December Bus Holiday

[burns20]

Using First and Stagecoach only (Staff Pass plus a First Week UK Pass) my route as follows

40 Morecambe to Preston
X2 Preston to Liverpool
1 Liverpool to Chester
Train Chester to Nuneaton
48 Nuneaton to Coventry
86 Coventry to Rugby
OVERNIGHT
96 Rugby to Northampton
X47 Northampton to Thrapston
23 Thrapston to Oundle
24 Oundle to Peterborough
B Peterborough to Cambridge
OVERNIGHT
11 Cambridge to Bury
384 Bury to Stowmarket
88 Stowmarket to Ipswich
OVERNIGHT
77 Ipswich to Felixstowe
Ferry Felixstowe to Harwich
103 Harwich to Colchester
71 Colchester to Chelmsford
100 Chelmsford to Grays
73 Grays to Tilbury
99 Tilbury to Tilbury Ferry
Ferry Tilbury Ferry to Gravesend
B Gravesend to Bluewater
96 Bluewater to Woolwich Arsenal
53 Woolwich Arsenal to Elephant and Castle
155 Elephant and Castle to Balham
OVERNIGHT
155 Balham to Clapham Common
137 Clapham Common to Lister Hospital
44 Lister Hospital to Eccleston Bridge
Oxford Tube Eccleston Bridge to Oxford
S1/S2 Oxford to Carterton
64 Carterton to Swindon
55 Swindon to Chippenham
231 Chippenham to Bath
332 Bath to Bristol
OVERNIGHT
178 Bristol to Midsomer Norton
173 Midsomer Norton to Wells
377 Wells to Yeovil
99 Yeovil to Chard
30 Chard to Axminster
4 Axminster to Exeter
X46 Exeter to Torquay
OVERNIGHT
11 Torquay to Dawlish
B Dawlish to Exeter
55B Exeter to Tiverton
22 Tiverton to Taunton
29 Taunton to Wells
376 Wells to Bristol
100 Bristol to Swansea
OVERNIGHT
111 Swansea to Llanelli
195 Llanelli to Carmarthen
40 Carmarthen to Aberystwyth
T2 Aberystwyth to Machynlleth
Train Machynlleth to Tywyn
OVERNIGHT
28 Tywyn to Dolgellau
X94 Dolgellau to Wrexham
1 Wrexham to Chester
X30 Chester to Warrington
360 Warrington to Wigan
362 Wigan to Chorley
125 Chorley to Preston
40 Preston to Morecambe

 

[Deerfold]

That looks dedicated to buses! Expect a numb bum...

Do First do a nationwide pass?

 

[anthony263]

Do First do a nationwide pass?

Yes they do valid on all of First's uk bus and coach operations. You also get special discounted rail travel

 

[Deerfold]

Yes they do valid on all of First's uk bus and coach operations. You also get special discounted rail travel

Have you any information on where to get that / prices etc? Never seen anything about one.

I know where I lived their cross-border services were poorly patronised as they didn't do any period tickets valid over the county boundary - and the fares are much higher.

 

[A0]

Using First and Stagecoach only (Staff Pass plus a First Week UK Pass) my route as follows

40 Morecambe to Preston
X2 Preston to Liverpool
1 Liverpool to Chester
Train Chester to Nuneaton
48 Nuneaton to Coventry
86 Coventry to Rugby
OVERNIGHT
96 Rugby to Northampton
X47 Northampton to Thrapston
23 Thrapston to Oundle
24 Oundle to Peterborough
B Peterborough to Cambridge
OVERNIGHT
11 Cambridge to Bury
384 Bury to Stowmarket
88 Stowmarket to Ipswich
OVERNIGHT
77 Ipswich to Felixstowe
Ferry Felixstowe to Harwich
103 Harwich to Colchester
71 Colchester to Chelmsford
100 Chelmsford to Grays
73 Grays to Tilbury
99 Tilbury to Tilbury Ferry
Ferry Tilbury Ferry to Gravesend
B Gravesend to Bluewater
96 Bluewater to Woolwich Arsenal
53 Woolwich Arsenal to Elephant and Castle
155 Elephant and Castle to Balham
OVERNIGHT
155 Balham to Clapham Common
137 Clapham Common to Lister Hospital
44 Lister Hospital to Eccleston Bridge
Oxford Tube Eccleston Bridge to Oxford
S1/S2 Oxford to Carterton
64 Carterton to Swindon
55 Swindon to Chippenham
Chippenham to Bath
Bath to Bristol
Bristol to Wells
Wells to Taunton
Taunton to Axminster
Axminster to Exeter
Exeter to Torquay
OVERNIGHT

