Flixbus Discussion

[route101]

Have you booked National Express then as they were £50 cheaper or a Train ?

Booked it for my sins. Usually I would stay over and get the train.

 

[dmncf]

Flixbus left us stranded on the M23 after a police swoop

A 90-minute wait on a motorway hard shoulder was terrifying with lorries thundering past

www.theguardian.com

Flixbus left us stranded on the M23 after a police swoop
A 90-minute wait on a motorway hard shoulder was terrifying with lorries thundering past
Anna Tims
Tue 22 Sep 2026 07.00 BST
My partner and I were among a group of passengers left stranded for 90 minutes on a motorway hard shoulder after our coach driver was arrested for suspected drug driving.
...

 

[Edsmith]

Flixbus left us stranded on the M23 after a police swoop

A 90-minute wait on a motorway hard shoulder was terrifying with lorries thundering past

www.theguardian.com

It's shocking that the driver was arrested on suspicion of drug driving but don't the police have some responsibility to get the passengers to a place of safety?

 

[Andyh82]

edit: The Brighton to Cambridge service is run by Cozy Travel

 

[markymark2000]

The Brighton to Cambridge service is run by Brighton & Hove’s Spirit of Sussex operation, so this all seems quite odd, as they are a respected operator

Brighton and Hove/Spirit of Sussex don't run that route, they run Brighton to Milton Keynes. Cambridge to Gatwick/Brighton is ran by Cozys.

 

[Brightonblue]

The Brighton to Cambridge service is run by Brighton & Hove’s Spirit of Sussex operation, so this all seems quite odd, as they are a respected operator

It's the Brighton to Milton Keyrs service operated by Spirit of Sussex. I believe the Brighton to Cambridge service is operated by a Cambridge area operator whose name escapes me for the moment

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Sep 2026 ==

It's the Brighton to Milton Keynes service operated by Spirit of Sussex. I believe the Brighton to Cambridge service is operated by a Cambridge area operator whose name escapes me for the moment

 

[Andyh82]

Yes indeed you are right. This service in question is the 066 run by Cozy Travel

 

[gingerheid]

The driver thing could happen to any operator, and I imagine finding a spare driver + a second driver and vehicle would be difficult and take time even if the operator was based locally.

However the 066 vehicles are indeed getting a bit beaten up on the outside, and are increasingly filthy inside. They also have destination board issues, and on Monday when both directions were due to leave Stratford at the same time Brighton left from the wrong stop with no destination showing and missing passengers, and the other coach was showing Cambridge on the front and Brighton on the side.

 

[Titfield]

The driver thing could happen to any operator, and I imagine finding a spare driver + a second driver and vehicle would be difficult and take time even if the operator was based locally.

However the 066 vehicles are indeed getting a bit beaten up on the outside, and are increasingly filthy inside. They also have destination board issues, and on Monday when both directions were due to leave Stratford at the same time Brighton left from the wrong stop with no destination showing and missing passengers, and the other coach was showing Cambridge on the front and Brighton on the side.

At the operator I worked for, a random drug testing regime was implemented using a drager testing machine. One of our managers who was taking a great deal of prescribed medication for a serious condition volunteered to test the machine so we could see it in action. The output had to be seen to be believed.

 

[route101]

The standard route from Chester to Birmingham tends to be, A51, A500 & M6 which the Northbound service took until that got held up by a crash around junction 16 which closed the M6.

Chester to Birmingham is interesting as they're multiple routes they can use, another one used sometimes used is M53, M56 & M6

Took the northbound 021 today and we went via the M54 and A41 which was a nice surprise. I wonder if drivers use sat navs to determine routes.

Only issue I had was when I used the toilet on the irizar, the light never turned on. Perhaps I missed where the switch was.

