Trivia - Do any operators serve places with the same or similar names?

[Teapot42]

Back in the day, United used to serve both Easington in Co Durham, and Easington near Loftus. Indeed, while no one service went to both, for a short time there was a bus from the Co Durham one to Whitby which could potentially have been confusing for anyone looking for buses back from Whitby at the end of the day.

Are there any similar cases, either historically or in the present day?

I'm not thinking stops with generic names that are the same, but might stretch to things such as buses which serve both the Manchester and Stretford Arndale centres for example. Settlement names is the main aim though, and similar ones would be of interest, for example Stoney Middleton and Middleton Stoney.

I should say I'm not counting cases at a group level here, so Stagecoach having subsidiaries serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle Glenrothes and Newcastle, Bridgend doesn't count.

 

[mangad]

There's two Troutbeck's in the Lake District - one near Penrith and one near Windermere, about 20 miles apart. Stagecoach services serve both. Alas there's no route that connects them both, although you can do it by changing buses.

 

[Hyebone]

Hulleys of Baslow used to serve two Pilsleys. One near North Wingfield served by the 55 and another near Chatsworth served by the 170.

Nowadays, Notts & Derby operate the 55 and Stagecoach operate the 170.

 

[Buzby]

In North Glasgow there is the canal-side village of Cadder, on the Forth & Clyde and is served by First Glasgow (88, 89 & 89B) meanwhile, barely 4Km away is the Council housing estate (Scheme) of Cadder within the Lambhill area also adjacent to the same canal and also served by First (7, 7A & 8). It seems the naming of the second one was in error, but Glasgow Corporation stuck with it.

 

[Pit_buzzer]

First South Yorkshire serve Intake in Sheffield and Intake in Doncaster. Back in the days of destination blinds it made it easy to use a Sheffield bus in Doncaster and vice versa and still show the correct destination.

Edit, they also serve Norton in Sheffield and Norton in Doncaster. Norton, Doncaster being a fairly recent addition to their network since Arriva drastically trimmed their South Yorkshire operations

 

[Dwarfer1979]

Leicestershire has Thurmaston, Thurcaston & Thurlaston and all 3 are technically still served by Centrebus services. At one point all three were served by normal hourly local buses but Thurlaston is now only served by the FoxConnect DRT Zone 10. Not identical spellings but close enough to cause all sorts of confusion with enquiries if the phone line or accent is a bit iffy.

 

[andyb87]

Leicestershire has Thurmaston, Thurcaston & Thurlaston and all 3 are technically still served by Centrebus services. At one point all three were served by normal hourly local buses but Thurlaston is now only served by the FoxConnect DRT Zone 10. Not identical spellings but close enough to cause all sorts of confusion with enquiries if the phone line or accent is a bit iffy.

For many years, Lincolnshire Road Car/ Stagecoach East Midlands served Beckingham (Notts) with a service to Gainsborough (Lincs) and Beckingham (Lincs) on service to Newark (Notts), as their nearest town respectively. Now they still serve the former, though the latter is in the hands of another operator.

 

[AWWisher]

Back in the day, West Yorkshire served Linton (Grassington) and Linton (Wetherby)
More recently, both were served by Transdev (Keighley & Harrogate) although the OP excludes grouped companies.

 

[Teapot42]

Hulleys of Baslow used to serve two Pilsleys. One near North Wingfield served by the 55 and another near Chatsworth served by the 170.

Of course, how did I miss that one, especially when I've been through both on Hulleys services. They even nearly got served by the same bus at one point, as the 55 used to interwork with the X70 with advertised connections, but this bypassed the one near Chatsworth. I don't think the 55 and 170 ever interworked with advertised through services.

There is the Wellglade link via the 218, but that breaks my rule on group operations. (And I guess another with the 58 but that's even more tenuous.)

 

[stevieinselby]

There are two villages called Welburn in Ryedale (North Yorks), only 10 miles apart as the crow flies – one near Malton served by East Yorkshire 81, and one near Helmsley served by East Yorkshire 28.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Stagecoach Yorkshire serve Hemsworth (Sheffield) and Hemsworth (between Pontefract and Barnsley).

First West Yorkshire serve two places called Cottingley, one in Leeds and one near Bradford.

 

[D6130]

First Halifax routes 590, 591 & 592 and TLC service 596 serve both Mytholm and Mytholmroyd, which are situated a couple of miles apart on either side of Hebden Bridge.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Another First West Yorkshire example; Scholes (near Cleckheaton) and Scholes (east of Leeds).

 

[D6130]

A more extreme example: First Bus serve both Portsmouth (Hampshire) and Portsmouth (West Yorkshire - near Todmorden).