To be continued

Help needed for London to Torquay routing

For Northampton - Peterborough, you'd be much better off using the X4. Nicer vehicles and a slightly shorter journey time.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Using First and Stagecoach only (Staff Pass plus a First Week UK Pass) my route as follows


55 Swindon to Chippenham
Chippenham to Bath
Bath to Bristol
Bristol to Wells
Wells to Taunton
Taunton to Axminster
Axminster to Exeter
Exeter to Torquay
OVERNIGHT

To be continued

Help needed for London to Torquay routing

Let me help

231 Chippenham to Bath (First - every 30 mins)
X39 Bath to Bristol (First - every 12 mins)
376 Bristol to Wells (First - every 30 mins)
(or you can go First 173 Bath to Wells every 60 mins and miss out Bristol entirely)
29 Wells to Taunton (First - every 90 mins)
(or you can go First 375 Wells to Bridgwater every 60 mins then First 21 Bridgwater to Taunton every 20/30 mins)
30 Taunton to Axminster (First - every 60 mins)
4 Axminster to Exeter (Stagecoach - every 60 mins)
X46 Exeter to Torquay (Stagecoach - every 60 mins)
(or you could get the 2 to Dawlish and then the 11 to Torquay - nice run along the coast and estuary)

Hope this helps

 

[starrymarkb]

X46 Exeter to Torquay is NOT hourly - there are some quite big gaps. Maybe try 39 to Newton Abbot (every 60 mins) and 12 into Torquay (every 10)

 

[transportphoto]

Just be careful to ensure that the passes include TfL services, I know that First Staff Passes generally do not permit travel on their TfL services.

TP

 

[Deerfold]

Just be careful to ensure that the passes include TfL services, I know that First Staff Passes generally do not permit travel on their TfL services.

TP

First have very few London services now, all in the far east of London.

But your point is important for all the Stagecoach ones...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Using First and Stagecoach only (Staff Pass plus a First Week UK Pass) my route as follows

96 Bluewater to Woolwich Arsenal
53 Woolwich Arsenal to Elephant and Castle
155 Elephant and Castle to Balham
OVERNIGHT
155 Balham to Clapham Common
137 Clapham Common to Lister Hospital
44 Lister Hospital to Eccleston Bridge

The 44 and 155 are run by London General, the 137 by Arriva. The 96 and 53 are Stagecoach.

 

[burns20]

Thanks Grand Wazoo for your research.

Using my oyster for TfL land.

The FirstWeek UK Wide ticket is through my mate at First its a staff benefit. Don't know if you can actually buy one.

I'm doing the X47/23/24 instead of X4 as I've done that route before end to end.

 

[Deerfold]

The FirstWeek UK Wide ticket is through my mate at First its a staff benefit. Don't know if you can actually buy one.

Ah, that's a shame.

Stagecoach used to do one, but I can no longer find any information on it so perhaps they've stopped.

 

[burns20]

I'm sure Stagecoach do one for most of the Midlands, East and South divisions.

Will look into it

Dayrider Gold £11 valid on Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire Berkshire Cambridgeshire Gloucestershire Hampshire Leicestershire Northants Hertfordshire Oxfordshire South Wales Warwickshire West Sussex Wiltshire and Worcestershire operations

NOT valid on Oxford Tube or X5

 

[anthony263]

Have you any information on where to get that / prices etc? Never seen anything about one.

I know where I lived their cross-boarder services were poorly patronised as they didn't do any period tickets valid over the county boundary - and the fares are much higher.

These passes are only valid for Staff.

On my 1st day working for First Cymru they explained the discounted railfares. For example we could get a return from Port Talbot to London Paddington for just £5 which was a shock since I thought they were having us on. There are some restrictions on the busiest peak hour services to/from London.

The bus ses are valid on Cardiff Bus as teh company has a deal with them but are not valid on the london operations nor London Tramlink

 

[34D]

These passes are only valid for Staff.

On my 1st day working for First Cymru they explained the discounted railfares. For example we could get a return from Port Talbot to London Paddington for just £5 which was a shock since I thought they were having us on. There are some restrictions on the busiest peak hour services to/from London.

The bus ses are valid on Cardiff Bus as teh company has a deal with them but are not valid on the london operations nor London Tramlink

No. They're for staff to give their friends (an occasional thing). Have the staff members' name on them iirc. Only valid on First services.

A first group staff pass may have validity on Cardiff Bus, but only for local staff (first two letters of staff pass denote the area)

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Thanks Grand Wazoo for your research.

Using my oyster for TfL land.

