Smallest place with two bus stations?

[Russel]

Had a little ride out on the train today, just up to Matlock and back, but I had a ride on the Transpeak bus from Matlock to Bakewell and back while in the area and it made me think, Matlock, for reasons that I'm not really sure about, has two bus stations, one at the rail station and another a 5 minute walk away in the town centre, is there anywhere smaller that also has two bus stations?

Also, if anyone has any idea what lead to Matlock having two, so close together, please enlighten me!

Edit - By bus station, I mean an actual dedicated bus station rather than a collection of roadside stops.

 

[asb]

Depending on your definition of bus station, you could include Tredegar, which has a bus station used mostly by Harris, and a pair of stops in a large off road layby labelled as Lidl, which is where Stagecoach serve.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Depending on your definition of bus station, you could include Tredegar, which has a bus station used mostly by Harris, and a pair of stops in a large off road layby labelled as Lidl, which is where Stagecoach serve.

It is referred to as a single entity though.

Port Talbot has two though

 

[Russel]

Depending on your definition of bus station, you could include Tredegar, which has a bus station used mostly by Harris, and a pair of stops in a large off road layby labelled as Lidl, which is where Stagecoach serve.

Edited my original post to clarify.

I mean actual, dedicated bus stations rather than a collection of roadside stops.

 

[Dai Corner]

Although the stops either side of the road near Lidl in Tredegar are called 'Stand 1' and 'Stand 3' they're not what I'd call a bus station. Stagecoach 56 and Harris Coaches E11 serve both them and the bus station but Stagecoach 76 omits the latter.

Matlock Interchange and Port Talbot Parkway are so called because they're adjacent to railway stations. They have the characteristics of bus stations. I guess the other bus stations co-exist as it isn't desirable to close the for capacity, convenience or traffic reasons?

An example of a place with two actual bus stations with that name is Newport in south Wales with Friars Walk and Market Square. The stands are numbered in one sequence though.

 

[Dwarfer1979]

Also, if anyone has any idea what lead to Matlock having two, so close together, please enlighten me!

In terms of Matlock the issue, I suspect, is the road layout.

It was probably the intention that the Interchange by the station would replace the old bus station attached to the supermarket in the town centre but the bridge in the middle of town is one way (from the town centre towards the station), but you can't actually turn from right the bridge into the station Interchange, so there are a number of movements that have to be greatly extended to serve one or other.

Buses running south to north from the western side of the river (like the Transpeak) would have to make a long detour which I think takes over 5-mins (the TrentBarton sixes does this and there is a difference like this in the timings) to reach the old bus station and similar impacts would hit anything coming in from the east or south-east to reach the Interchange, as they would have to run through the town centre out to the north to get across the river and run back down to the Interchange.

The TP & sixes could serve the Interchange southbound instead of the Town Centre, but there is little advantage to doing this; most services still serve the old bus station whereas northbound they have to go past the Interchange to get across the river, so they may as well call in.

Due to all this, I don't think any operators moved routes from the old bus station to the Interchange; the Interchange is really only served by buses coming in from the south-west (through Matlock Bath) and has never really achieved its potential. As they refurbished the old bus station, that situation is not likely to change anytime soon.

 

[Russel]

In terms of Matlock the issue, I suspect, is the road layout.

It was probably the intention that the Interchange by the station would replace the old bus station attached to the supermarket in the town centre but the bridge in the middle of town is one way (from the town centre towards the station), but you can't actually turn from right the bridge into the station Interchange, so there are a number of movements that have to be greatly extended to serve one or other.

Buses running south to north from the western side of the river (like the Transpeak) would have to make a long detour which I think takes over 5-mins (the TrentBarton sixes does this and there is a difference like this in the timings) to reach the old bus station and similar impacts would hit anything coming in from the east or south-east to reach the Interchange, as they would have to run through the town centre out to the north to get across the river and run back down to the Interchange.

The TP & sixes could serve the Interchange southbound instead of the Town Centre, but there is little advantage to doing this; most services still serve the old bus station whereas northbound they have to go past the Interchange to get across the river, so they may as well call in.

