Great Britain interurban bus map

[Parebunks]

Having altogether too much time on my hands, I made this very simplified map of interurban bus routes in England and Wales (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eqWOsCWPDWsJp4VEyyYu6rp6IQ8IwFPc/view?usp=sharing for up-to-date version, message me if you want back copies for some reason). It was more fun than expected, except around Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle, which ended up looking worst anyway. The criteria for inclusion as a 'bus' is whether ENCTS or Welsh equivalant is valid, hence the lack of Scotland (as the pass there covers coaches). I'm confident mistakes and omissions will have got in, please correct and criticise!

 

[yorkie]

Looks good at first glance

(BTW Skelmersdale is missing an s)

 

[Peterthegreat]

Having altogether too much time on my hands, I made this very simplified map of interurban bus routes in England and Wales: light version, dark version. It was more fun than expected, except around Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle, which ended up looking worst anyway. The criteria for inclusion as a 'bus' is whether ENCTS or Welsh equivalant is valid, hence the lack of Scotland (as the pass there covers coaches). I'm confident mistakes and omissions will have got in, please correct and criticise!

Incorrect spelling of Pontefract.

 

[rapmastaj]

Very fine!

It's missing the X84 Leeds - Otley - Ilkley - Skipton.

 

[Farningham]

Having altogether too much time on my hands, I made this very simplified map of interurban bus routes in England and Wales: light version, dark version. It was more fun than expected, except around Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle, which ended up looking worst anyway. The criteria for inclusion as a 'bus' is whether ENCTS or Welsh equivalant is valid, hence the lack of Scotland (as the pass there covers coaches). I'm confident mistakes and omissions will have got in, please correct and criticise!

It's very good - I have been longing for something like to this to be available.
The Croydon - Redhill route is 405, not 465. The 465 is Kingston - Dorking (not shown on map). Bromley - Westerham, shown as 405, is actually the 246.

One thing this does illustrate is how many 'trunk' links have been lost, for example going north or north-west from Sevenoaks.

 

[Parebunks]

Thanks all for the feedback! Corrected versions: see top post for the most recent.

 

[Ken H]

I can't tell go-Ahead from Transdev; the colours are too similar.
X84 and 60 in W Yorks dont share any route, xcept about half a mile in Leeds.
Otley is missing and there is Connexions bus Harrogate - Otley. So Harrogate - Ilkley is easiest changing at Otley. Maybe you missed Otley because its population is too small?
I hope this helps.

 

[Tester]

This is excellent!

As I am just about to get my ENCTS I shall put it to good use

 

[WibbleWobble]

A couple of interurban routes are missing from Dorset, namely the 13 Bournemouth - Wimborne, 3/4 Poole - Wimborne and some of the Dorset Council tendered services (I get that space issues may be in play here). The X6 is shown as a line but the number is missing.

A number of major interurban routes in Greater Manchester are also missing.

Overall a good map and fills a void in available publicity. Maybe congested areas could be done in inset maps, otherwise you need to scale up which will make text smaller.

 

[LAIRA]

Having altogether too much time on my hands, I made this very simplified map of interurban bus routes in England and Wales: light version, dark version. It was more fun than expected, except around Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle, which ended up looking worst anyway. The criteria for inclusion as a 'bus' is whether ENCTS or Welsh equivalant is valid, hence the lack of Scotland (as the pass there covers coaches). I'm confident mistakes and omissions will have got in, please correct and criticise!

Where do I find this map please?

 

[Peterthegreat]

A few more spelling errors
Middlesbrough
Haslemere
Sutton Coldfield
Melksham
Halesowen
Uttoxeter
Newton Aycliffe

As far as I can see there is no explanation of what the broken lines are e.g. routes 24 and 47 from Newark.

 

[Ediswan]

You could add the 384, which takes a more northerly route from Stevenage to Hertford, via Ware.

 

[tbtc]

Great map

Here in South Yorkshire, the X1/X10 don’t run through to Doncaster (just to Maltby), the Stagecoach 2 could be shown alongside the X17 between Sheffield and Barnsley

To fill a bit of a gap in the unpopulated Pennines, maybe Penistone or Stocksbridge might be worth including, with direct buses to Sheffield/ Barnsley/ Holmfirth (albeit just Saturdays only for Stocksbridge to Holmfirth)? I don’t know whether the Holmfirth - Glossop 351 is worthy of a mention, being Saturdays only, but it’s a fairly quiet/ empty area

I’m really impressed through, the above is intended as feedback rather than criticism

 

[WizCastro197]

I think Romsey near Southampton has been misspelt as Romney.

 

[RELL6L]

This is a really good effort! Scary that they it’s possible to fit this in and how many gaps there are.

Will review in more detail and add to this post but from looking at on my phone while waiting for a haircut…

South Molton not South Moreton (Devon).
Romsey and Tidworth in Hampshire, not Romney and Tidsworth.

Hinckley in Leicestershire isn’t named.

It fades away a bit in north west Wales. Need to name Pwllheli, Nefyn and Aberdaron, also add T3 to Barmouth, 39 Barmouth-Porthmadog and I would add X29 and 28 to Tywyn, S1 Caernarfon to Betws y Coed.

 

[jp4712]

The X12 shown as travelling between Burton-on-Trent and Tamworth, in reality operates Burton-on-Trent - Lichfield.

'Ashton-under-Lyme' is in fact Ashton-under-Lyne.

 

[Russel]

Love this!

 

[Parebunks]

Thanks, fixed the obvious errors! I'll look at adding Wimbourne and something in the Pennines when I've got more time. Updated version: see top post for latest version.

Where do I find this map please?

