Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire

[Megafuss]

I personally feel the 554 should have a vehicle upgrade, it needs vehicles that can cope with the timetable as caught one at the begining of October and although it only stopped twice, and left on time with a moderate load, it arrived 10 minutes late. The vehicle used was one of those ex Newcastle 07 plate E400s which seemed to cope as well as it could but needed either more time or a better engine.

Yes, the bog standard E400s don't feel very suitable for the 554 and don't have dual purpose seating. The Scania variants seen on the X4/X5 feel like that have more grunt and are more comfortable.

 

[markymark2000]

What i'd love to see is one of the open toppers moved from the 78 and put on the line of route of the 555 between Keswick and Grasmere to supplement the main service. I know it wouldn't work hourly, but every 90 mins.

Maybe even hourly Seatoller-Borrowdale Hotel-Keswick-Grasmere, although the timings would be very tight with the two deckers. The route between Keswick and Grasmere is spectacular!

508 I think was absolutely stunning on the Kirkstone pass and would look just that bit better when viewed from upstairs on an open top bus.

 

[route101]

508 I think was absolutely stunning on the Kirkstone pass and would look just that bit better when viewed from upstairs on an open top bus.

I guess the route is not suitable or safe for open top operation.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I guess the route is not suitable or safe for open top operation.

Yeah - I would assume that it is too exposed for deckers.

The Seatoller route is pretty sheltered down in the valley, and can be quite busy. The irony is that Borrowdale is famously one of the wettest parts of the UK.

As for extending that route to Grasmere. Well, the A591 is dramatic but there's already a half hourly service in the summer on that stretch, and perhaps best suited for closed tops anyway.

 

[dsjs1990]

Yeah - I would assume that it is too exposed for deckers.

The Seatoller route is pretty sheltered down in the valley, and can be quite busy. The irony is that Borrowdale is famously one of the wettest parts of the UK.

As for extending that route to Grasmere. Well, the A591 is dramatic but there's already a half hourly service in the summer on that stretch, and perhaps best suited for closed tops anyway.

Funny you should mention how it wet it is in Borrowdale as the 78 didn't run today due to flooding in the valley!

There are 2 departures a day each way between Kendal and Keswick on the 555 which are open tops now the winter timetable has started and Kendal are running the 78.

 

[mangad]

Interestingly on the open top bus on the Kirkstone Pass discussion, Stagecoach posted a picture yesterday of an open top Lakesider vehicle outside the Kirkstone Pass Inn. It is not in service though! Presumably it was off somewhere.

It's a bit difficult to line up the exact shot with Google Streetview, but this is close.

 

[cainebj]

One of Lillyhall's E200MMCs caught fire at Yottenfews Car Park (Sellafield Park & Ride) this morning. Vehicle ID doesn't appear to be publicly known.

Sellafield park and ride car park bus fire

A Sellafield spokesman said the blaze happened off-site and no-one was near the vehicle at the time.

www.bbc.co.uk

Bus fire at nuclear plant's park and ride site​

A bus caught fire at a nuclear site's park and ride facility, the company managing the plant has confirmed.
It happened at about 07:35 GMT at the Yottenfews car park, which is used by Sellafield workers heading to the nuclear site.
Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said there were "no reported injuries or further risk to the public".
A Sellafield spokesman said no-one was near the vehicle at the time and firefighters put out the blaze at 08:00.
They added the car park was not on the Sellafield site and was an off-site facility close to the Blackbeck roundabout on the A595, which is used by workers to catch buses to the plant.
Stagecoach, which operates the service, has been approached for comment.

A 'through the hedge' photo of the wreckage is available on the similar Cumbria Crack article along with a video of the fire.

 

[andyb87]

I guess that bus won’t be back on the road for a couple of weeks'

 

[150249]

One of Lillyhall's E200MMCs caught fire at Yottenfews Car Park (Sellafield Park & Ride) this morning. Vehicle ID doesn't appear to be publicly known.

Sellafield park and ride car park bus fire

A Sellafield spokesman said the blaze happened off-site and no-one was near the vehicle at the time.

www.bbc.co.uk

A 'through the hedge' photo of the wreckage is available on the similar Cumbria Crack article along with a video of the fire.

Apparently it is 26001

 

[DunsBus]

I guess that bus won’t be back on the road for a couple of weeks'

That bus won't be back on the road, full stop. It's been burnt to a crisp.

 

[mbonwick]

A bit of a shame if it is 26001, although few will miss its demise, it would surely have been an obvious preservation candidate some years down the line? First full-length E200MMC for Stagecoach, carrying on where the massive family of E300s finished...

 

[Megafuss]

One of Lillyhall's E200MMCs caught fire at Yottenfews Car Park (Sellafield Park & Ride) this morning. Vehicle ID doesn't appear to be publicly known.

