Brighton & Hove / Metrobus Discussion

stadler · 18 Apr 2026

Deerfold said:
It does seem odd on the N29, when it runs hourly through the night, that there's a 2h25 gap between the end of the 29 and the start of the N29, or am I missing something?

It depends on the day of the week and on the direction that you are travelling but there are some quite big gaps in the early morning at the end of the night bus service.

• Monday To Friday Morning Northbound has a gap of 60 minutes between the last night bus and the first day bus.

• Saturday Morning Northbound has a gap of 100 minutes between the last night bus and the first day bus.

• Sunday Morning Northbound has a gap of 80 minutes between the last night bus and the first day bus.

• Monday To Friday Morning Southbound has a gap of 60 minutes between the last night bus and the first day bus.

• Saturday Morning Southbound has a gap of 100 minutes between the last night bus and the first day bus.

• Sunday Morning Southbound has a gap of 150 minutes between the last night bus and the first day bus.

It does seem odd to provide an hourly night service on seven nights a week and then leave these odd gaps in the early morning.

There are no gaps longer than sixty minutes on any day of the week in the evening between the end of the day service and the start of the night service. They have done a good job providing a consistent evening frequency in both directions on seven days a week.

The routes 28 and 29 both provide a combined day service between Brighton and Lewes but annoyingly B&H no longer produce a combined timetable. So you have to look at both timetables individually to see the full service.

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Deerfold · 18 Apr 2026

Sussexwatch said:
Yes, there are 28s to Lewes in between, the longest gap is 30 mins!

Thanks. I missed that
I'm surprised they don't do a combined 28/29 timetable - they do put the N29 in both the 28 and 29 timetables, though.

SECR 65 · 18 Apr 2026

Deerfold said:
Thanks. I missed that
I'm surprised they don't do a combined 28/29 timetable - they do put the N29 in both the 28 and 29 timetables, though.

They were combined until a few years ago. I think they were split as the services became extended to Heathfield and Eastbourne or wherever they go now! I agree a split timetable is very frustrating travelling between Brighton and Lewes. Maybe they should do a special combined one between Brighton and Lewes?

DavyCrocket · 18 Apr 2026

SECR 65 said:
They were combined until a few years ago. I think they were split as the services became extended to Heathfield and Eastbourne or wherever they go now! I agree a split timetable is very frustrating travelling between Brighton and Lewes. Maybe they should do a special combined one between Brighton and Lewes?

A few years ago they did do a seperate Haywards Heath to Brighton combined table which was rather useful. This was after a request was made

aswilliamsuk · 19 Apr 2026

Park47515 said:
I suspect that'll be the case.

On an interesting point, Roger French on his blog about the new buses today says that there are 29 more coming.

It would seem that these are the existing additions for the 5and 6. As well as 16 additionals paid in part by West Sussex for the 2 and the 46.

There's 29 in total coming, or at least that was my understanding, not an additional 29. As per the announcement below:

More electric buses to be added to the city’s fleet in 2026

Brighton & Hove is set to benefit from more national funding from the Department for Transport to replace high-emission diesel buses with low-emission electric vehicles.

www.brighton-hove.gov.uk

Brighton & Hove is set to benefit from more national funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) to replace high-emission diesel buses with low-emission electric vehicles.

In partnership with the council, Brighton & Hove Buses will introduce a further 13 electric buses in autumn 2026, in addition to the 16 already planned for spring 2026.

Providing more electric buses will help cut emissions and improve air quality in Brighton & Hove, including on routes in some of the city’s highest emission areas.

Last March, a partnership between the council and Brighton & Hove Buses was awarded £2.9 million from the DfT to support a £10.5 million project for 16 new electric buses and the charging infrastructure to support them.

These are due be introduced in spring 2026 along route 7, an essential service that operates up to every 6-8 minutes and in some of the city’s highest emission areas.

We have now been awarded an additional £2.3 million funding from the same scheme to introduce a further 13 electric buses.

The additional funding looks set to fully cover the cost of:

8 double-decker vehicles for route 6, so the current service of 6 buses every 16 minutes can increase to every 12 minutes.

5 double-decker vehicles for routes 5, 5A & 5B partially converted to electric buses.

The 13 extra buses for routes 5 and 6 are expected to be operational by September 2026.