 

[markymark2000]

If the Flixbus booking pages are to believed (noting that changes to McGills journeys have form for being heavily delayed), Flixbus services in Scotland are due a little bit of a revamp on 19th November.
091 (Glasgow Airport/Glasgow - Aberdeen) will be retimed with journey times generally reduced by 5-10 minutes.
092 (Edinburgh - Aberdeen) will have minor retimings, and also new trips at 07:00 from Aberdeen (10:15 into Edinburgh) & 21:05 from Edinburgh to Aberdeen (arriving 21:05).
093 (Glasgow - Inverness) all trips will now stop at Pitlochry and Aviemore with trips retimed. Perth Bus Station will no longer be served
094 (Edinburgh - Inverness) all trips will now stop at Pitlochry and Aviemore with trips retimed. Perth Bus Station will no longer be served

Some of these changes will also mean that some trips are slightly more spaced out, but there are still some really weird and nonsensical trips. Such as 13:05 both 093/094 depart from Inverness and they both follow each other to Perth and quite a few instances of 091/092s running within a few minutes of each other between Perth and Aberdeen.

 

[MotCO]

Some of these changes will also mean that some trips are slightly more spaced out, but there are still some really weird and nonsensical trips. Such as 13:05 both 093/094 depart from Inverness and they both follow each other to Perth and quite a few instances of 091/092s running within a few minutes of each other between Perth and Aberdeen.

Maybe operational the 093 and 094 will be the same coach, likewise 091/092, but they will run 2 coaches each if the demand warrants it? A bit like airlines where you often see planes from different companies flying to the same destination at the same time.

 

[nick291]

092 (Edinburgh - Aberdeen) will have minor retimings, and also new trips at 07:00 from Aberdeen (10:15 into Edinburgh) & 21:05 from Edinburgh to Aberdeen (arriving 21:05).

So how does departing and arriving at the same time work then?

 

[Stan Drews]

If the Flixbus booking pages are to believed (noting that changes to McGills journeys have form for being heavily delayed), Flixbus services in Scotland are due a little bit of a revamp on 19th November.
091 (Glasgow Airport/Glasgow - Aberdeen) will be retimed with journey times generally reduced by 5-10 minutes.
092 (Edinburgh - Aberdeen) will have minor retimings, and also new trips at 07:00 from Aberdeen (10:15 into Edinburgh) & 21:05 from Edinburgh to Aberdeen (arriving 21:05).
093 (Glasgow - Inverness) all trips will now stop at Pitlochry and Aviemore with trips retimed. Perth Bus Station will no longer be served
094 (Edinburgh - Inverness) all trips will now stop at Pitlochry and Aviemore with trips retimed. Perth Bus Station will no longer be served

Some of these changes will also mean that some trips are slightly more spaced out, but there are still some really weird and nonsensical trips. Such as 13:05 both 093/094 depart from Inverness and they both follow each other to Perth and quite a few instances of 091/092s running within a few minutes of each other between Perth and Aberdeen.

These changes take place from 19th OCTOBER.

 

[route101]

These changes take place from 19th OCTOBER.

If the Flixbus booking pages are to believed (noting that changes to McGills journeys have form for being heavily delayed), Flixbus services in Scotland are due a little bit of a revamp on 19th November.
091 (Glasgow Airport/Glasgow - Aberdeen) will be retimed with journey times generally reduced by 5-10 minutes.
092 (Edinburgh - Aberdeen) will have minor retimings, and also new trips at 07:00 from Aberdeen (10:15 into Edinburgh) & 21:05 from Edinburgh to Aberdeen (arriving 21:05).
093 (Glasgow - Inverness) all trips will now stop at Pitlochry and Aviemore with trips retimed. Perth Bus Station will no longer be served
094 (Edinburgh - Inverness) all trips will now stop at Pitlochry and Aviemore with trips retimed. Perth Bus Station will no longer be served

Some of these changes will also mean that some trips are slightly more spaced out, but there are still some really weird and nonsensical trips. Such as 13:05 both 093/094 depart from Inverness and they both follow each other to Perth and quite a few instances of 091/092s running within a few minutes of each other between Perth and Aberdeen.

Nothing major here. Flixbus network has been stable in Scotland for the while now.

 

[Andyh82]

Do Fernhill Travel still do any FlixBus work?

Because I saw one of their Yutong coaches still in FlixBus livery in Oxford (on private hire), yet I’ve never seen this operator on any flix work, unless they do an out of the way service that doesn’t serve London

 

[route101]

I was on a Prospect coaches Irizar the other week. I rarely use the toilet on the bus and when I used the toilet the light did not come on or was not working. I thought it worked automatically. It was pitch dark so no chance to do business.