Christmas Buses

[LiviCrazy]

Seems Horsburgh is running it’s 40/X40 on Christmas Day. Two journeys each way.

https://twitter.com/horsburgh_em/status/1074711959533178883?s=21

 

[adrock1976]

On 1st January, the only route that First Glasgow will be operating is the 500 that runs between Buchanan Bus Station and Glasgow International Airport.

No other services will operate.

 

[goldisgood]

New Years' Day in Oxford is a cut-back Sunday service - most of the frequent city routes (1, 2/2A/2B, 3, 8) have a Sunday service with less evening buses, whilst the 10 is every 30 minutes. All the interurban Sunday services are running except the S4, with reduced timetables (7, S1, S3 (3 journeys run to/from Chipping Norton), S8 and S9 every hour, S5 every 30 minutes). Banbury has the B5, B6 and B9 running a normal Sunday frequency. This is pretty good coverage (except for the S1 - I'd have thought that may justify more buses as it is a very busy route) but they do seem to know what they are doing normally.
I went to see if there was anything for the S6 and I was left slightly confused by this slightly odd detail for the D in Cheltenham "D - Railway Station to Cheltenham Racecourse. Service will run as and when required." Can anyone tell me what exactly this means? It's not exactly informative!

 

[carlberry]

I went to see if there was anything for the S6 and I was left slightly confused by this slightly odd detail for the D in Cheltenham "D - Railway Station to Cheltenham Racecourse. Service will run as and when required." Can anyone tell me what exactly this means? It's not exactly informative!

There is a race at the racecourse that day so it's really only running for that. It's not much use as a normal bus service (with no timetable) so I don't know why they're trying to give the impression it is!

 

[swt class 450]

Its strange how London has no Christmas Day bus services (other than First Berkshire route 7 and some coach services). I would have thought that London would be the most likely place to have Christmas Day bus services.

 

[Bookd]

London is probably the only European capital city without regular bus services on Chrstmas Day - it used to in the old days when there used to be football matches on that day, but even then they only ran between and about 10 to 4.
I am sure there would be some demand for services these days, maybe based on the night bus network, and there are many drivers who are non - Christian who would be happy to work if they had time off for their own religious festivals.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

London is probably the only European capital city without regular bus services on Chrstmas Day - it used to in the old days when there used to be football matches on that day, but even then they only ran between and about 10 to 4.
I am sure there would be some demand for services these days, maybe based on the night bus network, and there are many drivers who are non - Christian who would be happy to work if they had time off for their own religious festivals.

(Cough cough) Dublin....

 

[swt class 450]

The entire island of Ireland shuts down on Christmas Day every year. There are no buses, coaches, trams, trains, ferries, airplanes, or any public transport anywhere on the entire Island of Ireland (ROI and NI). Even their major International Airport in Dublin shuts down. The taxi drivers must love it. I bet they make huge amounts of money on Christmas Day.

 

[jkkne]

As ever the North East excels...Ahem. For Tyneside at least

Stagecoach, Arriva and Go North East

24 Dec usual service with last buses running off by 7pm (last departure on some services is 5pm)
25 Dec No Services
26 Dec Limited Special Services on key routes through Tyneside and Wearside between 9-7pm from Stagecoach and GNE. Arriva operate next to nothing. Basically the commercially viable key routes operate by all 3 operators
(Outside of Newcastle/Gateshead and a limited Sunderland service plus some suburbs on key routes you’re screwed. Nothing on Teesside or Co Durham or Northumberland)
27th and 28th Saturday Service.
31st As Xmas Eve
1st Jan No Services across the region

 

[158756]

Lancashire:

Christmas Day: No service

Boxing Day: Some routes running, particularly in and around Blackpool and Preston. Stagecoach are running from Preston to Morecambe and Liverpool, as well as some local routes around Preston and Lancaster. Transdev are running Blackburn -Darwen, Blackburn - Accrington, Burnley - Manchester and Padiham - Colne.

Chorley(!), Skelmersdale(!), Poulton-le -Fylde, Kirkham, Clitheroe, Great Harwood, Haslingden and Bacup appear to be among the towns with no service on Boxing Day.