Park47515 · 19 Apr 2026

aswilliamsuk said:
There's 29 in total coming, or at least that was my understanding, not an additional 29. As per the announcement below:

More electric buses to be added to the city’s fleet in 2026

Brighton & Hove is set to benefit from more national funding from the Department for Transport to replace high-emission diesel buses with low-emission electric vehicles.

www.brighton-hove.gov.uk

These are additional buses being paid for by WSCC for the 2/6 with Zebra 2 funding on top of the ones for the 5/6 service groups

Link to the report is a PDF, but from page 2

The WSCC ZEBRA 2 project to be implemented will now comprise 2
components -
• 16 Electric ZEBs and supporting infrastructure operated by Brighton &
Hove Buses (Conway Street depot)

https://westsussex.moderngov.co.uk/...location for Zero Emission Buses - report.pdf

aswilliamsuk · 19 Apr 2026

Park47515 said:
These are additional buses being paid for by WSCC for the 2/6 with Zebra 2 funding on top of the ones for the 5/6 service groups

Link to the report is a PDF, but from page 2

https://westsussex.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s59336/ZEBRA 2 Capital Allocation for Zero Emission Buses - report.pdf

Huh, I'd not seen this one at all! Thanks - clearly this is a reallocation of the funding that was originally intended for 43 hydrogen buses at Metrobus.

So this results in the 2 and 46 at Brighton & Hove being converted, and will presumably end up seeing off most, if not all, of the remaining B9TLs in Brighton. Another side-effect will be to make Conway Street nearly entirely ZEB or ZEB in the city centre, with the fleet soon to consist of mostly Wright StreetDeck Electroliners and Enviro 400ERs...

Interesting as well that the western end of the 700 gets converted by Stagecoach South - going on recent group purchases, I think we can expect 11 more Yutong U11DDs...

700007 · 19 Apr 2026

stadler said:
These are the detailed new routings of the new route 20 service:

Southbound/Eastbound:
• Hollingdean Loop - Ditchling Road - Oxford Street - London Road - Cheapside - Whitecross Street - Trafalgar Street - Frederick Place - Brighton Station - Queens Road - Clock Tower - North Street - Old Steine - Saint James Street - Egremont Place - Queens Park Road - Queens Park Loop

Northbound/Westbound:
• Queens Park Loop - Queens Park Road - Egremont Place - Edward Street - Old Steine - North Street - Clock Tower - Queens Road - Brighton Station - North Road - Gloucester Place - Saint Peters Church - London Road - Oxford Street - Ditchling Road - Hollingdean Loop

The new route 20 will be every fifteen minutes in each direction just like the 18 and 50 both currently are.

This means that both the route along Dyke Road via Homelees House and the route along Montpelier Road via Vernon Terace will both no longer have any bus services.

This is an interesting solution and to be fair not an entirely bad one. It is very much two routes merged into one (basically I am unsure how many people would stay on the bus either side of Brighton Station/Old Steine) due to the slightly indirect nature of the route. However it introduces a lot of round the corner links that I reckon would be much welcomed such as Brighton Station to Ditchling Road/Hollingdean which currently does not exist. Reliability and timekeeping is one that needs to be monitored very closely but I think the route will quickly find it's place. Shame that the routing via Homelees House is now going unserved but won't be the end of the world.

stadler said:
But this new increase to the N12 and N14 will mean that Saltdean and Peacehaven will get 2bph (every thirty minutes) in each direction all night long and Newhaven and Seaford and Eastbourne will get 1bph (every sixty minutes) in each direction all night long. So a big increase to the current night service.

N12 - Brighton - Rottingdean - Saltdean - Telscombe Cliffs - Peacehaven - Newhaven - Seaford - Exceat - Friston - East Dean - Eastbourne

N14 - Brighton - Rottingdean - Saltdean - Telscombe Cliffs - Peacehaven - North Peacehaven - Meridian Centre

Sussex is suddenly getting extremely good night bus services recently. We just had the new N29 running 24/7 from Brighton to Lewes and soon the 500 running 24/7 from Crawley to Eastbourne and now a massively increased frequency to the N12 and N14 routes. It is good to see more frequent 24/7 night bus routes outside the London area.