The FirstWeek UK Wide ticket is through my mate at First its a staff benefit. Don't know if you can actually buy one.

I'm doing the X47/23/24 instead of X4 as I've done that route before end to end.

Rather tragically, it's not research. It's from memory, hence forgetting the X46 went every 90 mins a few years back.

A different route bit nicer is 49 Swindon to Trowbridge. Then 264/5 to Bath. Better scenery! 49 is only hourly though

 

[burns20]

Just looked at routing via Trowbridge and its feasible...you couldn't make it up that the 264 leaves 2 minutes before the 49 arrives.

Do you have to prebook the First Wales Greyhound 100 from Bristol to Swansea or could I turn up and try my luck on the 1840 ex-Bristol?

Original post updated

 

[anthony263]

You can turn up and go on the Greyhound service. I travelled on the 00:30 from Cardiff to Bridgend (Mc Arthur Glen) yesterday morning having arrived in Cardiff at 00:05 off the 21:00 London Victoria - Cardiff National express service.

 

[burns20]

Thanks Anthony263.

Now for the cheeky question would the First Week ticket be valid on it?

 

[starrymarkb]

Thanks Anthony263.

Now for the cheeky question would the First Week ticket be valid on it?

I'd check with First - 0845 602 0156...

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Take it that you're paying through the nose when you get to West Wales north of Carmarthen?

Bit off the pace but there's a North Wales Rover that I think will cover you from Machynlleth northbound. Here's a suggestion if you're wanting to travel round there and if you're not fussed about going to Tywyn...

Stay on T2 to Porthmadog
Then onto 3 to Pwllheli, 12 to Caernarfon, 5 to Bangor/Llandudno and then along the North Wales Coast

I've done most of those (about 8 years ago but they're all still there...well the T2 was the X32) so some good fun there

 

[burns20]

No idea what the fares are like on the 40. The T2 fares are low. From Dolgellau to Chorley I will buy an Arriva North West & Wales Day Ticket for £6.50, good value for money.

Original list updated
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
BATH TO BRISTOL

Which is the most scenic route the 332 or 339/X39? Or any others there may be.

 

[221129]

The Route 92 no longer runs. It has been replaced by a Very low frequency Route 22.

I would however suggest NOT to use this route on a College day as it is Full and standing.

 

[burns20]

Thanks for that. Will have to investigate if it fits my plan or maybe 398 and West Somerset or 28.

Any other inventive ways of getting from Tiverton to Taunton?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Following investigation I'd be travelling on the 1245 22 from Tiverton to Taunton on a Saturday. I'm guessing this will be fairly quiet.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Thanks for that. Will have to investigate if it fits my plan or maybe 398 and West Somerset or 28.

Any other inventive ways of getting from Tiverton to Taunton?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Following investigation I'd be travelling on the 1245 22 from Tiverton to Taunton on a Saturday. I'm guessing this will be fairly quiet.

A clever one to do (and I did it a few weeks ago) is the get the 398 from Tiverton to Bampton at 12:40. Walk from village centre to the cafe and have a coffee, then walk up the hill to the War Memorial and catch the 25 to Taunton via Wiveliscombe

Did it a couple of months ago. Get a hybrid Solo from Beacon Bus on 398 and the 25 is a great run through the Blackdown Hills! Won't get you into Taunton til an hour later though

 

[radamfi]

BATH TO BRISTOL

Which is the most scenic route the 332 or 339/X39? Or any others there may be.

332 definitely more scenic. X39 gives you a bit of a non-stop run on a dual carriageway though.

 

[burns20]

My only time constraint is getting the 1505 29 from Taunton to Wells so the 1351 25 from Bampton it'd have to be.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

332 definitely more scenic. X39 gives you a bit of a non-stop run on a dual carriageway though.

Agree, the bit from Kelston Hall to Bitton has lovely views. Rolling stock is of variable quality from B10BLE to MPD to step Dart. X39 has new Streetlites though some residual Eclipse or B7 deckers remain on it
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

My only time constraint is getting the 1505 29 from Taunton to Wells

10 min window to change 14:55 vs 15:05!

 

[burns20]

It's the -2 minute connection at Tiverton from the 55B that's worrying

Saying that I can have a 3 minute connection catching the 1200 155 from Exeter

 

[Stonesourscotty]

a few of your buses are run by Arriva atleast the 360/2 in wigan are run by arriva

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

a few of your buses are run by Arriva atleast the 360/2 in wigan are run by arriva

Think quite a few on that day viz X94, Sapphire 1, X30, 360 and 362 are all Arriva so imagine a day ticket will be bought.