Due to all this, I don't think any operators moved routes from the old bus station to the Interchange; the Interchange is really only served by buses coming in from the south-west (through Matlock Bath) and has never really achieved its potential. As they refurbished the old bus station, that situation is not likely to change anytime soon.

That makes a lot of sense actually, the road layout is a bit complex, I did note the TrentBarton 6 served both bus stations going north, I'm not sure about going south.

Odd setup really, I noticed the "refurbishment" of the old bus station, but it still seemed a bit dingy where as the newer bus station is open and spacious, but the waiting room looks like it's now disused.

 

[duncombec]

Before the most recent refurbishment, didn't Oldham's Bus Station(s) count as two separate ones, even though there was only a road between them?

 

[WibbleWobble]

Before the most recent refurbishment, didn't Oldham's Bus Station(s) count as two separate ones, even though there was only a road between them?

I think they were loosely seen as two facilities, but deemed to be part of the same facility with one sequence of stand identifiers.

However, there is Mumps Interchange so that would make for a second bus station in Oldham. And once upon a time, there was Town Square bus station, which meant Oldham had three dedicated bus facilities!

The downside with Oldham as an example is that it is about 11 times bigger than Matlock. In Greater Manchester, the closest (although still bigger than Matlock) example to the OP would possibly have been Leigh which until 1990 had the two bus stations opposite each other - one being the former Corporation facility, and the other being the former Lancashire United station.

 

[James H]

Roger French did a blog post on the Matlock situation last summer

A delightful day in Derbyshire

Thursday 28th August 2025 I recently experienced an enjoyable round trip through the Derbyshire Dales and Peaks which I thought I’d share. Alighting from the train at Derby’s railway st…

busandtrainuser.com

Ever since a new A6 relief road and four bay bus station adjacent to the railway station appeared on the scene in 2007, thanks to a developer building new houses and retail in nearby old quarries, there’s been a problem with access to bus stations in the town.

The new road doesn’t allow southbound buses to regain their route after calling at the bus station so in practice they don’t call there but instead follow the old route through the town centre and call at the town’s other bus station.

 

[BusLink61]

Truro in Cornwall has three bus stations, one in the city centre for general buses and two on the outskirts for their park and ride. I’m not sure if these would be classed as proper bus stations with bays but they are sites designated for buses. It’s not a massive city either so it seems an appropriate candidate for your question.

This bit doesn’t exactly answer your question but I think is relevant to the topic of bus stations.

York is very reminiscent with Truro in terms of the bus setup with their park and ride sites, the city centre has a load of road side bays which is the only difference. There’s also two park and ride sites on the outskirts there, coincidentally both used Citaros for their park and rides, the York ones used bendies and are withdrawn sadly. Truro has the standard ones, and are also due to leave soon when First pull out in Cornwall.

 

[JKP]

Truro in Cornwall has three bus stations, one in the city centre for general buses and two on the outskirts for their park and ride. I’m not sure if these would be classed as proper bus stations with bays but they are sites designated for buses. It’s not a massive city either so it seems an appropriate candidate for your question.

This bit doesn’t exactly answer your question but I think is relevant to the topic of bus stations.

York is very reminiscent with Truro in terms of the bus setup with their park and ride sites, the city centre has a load of road side bays which is the only difference. There’s also two park and ride sites on the outskirts there, coincidentally both used Citaros for their park and rides, the York ones used bendies and are withdrawn sadly. Truro has the standard ones, and are also due to leave soon when First pull out in Cornwall.

Truro once did have two bus stations back in the mid to late 1970s. One used exclusively by Western National and one by a number of independent operators.

 

[Taunton]

In Somerset South Petherton used to have two separate departure points, which were garage forecourt/spare ground, for the Hutchings & Cornelius routes to Taunton and to Yeovil. Their routes didn't quite touch, so to make a through journey you had to walk through the village, occasionally finding it was the same vehicle that was continuing, it having followed you along empty. This all arose from a merger as far back as the 1930s, which had still not been sorted out when they closed down around 1980.

