Bus Station Designs in the UK

[Teapot42]

If you want a small bus station, I recommend Hayfield in Derbyshire. It is called a bus station but consists of one stand. Which really is one bus stop in the village car park (that once was the railway station).

Nearby is New Mills Bus Station which has two stands. It is isn't really sawtooth though.

New Mills is odd. I think it's actually only one stand, but with two shelters. Both Streetview and Bustimes only shows one stop there. It is at least a handy interchange with the railway - if you can do stairs!

Hayfield does have handy toilets, should the driver need a quick stop. The junction to get in / out can be awkward though. In some ways the buses would be better going through the village, only since the top of Glossop Road was made one-way that is no longer viable.

 

[mangad]

New Mills is odd. I think it's actually only one stand, but with two shelters. Both Streetview and Bustimes only shows one stop there. It is at least a handy interchange with the railway - if you can do stairs!

There's definitely two stops there. But officially most of the services use stop 1, and only the 60 uses stop 2. Not that it is in any way clear which is which, and which services go from where when you actually use the bus station. I only know from looking at the timetables. In reality unless there are two buses in at once, it's all rather irrelevant.

Last time I was there were rail replacement coaches in getting in the way and causing much confusion. In as much as you can be confused when all there is is two tatty bus shelters.

 

[CN12 AWU]

Hull is poorly designed in my opinion with the drive in and reverse off

Sometimes it can cause bad tailbacks as too many are reversing at same time

The best one I seen for reversing is Hanley Bus Station where groups of buses are controlled by traffic lights on the stands (or this used to be the case)

 

[mattb7tl]

Halifax is fit for purpose and a giant improvement over the previous bus station. It does however have a few flaws a huge lack of layover bays and waiting at a stand can feel quite cramped due to the narrow design.

 

[markymark2000]

Luton Airport bus station has such a traffic light system, but it seems to be causing significant delays, with buses and coaches sitting at bus stands waiting for the light to turn green before they can reverse. It can be a couple of minutes at busy times.

It's a bit of a daft layout though which has a lot of conflicting movements and some buses having to turn different directions when reversing (health and safety nightmare). I'm not sure if much better could have been done with the space though?

How that ever passed disability regulations I don’t know. Forcing wheelchair users to wait somewhere else, in a new build, and in London of all places doesn’t sound very 21st century.

It's better than most other drive in, reverse off bus stations, whereby if a dual door bus turns up, there is no suitable place for a wheelchair user to board/alight.

*It doesn't make much sense to me that a bus station - where where the roadway is fenced off from the public areas, there are lots of warning signs, and everyone there is expecting buses to be driving around because, well, that's what tends to happen in bus stations - apparently needs a much lower speed limit than the open road where all kinds of risks are present. But whatever.

Wigan is awful for it. The layover areas are 5mph to drive through, but it's all barriered off for pedestrians and the bus station is a DIRO the other side of the island with no crossings. I can't see any good reason for the low speed limit that side of the bus station. It's the sort of limit that would be ignored if it wasn't for TFGM putting up speed cameras to catch drivers.


One bus station that I do enjoy, even if it's not the best, is Runcorn Halton Lea. Something quite fun about being 3 stories up on a busway.
Another one that I really like Leicester St Maragets. DIRO layout, but mostly quite spacious, lots of information available, and even the quick exit onto the A6. Only down sides is the congestion for buses to pull into the bus station, it's too narrow near the NatEx offices, and too few coach stands (so Flixbus is being forced to use a stand which prohibits the boarding/alighting of wheelchairs.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Hull is poorly designed in my opinion with the drive in and reverse off

Sometimes it can cause bad tailbacks as too many are reversing at same time

The best one I seen for reversing is Hanley Bus Station where groups of buses are controlled by traffic lights on the stands (or this used to be the case)

To be fair Hull must be one of the busiest bus stations in the country in terms of number of bus movements, and I think any design would struggle somewhat.

