrogate/Ripon is a high frequency interurban route operated by premium vehicles whose current frequency is better than it was 50 years ago. I would be surprised if it was not profitable.

 

[Agent_Squash]

The 599 Bowness - Grasmere must be up there. Even during the winter there’s still people on that open top!

 

[Eyersey468]

If the Hull to York service x46 counts then that is probably one of East Yorkshire's most profitable rural routes

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I guess we're all speculating but invariably, you're looking at inter-urban routes that regularly receive new fleet etc (though given the level of ENCTS patronage as a rule, is anything really without additional funding even if it is compensation for fares forgone, allegedly?).

I'd suggest something like the S6 Swindon to Oxford may fit in the category.

In the north east, it was always suggested that the Blyth - Cramlington - Newcastle routes were amongst the best performing

 

[Bletchleyite]

Oxford-Bedford X5 must be up there somewhere. The new 905 probably does well, too. And the Bicester routes.

 

[Kremlin Stooge]

I’ll throw in another West Country candidate (at least pre-pandemic), the 376 Bristol to Wells/Street.

 

[sk688]

Along with the First West of England 376.
The 173 and 174 used to do pretty well too.

 

[aswilliamsuk]

The 555 through the Lakes has to do pretty well, judging on the regular renewal of the fleet for the route.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The 555 through the Lakes has to do pretty well, judging on the regular renewal of the fleet for the route.

Along those lines the Isle of Wight network, which is mostly very rural but does OK out of passholders and the high cost of day tickets.

 

[aswilliamsuk]

I should probably add at least one local route to me - the 16 (Hythe - Folkestone - Canterbury), which serves a fairly rural area between Folkestone and Canterbury, at least beyond Hawkinge.

I'm not convinced the similarly busy 102 counts - most of that route is semi-urban.

 

[Taunton]

Other routes which might be fairly profitable are those which serve otherwise inaccessible towns. A route like the 28 in Somerset (which is one of the county's busiest according to their Bus Service Improvement Plan) which is Minehead's main public transport link to the rest of the UK will likely turn a substantial profit.

I'm not sure where these passengers come from; the buses don't seem notably well patronised year round. 50 years ago its predecessor, Western National 218, ran Taunton to Minehead every 2 hours. Nowadays it's every 30 minutes, although of course there used to be an evening service which there isn't now. And the running time is just the same today, just over an hour-and-a-half, as it was then with asthmatic Bristol Lodekkas compared to the high powered vehicles nowadays.

But the key thing is that even long ago this route was marginal; it was the only route from Minehead that didn't make a loss, and when the West Somerset Railway enthusiasts were taking over the Minehead branch and aimed to run through to Taunton it started off a long-running antipathy to the rail venture by BR staff, as for historic reasons from the old GWR bus services of the 1920s-30s the union representing bus crews at Taunton and Minehead was the NUR rather than the TGWU, and anything to do with the WSR was "blacked" by the union, road and rail, as there was a fear that if this one route lost any passengers the Minehead depot itself would be tipped over the edge financially and closed.

 

[mangyiscute]

Oxford-Bedford X5 must be up there somewhere. The new 905 probably does well, too. And the Bicester routes.

tbh I very rarely see more than single figures on the X5 when it is arriving/leaving Oxford, but most of the Stagecoach S routes have good loadings especially in the peaks - I reckon the S1/S2/H2 must be doing well to support 6 buses an hour to Witney

 

[sk688]

tbh I very rarely see more than single figures on the X5 when it is arriving/leaving Oxford, but most of the Stagecoach S routes have good loadings especially in the peaks - I reckon the S1/S2/H2 must be doing well to support 6 buses an hour to Witney

The X5 is always quite busy whenever I've seen/used it around Milton Keynes, particularly heading towards Bedford

 

[mangyiscute]

The X5 is always quite busy whenever I've seen/used it around Milton Keynes, particularly heading towards Bedford

That makes sense to me on how it keeps going - since I only ever see it being barely empty in Oxford, I did wonder how they keep the half-hour frequency going

 

[stuu]

I'm not sure where these passengers come from; the buses don't seem notably well patronised year round. 50 years ago its predecessor, Western National 218, ran Taunton to Minehead every 2 hours. Nowadays it's every 30 minutes, although of course there used to be an evening service which there isn't now. And the running time is just the same today, just over an hour-and-a-half, as it was then with asthmatic Bristol Lodekkas compared to the high powered vehicles nowadays.

They are, or at least were pre-pandemic. I lived in Bishops Lydeard until a couple of years ago, and used it regularly. I used to catch it mid-mornings most days, and it was rarer to get a seat than to stand. It was not unknown to go past being too full to get on, especially on Mondays if there had been events at Butlins (why they couldn't foresee that is a different matter). I used it at other times too and it was very unusual to get on an empty one. The service still manages to run until mid-evening and Sundays, which is better than most others round here

The traffic being much worse than it was 30+ years ago is the reason for the running times not changing

 

[6Gman]

I would imagine the Coastliner services are up there - the fares are high and loadings are generally good (even out of season). The western part of the route between Leeds and York is arguably more suburban in nature, but the eastern part is rural by any reasonable definition.

Wasn't Yorkshire Coastliner the most profitable bus company in the UK at one time?

 

[Deerfold]

I would imagine the Coastliner services are up there - the fares are high and loadings are generally good (even out of season). The western part of the route between Leeds and York is arguably more suburban in nature, but the eastern part is rural by any reasonable definition.

Other routes which might be fairly profitable are those which serve otherwise inaccessible towns. A route like the 28 in Somerset (which is one of the county's busiest according to their Bus Service Improvement Plan) which is Minehead's main public transport link to the rest of the UK will likely turn a substantial profit.

However, except for the extra Scarborough services this last summer, the service has slowly been cut over the last 10 years or so, losing the direct expresses, the Bridlington services and most of the Whitby services.

 

[LucyP]

So that they can concentrate on the 36 between Harrogate and Leeds which is the most profitable part of the operation.