Odd unusual bus routes

[plaxton]

I have just come across these two very odd bus services on the Bus Times website and i would be very much interested if anyone knows more about them.

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• Anitas Coaches route A2

A2 - Bishop's Stortford - Bishop's Stortford

Anita's Coaches

bustimes.org

This route has two morning journeys to a school in Bishops Stortford which would appear to be a normal school bus service. Although the two journeys arrive at the school thirty minutes apart from each other which seems rather odd for a school bus service considering that all pupils will need to be at school at the same time. But other than that this looks pretty ordinary. But it is the third journey in the opposite direction that has baffled me.

They also run a third journey in the opposite direction at 03:00 in the morning. It starts from the same school in Bishops Stortford but obviously this is not intended for school children as nobody is leaving school at 03:00 in the morning. So my guess is that this must be to do with Stansted Airport which is nearby. I am guessing that the bus operator is running this to fit in with their school bus service (possibly the same duty as it is only a few hours earlier) but it is for airport staff maybe. It does not go to the airport but i am wondering if it is some sort of service that is meant to pick up workers from around Bishops Stortford and then connect them to an Arriva route 309 508 509 510 bus to continue to the airport. That is my only guess of what this must be.

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• Rotala Diamond route H30

H30 - Hatton Cross Station - Heathrow Central Bus Statiion

Diamond Bus South East

bustimes.org

This bus route operates every twenty minutes in both directions between Heathrow T123 to Heathrow T4 to Heathrow T5 to Hatton Cross and vice versa. But it only runs for a two hour period between about 03:00 to 05:00 in the morning. This appears to require a PVR of four vehicles.

I can not work out what this route is. Going by the "H" prefix i would guess it is one of their Hotel Hoppa bus routes (as Rotala Diamond also run these) but there is no mention of it on the Hotel Hoppa website. However this service is on their main Diamond website. So going by that i am not sure if it is a Hotel Hoppa service or if it is for something else. It also states that it is a free bus on the PDF timetable. I can not work out what this route is for. It just seems to go around the airport but does not serve anywhere else. I am pretty sure TFL already run night bus routes at the airport to use when the trains are not running. So i have no idea what this route is about. It just seems very odd to have a bus route operating such a high frequency and such a high PVR for such a short period in the middle of the night.

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If anyone has any more information on what these two bus services are than i would be very interested to hear more about them.

 

[Segedunum]

My guess with the first one is that someone's written it in 12hr format and the service should be leaving at 15:xx instead.

After all, you generally need to take the kids home as well as to school.

 

[Magdalia]

• Anitas Coaches route A2

A2 - Bishop's Stortford - Bishop's Stortford

Anita's Coaches

bustimes.org

This route has two morning journeys to a school in Bishops Stortford which would appear to be a normal school bus service. Although the two journeys arrive at the school thirty minutes apart from each other which seems rather odd for a school bus service considering that all pupils will need to be at school at the same time. But other than that this looks pretty ordinary. But it is the third journey in the opposite direction that has baffled me.

They also run a third journey in the opposite direction at 03:00 in the morning. It starts from the same school in Bishops Stortford but obviously this is not intended for school children as nobody is leaving school at 03:00 in the morning. So my guess is that this must be to do with Stansted Airport which is nearby. I am guessing that the bus operator is running this to fit in with their school bus service (possibly the same duty as it is only a few hours earlier) but it is for airport staff maybe. It does not go to the airport but i am wondering if it is some sort of service that is meant to pick up workers from around Bishops Stortford and then connect them to an Arriva route 309 508 509 510 bus to continue to the airport. That is my only guess of what this must be.

A simple explanation would be that the times are entered incorrectly. 3pm in the afternoon would be right for the end of the school day.

 

[SeveerYeliab]

I'm thinking your 3am journey on the A2 is a date entry error, with whoever submitted the timetable not joint 24 hours time - thus the bus should be departing at 1520 rather than 3:20.

 

[mangad]

H30 - Do a search for "Heathrow Free Travel" and you'll find a map showing inter-terminal connections with Hatton Cross and Heathrow bus station. It includes the tube, Crossrail and the H30 bus timetables. Notably the H30 stops running not long before the tube starts. So seems very likely it's there for people to get around the airport at a time when other transport links are minimal. Presumably there's not enough demand to run it from 1am when the tube closes down for the night.