Excellent news for the A259 corridor east of Brighton for sure. It's an incredibly busy corridor during the day that I am sure it can generate some sort of custom via an hourly (or the inner parts half hourly) at night. Eastbourne will greatly benefit from having an all night service to both Brighton and Gatwick Airport every night of the week.

One thing I am slightly surprised at is an idea that I had heard on the grapevine years back that was being considered seems to have been dropped (not that I can find this online wherever I look) - a merger of the N12 and N14 to effectively create an N12 from Brighton to Eastbourne but in Peacehaven it does the North Peacehaven loop as opposed to running direct before continuing to Newhaven, Seaford and Eastbourne. It was if I remember correctly supposed to consolidate the amount of buses required to operate the night services.

317 forever · 26 Apr 2026

johnw said:
I have never really liked this livery as the red and cream looked very well designed, plus the former MD said he didn’t like cream, but the moquette looks like something designed for a child's book!

What is good though is that they repaint and reupholster each vehicle at the same time. I was there for 1 long day last July and passed through a couple of days later. All the buses were red inside/outside or aqua inside/outside, but there were no aqua vehicles with red seats.

DGP · 2 Jun 2026

stadler said:
Another bit of B&H news is that the night bus routes N12 and N14 are seeing a big frequency increase from mid June to each run hourly all night long in both directions giving a combined half hourly service. This will be on seven nights a week. This was mentioned briefly in the ESCC document but i am only now hearing about the actual frequencies.

The routes N12 and N14 currently run a limited night service of eight journeys total. Westbound you have 5x journeys (5x journeys to Saltdean and Peacehaven and 3x journeys to Newhaven and Seaford and 1x journey to Eastbourne). Eastbound you have 3x journeys (3x journeys from Saltdean and Peacehaven and 1x journeys from Newhaven and Seaford and 0x journeys from Eastbourne). So it is a rather limited night bus service in comparison to other Brighton night buses.

But this new increase to the N12 and N14 will mean that Saltdean and Peacehaven will get 2bph (every thirty minutes) in each direction all night long and Newhaven and Seaford and Eastbourne will get 1bph (every sixty minutes) in each direction all night long. So a big increase to the current night service.

N12 - Brighton - Rottingdean - Saltdean - Telscombe Cliffs - Peacehaven - Newhaven - Seaford - Exceat - Friston - East Dean - Eastbourne

N14 - Brighton - Rottingdean - Saltdean - Telscombe Cliffs - Peacehaven - North Peacehaven - Meridian Centre

Sussex is suddenly getting extremely good night bus services recently. We just had the new N29 running 24/7 from Brighton to Lewes and soon the 500 running 24/7 from Crawley to Eastbourne and now a massively increased frequency to the N12 and N14 routes. It is good to see more frequent 24/7 night bus routes outside the London area.

I'm looking at the service change page (https://www.buses.co.uk/June) and also for the timetables for the 12/N12 for the last Friday in June (https://www.buses.co.uk/services/BH/12?date=2026-06-26&direction=outbound) and can't see any sign of these improvements. Looking at East Sussex Council's Eastbourne bus services changes page (https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/roads...rvices/eastbourne-borough-bus-service-changes) it has non-specific changes pencilled in for June 2026 but I'm assuming that they are not actually happening then. Does anyone have any updates?

Sussexwatch · 2 Jun 2026

DGP said:
I'm looking at the service change page (https://www.buses.co.uk/June) and also for the timetables for the 12/N12 for the last Friday in June (https://www.buses.co.uk/services/BH/12?date=2026-06-26&direction=outbound) and can't see any sign of these improvements. Looking at East Sussex Council's Eastbourne bus services changes page (https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/roads...rvices/eastbourne-borough-bus-service-changes) it has non-specific changes pencilled in for June 2026 but I'm assuming that they are not actually happening then. Does anyone have any updates?

They've been delayed, all being well should happen in July so should be announced soon.

johncrossley · 2 Jun 2026

Is the enhanced night service BSIP funded?

Sussexwatch · 2 Jun 2026

ESCC is providing a small amount of funding but B&H is taking the revenue risk (with thanks to my source at B&H for clarification)

Rothy · 9 Jun 2026

Anyone able to provide an update on how the Metrobus 500 is doing? Even just anecdotal observations of loadings would be interesting to hear.

