Rail Replacement Bus Services?

[bAzTNM]

Haven't used these. Are they what I'm thinking? The bus just goes to each train station on the original trains intended route, or does it hit every stop like a normal bus? Thanks a lot!

 

[First class]

The bus calls at the stations the train it is replacing would have called at ONLY.

Sometimes the buses can't reach the stations due to narrow roads etc. In these cases, they usually stop on the nearest main road.

 

[wintonian]

The bus calls at the stations the train it is replacing would have called at ONLY.

Sometimes the buses can't reach the stations due to narrow roads etc. In these cases, they usually stop on the nearest main road.

A tad annoying if the bus goes past your house late at night, like it did before I moved house.

 

[dvboy]

Sometimes there is an all-stops bus and an express bus from one end of the line closure to the other. Southeastern often do this.

Depends on the route as often the bus can take a lot longer than the original train would have, and has to have a decent connection time each end (not too long and not too short) so sometimes a complete reworking of the timetable those days is done.

 

[Deerfold]

A tad annoying if the bus goes past your house late at night, like it did before I moved house.

They always seem to have done that everywhere I've lived. Occasionally a driver might let you off at other points - but they're not supposed to and generally there's only a chance of it happening if it's quiet - or everyone might want to be dropped off at a different point.

Sometimes when the station is some distance out of town the bus may stop in the town centre as well.

 

[wintonian]

And sometimes if you’re lucky you can hop on a local bus with your bus pass avoid the crowding and get off closer to where you wanted to go, whilst saving a bit in train fare at the same time.

 

[dvboy]

And sometimes if you’re lucky you can hop on a local bus with your bus pass avoid the crowding and get off closer to where you wanted to go, whilst saving a bit in train fare at the same time.

If you have a bus pass ...but the local bus fare may be cheaper than the "train" fare would have been anyway, so worth checking out in advance of travelling.

 

[Schnellzug]

And the best part is, they still charge the train fare.

Actually, it wasn't bad when Stagecoach used their ex Hong Kong three axle Olympians on SWT replacement services, they were quite a beast, but it's usually the usual tired old DecidedlySecondBus, only with the added bonus of costing so much more than usual.

 

[eMeS]

I used one once when the WCML upheaval was at its worst. It was by far the worst bus journey I've had. The driver flung the bus around the many roundabouts in Milton Keynes at much too high a speed, and I really should have taken his number and reported him. (I am a driver, and drive most days, and know Milton Keynes well.)

At least the railway staff seemed to know their job, and they handled the disruption well, and with courtesy.

 

[philjo]

Sometimes the bus drivers don't know where they are going. (If it is a Sullivans bus no problems as the drivers all know the back roads)
A couple of times passengers (including myself) have had to direct the driver how to get to Brookmans Park or Welwyn North stations! We also once went down a very narrow lane coming out of WGC with low branches in a double decker - going to Welwyn North in a very circuitous route & hitting every tree along the way

 

[Schnellzug]

That's how bridge bashes happen. "Oh, you can cut down this way."
Crunch.
"Well, it's ok in our car..... "

 

[starrymarkb]

If you have a bus pass ...but the local bus fare may be cheaper than the "train" fare would have been anyway, so worth checking out in advance of travelling.

Or in the case of Southern Vectis the rail fare is a lot cheaper then the eye watering bus fares

 

[northwichcat]

Sometimes there is an all-stops bus and an express bus from one end of the line closure to the other. Southeastern often do this.

Depends on the route as often the bus can take a lot longer than the original train would have, and has to have a decent connection time each end (not too long and not too short) so sometimes a complete reworking of the timetable those days is done.

I think it depends on the usual passenger loadings as well. They wouldn't run two buses to replace a train that usually carries 50 people but if the train usually carries 200 people then they can run express and stopping buses.

And the best part is, they still charge the train fare.

Depends what ticket you've got whether it's good value or not. A Knutsford-London Advance single usually costs £1 more than a Stockport-London Advance single so if Stockport-Knutsford so if Knutsford-Stockport is replacement bus the £1 extra each way isn't bad value. However, on a normal return it's a different story.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Do 'Happy Al's Buses' do rail replacement work ?

As for the routeing it depends on the company.
LM usually have an all stations and a main stations service - unless they have forgtotten to order enough coaches. Then it's all stations (that the driver is aware of) Northampton to Watford Junction. That can be a problem if you want to get on at somewhere like Cheddington as passengers on board tend to tell the driver 'no one gets on there anyway so I wouldn't bother with it' to make their journey quicker.

