Trivia: Free bus routes that still exist today.

[stadler]

How many free bus routes still exist in the UK in 2026 today. There was a thread a couple of years ago about these but it seems that these are getting even rarer now. So many have been now withdrawn. At one point almost every town seemed to have a free bus running around the centre.

I am only interested in buses that are free for all. So any passenger must be able to simply walk on and travel for free. I know some are free just for hospital staff or university students or other categories on production of a special card. But i am just after buses that are free for all.

These free buses appear to still exist and are a mostly either town bus routes or university bus routes and a few other oddities:

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• Arriva Midlands
• Routes: 901/902/903/904/905/906 (Nottingham Uni Bus)
• Free travel on the entire routes.

• Centrebus North
• Route: HOP (Leicester City Centre Free Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Centrebus South
• Route: 230 (Luton To Caddington)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• First London
• Routes: KU1/KU2/KU3 (Kingston Uni Bus)
• Free travel on the entire routes.

• First Somerset Passenger Solutions
• Route: Bridgwater Minehead Route
• Free travel on the entire route.

• First York
• Routes: 6/U1/U2/U3/U4/UN1 (York Uni Bus)
• Free travel within the University Of York campus only.

• Forge Travel
• Routes: 37/38 (Maesteg Town Centre Free Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Go Ahead Brighton & Hove
• Routes: 3X/5B/23/25/25X/N25
• Free travel within and between both the Sussex University Falmer campus and the Brighton University Falmer campus and Falmer railway station and Falmer village only.

• Go Ahead Brighton & Hove
• Route: 78
• Free travel within the Stanmer Park grounds only.

• Go Ahead London
• Route: 849 (Roehampton Uni Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Richmond & Kingston Accessible Transport
• Route: RP1 (Richmond Park Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Rotala Diamond Buses
• Route: H30 (Heathrow Airport Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Rotala Diamond Buses
• Route: N30 (Heathrow Airport Bus)
• Free travel within the Heathrow Airport area only.

• Rotala Diamond Buses
• Route: RHU (Royal Holloway Uni Bus)
• Free travel within the Royal Holloway University campus only.

• Rutland County Council
• Route: Oakham Hopper (Oakham Town Centre Free Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Rutland County Council
• Route: R9 (Oakham To Stamford)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• South Pennine Community Transport
• Routes: SC1/SC2 (Sheffield City Centre Free Bus)
• Free travel on the entire routes.

• Stagecoach Manchester
• Routes: 1/2 (Manchester City Centre Free Bus)
• Free travel on the entire routes.

• Station Coaches
• Route: DTB (Dewsbury Town Centre Free Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Stephensons Of Essex
• Route: 288 (Maldon Town Centre Free Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Swansea Council
• Route: Shopper Hopper (Swansea City Centre Free Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Tetleys Coaches
• Route: LBU (Leeds Beckett Uni Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Tetleys Coaches
• Route: WCB (Wakefield Town Centre Free Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• TJ Travel
• Route: 113 (Dewsbury/Pinderfields/Pontefract Hospitals Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Transdev Team Pennine
• Route: FTB (Huddersfield Town Centre Free Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route

• Wellglade Kinchbus
• Route: Campus Shuttle (Loughborough Uni Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route.

• Wellglade Kinchbus
• Route: Sprint (Loughborough Uni Bus)
• Free travel within the Loughborough University campus only.

• Yeomans Travel
• Route: Zipper (Hereford City Centre Free Bus)
• Free travel on the entire route

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The various car park bus routes that operate at most of our airports are also free. Anyone can just board them without showing anything. It is impossible to find a full list but i know Heathrow / Gatwick / Stansted / Luton / Bristol / Cardiff / Birmingham / Manchester / Leeds Bradford / Edinburgh / Glasgow / Newcastle / Liverpool / Southampton airports all have such routes. There are probably a few other airports that also have them.