MotCO · 9 Jun 2026

Rothy said:
Anyone able to provide an update on how the Metrobus 500 is doing? Even just anecdotal observations of loadings would be interesting to hear.

I followed a northbound 500 in East Grinstead at around 7.30 in the evening, and couldn't see anyone on board.

Bishopstone · 9 Jun 2026

Rothy said:
Anyone able to provide an update on how the Metrobus 500 is doing? Even just anecdotal observations of loadings would be interesting to hear.

I took the 8am bus from Eastbourne to Gatwick on a Monday, a couple of weeks ago.

I estimate there were 30-35 fares/passes collected throughout, with little end-to-end traffic but a surprising (to me) amount of business generated from the more rural stops en route.

A couple sat in front of me at Eastbourne and I assumed they were trying the 500 as a ‘new thing’, but they alighted at the Manor Royal business district, south of Gatwick, with a specific purpose in mind.

I thought the numbers were encouraging, given it was (and is) still early days, and it takes time to build custom. I enjoyed the early morning run across Ashdown Forest - I’m pleased they’re using double deckers.

duncombec · 15 Jun 2026

This doesn't appear to have been reported on this thread, at least. From 26th May, cash is no longer taken on 1X, 3X and 25X (https://www.buses.co.uk/cashless):

From 26th May 2026, express services 1X, 3X & 25X will only accept non-cash payments on board. Cash is still accepted on all other services, including routes 1 and 25.

Why is this changing?
Cashless boarding reduces delays and keeps buses running more reliably by speeding up payments, which leads to quicker boarding, shorter stop times and more punctual journeys.

How to pay:

Contactless bank card

Brighton & Hove Buses app

Apple Pay or Google Pay

The Key

Concessionary Pass

SAVER ticket (available to purchase with cash on non-express services)

MotCO · 18 Jun 2026

Rothy said:
Anyone able to provide an update on how the Metrobus 500 is doing? Even just anecdotal observations of loadings would be interesting to hear.

I took the 500 between Gatwick and East Grinstead today mid morning / early afternoon. There were probably around 10 people on both of them at various stages. What amazed me was that the northbound 500, despite having come all the way from Eastbourne, and having delays due to roadworks near Crawley, was bang on time to the minute!

I liked the fact that it saved so much time not going via Crawley Town Centre, but how much custom was missed because of this?

I also saw the Pride bus today. What amused me was that all the seats had different moquette, and one seat was even in Stagecoach arrows/stripes! All seats had the same combination, so I assume it was all intentional.

duncombec · 18 Jun 2026

MotCO said:
I liked the fact that it saved so much time not going via Crawley Town Centre, but how much custom was missed because of this?

Anywhere between East Grinstead and Gatwick has the 400 that goes via Crawley Town Centre every 30 minutes.

I'm not sure Crawley is a particular draw for anywhere south of that, where there would have been a change of bus required beforehand anyway.

renegademaster · 19 Jun 2026

What is the latest on the hydrogen buses?

izvor · 20 Jun 2026

Single decks still not in service.

Through the grapevine I hear they are now, at last, going to Wrightbus for battery replacement/rectification. Confirmation or otherwise would be appreciated. Has the financial dispute finally been resolved?

MotCO · 20 Jun 2026

izvor said:
Single decks still not in service.

Through the grapevine I hear they are now, at last, going to Wrightbus for battery replacement/rectification. Confirmation or otherwise would be appreciated. Has the financial dispute finally been resolved?

I think I read somewhere on Facebook that buses have been sighted in Nuneaton following Stagecoach service buses to get 'real-life' service experience to check if the repairs were satisfactory. (Nuneaton is near the Millbrook testing ground). So maybe we are close to getting the buses returned.

Re the financial dispute, presumably this is Metrobus asking Wrights to cover the cost of hiring in / borrowing vehicles to cover for the absent vehicles, plus anything else?

izvor · 20 Jun 2026

Thanks for the info, that rather confirms my sources.

MotCO said:
Re the financial dispute, presumably this is Metrobus asking Wrights to cover the cost of hiring in / borrowing vehicles to cover for the absent vehicles, plus anything else?