 

[Teapot42]

A more extreme example: First Bus serve both Portsmouth (Hampshire) and Portsmouth (West Yorkshire - near Todmorden).

Got to call foul on that one I'm afraid due to the groups rule - after all, I'm sure First serve Wales (the country) as well as Wales (near Sheffield).

 

[Man of Kent]

Stagecoach South East serve Newington near Folkestone (route 17) and another in Thanet (route 34 at the moment, changes to route 44 next month). There are Park Farms in both Ashford and Folkestone; a Boughton in Swale and another in Ashford, each with suffixes that are rarely used.

Some of these names are duplicated further in other parts of Kent, although one of Stagecoach's two Broad Oaks is in East Sussex.

 

[DunsBus]

Lothian's service 3 serves two Mayfields. One is an upmarket suburb of Edinburgh, the other a housing estate ("scheme" in Scots parlance) on the southern edge of Dalkeith.

 

[Seagull2006]

The Trawscymru T2 serves a Minffordd Hotel (For Cader Idris) & it also serves a Minffordd near Porthmadog (For Portmeirion)

 

[YorkRailFan]

Transdev York serves Nawton (31X) & Norton (843), both pronounced the same even though spelt differently.

East Yorkshire serves Skelton (80, 31X) and Skelton-On-Ure (82, 84, 822).

 

[Jon S]

West Coast Motors 478 runs from Ferry Terminal to Ferry Terminal via Ferry Terminal. Ferry Terminal is listed no less than 9 times in each direction on the timetable and no attempt is made to explain which Ferry Terminal is which. Does that count?

 

[Merle Haggard]

United Counties until the 90s served both Rushden and Rushton from Kettering.

At that time, for economy reasons, they made their own blinds - by placing cut-out letters on the blank blind and spraying over them.

I did photograph a bus showing RUSHDON but I'm not sure whether that was intentional for blind length economy, or because the blind-sprayer was, unfortunately but true, dyslexic.

 

[JKP]

Until 2025, Borders Buses served West Linton, Peeblesshire service 93 and Westlinton Cumbria X95.

 

[erskinebus]

First Glasgow 60/60A serves The Forge Market, and The (Glasgow) Fort Retail Park, which are a few miles apart in the east end of the city.

First also serve Balornock and Barlanark, which are a few miles apart as well.

See also - Milton (housing scheme in north Glasgow) and Milton (small village near Dumbarton), and Braehead & Barrhead.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Transdev York serves Nawton (31X) & Norton (843), both pronounced the same even though spelt differently.

East Yorkshire serves Skelton (80, 31X) and Skelton-On-Ure (82, 84, 822).

I thought you might have said Arriva North East who serve Aislaby (near Whitby X93/4) and Aislaby (near Pickering M3/M7); back in the day, both were served all year round by United.

Before 1986, United also served two Bromptons (one near Pickering and one near Northallerton) plus Brompton on Swale near Richmond, and two Skeltons and two Seamers.

 

[duncombec]

Arriva Kent and Surrey serve Park Wood, near Maidstone, on the 82, and Parkwood, near Rainham, on the 132.

 

[oldman]

West Coast Motors 478 runs from Ferry Terminal to Ferry Terminal via Ferry Terminal. Ferry Terminal is listed no less than 9 times in each direction on the timetable and no attempt is made to explain which Ferry Terminal is which. Does that count?

Similarly Borders Buses 464 timetable has two stops called Post Office and two called Black Bull, in each case in different villages which are not named in the timetable. It also stops in Wooler at Bus Station (twice) and at Wooler Bus Station.

 

[jamieintercity]

Stagecoach east Scotland serves several lethams:
Letham (Angus) on 27
Letham (Perth) on 2/70
Letham Grange near Arbroath, formerly 37 (no longer runs)
Letham (Fife), formerly 64 (now moffat)

 

[D6130]

West Coast Motors 478 runs from Ferry Terminal to Ferry Terminal via Ferry Terminal. Ferry Terminal is listed no less than 9 times in each direction on the timetable and no attempt is made to explain which Ferry Terminal is which. Does that count?

Is that service in and around Tarbert by any chance?

 

[JKP]

Similarly Borders Buses 464 timetable has two stops called Post Office and two called Black Bull, in each case in different villages which are not named in the timetable. It also stops in Wooler at Bus Station (twice) and at Wooler Bus Station.

The Black Bull at Lowick is still open. The Black Bull at Bowsden has long been closed. My only visit to the latter was over 40 years ago and I failed to identify the building when I recently travelled through the village on the 464.

 

[Stan Drews]

First Glasgow serve Halfway (Cambuslang) and Halfway in the south west of the city between Mosspark and Cardonald.