It's light years ahead of the old one- don't get me wrong, it was a happy place for many enthusiasts (myself included). But how did we survive?
Buses dropping off in the middle of the road, and often in front of other buses; the need to walk across the arrival carriageway to reach the departure stands, with the added caveat that empty buses moving from the parking area ("the muck") onto the stands were running in the opposite direction to the main arrivals flow; queues that stretched across the roadway at times of disruption.

The new one might not be perfect, but it's definitely an improvement!

 

[REVUpminster]

This is Paignton bus station. Sawtooth design. A lot in a small space and opposite the train station.
Likely to close in the next few years as Stagecoach begin using electric buses in the next few weeks, which they will not park up here at night as they do diesel buses. Really busy in the summer all day. Closed it's information office, right hand end, during covid never to reopen. Staff toilets and mess left hand end.

 

[Statto]

Halifax is fit for purpose and a giant improvement over the previous bus station. It does however have a few flaws a huge lack of layover bays and waiting at a stand can feel quite cramped due to the narrow design.

Wigan fits that description, it was rebuilt a few years ago however, whilst there's plenty of room for buses, the concourse is quite narrow & can feel cramped at busy times.

 

[M60lad]

Derby Bus Station is DIRO with plenty of layover spots but not to sure if it still happens but there have been times in the past that for some reason its ground to a halt with too many vehicles reversing off stands at once and other vehicles waiting for stand space.

Also not to sure if it still happens but in the past with DIRO Bus Stations there has been problems with either buses reversing off stand then breaking down as they won't select forward gear or buses being stuck on stand due to gearbox not wanting to select reverse.

 

[Man of Kent]

Hull is poorly designed in my opinion with the drive in and reverse off

Sometimes it can cause bad tailbacks as too many are reversing at same time

The best one I seen for reversing is Hanley Bus Station where groups of buses are controlled by traffic lights on the stands (or this used to be the case)

But if you just miss the green light at Hanley, it can cause a couple of minutes of delay before being able to reverse. Meantime, this frustrates passengers who think the driver is ignoring them.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Wigan fits that description, it was rebuilt a few years ago however, whilst there's plenty of room for buses, the concourse is quite narrow & can feel cramped at busy times.

It's odd that the concourse might be a little narrow in places when there's not exactly a shortage of space on site.

 

[CN12 AWU]

Merthyr Tydfil is another that's poorly designed where the old one in my opinion seemed better

Also Caerphilly doesn't always work

 

[Statto]

It's odd that the concourse might be a little narrow in places when there's not exactly a shortage of space on site.

View attachment 199083
View attachment 199085

Indeed the concourse could have been built 5 - 10 meters wider without compromising bus area, the concourse can feel claustrophobic at busy times.

 

[geoffk]

I think a key reason the UK uses sawtooth and end-in so much compared to other countries is that the UK mostly uses single-door buses, whereas most other countries use dual-door. Without large gaps between stops for "platforms" from which both doors can be reached (as on dual door buses wheelchair users often have to use the rear doors), these designs aren't suitable for dual door buses.

In London where dual door is the norm except some small single deckers, these designs don't really exist.

Exeter bus station is drive in-reverse out, but the stands only work for buses with the door ahead of the front axle, as the front of the bus overhangs a raised "pad" used for boarding and alighting. An Optare Solo, for example, doesn't fit this layout.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Merthyr Tydfil is another that's poorly designed where the old one in my opinion seemed better

The old Merthyr one was terrible. A double horseshoe so if you wanted to interchange, you might have a hike around both. However, worse than that... it was an absolute dump. Granted some of that was because the redevelopment was long touted and so why spend money on something but it was dreadful.

What is poorly designed about the new one?

My photos of the old one

 

[Statto]

The stands at the old Merthyr bus station kind of reminds me of the old stands at Chester Bus Exchange before they replaced them with standard shelters, Chester bus exchange was tiny & cramped, & couple of stands for the Welsh routes in a weird location, & Chester bus exchange had far too many routes for the size of the bus exchange.