There are also dozens of Sainsburys Free Bus routes to at least seventeen stores (and some of these stores have multiple routes) that still exist today:

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• Abus
• Routes: 160/161/162/163/164/165
• Bristol (Winterstoke Road) Sainsburys Free Bus

• AMB Travel
• Route: Ashford Route
• Ashford (Bybrook) Sainsburys Free Bus

• Compass Bus
• Routes: BR1/BR2
• Bognor Regis Sainsburys Free Bus

• Compass Bus
• Routes: C1/C2/C3/C4/C5/C6/C7
• Chichester Sainsburys Free Bus

• Compass Bus
• Routes: 801/802
• Crawley Sainsburys Free Bus

• Compass Bus
• Routes: R1/R2/R3/R4/R5
• Littlehampton Sainsburys Free Bus

• Connexions Buses
• Routes: A/B/C/D/E
• Harrogate Sainsburys Free Bus

• Go Ahead Damory Coaches
• Routes: SA1/SA2/SA3/SA4/SA5
• Ferndown Sainsburys Free Bus

• Go Ahead North East
• Route: S2
• Team Valley Sainsburys Free Bus

• Group Travel
• Routes: 1/2/3/4/5
• Newquay Sainsburys Free Bus

• Hams Travel
• Routes: S1/S2
• Staplehurst Sainsburys Free Bus

• Newport Bus
• Route: 12
• Newport Sainsburys Free Bus

• Ridlers Coaches
• Route: Minehead Route
• Bridgwater Sainsburys Free Bus

• Semmence Coaches
• Routes: Bowthorpe Route/Costessey Route
• Norwich (Longwater) Sainsburys Free Bus

• South West Coaches
• Routes: S1/S2/S3/S4/S5/S6
• Weymouth Sainsburys Free Bus

• Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancs
• Route: University Route
• Lancaster Sainsburys Free Bus

• Stagecoach South
• Routes: S1/S2/S3/S4/S5/S6/S7/S8/S9/S10/S11
• Watchmoor Park Sainsburys Free Bus

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These routes are extremely hidden. Sainsburys have been paying for them for years but make zero effort to advertise them. Some have zero online publicity or timetables despite running for years. So i reckon that Sainsburys probably have dozens of other Sainsburys Free Bus routes that we simply do not know about. Asda and Tesco also used to have dozens of free bus routes but they scrapped them during covid. Theys supermarket free buses used to be extremely common in the 80s and 90s and 00s and almost every large superstore of Asda / Coop / M&S / Morrisons / Sainsburys / Tesco / Waitrose had one. But they are a rarity now and i imagine will dissapear entirely soon.

I would be very interested to hear if anyone knows of any other free bus routes operating anywhere in the UK that still exist today.

 

[Farigiraf]

The city centre circular route in Leicester, branded 'Hop!', operates a completely free 6bph service.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

South Pennine operates the Sheffield Connect, two free routes around the city centre.

 

[Edvid]

Centrebus South operate the free circular 230 through Luton and the adjacent villages to its west / south west, on behalf of the Caddington & Slip End Community Trust.

 

[Ballyheigue]

I think there is one from the Leeds Beckett University Headingley campus to Leeds Beckett University central campus which is just outside the city centre near the Infirmary. It's ran by Tetleys and I think the public can use it if they are on the campus which, although there are barriers and security by the road, can be reached on foot from the nearby park.

 

[SSmith2009]

The city centre circular route in Leicester, branded 'Hop!', operates a completely free 6bph service.

During the Mon-Fri off peak it's every 8 mins so 7/8 buses per hour depending on which hour you look at.

A very popular and useful service.

 

[Flange Squeal]

There are also dozens of Sainsburys Free Bus routes to at least sixteen stores (and some of these stores have multiple routes) that still exist today:

• Stagecoach South
• Routes: S1/S2/S3/S4/S5/S6/S7/S8/S9/S10/S11
• Watchmoor Park Sainsburys Free Bus

Just a minor point on this one, that the S8 (to/from the business park) was withdrawn around a decade, if not slightly longer, ago.

 

[ACBest]

Rutland County Council also operate the R9 between Stamford and Oakham free of charge.

