Night Buses

[higthomas]

Hi, after seeing the thread about a return of night buses to Liverpool over Christmas, I was wondering, does anyone have, or could we make a list of all the places in Britain with night buses. Also, which is the smallest place to have them, and the largest place without?

So far I have:
London
Manchester
Liverpool
Oxford
Nottingham?

Where else?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Bristol and curiously, Weymouth!

 

[GatwickDepress]

Brighton & Hove have nightbuses.

I've used the N12 for connecting to the first Eastbourne - Hastings train.

 

[radamfi]

Birmingham was the largest place without night buses until last year when the 97A route to the airport via Chelmsley Wood was made 24 hours. The 50 to Druids Heath was made 24 hour a few months ago.

Crawley route 10 runs 24 hours a day.

Leeds is probably the largest place without night buses.

 

[Greenback]

Even the Isle of Wight has night buses, albeit Friday and Saturday only.

Down here a night bus is anything that runs after 1900, and there are precious few of them!

 

[Busaholic]

It largely depends on your interpretation of 'night bus'. Personally I would say it has to be somewhere where buses operate throughout the night with a maximum gap of about an hour, although perhaps two-hour gaps on airport services might qualify. On this interpretation there are very few cities and towns included, particularly if a seven-day-a-week operation is deemed necessary.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
In other words, they are available for shift workers, etc, not just joyseekers.

 

[radamfi]

It largely depends on your interpretation of 'night bus'. Personally I would say it has to be somewhere where buses operate throughout the night with a maximum gap of about an hour, although perhaps two-hour gaps on airport services might qualify. On this interpretation there are very few cities and towns included, particularly if a seven-day-a-week operation is deemed necessary.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
In other words, they are available for shift workers, etc, not just joyseekers.

I would tend to agree with this as I personally prefer to travel early in the morning rather than late at night, so I can catch early morning trains or flights. Where night buses serve airports they are more likely to run all night. For example Manchester has a lot of night buses, but the 43 is the only one that runs through the whole night as is goes to the airport. On Friday night/Saturday morning, the 192 bus runs pretty much all night.

Crawley has a lot of routes that start around 0300 to 0400 because of the airport, as well as the 24 hour route mentioned above.

 

[duncanp]

There are night buses in Bournemouth and Poole

Also Edinburgh.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Milton Keynes (Arriva) tried them on one route (the 5, the busiest one by some margin) - unfortunately there was little takeup and they were withdrawn after a year or so. The trouble is in MK a taxi is so fast on the grid roads it is worth the premium, and if a group is travelling to the same area there isn't a premium anyway, the price is about the same.

Neil

 

[gordonthemoron]

I used the N5 in MK a couple of times, hardly any customers. At least they've retained later and earlier services on 5 & 6 to compensate. My main beef with the N5 was that there was a big gap between the last N5 from Bletchley and the first 5/5A so not possible to connect with early morning trains at MKC

 

[Bletchleyite]

I used the N5 in MK a couple of times, hardly any customers. At least they've retained later and earlier services on 5 & 6 to compensate. My main beef with the N5 was that there was a big gap between the last N5 from Bletchley and the first 5/5A so not possible to connect with early morning trains at MKC

True, though of course many wanting to do that could do it by, umm, train, from Bletchley or Wolverton - and unlike the bus it would be free to do so (as Bletchley and Wolverton take fares from MKC for long-distance journeys).

Neil

 

[LateThanNever]

It largely depends on your interpretation of 'night bus'. Personally I would say it has to be somewhere where buses operate throughout the night with a maximum gap of about an hour, although perhaps two-hour gaps on airport services might qualify. On this interpretation there are very few cities and towns included, particularly if a seven-day-a-week operation is deemed necessary.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
In other words, they are available for shift workers, etc, not just joyseekers.

You mean to say they are mutually exclusive?

I can also attest that Hull has buses all night.

 

[gordonthemoron]

True, though of course many wanting to do that could do it by, umm, train, from Bletchley or Wolverton - and unlike the bus it would be free to do so (as Bletchley and Wolverton take fares from MKC for long-distance journeys).

Neil

there are no trains from Bletchley that connect into the 6:15 to Liverpool or 6:23 to Glasgow

 

[W-on-Sea]

Smallest place to be the destination of a night bus service? Maybe Wantage (population around 9,000) - hourly (or at times half-hourly) service on Friday and Saturday nights, one journey (leaving Oxford at midnight) Mon-Thurs. Obviously there are at least three smaller villages en route, though.

Possibly Oxford is unusual in having lengthy rural/cross-country nightbus routes - to Witney/Carterton, Bicester as well as Abingdon/Wantage.

I think Reading has a 24-hour service on Route 17: possibly other night buses too.

 

[gordonthemoron]

or at least there weren't any when N5 was operating, there may be now but i don't live in Bletchley anymore

 

[Statto]

I would tend to agree with this as I personally prefer to travel early in the morning rather than late at night, so I can catch early morning trains or flights. Where night buses serve airports they are more likely to run all night. For example Manchester has a lot of night buses, but the 43 is the only one that runs through the whole night as is goes to the airport. On Friday night/Saturday morning, the 192 bus runs pretty much all night.

Crawley has a lot of routes that start around 0300 to 0400 because of the airport, as well as the 24 hour route mentioned above.

Manchester routes 42-142 operate a night service throughout the week, although last buses are around 3-4am.