As I understand it, the batteries (which were defective) were under warranty but the battery manufacturer was unable to fulfil it. The vehicles were grounded while the dispute was settled. As you suggest, there is now a lot of money at stake, beyond just rectifying the vehicles. Again, I would welcome clarification.

brightonbususe · 22 Jun 2026

I noticed recently there have been quite a few odd workings on the Regency route, especially on Saturday when there seemed to be a lot of B&H-branded Streetdecks running the route. I was just wondering (out of curiousity) what the causes might be? I know obviously they sometimes substitute when a bus needs to be withdrawn etc, but it seems to have been happening a lot lately and my morbid curiousity got the better of me as honestly I find the operational-side of running buses quite interesting.

SECR 65 · 22 Jun 2026

brightonbususe said:
I noticed recently there have been quite a few odd workings on the Regency route, especially on Saturday when there seemed to be a lot of B&H-branded Streetdecks running the route. I was just wondering (out of curiousity) what the causes might be? I know obviously they sometimes substitute when a bus needs to be withdrawn etc, but it seems to have been happening a lot lately and my morbid curiousity got the better of me as honestly I find the operational-side of running buses quite interesting.

It somewhat confuses me (in a long-term way) that there are often non-Regency vehicles on the 28/29, but you regularly see Regency branded buses elsewhere - often 'the old ones' (BF12). I appologise that I don't know the models or manafacturers of buses - trains are my main thing!

Surely either

You have enough Regency vehicles and spares to always have them available for Regency diagrams

OR

You have some Regency vehicles, so 'generic' vehicles can substitute on as required - but there shouldn't be Regencies on other routes

It seems the BX15 vehicles see lots of action on Regency turns.

MotCO · 22 Jun 2026

SECR 65 said:
It somewhat confuses me (in a long-term way) that there are often non-Regency vehicles on the 28/29, but you regularly see Regency branded buses elsewhere - often 'the old ones' (BF12). I appologise that I don't know the models or manafacturers of buses - trains are my main thing!

Surely either

You have enough Regency vehicles and spares to always have them available for Regency diagrams

OR

You have some Regency vehicles, so 'generic' vehicles can substitute on as required - but there shouldn't be Regencies on other routes

It seems the BX15 vehicles see lots of action on Regency turns.

There's at least one Regency bus running with Metrobus!

Jim · 22 Jun 2026

There are 24 turns SX on the Regency I believe, and 25 branded buses?

duncombec · 22 Jun 2026

SECR 65 said:
It somewhat confuses me (in a long-term way) that there are often non-Regency vehicles on the 28/29, but you regularly see Regency branded buses elsewhere - often 'the old ones' (BF12). I appologise that I don't know the models or manafacturers of buses - trains are my main thing!

Surely either

You have enough Regency vehicles and spares to always have them available for Regency diagrams

OR

You have some Regency vehicles, so 'generic' vehicles can substitute on as required - but there shouldn't be Regencies on other routes

It seems the BX15 vehicles see lots of action on Regency turns.

MotCO said:
There's at least one Regency bus running with Metrobus!

I would guess that Metrobus have their hands rather full at the moment with the Hydrogen vehicles, and there has been an aim to return as many externally loaned vehicles as possible. As such, I suspect the usual habit of trying to refurbish/repaint before cascade (as would be the case with the "BF12s") has had to fall by the wayside a bit.

SECR 65 · 23 Jun 2026

I hadn't actually realised that the BF12s (are they callled Geminis?) had moved to Metrobus. I noticed them dissapearing from the B&H fleet list, but I don't pay much attention to the MB list. I was wondering why 2012 vehicles were already being disposed of. That explains it. Seemingly all of the ex-Regency vehicles which are now running with MB are in their livery, apart from 6921 in St Catherines Hospice livery.

brightonbususe · 23 Jun 2026

Yeah, many have gone to Metrobus and are being repainted/re-upholstered, while some have gone to Sightseeing Eastbourne, sans roofs.

But it was just a bit strange to me that in the last week I've probably gone on the 28 six or seven times, and I think all but one have been standard B&H-branded, and only one of those have been the newer 400 MMCs. I almost thought there had been some kind of catastrophic problem somewhere. Plus the Streetdecks are particularly uncomfortable in this heat as there are so few windows that open (and they're tiny).

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