Trivia: Multi operator bus tickets accepted by the most amount of bus operators.

[stadler]

Which multi operator bus tickets are accepted by the most amount of bus operators?

We have quite a lot of multi operator bus tickets but normally they only cover smaller areas and are only accepted by around five operators. But there are some bigger ones. The most i can find is the Discovery Ticket which is issued and accepted on 32 different bus operators.

DISCOVERY TICKET (32 Operators):
• 1st Bus Stop
• Arriva Kent
• ASD Coaches
• Autocar
• Big Lemon (Seaford & District)
• Brookline Coaches
• Chalkwell Coaches
• Community Transport Lewes Area (CTLA)
• Compass Bus
• Cuckmere Buses
• Diamond Bus South East
• ESCC Flexibus (DRT Scheme)
• Falcon Buses
• Farleigh Coaches
• Go Ahead Brighton & Hove
• Go Ahead Kent Country
• Go Ahead Kent Fasttrack
• Go Ahead Metrobus
• Go Bus
• Hams Travel
• Nu Ventute
• Red Route Buses
• Reptons Coaches
• Regent Coaches
• Rye & District Community Transport
• Safeguard Buses
• Stagecoach South
• Stagecoach South East
• Sussex Coaches
• Wealdlink
• White Bus
• WSCC Book A Bus (DRT Scheme)

It covers a massive area too stretching from Dover to Salisbury covering the Kent / Sussex / Surrey / Hampshire / Wiltshire / Berkshire areas.

I imagine the old Explorer ticket that got replaced by the Discovery about ten to fifteen years ago would have beaten this as i think around 40 to 50 operators took that.

Is anyone aware of any other multi operator tickets accepted by more than the Discovery ticket with 32 operators?

Or if not then i would be interested in any other significant multi operator tickets that cover a large area and are accepted by a good amount of bus operators?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I imagine the old Explorer ticket that got replaced by the Discovery about ten to fifteen years ago would have beaten this as i think around 40 to 50 operators took that.

The very old Explorer ticket (i.e. NBC era) was a national product. Rather bizarrely, it had different prices with local operators so people bought books of them from some firms to use on others. Can't recall how many NBC bus operators there were at peak (mid 1986) but must've been forty or fifty.

I'd imagine that Discovery is the king in terms of operators and scale.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Is anyone aware of any other multi operator tickets accepted by more than the Discovery ticket with 32 operators?

I wouldn't imagine any would beat that.

Something like the Explorer North East has a similar geographic validity- Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Teesside, and parts of North Yorkshire and Cumberland. You can use the ticket from Carlisle or Berwick all the way to Scarborough. But because the operators have consolidated, and because the smaller independents are no longer opting in to the scheme, it only has five bus operators in the scheme (plus the Shields Ferry, Metro, and Northern Rail from Blaydon to Sunderland).

 

[NorthOxonian]

I wouldn't imagine any would beat that.

Something like the Explorer North East has a similar geographic validity- Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, Teesside, and parts of North Yorkshire and Cumberland. You can use the ticket from Carlisle or Berwick all the way to Scarborough. But because the operators have consolidated, and because the smaller independents are no longer opting in to the scheme, it only has five bus operators in the scheme (plus the Shields Ferry, Metro, and Northern Rail from Blaydon to Sunderland).

The TNE day ticket is I think accepted by slightly more independents but restricts you to Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and County Durham - I've used it on Weardale with no issues (indeed, you'd not be able to get to Barnard Castle on it if they weren't included!) and Borders Buses advertises accepting the ticket for local travel in Berwick and routes to Holy Island/Wooler.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The TNE day ticket is I think accepted by slightly more independents but restricts you to Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and County Durham - I've used it on Weardale with no issues (indeed, you'd not be able to get to Barnard Castle on it if they weren't included!) and Borders Buses advertises accepting the ticket for local travel in Berwick and routes to Holy Island/Wooler.

TNE day saver is indeed valid on Weardale; they used to participate in Explorer North East but left the scheme when they realised that they were getting lots of tourist travel but none of the revenue. Used it myself on a trip out last year that included Weardale and Gateshead Central Taxis, as well as Go North East, Arriva, and Stagecoach (and the Metro). It is valid on all bus operators in within Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and Co Durham. That means you can travel to Barney on Weardale but not on Arriva from Darlington.

 

[ALEMASTER]

Yes, think that could be hard to beat! Just looked at the list of operators for the Travelmaster range of tickets (Citywide, SY Connect, Wayfarer and Getabout) in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire and there's a fair few on it though:
- Arriva Yorkshire
- Arriva Midlands
- Ashbourne Community Transport
- D&G
- Central Connect
- CT4N
- Diamond Bus
- First South Yorkshire
- High Peak
- Kinch
- Littles
- Midland Classic
- Notts & Derby
- Andrews of Tideswell
- Sheffield Community Transport
- South Pennine Community Transport
- TM Travel
- Trentbarton
- Stagecoach Yorkshire
- Stagecoach East Midlands
- Watersons Coaches
- Cawthorne's
- Globe
- Goodfellows
- Supertram
- Cross Country Trains
- East Midlands Railway
- Transpennine Express
- Northern

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

Spt zonecard

ScotRail
SPT subway
Avondale
Canavan Travel
Colchri
CTG
First Glasgow
Garelochhead coaches
Hobson travel
Houston's mini coaches
JMB
McColls
McGills
Mcgills Scotland east
McNairn’s Coaches
Millport Motors (578A only )
PVT transfer
Shuttle buses
Stagecoach West of Scotland
Stagecoach east of Scotland
Stuart's coaches
Todds travel
United coaches
West coast motors
Wilson's coach's
Whitlaws
Wilsons of rhu

 

[Tetchytyke]

The TNE day ticket is I think accepted by slightly more independents but restricts you to Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and County Durham

Weardale are one of those who used to be in Explorer North East but aren't anymore. Travelsure used to be in the scheme too but, when they closed, Borders Buses took over the routes but didn't opt into the scheme.

The TNE ticket gives much better coverage in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and County Durham as a result. But it doesn't have the same geographical coverage, as it isn't valid in Cumberland, Teesside, or North Yorkshire. Teesside is a particular issue and one that's unlikely to be resolved as TNE and the Tees Metro Mayor have no intention of working with each other (and I don't blame TNE for not trusting Ben Houchen...). As @TheGrandWazoo notes, you can get to Barnard Castle on a TNE ticket but you can't do it via Darlington, which is a problem as that's the easiest way of getting to Barnard Castle.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Oct 2025 ==

The Greater Manchester Wayfarer website has 24 bus operators listed, but the list is out of date and includes duplicates (e.g. Transdev, Rosso, Lancashire United, and Burnley and Pendle are all listed separately) as well as companies which don't exist anymore or don't do stagecarriage work (Hulleys of Baslow, PMH Motors, Warrington's of Ilam). So who knows who you can actually use the ticket with these days!

 

[TheSel]

The TNE day ticket is I think accepted by slightly more independents but restricts you to Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and County Durham - I've used it on Weardale with no issues (indeed, you'd not be able to get to Barnard Castle on it if they weren't included!) and Borders Buses advertises accepting the ticket for local travel in Berwick and routes to Holy Island/Wooler.

Hmmmm. Borders Buses doesn't operate the Holy Island service any more. Contract passed to Glen Valley Tours w.e.f. 6 September 2025.

Latest timetable attached for anyone interested.