The underlined text is a link?

I can't tell go-Ahead from Transdev; the colours are too similar.
X84 and 60 in W Yorks dont share any route, xcept about half a mile in Leeds.
Otley is missing and there is Connexions bus Harrogate - Otley. So Harrogate - Ilkley is easiest changing at Otley. Maybe you missed Otley because its population is too small?
I hope this helps.

Oop, will perhaps change Transdev to a more lilac-y purple at some point. I'm aware X84 and 60 don't share any route, there just wasn't anywhere else to put them, so had to simplify! Have added the Harrogate-Otley route by combining Ilkley and Otley as they look fairly close to each other.

 

[WM Bus]

I can't tell go-Ahead from Transdev; the colours are too similar.
X84 and 60 in W Yorks dont share any route, xcept about half a mile in Leeds.
Otley is missing and there is Connexions bus Harrogate - Otley. So Harrogate - Ilkley is easiest changing at Otley. Maybe you missed Otley because its population is too small?
I hope this helps.

Birmingham the 4/6/50 don't really share that much route either. 4 uses Warwick Road, 6 Stratford Road, 50 Alcester.
8 out of Birmingham should be the X8 to Dudley and onto Wolverhamtpon.
Also the 125 think that follows 292 as far as Bewdley then up to Bridgnorth to.

 

[SCH117X]

Very fine!

It's missing the X84 Leeds - Otley - Ilkley - Skipton.

The X84 now only goes as far as Ilkley. Ilkley to Skipton is now Transdev Keighley 64

 

[billio]

An alternative route from Whitby to Middlesborough is the Arriva service X4, X4A which runs half hourly between Whitby, Loftus, Saltburn and Redcar.

 

[RELL6L]

This is really good, I can see that a version of this could be used for ‘Where can you go for £2’ or similar. If it is to be useful more widely than the enthusiast community it probably needs more detail in the touristy areas and less in the busier areas.

A few more thoughts, even though I haven’t had the chance to get this up on a big screen

Scarborough to Bridlington main service is the 12, the 13 is seasonal.

North of Hull the X46 and 121 run together as far as Beverley which is worth a mention.

From Boston the purple routes are technically B3, B5 and B7.

Frodsham is marked but not named.

Definitely add in the X18 via the coast between Alnwick and Berwick.

If you can fit it in I would also add:

West Wirral, 22 Chester to Heswall and West Kirby also routes across from Liverpool to those places.

In the Lake District add Ambleside, show the open top 599, also the summer service Windermere to Penrith, 30 south from Workington to Whitehaven

In the north east add Ashington, Blyth, Whitley Bay, Tynemouth and South Shields and some key routes joining them and to Newcastle

Maybe, if touristy, the 680, 681, 688, AD122 from Hexham and Haltwhistle

Perhaps Hornsea and Withernsea in East Yorkshire

72 Skipton to Grassington

The X4 Middlesbrough to Whitby via Redcar and Saltburn, as suggested above, also 81 Redcar to Guisborough

Anglesey add Amlwch and Beaumaris from Bangor as well.

I think you could move Harrogate and Ripon a bit north to sort your Ilkley and Otley issue.

These are minor and suggestions - it’s great.

I never knew of the 93 from Bingham to Grantham by the way - thought this was a train only corridor!

Oh and between Rhyl and Denbigh it’s the 51, not X51 (but goes through)

And from Todmorden it’s the 590 to Rochdale and the 591/2 to Burnley, there 3 go east to Hebden Bridge and Halifax. Given the high profile of this area at the moment you might try to add in the 901 to Huddersfield and/or the B3 north to Keighley - this might mean moving Keighley a bit.

It’s easy for people like me to suggest adding things but in the end it’s a balance between detail and usability, your decision where to draw the line (ho ho ho ).

 

[NorthOxonian]

This is an incredible map - there are one or two important places not on there but they aren't really served by interurban routes (Whitehaven, for instance - the only routes in the town are West Cumbria locals now the 300 has been split at Workington).

That's minor though - this map will be an invaluable resource for me planning trips in the future. I particularly like the use of line thickness - helping you see not only the actual gaps in the network but also practical gaps too (such as heading N/W from Banbury where there is a service but it's not very good).

Edit: I've found one minor labelling error - I believe Grays and Lakeside need to be switched in Essex.

 

[MCR247]

Out of curiosity, what program did you use to make these maps?

 

[SCH117X]

Theres also Kinchbus 9 between Loughborough and Nottingham along the A60 compared to the NCT "South Notts" 1 via East Leake

 

[Parebunks]

even though I haven’t had the chance to get this up on a big screen

If that's what you can get on a phone, seriously concerned by what you'll spot on a computer! Thanks for the pointers, though, will add those and other errors pointed out later.

Out of curiosity, what program did you use to make these maps?

Adobe Illustrator - an institutional subscription, no way I'd pay that price tag myself. I have tried Inkscape as a free alternative in the past, but couldn't really get my head round it.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Excellent work. In Cornwall perhaps you could add 72 Plymouth - Looe / Polperro and 73 Liskeard - Looe / Polperro - both reasonably frequent by Cornish standards - as is 79 Tavistock to Callington. In Devon Kingsbridge to Dartmouth is now 93 (its old Western National number) - but is in fact the same bus as the 3 from Plymouth.

 

[JGurney]

Brilliant job! Interesting and useful.

 

[WideRanger]

Coming up with the idea to do this is genius. I never realised I needed this in my life. And now I do.

 

[paul1609]

On the southcoast the 102 route was cut back to Rye from Dover a few years ago. Between Rye and Hastings its 100/101.