The Chester bus station behind the Town Hall was called Chester Bus Exchange as Chester had another bus station in nearby Delamere Street, this was more for interurban routes & coach services, originally owned by Crosville, was much bigger than the bus exchange but by the late 90s most routes didn't call there & Delamere Street bus station since been closed & demolished.

Rather amusingly the new Chester Interchange is only couple of hundred down the same road from where Delamere Street bus station used to be.

 

[Tetchytyke]

It's odd that the concourse might be a little narrow in places when there's not exactly a shortage of space on site.

Indeed the concourse could have been built 5 - 10 meters wider without compromising bus area, the concourse can feel claustrophobic at busy times.

The big reservation between the running lane and the layover area really doesn't make sense.

But the distance between the concourse and the running lane is about right. It's the same as the WYPTE bus stations where there's a specific reversing area rather than reversing straight into the running lane.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

But the distance between the concourse and the running lane is about right. It's the same as the WYPTE bus stations where there's a specific reversing area rather than reversing straight into the running lane.

It's a bit overkill to have about 30m lanes for each stand

 

[H&I]

But if you just miss the green light at Hanley, it can cause a couple of minutes of delay before being able to reverse. Meantime, this frustrates passengers who think the driver is ignoring them.

If a traffic light system is needed, I wonder why it can't be activated on request. The bus driver could press a button to leave and could keep the doors open, allowing passengers to board, until the light turns green. That way, passengers won't be frustrated by not being able to board when they can still see a bus on stand that's only waiting to reverse.

 

[Statto]

Does anyone remember the old Pier Head bus station in Liverpool, that was drive in reverse out bus station, & had a group of stands (known as the Z stands) in the island, that a subway was built however passengers would rather chance there arm crossing over the roadway (which was only 2 lanes wide) as that subway was awful & stunk of urine, & the Pier Head was very bleak in Winter.

Seacombe the old layout had a separate alighting point next to the terminal with a layover area, buses would pick up on the southside of the bus terminus, but the stands were drive in reverse out, it changed to the current layout early 2000s & they got rid of the cobbles doing it, which had the old Wallasey Corporation numbers on the roadway.

 

[Pinus contorta]

It's odd that the concourse might be a little narrow in places when there's not exactly a shortage of space on site.

View attachment 199083
View attachment 199085

It is a mystery why it is designed like that.
The area the other side of the concourse is limited by the Queens Hall which is a listed building. The concourse itself is a bit of a nuisance for passenger circulation at school kicking out time. It is just not big enough. There's a Secondary School and the College just out of view of the photo This seems to make the problem worse. Did they run out of money or time at the design stage?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It's better than most other drive in, reverse off bus stations, whereby if a dual door bus turns up, there is no suitable place for a wheelchair user to board/alight.

I suspect that's why TfL tend not to go for DIRO stations. Kingston Cromwell Road being something of a rarity. Most places that favour DIRO exclusively use single door vehicles.
Back when I lived in the area I used Cromwell Road every day, but my route was the 411 which almost always used single door buses. Occasionally we'd get a dual door MCW Metrobus deputising, but this was in the days before step-entrance buses were forcibly removed.

When Huddersfield bus station was last refurbished, the PTE made a big song & dance about how the stands on the new entryway would be suitable for bendy buses (which would use the stands which are used for disembarking currently). No bendies have ever operated in the town, although First did send one over from Leeds for gauging trials once.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

It is a mystery why it is designed like that.
The area the other side of the concourse is limited by the Queens Hall which is a listed building. The concourse itself is a bit of a nuisance for passenger circulation at school kicking out time. It is just not big enough. There's a Secondary School and the College just out of view of the photo This seems to make the problem worse. Did they run out of money or time at the design stage?

I doubt it was money - just an underestimate of waiting/circulation space.