Buses

[David Sinnett]

Not sure that this should be in Infrastructure but never mind..
Virgin Trains operate a number of buses eg Luton to Milton Keynes. Are these classed as rail services so that theyre protecting the route should a miracle happen and the rail service through Dunstable get reinstated? Does anyone actually use the Luton Milton Keynes bus? If youre taking a 'train' service through Luton to get to Milton Keynes why not go through London or Leicester Nuneaton? If you live in Luton then you'd take the normal bus. Wouldnt you?
What other train buses are there?

David

 

[Nym]

Heathrow and Gatwick Airports...

I can't remember if Kewsick is one of them or not, or if they handed it properly over to stagecoach

 

[1D53]

The ones that NXEC have out of York are bog standard services routes operated by Yorkshire Coastliner with inter available fares etc.

 

[westcoaster]

Not sure that this should be in Infrastructure but never mind..
Virgin Trains operate a number of buses eg Luton to Milton Keynes. Are these classed as rail services so that theyre protecting the route should a miracle happen and the rail service through Dunstable get reinstated? Does anyone actually use the Luton Milton Keynes bus? If youre taking a 'train' service through Luton to get to Milton Keynes why not go through London or Leicester Nuneaton? If you live in Luton then you'd take the normal bus. Wouldnt you?
What other train buses are there?

David

the x66 ( luton- mk) service was operated by arriva and before that the shires but it was pulled last year and replaced by the 69/70 service that now takes a long detour, iirc centrebus took over the x66 and renumbered it the x31, the vt99 service i use to use on a daily basis and some of the services are very busy, plus a new fleet of coaches has been introduced (service run by stagecoach east), you can by through tickets from stations to luton or the airport. quickest train route would be mk-bletchley-bedford-luton.

 

[Mojo]

There are a number of buses/taxis that deputise for rail services which have not been through the formal closure procedure. One (now defunct) example I can think of was the service which did the Watford West/Croxley link line. As well, there are a small number of services which provide additional services when trains are not running. One example is between Avonmouth & Severn Beach, where during weekday daytimes trains terminate at Avonmouth with connecting buses. Both of these examples are generally paid for by TOCs as Rail Replacement Services.

Examples such as the Bristol Airport Flyer & the ones you've mentioned around Milton Keynes are usually (but not always) commercial or Local Authority subsidised services, with (as JsT says) multimodal ticketing avaliable. In many cases they could be withdrawn at any time with the necessary 56 days notice, although in many cases this is unlikely as development of some services is written into franchise specifications and such services normally are either socially necessary (so will recieve Local Authority funding) or manage to turn a profit for the bus operator (with or without TOC support).

There are also other examples which are bog standard commercial bus services, as mentioned by westcoaster.

 

[A0]

the x66 ( luton- mk) service was operated by arriva and before that the shires but it was pulled last year and replaced by the 69/70 service that now takes a long detour, iirc centrebus took over the x66 and renumbered it the x31, the vt99 service i use to use on a daily basis and some of the services are very busy, plus a new fleet of coaches has been introduced (service run by stagecoach east), you can by through tickets from stations to luton or the airport. quickest train route would be mk-bletchley-bedford-luton.

I think you're mixing a number of issues

- The VT99 (operated by Stagecoach) is a 'Virgin Trains' badged Luton Airport - MK service. It's been operating for at least 7 years and is primarily designed as a link for rail passengers.

The other services you mention are standard public service bus routes and were always designed to serve a number of other places. There have always (since the 1970s) been services from MK - Luton / Dunstable, originally operated by United Counties, then Luton & District when UC was broken up which eventually ended up as part of Arriva.

To answer the OP's point about services to / from Dunstable - it ain't gonna happen.

- The route from Luton - Dunstable has been earmarked for conversion to a 'guided busway' - like the St Ives - Cambridge route.
- There are bridges missing at the Luton end which means the line is no longer connected to the main-line. The links were removed when BR sold some of the land off to Luton College (now Uni) to build accomodation on.

- Beyond Dunstable and onto Leighton Buzzard, the A505 LB by-pass is over part of the route, and I suspect other parts of the route into LB are no longer available.

 

[driver9000]

Heathrow and Gatwick Airports...

I can't remember if Kewsick is one of them or not, or if they handed it properly over to stagecoach

Penrith - Keswick is operated under contract to Cumbria County Council. Stagecoach run it as X5 from Penrith rail station-Keswick bus station using coaches.

 

[Nym]

or X6... it's a microrider in winter

The 555 always looked like it should be a rail replacment or railway bus, although I know it's not

 

[Tom B]

Don't you mean Metrorider ?

I believe Doncaster has a bus link to the Airport on which certain tickets are valid. Only, of the three daytime bus routes to serve the airport (the 20 minutely 191, and the hourly 707 and X19), it is only valid on one, the 707. This leads to no end of confusion.

 

[Nym]

Thats what you get for building airports in stupid places