 

[Howardh]

Manchester Airport bus that takes you from the free drop-off point to all the terminals. I know the tube is free (and rail?) between Heathrow's terminals, but is there a bus connection too?

 

[YorkRailFan]

Manchester Airport bus that takes you from the free drop-off point to all the terminals. I know the tube is free (and rail?) between Heathrow's terminals, but is there a bus connection too?

The Elizabeth Line & Heathrow Express are free for transfer between terminals. The free travel zone in Heathrow for TfL Buses no longer exists.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Manchester has had city centre free bus routes for quite a number of years. Piccadilly station has dedicated concourse bus stances for them.

 

[Edvid]

I know the tube is free (and rail?) between Heathrow's terminals, but is there a bus connection too?

The free travel zone in Heathrow for TfL Buses no longer exists.

The free H30 (operated by Diamond Bus South East on behalf of Heathrow Airport) connects Terminals 4 & 5 for most of the day, plus Central Bus Station and Hatton Cross in the wee hours.

 

[pwharley]

In Hereford, there's the City Zipper, operated by Yeomans.

Hereford City Zipper – Bus Service

herefordcitycouncil.gov.uk

 

[kkong]

Aberdeen Airport has a free shuttle bus between the terminal and long stay car park.

https://www.aberdeenairport.com/transport-and-directions/aberdeen-airport-parking/long-stay-parking/

Pull into our Long-stay car park and you can leave your car here free of charge for up to 1 hour.
You can either wait here for your passenger or you can hop on the free shuttle bus to meet them at the terminal.

 

[Buzby]

Sheffield offers not 1 but 2 circular routes connecting the Railway and bus stations operating clockwise and anti clockwise, I recall the services stop around 1800 but it’s quick as nobody needs to scan or pay.

 

[Jimmi]

Unsure if it's making a return for 2026 or not (I fear not), but on summer Saturdays there was service X75 from Newcastle to Wallington Hall operated by Go North East which was free to use if you were heading to the National Trust sites along the route, also 20% off admission to Belsay Hall & Wallington Hall with a free bus ticket.

EDIT: returns on May 2nd 2026

 

[65477]

This is only a temporary arrangement but under their "love my bus" initiative there will be free travel on certain routes for residents of Great Yeldham and the Hedinghams for a period.

 

[Bovverboy]

Manchester has had city centre free bus routes for quite a number of years. Piccadilly station has dedicated concourse bus stances for them.

Mentioned by the OP (under 'Stagecoach Manchester').

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Mentioned by the OP (under 'Stagecoach Manchester').

Which bus operators have been involved with the running of the Manchester city-centre free bus routes since inception?

 

[Fokx]

Which bus operators have been involved with the running of the Manchester city-centre free bus routes since inception?

First Manchester, Go North West and Stagecoach Manchester.

 

[JRT]

TJ's Travel
113 Pontefract Hospital - Pinderfields Hospital - Dewsbury & District Hospital
Runs nonstop between the hospitals, no fares are taken but a button is pressed for hospital worker or visitor

 

[MotCO]

• First Somerset Passenger Solutions
• Route: Bridgwater Minehead Route
• Free travel on the entire route.

This is the subject of a Youtube video.

The narrative attached to the video says:

"The HPC Community Bus by Somerset Passenger Solutions is a free bus running between Minehead and Bridgewater but I think also holds the title of the UK's most secretive bus! Have you ever tried to catch a bus that doesn't exist on Google Maps? Welcome to the HPC Community Bus—the most elusive and secretive bus service in the UK. Operated by a fleet of ominous, plain white buses with no branding and no listing on standard apps like bus-times.org or Traveline, this service is like a rare Pokémon: nearly impossible to find, but worth the hunt! In today’s adventure, I’m in Minehead, Somerset, attempting to track down this "Secret Bus" funded by EDF Energy. This specific community route is completely free for the public to use. From Minehead to Bridgewater a couple of times a day this bus serves some of the smaller villages that just never see a bus service! Carhampton, Washford, Watchet, West Quantoxhead, Kilve, Carrington and more! "

 

[RustySpoons]

[Supermarket] routes are extremely hidden. Sainsburys have been paying for them for years but make zero effort to advertise them. Some have zero online publicity or timetables despite running for years. So i reckon that Sainsburys probably have dozens of other Sainsburys Free Bus routes that we simply do not know about. Asda and Tesco also used to have dozens of free bus routes but they scrapped them during covid. Theys supermarket free buses used to be extremely common in the 80s and 90s and 00s and almost every large superstore of Asda / Coop / M&S / Morrisons / Sainsburys / Tesco / Waitrose had one. But they are a rarity now and i imagine will dissapear entirely soon.