Sometimes it can be a plesant double decker ride through the country and others it can be a hellish journey crammed on to a coach with wailing brats (if you're unlucky enough to be on board when I'm travelling), incessant chatter and people boiling up brews on a campus stove at the back singing 'Didn't we have a Loverly Time the Day we Went to Bangor'.

I used to drive everywhere at weekends.

 

[Eagle]

Sometimes there is an all-stops bus and an express bus from one end of the line closure to the other. Southeastern often do this.

This is standard when the SWML through Southampton is closed. There'll be a tediously slow all-stopper from Southampton Airport (nominally run by SWT) to somewhere like Brockenhurst, and a non-stop express from the airport to Bournemouth (nominally run by XC), which from personal experience even in heavy bank holiday traffic through the New Forest is still much faster than the train would have been, on account of the route between the two stations being 99% motorway/dual carriageway.

 

[Tomonthetrain]

I have the pleasure of Nat Express WM buses doing "All Stations" Rail Replacement - With Scania Omnilinks

 

[SS4]

I have the pleasure of Nat Express WM buses doing "All Stations" Rail Replacement - With Scania Omnilinks

At least they provided one! When I've seen them it's more like "get the 904" . Admittedly it's for local services so everyone knows where said bus stops (a fair distance from new st)
I was told that tickets were being accepted on the 904 but since I had my nnetwork pass (in my student days) I did the sensible thing and got a central connect 904

 

[dvboy]

At least they provided one! When I've seen them it's more like "get the 904" . Admittedly it's for local services so everyone knows where said bus stops (a fair distance from new st)
I was told that tickets were being accepted on the 904 but since I had my nnetwork pass (in my student days) I did the sensible thing and got a central connect 904

Whenever anything blocks one of the lines into Birmingham, NXWM (or "West Midlands buses" as the announcer at BHM says) generally accept rail tickets (though you could probably get away with flashing any old bit of paper at one of their drivers at any time).

The Metro from Snow Hill will accept rail tickets to Hawthorns/Wolverhampton depening which line is blocked; I believe there is a reciprocal arrangement if the trams break down, though NX who own the Metro will often try and get you to take their buses instead. Only for planned engineering works or for places beyond the NWM area will a TOC get coaches into the station.

When the Wolves-Walsall line closed, the officially replacement on LM publicity was NXWM's 529 service but I don't know if they accepted rail tickets (probably not).

When LM striked last year there were posters at stations advising of local bus routes (though not an exhaustive list and generally only those Birmingham-bound).

 

[jamesst]

No Happy Als generally dont do rail replacement work anymore (thankgod!). Merseyrail use Arriva.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Who actually IS Happy Al ? Arriva aren't exactly brilliant either.

 

[jamesst]

A birkenhead based excuse for a bus company using vehicles that should of been sent to the scrapyard years ago! Compared to them Arrivas a dream!!!

 

[ileikcaek]

Southeastern used a small bus company here in kent a few times. I remember going to Broadstairs from Ramsgate on a rail replacement bus with my family...

OMG it was a right clapped out old double decker.... When ever stopped the whole bus shook extremely violently and it was very loud too!

When the Dover - Folkestone line was closed for the major repairs southeastern used buzzlines and they got a load of what I presumed at the time - brand new double deckers specially for the rail replacement.

Much nicer than the Thanet Boneshaker

 

[jopsuk]

On Sunday, travelling back to Cambridge, First were running three RRS routes from Royston- a stopper to Cambridge, a fast to Cambridge and a fast to Waterbeach and Ely (with a train service beyond Ely to Kings Lynn).

They didn't seem to be doing it when I got it this time, but previously they've split Cambridge passengers further, putting ones with hand luggage only on double decker buses and those with heavier luggage onto coaches with holds.

 

[Smethwickian]

Last time I had the misfortune to be on a rail-replacement bus was about three years ago now, between Rugby and Northampton. My train arrived a few minutes late from BHM to find that the bus had departed on schedule, without being held. The driver of the following bus an hour later couldn't find Long Buckby, where he was supposed to stop, kept stopping to look at a map, turned round on a petrol station forecourt and again in a farm driveway near a blind bend... Eventually found Long Buckby village and set down one passenger but didn't try finding the station itself to pick anyone up..... Yes, I did mention all this to train staff when we eventually arrived at Northampton!