The lack of service on routes between major towns is particularly surprising given the lack of trains. There appears to be nothing running from Preston to Blackpool, Blackburn, or Bolton, or from Blackburn to Bolton or Burnley.

New Years Day: Same as Boxing Day in Blackpool, nothing elsewhere.

 

[Busaholic]

Lancashire:

Christmas Day: No service

Boxing Day: Some routes running, particularly in and around Blackpool and Preston. Stagecoach are running from Preston to Morecambe and Liverpool, as well as some local routes around Preston and Lancaster. Transdev are running Blackburn -Darwen, Blackburn - Accrington, Burnley - Manchester and Padiham - Colne.

Chorley(!), Skelmersdale(!), Poulton-le -Fylde, Kirkham, Clitheroe, Great Harwood, Haslingden and Bacup appear to be among the towns with no service on Boxing Day.

The lack of service on routes between major towns is particularly surprising given the lack of trains. There appears to be nothing running from Preston to Blackpool, Blackburn, or Bolton, or from Blackburn to Bolton or Burnley.

New Years Day: Same as Boxing Day in Blackpool, nothing elsewhere.

Preston Corporation used to run hospital services on Christmas Day. We used to spend every Xmas with my wife's family there, and I remember the 'Ashton A' used to run to Peddars Lane: saw it when we went for a walk in Avenham Park. I'm talking 1970s here.

 

[jonesy3001]

for those over in malta for christmas, comes in handy on christmas day i can tell you that.

https://www.publictransport.com.mt/...ransport-service-during-the-christmas-periodb

 

[Alex 2901]

Birmingham and the West Midlands don't have any Christmas Day buses as well.
With some routes finishing at 6 on Christmas Eve and the rest finishing at 10.
Buses start around 6 AM on Boxing Day. Boxing Day is similar in that some will finish at 6 and the rest will finish at the end of service (i.e midnight - 01:00).

The Christmas day services are certainly few and far between.

Very few routes are finishing at 6pm on Christmas Eve.

Quite a few will on Boxing Day, but Christmas Eve is just a special Saturday service.

 

[swt class 450]

The entire Stagecoach South network is running a full Sunday timetable on both Boxing Day and New Years Day. This must be one of the best Boxing Day services in the country. Most of the other few operators that run on Boxing Day seem to have a special timetable.

The situation on New Years Day seems to vary a lot by bus operator. Many operators (especially in the South) are running a full Sunday service while many others (especially in the North and Scotland and Wales) are not running any service at all.

The entire Arriva Kent & East Sussex, Arriva Surrey & West Sussex, Arriva The Shires, Go Ahead Brighton & Hove, Go Ahead Metrobus, Stagecoach South, networks are all running a full Sunday timetable on New Years Day. But then others like the Compass Bus, First Aberdeen, First Glasgow, Stagecoach South East, networks are not running at all on New Years Day. It all seems very random.

 

[Hophead]

I'm not sure that Compass have much running on a Sunday, so non-operation isn't really surprising. They are however, operating the full Sunday timetable on the 37 in Brighton on New Years Day (and a normal Monday service on New Years Eve it seems).

 

[swt class 450]

Ah yes you are right about Compass Bus. The 37 is indeed operating on New Years Day. So it is only the 769 that won't. Rather strangely they have also decided not to run the 769 on the 30th (a Sunday) either.

 

[neilmc]

Spare a thought for those of us with a weekly village service which runs on Tuesday. There was a bus on 18th December, next one will be 8th January. Wonder whether the milk will keep for three weeks?

 

[LowLevel]

No buses at all in Nottingham on New Years Day, from NCT or Trent Barton.

 

[Statto]

Got me wondering, what is the longest service in terms of distance operating on Boxing Day/New Years Day, as Stagecoach MCSL are operating X2 Liverpool-Preston via Southport on Boxing Day which comes in at around 40 miles?