Sellafield park and ride car park bus fire

A Sellafield spokesman said the blaze happened off-site and no-one was near the vehicle at the time.

www.bbc.co.uk

A 'through the hedge' photo of the wreckage is available on the similar Cumbria Crack article along with a video of the fire.

I make that three fires in three months. It's certainly notable

 

[markymark2000]

I make that three fires in three months. It's certainly notable

It's not the best look when they were at the Traffic Commissioner only last year for failing to operate services. And surely with this many fires in quick succession, that would normally result in a call up.

 

[Chrius56000]

. . .A historical question regarding Morecambe/Lancaster/Preston services!

. . .When I studied C & G Ist Year Radio/Electronic Systems in 1977/1978 the nearest college that provided this subject was W.R. Tuson College, Preston, so I had to travel by the erstwhile Ribble 140 Morecambe/Lancaster/Preston bus, now Stagecoach Cumbria/North Lancashire 40.

. . .Can anyone suggest why the through bus from Morecambe to Preston was timed to leave Morecambe 0630 in those days, and still the case today? This bus gets into Preston Bus Station about 0805, historically too early for me starting college at 0900! Any particular reason why there has never (to my knowledge!) been a bus leaving Morecambe about 0700/0710 arriving Preston 0830/0840 or thereabouts?

. . .Another question about this route, given the amount of housing development that has spread along the A6 in the Garstang/Catterall area, is there not a case nowadays for (alternate buses perhaps) to be routed along the A6 Preston/Lancaster Road Garstang Bypass?

. . .In all the decades I have studied bus timetables for this area, how come no fast service along the M6 between Lancaster and Preston (or even a "faster X40" using the A6 Garstang Bypass and perhaps only calling at University, Croston Road, Barton & Broughton only!) has ever lasted very long? Was there never any demand for one?

 

[Mollman]

. . .A historical question regarding Morecambe/Lancaster/Preston services!

. . .When I studied C & G Ist Year Radio/Electronic Systems in 1977/1978 the nearest college that provided this subject was W.R. Tuson College, Preston, so I had to travel by the erstwhile Ribble 140 Morecambe/Lancaster/Preston bus, now Stagecoach Cumbria/North Lancashire 40.

. . .Can anyone suggest why the through bus from Morecambe to Preston was timed to leave Morecambe 0630 in those days, and still the case today? This bus gets into Preston Bus Station about 0805, historically too early for me starting college at 0900! Any particular reason why there has never (to my knowledge!) been a bus leaving Morecambe about 0700/0710 arriving Preston 0830/0840 or thereabouts?

. . .Another question about this route, given the amount of housing development that has spread along the A6 in the Garstang/Catterall area, is there not a case nowadays for (alternate buses perhaps) to be routed along the A6 Preston/Lancaster Road Garstang Bypass?

. . .In all the decades I have studied bus timetables for this area, how come no fast service along the M6 between Lancaster and Preston (or even a "faster X40" using the A6 Garstang Bypass and perhaps only calling at University, Croston Road, Barton & Broughton only!) has ever lasted very long? Was there never any demand for one?

To answer your second set of questions, there is no fast bus between Preston and Lancaster as the train takes 15-20 minutes so no bus could ever compete. There are some positioning moves on the 42 to Blackpool which do bypass Garstang.

In regards to the new housing on Garstang bypass, you would still want to serve Garstang itself but the canal makes this difficult without significant double run (see service 88).

 

[Acathater]

Stagecoach did in fact run an X40 service between Lancaster and Preston not long after they took over Ribble.
It was part of their war against LCT - who had started a Lancaster-Preston service in competition.
As far as I can remember it was limited stop through Lancaster and Preston, and non-stop motorway between M6 J32-J33

They tried different buses on it - Volvo B6 with coach/dual purpose bodies initially, later replaced by B10M some coach some bus.
Didn't last long - couple of years at most. I think it got pulled not long after LCT collapsed and Stagecoach took over their services.

As for starting times in the morning, at that period for much of the day there were hourly Stagecoach services from Lancaster (and possibly Morecambe) to both Blackpool and Preston, with connecting services and through ticketing to the "other" destination, giving a twice hourly service to both. Did you ever check if there was (for instance) an 07:00 Blackpool service with a Preston connection?

 

[Leedsbusman]

Stagecoach did in fact run an X40 service between Lancaster and Preston not long after they took over Ribble.
It was part of their war against LCT - who had started a Lancaster-Preston service in competition.
As far as I can remember it was limited stop through Lancaster and Preston, and non-stop motorway between M6 J32-J33

They tried different buses on it - Volvo B6 with coach/dual purpose bodies initially, later replaced by B10M some coach some bus.
Didn't last long - couple of years at most. I think it got pulled not long after LCT collapsed and Stagecoach took over their services.