 

[stadler]

Hereford has two bus stations (City Bus Station / County Bus Station)

Kingston has two bus stations (Cromwell Road Bus Station / Fairfield Road Bus Station)

Gatwick Airport has two bus stations (North Terminal Bus Station / South Terminal Bus Station)

Heathrow Airport has four bus stations (Hatton Cross Bus Station / Terminal 123 Central Bus Station / Terminal 4 Bus Station / Terminal 5 Bus Station)

All four of these places could probably count as small places with multiple bus stations even though the latter three are suburbs or areas or places rather than towns.

 

[izvor]

All four of these places could probably count as small places

Kingston?? Population over 50k?

 

[robertclark125]

Washington, Tyne and wear, has two bus stations. The town centre one, at the galleries shopping centre, and Concord, in the north of the town.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Hereford has two, the country one and the other one. I don't get why the former still exists, the service is sparse enough that the railway station forecourt is quite sufficient. The latter I can understand, even if it's a bit Preston in terms of distance from the station, because Tesco is probably more of a destination from the local area than the station.

 

[Russel]

Roger French did a blog post on the Matlock situation last summer

A delightful day in Derbyshire

Thursday 28th August 2025 I recently experienced an enjoyable round trip through the Derbyshire Dales and Peaks which I thought I’d share. Alighting from the train at Derby’s railway st…

busandtrainuser.com

Interesting read, I should have checked Rogers blog, there isn't much he hasn't covered!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Hereford has two, the country one and the other one. I don't get why the former still exists, the service is sparse enough that the railway station forecourt is quite sufficient. The latter I can understand, even if it's a bit Preston in terms of distance from the station, because Tesco is probably more of a destination from the local area than the station.

Hereford is a bit of a hangover from a bygone age. There wasn't enough room at the station for the number of departures (but probably is now) whilst the city services were moved out with the MAP scheme c.1978? and they were in city centre stops. Not certain if pedestrianisation and/or minibus introduction was the reason but they were then relocated to the Hopper bus station which could only really accommodate smaller vehicles - I think Yeomans had some short Darts that could fit but don't think stuff like Lynxes and Leopards could, back in the day, so hence the country bus station was retained.

Nowadays, probably less of an issue.

 

[satters]

as a follow on to this is why Birmingham doesn't have a bus station at all, (there is the coach station), but finding where a bus to x departs from amid the multiple stop locations around the city is a nightmare, and interchange between routes across the city impossible for the less able

 

[Russel]

as a follow on to this is why Birmingham doesn't have a bus station at all, (there is the coach station), but finding where a bus to x departs from amid the multiple stop locations around the city is a nightmare, and interchange between routes across the city impossible for the less able

Indeed, to add to this, with the Metro extension works that have been ongoing, on and off for over 10 years, stops keep moving and routes keep changing, I'm surprised it's not highlighted as an issue more often.

 

[duncombec]

I think they were loosely seen as two facilities, but deemed to be part of the same facility with one sequence of stand identifiers.

However, there is Mumps Interchange so that would make for a second bus station in Oldham. And once upon a time, there was Town Square bus station, which meant Oldham had three dedicated bus facilities!

The downside with Oldham as an example is that it is about 11 times bigger than Matlock. In Greater Manchester, the closest (although still bigger than Matlock) example to the OP would possibly have been Leigh which until 1990 had the two bus stations opposite each other - one being the former Corporation facility, and the other being the former Lancashire United station.

Midnight Messaging strikes again! You're quite right on the size-of-place issue - with the earlier reference to Newport, I was thinking of closest, rather than smallest!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Indeed, to add to this, with the Metro extension works that have been ongoing, on and off for over 10 years, stops keep moving and routes keep changing, I'm surprised it's not highlighted as an issue more often.

It hasn't had a bus station since about 2000. Even then, it had a limited number of services in/out of that hellhole, and of those, many have now disappeared like the Redditch, Worcester and all but one of the Tamworth services.