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Got me wondering, what is the longest service in terms of distance operating on Boxing Day/New Years Day, as Stagecoach MCSL are operating X2 Liverpool-Preston via Southport on Boxing Day which comes in at around 40 miles?

Oxford Tube probably beats it and even runs on Christmas Day

https://www.oxfordtube.com/Christmas and New Year 2018.aspx

 

[duncanp]

No buses at all in Nottingham on New Years Day, from NCT or Trent Barton.

But the trams in Nottingham are running a full Sunday service on New Years Day.

I wonder why the trams are running on New Years Day and not the buses.

 

[higthomas]

Oxford Tube probably beats it and even runs on Christmas Day

https://www.oxfordtube.com/Christmas and New Year 2018.aspx

That's a coach not a bus. And if we're on coaches, national express are running services.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

That's a coach not a bus. And if we're on coaches, national express are running services.

Probably a tad debateable it being a frequent, turn up and go, pay the driver operation with fares for local journeys.

 

[radamfi]

I have been travelling around Essen and Düsseldorf today and I can't believe how busy the trains and buses are. Other than at main rail stations, there are no shops open. We keep being told that shopping is what drives travel demand. Stayed last night near Amsterdam and transport was similarly busy well into the evening.

 

[radamfi]

To be honest with most places closed here, I myself can't see there being enough demand to making it viable to run a service.
Up until midday here in Birmingham other than 1 or 2 cars on the roads, the roads and even the streets seemed to be nearly empty/deserted. It got a bit busier as the day went on, but everywhere still was noticeably quitter than usual, with virtually nowhere open, there is a reduced need for people to need to go anywhere and so there is a reduced demand here.
I'm sure for one day if people really need to go somewhere, they can either walk or phone for a taxi.

I certainly can't see there being many wanting to catch a bus into Birmingham City Centre or Solihull Town Centre, or many things being there making you want to go there on Christmas Day, compared to other times of year, so I would say that is one of the things which create travel demand.

The point I was making was that people travel for other reasons than things being "open". There's virtually nothing open anywhere in Europe yet transport operates everywhere except in the UK and Ireland. I bet there is more traffic on the road than at 3 o'clock in the morning when some buses in Birmingham and many buses in London operate. On a London based forum I also frequent, they are complaining about heavy road traffic today.

 

[swt class 450]

People don't just go out of their house to go the shops. What about people who work on Christmas Day? What about people who wish to visit their family and friends on Christmas Day? What about people who wish to go to the Countryside for a walk on Christmas Day? There are many other reasons for going out of your house on Christmas Day other than shopping. I think there is a much larger demand for buses on Christmas Day than most people and bus operators realise.

 

[alex397]

The entire Arriva Kent & East Sussex, Arriva Surrey & West Sussex, Arriva The Shires, Go Ahead Brighton & Hove, Go Ahead Metrobus, Stagecoach South, networks are all running a full Sunday timetable on New Years Day. But then others like the Compass Bus, First Aberdeen, First Glasgow, Stagecoach South East, networks are not running at all on New Years Day. It all seems very random.

What makes it more confusing, when using Kent as an example, on those weekdays around Christmas (24th, 27th, 28th, 31st), Arriva are operating Saturday timetables, whereas Stagecoach are operating a Mon-Fri service (which I think is better for people who are working).
It has resulted in a Arriva Saturday-only service running more frequently than usual!

I am surprised that Stagecoach East Kent have nothing on New Years Day. It doesn’t really make sense to me.

 

[class387]

Indeed, and there'll also be a FREE hourly 430 service in London, operated by an AEC Regent 3 RT type, between Putney Bridge Station and Roehampton, also run by enthusiasts.

Did a round trip from Putney to Roehampton earlier on this. Was surprised that it was completely full for most of the journey in both directions (not only enthusiasts too).

 

[Busaholic]

Did a round trip from Putney to Roehampton earlier on this. Was surprised that it was completely full for most of the journey in both directions (not only enthusiasts too).

Understand it was a bit like that last year too.

 

[class387]

Understand it was a bit like that last year too.

I wonder how they achieved it though. Any local publicity for example?

The 15H could learn a lot from this service.