As for starting times in the morning, at that period for much of the day there were hourly Stagecoach services from Lancaster (and possibly Morecambe) to both Blackpool and Preston, with connecting services and through ticketing to the "other" destination, giving a twice hourly service to both. Did you ever check if there was (for instance) an 07:00 Blackpool service with a Preston connection?

I don’t recall the X40 but there was an hourly X51 Morecambe to Southport in 1996 as part of the Stagecoach Express network which took 70 minutes Morecambe to Preston via Lancaster and Lancaster Uni.

 

[Acathater]

I don’t recall the X40 but there was an hourly X51 Morecambe to Southport in 1996 as part of the Stagecoach Express network which took 70 minutes Morecambe to Preston via Lancaster and Lancaster Uni.

Maybe that's what I'm misremembering
Either way makes the same point - an express Lancaster-Preston route was tried and failed

 

[Chrius56000]

. . .I've no recollection of an X40 myself nor the X51, but I do remember a short–lived (possibly only a year or two!) X61 Blackpool–Manchester that used the M55 and M61 motorways tho!

 

[Leedsbusman]

. . .I've no recollection of an X40 myself nor the X51, but I do remember a short–lived (possibly only a year or two!) X61 Blackpool–Manchester that used the M55 and M61 motorways tho!

The Stagecoach era X61 ran from 1996 to 2012.

 

[northern506]

I spent a couple of days in the Workington and Whitehaven area, and I must say I was shocked at how bad the service was here.

There seemed to be multiple cancellations across all routes, in particular the town services and the 30.

Does anyone know what the issue is here? Driver shortages, vehicles shortages?

 

[markymark2000]

I spent a couple of days in the Workington and Whitehaven area, and I must say I was shocked at how bad the service was here.

There seemed to be multiple cancellations across all routes, in particular the town services and the 30.

To throw in my 2 pence, I was travelling in Carlisle a few weeks ago and I found the services to be largely quite punctual, except the 685 which they seem to love cancelling the short trips. The big thing that I did I did notice though was cleanliness and general presentation was shocking.

 

[RELL6L]

There is nothing official on the Lake District plans for the summer but a look at the timetables for the 77/A/C on Stagecoach's own website appears to show that:
77 and 77A will run at weekends from 23 March to 1 November, roughly two hourly
77 and 77A will run Monday to Friday only between 26 May and 28 August.
The 77/77A includes the odd early/late journey from/to Cockermouth.
The 77C will run 5 return journeys from Cockermouth to Buttermere on Saturdays and Sundays (and some bank holidays) between 23 March and 31 August. This appears to be stand-alone.

I think for Mondays to Fridays this is a somewhat shorter operating season than before. But the extra 77C is interesting, with opportunities to combine with the new/improved 600 to Cockermouth.

I look forward to seeing the whole summer offering when it is public. BusTimes tells you nothing for services that runs now but does give some future information for the 77s also a very odd-looking 559 and Ullswater buses UB1/UB2, all starting on 23 March.

Incidentally Carlisle depot appears not to have been tracking on BusTimes since Monday.

 

[mangad]

Couple of timetable changes, but the 77C ran very similarly last year. My immediate thought on the 559 was some sort of positioning service - to get a bus back from Patterdale and on its way to the depot at Kendal. Presumably becoming a 599 or 555 at Grasmere. But there is - so far - no obvious reason for a bus to do that.

The summer timetables will be published soon so we'll find out.

EDIT: last year there was a 508 that left Patterdale for Windermere at 1751. This 559 leaves at 1740. Wasn't the last bus though. Can't imagine why they'd send divert one journey to Grasmere instead but it's the closest connection I can spot!

 

[markymark2000]

There is nothing official on the Lake District plans for the summer but a look at the timetables for the 77/A/C on Stagecoach's own website appears to show that:
77 and 77A will run at weekends from 23 March to 1 November, roughly two hourly
77 and 77A will run Monday to Friday only between 26 May and 28 August.
The 77/77A includes the odd early/late journey from/to Cockermouth.
The 77C will run 5 return journeys from Cockermouth to Buttermere on Saturdays and Sundays (and some bank holidays) between 23 March and 31 August. This appears to be stand-alone.

I think for Mondays to Fridays this is a somewhat shorter operating season than before. But the extra 77C is interesting, with opportunities to combine with the new/improved 600 to Cockermouth.

I look forward to seeing the whole summer offering when it is public. BusTimes tells you nothing for services that runs now but does give some future information for the 77s also a very odd-looking 559 and Ullswater buses UB1/UB2, all starting on 23 March.

Most of the current routes have the new April and beyond timetables, but youd to have the change the date via the URL (the date drop-down for current routes only goes to around 4 weeks irrespective of how far ahead the data goes). The only depot they doesn't have updates files ready is Carlisle/Penrith. The rest have files dated to start 23rd March and most Kendal routes have a file dated to start 13th April as well.