The same year (don't remember which came first, now) a late evening Chiltern service from Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill was terminated unexpectedly at Dorridge due to cable vandalism - something we on board hadn't been warned about until ater leaving Leamington Spa. A replacement bus had supposedly been lined up but arriving about ten mins late at Dorridge the station was deserted and according to a note stuck in the closed ticket office window the bus would have been scheduled to depart a few minutes earlier and clearly hadn't waited. If it hadn't been for the departing Chiltern driver being apprehended by us eight bemused passengers on his way into a taxi waiting to take him to Tyseley and being asked to contact the company's control point (no, the on-platform 'help' buttons were merely giving out-of-date recorded information and it was way too late at night to get hold of anyone on any other advertised contact number) we'd have been left to our own devices. It still took nearly an hour and a couple more phone calls on the number he left with us before two taxis turned up.

So, funnily enough, I've always been very wary of replacement bus services since then........

 

[cuccir]

I guess one problem is that they can sometimes be often arranged at the last minute, with drivers and buses drafted in from anywhere they are available. I was on one a few weeks ago between Haywards Heath and Three Bridges and it was quite pleasant going over the Downs!

Was on one once between Newcastle and Durham which had to call at Chester-le-Street. Rather than stopping on the front street the driver reversed uphill for the 1/4 mile up to the station - was rather impressed on this occasion!

 

[Yew]

We had a bus on the Robin hood line one day, Ended up with a quater. Hourly service to Worksop. That usually has. 1tph. And they used lots of megabus coaches too

 

[WestCoast]

I have had the 'pleasure' to use many rail replacement services over the years.

The best was a short-notice replacement on Hebden Bridge to Halifax after a landslip. A modern coach (unliveried) and the driver must have been a railway employee or had been one in the past. He made announcements where the service would be calling, advised us how long this would take and told us how to check if there would be any disruption in the coming days.

The worst was a few years ago on a South Fylde line all stations service from Preston to St Annes. It was a battered old single deck bus from a firm based in Cumbria. The driver had no clue where he was going, so I had to direct him. Due to a traffic accident, there was a further delay of 40 minutes. It ended up taking about four times as long as the usual rail journey! Plus, we had to go down a few back lanes to reach the stations, which wasn't fun as he drove like a lunatic. There was no rail staff around and the stations are mostly unstaffed so nobody could pay.

 

[londonbridge]

Sometimes the bus drivers don't know where they are going. (If it is a Sullivans bus no problems as the drivers all know the back roads)
A couple of times passengers (including myself) have had to direct the driver how to get to Brookmans Park or Welwyn North stations! We also once went down a very narrow lane coming out of WGC with low branches in a double decker - going to Welwyn North in a very circuitous route & hitting every tree along the way

On one trip on a replacement bus between Grantham and Peterboro a passenger had to direct the driver on how to find Peterboro station.

On a more recent note,went to Twickenham on Sunday,checking the times on the Trainline from Clapham Junction it was telling me to change at Hounslow for the replacement bus. However at Clapham SWT staff were telling people to change at Barnes. The train was the 18.35 to Windsor And Eton Riverside,which called at Wandsworth Town,Putney,Barnes and then Hounslow,staying on the train to Hounslow and changing there meant I got to Twickenham faster than I would have done by changing at Barnes.

 

[button_boxer]

On a more recent note,went to Twickenham on Sunday,checking the times on the Trainline from Clapham Junction it was telling me to change at Hounslow for the replacement bus. However at Clapham SWT staff were telling people to change at Barnes. The train was the 18.35 to Windsor And Eton Riverside,which called at Wandsworth Town,Putney,Barnes and then Hounslow,staying on the train to Hounslow and changing there meant I got to Twickenham faster than I would have done by changing at Barnes.

I don't know the stations in question, but maybe there were reasons for what they suggested. An example closer to my home - I imagine EMT would recommend people change onto a bus at Derby station even if they could technically stay on their train until (say) Long Eaton, because the larger station has more room to manage queues of passengers and more space outside for buses to stop to pick them up.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Southeastern used a small bus company here in kent a few times. I remember going to Broadstairs from Ramsgate on a rail replacement bus with my family...

OMG it was a right clapped out old double decker....

I think many would actually prefer sitting upstairs on an old double decker watching the countryside go by as opposed to being cooped up on an air conditioned coach with no opening windows. Probably better to sit towards the rear though bearing in mind the low bridge and overhanging tree/gargoyle problems that have been mentioned.