CBT Epic Bus Competition: How Far Can You Go on 3 Buses?

[Ken H]

Sheffield to Oldham:
29 from Sheffield to Holmfirth - Tm Travel then
Any of the Huddersfield to Holmfirth First services then
184 from Huddersfield to Oldham.

Sheffield to Leeds:
2 or X17 from Sheffield to Barnsley then 59 from Barnsley to Wakefield all Stagecoach then Arriva 110 to Leeds.

Barnsley to Whitby:
Stagecoach 59 from Barnsley to Wakefield then
Arriva 110 from Wakefield to Leeds then
Transdev Coastliner 840 to Whitby.

It's a pity that there are no through Leeds-Skipton services anymore. A coast to coast Scarborough - Leeds - Lancaster would have been good. First dumped Ilkley - Skipton during Covid and there are just a few Transdev services now.

 

[dodecahedron67]

It's a pity that there are no through Leeds-Skipton services anymore. A coast to coast Scarborough - Leeds - Lancaster would have been good. First dumped Ilkley - Skipton during Covid and there are just a few Transdev services now.

There's some weekend/sunday/bank holiday only dales buses running now, they do York through to Skipton but I think you'd be hard pressed starting any further east than Malton in order to be in York early enough to make the dalesbus

 

[Ken H]

There's some weekend/sunday/bank holiday only dales buses running now, they do York through to Skipton but I think you'd be hard pressed starting any further east than Malton in order to be in York early enough to make the dalesbus

I assumed Dalesbus was out of scope as many routes are banned for bus passes. Dunno if the £2 fares will be available on Dalesbus this year.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

It's a pity that there are no through Leeds-Skipton services anymore. A coast to coast Scarborough - Leeds - Lancaster would have been good. First dumped Ilkley - Skipton during Covid and there are just a few Transdev services now.

I don't believe there are any Skipton-Lancaster buses (have there ever been?), so lack of Leeds-Skipton services won't be your only problem if you want to do coast-to-coast in 3 buses!

 

[Ken H]

I don't believe there are any Skipton-Lancaster buses (have there ever been?), so lack of Leeds-Skipton services won't be your only problem if you want to do coast-to-coast in 3 buses!

The 580 Skipton to Settle becomes a 581 to go on to Kirkby Lonsdale. It then becomes an 81 or 82 for Lancaster. It's one bus that runs through. Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire run it with buses, not coaches.
I think there are 4 separate registrations so bustimes.org isn't helpful. The Dalesbus website has the timetable showing through workings.

 

[dodecahedron67]

I assumed Dalesbus was out of scope as many routes are banned for bus passes. Dunno if the £2 fares will be available on Dalesbus this year.

£2 fares are available on the York dalesbuses at a minimum

 

[DynamicSpirit]

The 580 Skipton to Settle becomes a 581 to go on to Kirkby Lonsdale. It then becomes an 81 or 82 for Lancaster. It's one bus that runs through. Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire run it with buses, not coaches.
I think there are 4 separate registrations so bustimes.org isn't helpful. The Dalesbus website has the timetable showing through workings.

Ah yes. I see what you mean. It's on page 36 of this timetable.

Connections at Kirkby Lonsdale and Settle are guaranteed - through fares are available and usually there is no need to change buses.

That's quite a good catch for the competition that you can get from Lancaster to Skipton on one ticket.

As an aside, I'm sure I recall only a few years ago travelling between Lancaster and Kirby Lonsdale on a Stagecoach bus, possibly using a Stagecoach MegaRider (or something similar) ticket. Is my memory faulty or has something happened in the last few years that caused that route to switch operators?

 

[Ken H]

Ah yes. I see what you mean. It's on page 36 of this timetable.



That's quite a good catch for the competition that you can get from Lancaster to Skipton on one ticket.

As an aside, I'm sure I recall only a few years ago travelling between Lancaster and Kirby Lonsdale on a Stagecoach bus, possibly using a Stagecoach MegaRider (or something similar) ticket. Is my memory faulty or has something happened in the last few years that caused that route to switch operators?

Yes. There used to be Stagecoach routes to KL and Ingleton. They abandoned the Lune valley and KLCH took over. But KLCH did have a Lancaster - KL service before then, the current 82
This may be an easier timetable to read

Timetables 580, 581, 583, 75, 81, 82

Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire

klch.co.uk

Bear in mind Ingleton is in N Yorks, Cowan Bridge is in Lancashire, Kirkby Lonsdale is in Cumbria, then back into Lancashire for the run into Lancaster.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

The competition has closed and the winner has been announced -

Today we are delighted to announce our winner! Adham Fisher from Leicester (right) made a truly epic trip from Swindon, changing at Oxford and Bedford, all the way to Cambridge. That’s a journey of 93 miles as the crow flies!

Adham is a very apt winner – in fact he’s known as ‘the Extreme Commuter‘ for his public transport stunts around the world. He has held Guinness World Records for visiting every station on the New York subway, the Paris Metro and Berlin U-Bahn. And he has travelled on 199 different TfL bus routes in the space of 24 hours.

The winning entry isn't that dissimilar from this suggestion

This can be beaten by starting in Cheltenham and not switching from the S5 to the X5.

Cheltenham -> (S2) -> Oxford -> (X5) -> Bedford -> (905) -> Cambridge

But @JonathanH's suggestion would have been slightly longer. Guess Adham Fisher doesn't read railforums