This seems to be a common theme with free supermarket buses. Asda in Burnley had one for a number of years up until Covid, but no one knew about it. Staff at the bus station didn't know anything about it nor did Asda staff at the supermarket.

It ran alongside a regular service bus one day a week but was always empty, and despite both setting off from the same bus station the service bus was always well used to Asda. At one point a badly photocopied timetable went up briefly in the window of an old office in the Bus Station, but unless you knew it was there you'd not notice it. I don't think it even picked up from within the bus station, rather the road that runs alongside it. A few years previously it ran a few days a week from different parts of town, again completely empty.

I'm guessing it doesn't run anymore, but if it does I don't think anyone will be any the wiser!

 

[markymark2000]

Swansea has a free Shopper Hopper service which is relatively new and not really promoted anywhere bar the councils website https://www.swansea.gov.uk/shopperhopper. Operated by the council themselves
There are also 2 free buses in Maesteg https://www.maestegtowncouncil.gov.wales/2025/12/bus-timetables-route-37-38/. This is operated by Forge Travel I believe on behalf of the town council.

Both of which get no promotion at all because Traveline Cymru refuse to have a route on their database if it is unregistered and so sadly these 2 free services (which don't need to be registered because they are free) don't appear anywhere on journey planners.

 

[38291018]

Not 100% sure if public can do it too, but I think they in addition to students and staff (not 100% as I've never done it) but one I can't see on the list is kinchbus sprint which is free just inside the uni part of the route

 

[kijeta]

Royal Holloway College's service, RHU, operated by Diamond Southeast, is partially free between Hox Park and the university. Going towards Egham Station, passengers board for free up until the university: where everyone (incl those already onboard) goes up to the front and pays £1 each (there's literally only one item on the ticketer). Going away from Egham, passengers pay upon boarding, until it gets to the university, where anyone who boards after that can just hop on for free.

 

[BuhSnarf]

The Arriva Midlands 900 routes on their website state they're not for public use. Do they check student ID on the bus?

 

[Deerfold]

The Arriva Midlands 900 routes on their website state they're not for public use. Do they check student ID on the bus?

Nottingham University doesn't say ID is required - and it definitely is on the Medilnk.

Hopper buses - The University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham provides subsidised hopper bus services that run between the main University Park Campus and Jubilee, Sutton Bonington and the Royal Derby Hospital.

The hopper buses use a ‘tap-on’ system, so if you have your university card with you, please tap the card reader machine next to the driver. If you don’t have a card, the driver will manually record your journey.

Staff and students travelling to Nottingham City Hospital are also able to travel free of charge on Medilink - simply show your University card.

As someone who went to Nottingham University in the 90s, I never caught the Hopper bus - but back then it was just a link between the main campus and Sutton Bonnington timed for students at SB to get to lectures at the main campus, with a late bus back to SB for those socialising there.

 

[WiltsBus]

Sainsbury's love their complimentary bus services
The Sainsbury's Museum documents this here: https://www.sainsburyarchive.org.uk/catalogue/search/search/ewao-everywhere:bus

 

[Mark L]

Aberdeen Airport has a free shuttle bus between the terminal and long stay car park.

https://www.aberdeenairport.com/transport-and-directions/aberdeen-airport-parking/long-stay-parking/

Although I haven’t checked them I suspect that use of the “free” buses linking most airport terminals and car parks is restricted (either by airport bye-laws or car park T&Cs) to passengers, meeters and greeters and staff on duty.