By the looks of the timetable file names though, as well as examining some of the block data (which granted may not be 100% foolproof this far ahead), the suggestion is that Ambleside outstation is closing. Does anyone have any further information on this?
"KE43-None--SCCU-NWKE-2026-03-02-Summer_2026_AMBLESIDE_CLOSED__SCCU_PC0002407_52_20260323-BODS_V1_1.xml"

 

[Russel]

So when does the summer timetable actually start, or it's it fully confirmed yet?

 

[mangad]

Most of the current routes have the new April and beyond timetables, but youd to have the change the date via the URL (the date drop-down for current routes only goes to around 4 weeks irrespective of how far ahead the data goes). The only depot they doesn't have updates files ready is Carlisle/Penrith. The rest have files dated to start 23rd March and most Kendal routes have a file dated to start 13th April as well.

By the looks of the timetable file names though, as well as examining some of the block data (which granted may not be 100% foolproof this far ahead), the suggestion is that Ambleside outstation is closing. Does anyone have any further information on this?
"KE43-None--SCCU-NWKE-2026-03-02-Summer_2026_AMBLESIDE_CLOSED__SCCU_PC0002407_52_20260323-BODS_V1_1.xml"

Outstation's the coach/HGV parking near Rothay Road isn't it? A comment on Google Maps says "Currently closed for 18 month due to building works at the sewage works opposite, only 1 bay avaliable"

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Outstation's the coach/HGV parking near Rothay Road isn't it? A comment on Google Maps says "Currently closed for 18 month due to building works at the sewage works opposite, only 1 bay avaliable"

Off Rothay Road, yes. Buses visible on Google aerial.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Feb 2026 ==

Couple of timetable changes, but the 77C ran very similarly last year. My immediate thought on the 559 was some sort of positioning service - to get a bus back from Patterdale and on its way to the depot at Kendal. Presumably becoming a 599 or 555 at Grasmere. But there is - so far - no obvious reason for a bus to do that.

The summer timetables will be published soon so we'll find out.

EDIT: last year there was a 508 that left Patterdale for Windermere at 1751. This 559 leaves at 1740. Wasn't the last bus though. Can't imagine why they'd send divert one journey to Grasmere instead but it's the closest connection I can spot!

Perhaps it offers better 'connections' for people returning after a day out / walk in Patterdale.

In the past (admittedly years ago and I haven't tried or studied recently) connections off the 508 to get to places north of Windermere in the late afternoon / evening were poor. Not what you want after a long walk and wanting to get back to your B & B for a bath then beer. One of the few occasions I did it the driver, returning to Ambleside outstation, carried me private.

 

[mangad]

Off Rothay Road, yes. Buses visible on Google aerial.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Feb 2026 ==


Perhaps it offers better 'connections' for people returning after a day out / walk in Patterdale.

I just had a look at the route map on bustimes. And blimey. Goes all the way up to the A66 and Thelkeld before coming down the A591. It's a long journey - an hour start to finish. I guess in my head I thought it would take a more direct route via Ambleside. But a full size vehicle would struggle with The Struggle in Ambleside, even going downhill.

In the past (admittedly years ago and I haven't tried or studied recently) connections off the 508 to get to places north of Windermere in the late afternoon / evening were poor. Not what you want after a long walk and wanting to get back to your B & B for a bath then beer. One of the few occasions I did it the driver, returning to Ambleside outstation, carried me private.

508's a little weird because it goes down to Bowness before going to Windermere station. I did an early journey once joining one of the first buses that set off from Kendal. We got to Windermere, waited a bit, then went to Bowness, waited a bit. It takes 35 minutes to get from Windermere station to Troutbeck when the 599 will do that in ten. It was quite annoying really! Still, it is okay to connect with the 599 and 555 at Troutbeck.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I just had a look at the route map on bustimes. And blimey. Goes all the way up to the A66 and Thelkeld before coming down the A591. It's a long journey - an hour start to finish. I guess in my head I thought it would take a more direct route via Ambleside. But a full size vehicle would struggle with The Struggle in Ambleside, even going downhill.

Not really much else it could do while the Kirkstone Pass is long term closed I guess!

You couldn't physically get a bus (bar a very small minibus) onto the Struggle, both North Road and Smithy Brow out of/into Ambleside have width restrictions. Smithy Brow is posted as 6' 6", North Road doesn't seem to have a posted width restriction but the constrained bit between buildings doesn't look much wider. A narrow Solo *might* fit but I doubt even that. Even a Transit would probably be tight, and the tourist demand on those sorts of route in summer would mean that would be grossly under capacity even if it did. Plus with the Pass closed it'll be very busy with cars.