Reasonably priced long bus journeys

[heart-of-wessex]

It's very odd how fares on subsidised/tendered routes vary widely - in some places they are quite extraordinarily cheap (I've found this in Wiltshire and Buckinghamshire recently); in others (I've found this in Essex) quite the reverse. Indeed some of the more infrequent rural routes in Oxfordshire are free of charge, although this fact is barely advertised!

Wiltshire Day rover is great, especially as, despite the name, the map goes to well out of Wiltshire to places like Andover, Oxford, Yate etc

 

[Hophead]

The problem is that it would be a Stagecoach Newcastle bus, which would not be set up to sell a NorthWest Explorer ticket and whose driver probably never heard of it.

They need to be bought on either a Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancs or a Stagecoach North Lancs & Cumbria company bus. At the other end of the area, you can't buy them on Stagecoach Manchester or Stagecoach Wigan buses either.

So you need to wait for the first SC North Lancs & Cumbria bus of the day to arrive from Carlisle to buy this particular ticket.

I haven't worked it out in detail, but I now suspect it is possible to do the Newcastle - Liverpool direction in one day, even with the later start.

Now this is the problem with national branding. How on earth is any normal person supposed to know about Stagecoach's internal company structure? Surely, with them all looking much the same, they are, to Joe & Joanne Public just 'Stagecoach'?

Not that too many regular folk are likely to be considering such a journey, but the point remains.

 

[Springs Branch]

Now this is the problem with national branding. How on earth is any normal person supposed to know about Stagecoach's internal company structure? Surely, with them all looking much the same, they are, to Joe & Joanne Public just 'Stagecoach'?

Not that too many regular folk are likely to be considering such a journey, but the point remains.

Agreed, and it's not just people on long bus treks that can get caught out. This can potentially be confusing / infuriating for normal punters.

In my former home area, many routes are operated by Stagecoach Wigan, with a couple of incursions from the north by Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancs (the 113 Preston-Wigan & 125 Preston-Bolton).

There are a number of plausible local cross-town journeys people might want to make, changing in the town centre with both legs on Stagecoach buses (say, Leigh to Standish via Wigan, or Hindley to Horwich via Bolton).
Unfortunately SC Wigan buses sell Wigan & Manchester Day tickets, whereas the SC S.Lancs company has its own separate range of Day tickets.

Admittedly in these cases a smart passenger could buy a more expensive TfGM System One "Any Bus" day ticket, but how many people would know (without being caught out at least once) that buses with the same livery, logo and Stagecoach brand name might somehow be "different"?
(I think the Wigan-Standish anomaly might have been partially fixed recently, with Wigan tickets accepted as far as the boundary, but I don't think you can buy a Wigan/Manchester Dayrider on an inbound S.Lancs company bus).

 

[Martin1988]

I thought the Huddersfield-Leeds bus routes run by First and Arriva were extremely good value. I actually commented to one driver when traveling on one of these services about how much more expensive the fares were in Bristol.

 

[Busaholic]

Agreed, and it's not just people on long bus treks that can get caught out. This can potentially be confusing / infuriating for normal punters.

In my former home area, many routes are operated by Stagecoach Wigan, with a couple of incursions from the north by Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancs (the 113 Preston-Wigan & 125 Preston-Bolton).

There are a number of plausible local cross-town journeys people might want to make, changing in the town centre with both legs on Stagecoach buses (say, Leigh to Standish via Wigan, or Hindley to Horwich via Bolton).
Unfortunately SC Wigan buses sell Wigan & Manchester Day tickets, whereas the SC S.Lancs company has its own separate range of Day tickets.

Admittedly in these cases a smart passenger could buy a more expensive TfGM System One "Any Bus" day ticket, but how many people would know (without being caught out at least once) that buses with the same livery, logo and Stagecoach brand name might somehow be "different"?
(I think the Wigan-Standish anomaly might have been partially fixed recently, with Wigan tickets accepted as far as the boundary, but I don't think you can buy a Wigan/Manchester Dayrider on an inbound S.Lancs company bus).

This is an area of operation the Traffic Commissioners should get involved in to remind the companies that they don't exist in a vacuum and the ordinary paying passenger has a right to know before they get on a bus which prepaid tickets are valid on it.

 

[RPI]

Exeter to Poole on the X53 is about £8.00 single, not sure of the mileage but is quite a way.

 

[thealexweb]

Lothian Buses' 45 service. Queen Margaret University to Riccarton (Heriot Watt University). All for £1.50.

 

[extendedpaul]

This one on megabus must be unbeatable ....

Inverness to Barcelona on Monday 15 December. 40 hour journey on three separate services for £1.

 

[heart-of-wessex]

I can never seem to find a Euro Megabus for a £1, jammy bugger!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

This one on megabus must be unbeatable ....

Inverness to Barcelona on Monday 15 December. 40 hour journey on three separate services for £1.

How much does the return journey cost?

 

[extendedpaul]

A megabus return can be obtained (in theory!) for £2 plus 50p booking fee.

However as there is only one ticket at that price it would be unwise to wait for the return leg to go on sale before booking the outward journey. As i understand the system, the £1 fare will disappear as soon as the first ticket is sold for any leg of the three part journey.

Megabus have been using an automated system to add their services one day at a time but last week they loaded journeys for three weeks to Sunday 4 January in one lot including a full timetable at normal prices on 26 December and 1 January.