 

[Bletchleyite]

or at least there weren't any when N5 was operating, there may be now but i don't live in Bletchley anymore

No, you're still correct.

Neil

 

[G0ORC]

Hi, after seeing the thread about a return of night buses to Liverpool over Christmas, I was wondering, does anyone have, or could we make a list of all the places in Britain with night buses. Also, which is the smallest place to have them, and the largest place without?

So far I have:
London
Manchester
Liverpool
Oxford
Nottingham?

Where else?

Derby (Skylink - true 24-hour service) plus others (all Trent-Barton) operating until 0300 on Fri/Sat and Sat/Sun

 

[Scania3379man]

Night bus in Wigan have withdrawn few month ago, i think it was july, yes..cos few passenger because i think passenger went to catch taxi. the night bus route is 600, 631(withdrawn 2nd August 2013)/632, 628 (withdrawn on 2nd August 2013), 635, 695 and 598, 629(withdrawn 2nd August 2013)

thanks,

Martyn

 

[Strathclyder]

First Glasgow has eleven Night Bus services operating on weekends only. Four of these services are split into two parts:

• N2: City Centre - Faifley/City Centre - Airdrie
• N6: City Centre - Mountblow/City Centre - East Kilbride
• N7: City Centre - Rutherglen
• N9: City Centre - Paisley
• N18: City Centre - Greenhills
• N38: City Centre - Newton Mearns
• N57: City Centre - Darnley - Pollok/City Centre - Robroyston
• N60: City Centre - Clydebank Bus Station/City Centre - Easterhouse Terminus
• N75: City Centre - Castlemilk
• N240: City Centre - Cleland
• N267: City Centre - Hillhouse

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/glasgow/journey_planning/night_services/

 

[Stan Drews]

Stagecoach recently added a night bus N99 variant (on Wed to Sat nights) to the popular 99 group of services between St.Andrews and Dundee via Leuchars.

 

[Y961 XBU]

In Liverpool apart from these Crimbo Night Buses Ace Travel operate the 500/501 Liverpool - Birkenhead (up for a route/timetable change on December 20th)

Leigh near Wigan are at risk of losing their last 2 Night Bus Services (the 39 leigh - Manchester and the 582 (Leigh - Bolton) as TFGM are withdrawing the funding for these 2 services from January 2015.

 

[CatfordCat]

I think Reading has a 24-hour service on Route 17: possibly other night buses too.

Reading Buses 17 has been 24/7 for a few years now. And route 21 (Lower Earley via University) went 24/7 this year

 

[ChathillMan]

Always surprised that Stagecoach Mansfield manage to put out a fairly comprehensive night bus network at the weekends, put some larger cities to shame

 

[Hophead]

Crawley route 10 runs 24 hours a day.

And, notably, 365 days a year. No service Christmas Day night into Boxing Day. Apart from that 4-hour gap, however, the service never stops.

 

[ACBest]

Mansfield have some too bizarrely which are Saturday night only I believe! (Edit, oops beaten to it on those!)

I note the question mark next to Nottingham, but they do indeed have a load - trent barton, YourBus and Nottingham City Transport all provide some on Fri/Sat nights.
Incidentally, I have photos of each of the NCT night routes! Click: https://www.flickr.com/photos/acbestphotography/sets/72157641868334685

tb's indigo and skylink routes are 24/7.
Kinchbus' skylink from Derby to Leicester via EMA is also 24/7.

Norwich has one 24/7 route - the 25 or whatever it is these days between the university, city centre and rail station.

Hull also have night buses, although I can't remember if these are Fri/Sat or Sat only.

 

[Hophead]

I'd suggest that there's several groups of Night Buses, which have been touched on, but possibly not fully defined in the thread.

1. All night, every night
   Crawley 10, Brighton 7 & 25 qualify.
2. Weekend only, at least hourly, till early morning
   A few other Brighton routes, such as N1 & N5 and including Stagecoach N700.
3. 1-off or ad-hoc journeys after midnight

 

[higthomas]

Some strange things there. What leads Mansfield and Oxford to have extensive (and in Oxfords case at least very well used) night buses, yet a large city such as Leeds to barely have any?
The decentralised bus system in this country really does lead to some strange differences in services between cities that one really feels should have a similar service.

 

[ACBest]

Some strange things there. What leads Mansfield and Oxford to have extensive (and in Oxfords case at least very well used) night buses, yet a large city such as Leeds to barely have any?
The decentralised bus system in this country really does lead to some strange differences in services between cities that one really feels should have a similar service.

No idea about Mansfield, but Oxford has students - and lots of them!

 

[Deerfold]

Birmingham was the largest place without night buses until last year when the 97A route to the airport via Chelmsley Wood was made 24 hours. The 50 to Druids Heath was made 24 hour a few months ago.

Crawley route 10 runs 24 hours a day.

Leeds is probably the largest place without night buses.

Leeds no longer has its network of night buses (including the lamented one by me that went Leeds - Bradford - Halifax every hour Fri and sat nights).

It does have one left though, 6 nights a week -

The 1 - though there's a gap between the last service at 0310 and the first at 0546.

(WYMetro's timetable system seems to be broken again and is missing a couple of journeys).

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/lee...vice=1&routeid=10786181&operator=16&source=sp

No idea about Mansfield, but Oxford has students - and lots of them!

Leeds isn't short of students!