 

[Bedford OB]

I have just come across these two very odd bus services on the Bus Times website and i would be very much interested if anyone knows more about them.

~~~~

• Anitas Coaches route A2

A2 - Bishop's Stortford - Bishop's Stortford

Anita's Coaches

bustimes.org

This route has two morning journeys to a school in Bishops Stortford which would appear to be a normal school bus service. Although the two journeys arrive at the school thirty minutes apart from each other which seems rather odd for a school bus service considering that all pupils will need to be at school at the same time. But other than that this looks pretty ordinary. But it is the third journey in the opposite direction that has baffled me.

They also run a third journey in the opposite direction at 03:00 in the morning. It starts from the same school in Bishops Stortford but obviously this is not intended for school children as nobody is leaving school at 03:00 in the morning. So my guess is that this must be to do with Stansted Airport which is nearby. I am guessing that the bus operator is running this to fit in with their school bus service (possibly the same duty as it is only a few hours earlier) but it is for airport staff maybe. It does not go to the airport but i am wondering if it is some sort of service that is meant to pick up workers from around Bishops Stortford and then connect them to an Arriva route 309 508 509 510 bus to continue to the airport. That is my only guess of what this must be.

~~~~

• Rotala Diamond route H30

H30 - Hatton Cross Station - Heathrow Central Bus Statiion

Diamond Bus South East

bustimes.org

This bus route operates every twenty minutes in both directions between Heathrow T123 to Heathrow T4 to Heathrow T5 to Hatton Cross and vice versa. But it only runs for a two hour period between about 03:00 to 05:00 in the morning. This appears to require a PVR of four vehicles.

I can not work out what this route is. Going by the "H" prefix i would guess it is one of their Hotel Hoppa bus routes (as Rotala Diamond also run these) but there is no mention of it on the Hotel Hoppa website. However this service is on their main Diamond website. So going by that i am not sure if it is a Hotel Hoppa service or if it is for something else. It also states that it is a free bus on the PDF timetable. I can not work out what this route is for. It just seems to go around the airport but does not serve anywhere else. I am pretty sure TFL already run night bus routes at the airport to use when the trains are not running. So i have no idea what this route is about. It just seems very odd to have a bus route operating such a high frequency and such a high PVR for such a short period in the middle of the night.

~~~~

If anyone has any more information on what these two bus services are than i would be very interested to hear more about them.

The H30 is simply a new service which started on 1 December 2022, funded by Heathrow Airport, to provide extra connections betwen Hatton Cross and the various terminals during the very early morning period, at no cost to users, and available to all - staff at the airport and travellers needing to move about at that time.

The A2 is just one of many services in the area which are registered but effectively for school children only. It is a single outward journey which calls at the school in the morning then loops round most of the picking up points; the afternoon journey serves all of the points in a different order and as stated has its times wrongly shown in twelve hour clock form.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jun 2023 ==

I have just come across these two very odd bus services on the Bus Times website and i would be very much interested if anyone knows more about them.

~~~~

• Anitas Coaches route A2

A2 - Bishop's Stortford - Bishop's Stortford

Anita's Coaches

bustimes.org

This route has two morning journeys to a school in Bishops Stortford which would appear to be a normal school bus service. Although the two journeys arrive at the school thirty minutes apart from each other which seems rather odd for a school bus service considering that all pupils will need to be at school at the same time. But other than that this looks pretty ordinary. But it is the third journey in the opposite direction that has baffled me.

They also run a third journey in the opposite direction at 03:00 in the morning. It starts from the same school in Bishops Stortford but obviously this is not intended for school children as nobody is leaving school at 03:00 in the morning. So my guess is that this must be to do with Stansted Airport which is nearby. I am guessing that the bus operator is running this to fit in with their school bus service (possibly the same duty as it is only a few hours earlier) but it is for airport staff maybe. It does not go to the airport but i am wondering if it is some sort of service that is meant to pick up workers from around Bishops Stortford and then connect them to an Arriva route 309 508 509 510 bus to continue to the airport. That is my only guess of what this must be.

~~~~

• Rotala Diamond route H30

H30 - Hatton Cross Station - Heathrow Central Bus Statiion

Diamond Bus South East

bustimes.org

This bus route operates every twenty minutes in both directions between Heathrow T123 to Heathrow T4 to Heathrow T5 to Hatton Cross and vice versa. But it only runs for a two hour period between about 03:00 to 05:00 in the morning. This appears to require a PVR of four vehicles.

I can not work out what this route is. Going by the "H" prefix i would guess it is one of their Hotel Hoppa bus routes (as Rotala Diamond also run these) but there is no mention of it on the Hotel Hoppa website. However this service is on their main Diamond website. So going by that i am not sure if it is a Hotel Hoppa service or if it is for something else. It also states that it is a free bus on the PDF timetable. I can not work out what this route is for. It just seems to go around the airport but does not serve anywhere else. I am pretty sure TFL already run night bus routes at the airport to use when the trains are not running. So i have no idea what this route is about. It just seems very odd to have a bus route operating such a high frequency and such a high PVR for such a short period in the middle of the night.

~~~~

If anyone has any more information on what these two bus services are than i would be very interested to hear more about them.

I should have added to my earlier message that the route and timetable were amended from 1 June 2023 to additionally serve the Cargo Area, BA Waterside and the Compass Centre. No change to the frequency and period of operation.