Superstitious bus operators

[ChrisPJ]

I can think of one bus network that had routes numbered from 1 up to the 20s but never a 13. Also I am sure there were fleets that went from 1 to 12 then 14 upwards. Any present day examples?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I can think of one bus network that had routes numbered from 1 up to the 20s but never a 13. Also I am sure there were fleets that went from 1 to 12 then 14 upwards. Any present day examples?

Not as such but when the Chinese bought Ensign/Capital Citybus, they got rid of the blue livery as blue is an unlucky colour.

Similarly, the registered their new vehicles with 888 in them as eight is a lucky number in Chinese culture, I believe

 

[richw]

First Kernow has no route 13 that I can think of.

 

[Romilly]

Slightly off topic, but I remember as a teenager having to deliver something to a house numbered 12A in a road where odd numbers were on one side and evens on the other. I recall being puzzled at not being able to find 12A next door to No.12 - eventually I found it on the other side of the road between 11 and 15!

 

[richw]

Slightly off topic, but I remember as a teenager having to deliver something to a house numbered 12A in a road where odd numbers were on one side and evens on the other. I recall being puzzled at not being able to find 12A next door to No.12 - eventually I found it on the other side of the road between 11 and 15!

I've just noticed there is no 13 on my road.

 

[northwichcat]

Not as such but when the Chinese bought Ensign/Capital Citybus, they got rid of the blue livery as blue is an unlucky colour.

Similarly, the registered their new vehicles with 888 in them as eight is a lucky number in Chinese culture, I believe

When I lived in Huddersfield I recall First Bus having two ex-London deckers which had registrations L888 TTT and L888 YTT.

In Cheshire when GHA Coaches took over the 288 route it became 88, while the 39 has become 87, they've just registered an 84 service and they have a 82, I think they like service numbers starting with 8.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

First Kernow has no route 13 that I can think of.

In my area I wouldn't think too much of a missing number. 20 years ago there would have been a whole load of services with numbers in the forties but most of the routes have been withdrawn.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

When I lived in Huddersfield I recall First Bus having two ex-London deckers which had registrations L888 TTT and L888 YTT.

In Cheshire when GHA Coaches took over the 288 route it became 88, while the 39 has become 87, they've just registered an 84 service and they have a 82, I think they like service numbers starting with 8.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


In my area I wouldn't think too much of a missing number. 20 years ago there would have been a whole load of services with numbers in the forties but most of the routes have been withdrawn.

Indeed, those were some of the ex Capital Citybus vehicles. The TTT and YTT were initials of some of the Chinese directors IIRC

 

[Bletchleyite]

Some aircraft don't have a row 13. easyJet do, and it is the best row on their A320s, being the extra legroom exit row. Definitely lucky if you got it by chance on a full flight rather than paying for it.

 

[AndyW33]

Some aircraft don't have a row 13. easyJet do, and it is the best row on their A320s, being the extra legroom exit row. Definitely lucky if you got it by chance on a full flight rather than paying for it.

And British Airways have a row 13 too, though given the large number of different kinds of aircraft they have you can't draw conclusions about what type of seat it is. However if you travel on a BA plane that was delivered new to British Midland/BMI, these have no row 13. No doubt next time the planes get a cabin update they'll renumber the rows to BA standard.

 

[Passenger John]

Have been on a cruise ship that didn't have a deck 13

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've been in an office building in India that didn't have a floor 13. And I don't mean the numbering went from 12 to 14, floor 13 was omitted entirely from a user's point of view - it was a bricked up shell.

 

[Lrd]

The FirstBus depot at Empress Road, Southampton doesn't have a service bay 13 (big access doors to get buses on the service bays).

But there is a route 13 in Southampton.

 

[nottinghamcity]

Nottingham city transport currently don't have a 13, but have in the past. Likely to be more down to operations than superstition!

 

[Busaholic]

TfL have recently been trying to get rid of their 13 route, which has a mere century of operation behind it, but have been, at least temporarily, repulsed.

 

[me123]

Of course, the absence of a route 13 on a bus is not necessarily superstition. There can be legitimate reasons for it - perhaps a route that was withdrawn in the past. I've seen plenty of bus operators with a route 13.

Thankfully, triskaidekaphobia seems to be becoming less common in the world. Whilst you still occasionally see hospitals missing ward 13 aircraft missing row 13 and all that nonsense, it's not universal. I recently boarded a plane through Gate 13 at Edinburgh, and I lived to tell the tale. It's not very common in new operations for 13 to be missed out in sequential numbering.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

Grimsby's 13 was renamed back to 3 after a few years.
My road also lacks a 13.

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

I once knew a bus driver who crashed a number 13, driving the 13th type of bus he'd ever driven and was 13 hours from retirement

 

[MedwayValiant]

Those of a religious persuasion might find it odd that anyone would choose to use the number 666 for a bus route - but it's fairly well known that the bus between Ashford and Faversham has that number. I don't know how it originally came to be 666. In NBC days, were three digit numbers starting with a 6 usual in East Kent?

The Daily Mirror reported a couple of years back that a member of the public had complained about the number, and that Kent County Council had said it would change it. But that didn't happen, and neither has Stagecoach changed the number since it took the route over from an independent last year. Clearly no one much is too bothered about it.

 

[AndyW33]

We have roads numbered A13 and indeed A666 with buses running along them. Do the superstitious avoid these roads?

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

I once knew a bus driver who crashed a number 13, driving the 13th type of bus he'd ever driven and was 13 hours from retirement

That's a classic
But is there a chance the driver was paying more attention to the numbers on the bus and clock than the road?

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

That's a classic
But is there a chance the driver was paying more attention to the numbers on the bus and clock than the road?

Maybe... Maybe so...

 

[6Gman]

In 1924 Crosville bought three Leylands which they numbered as 12, AC, and 14.

Yep 13 was represented by letters!

 

[ChrisPJ]

I heard that Lothian renumbered a batch of Tridents so that there would no longer be a 666 in the fleet.

 

[westcoaster]

When I worked at luton airport they did not have a gate 13.

 

[mark-h]

I heard that Lothian renumbered a batch of Tridents so that there would no longer be a 666 in the fleet.

666 used to be one of the Airlink branded busses.

SN04 AAU (Google Image search will provide pictures) now numbered 628.

 

[90019]

666 used to be one of the Airlink branded busses.

The previous 666 (GSC666X) was partially destroyed in a fire in 1987.

 

[mark-h]

The previous 666 (GSC666X) was partially destroyed in a fire in 1987.

... and partially lives on (see photo caption)

 

[90019]

... and partially lives on (see photo caption)

It's almost good that it worked out that way round, otherwise we probably wouldn't have either of them preserved.


I don't actually like driving 667 because my legs are too long so I don't really fit - I'd take 322 over it any day.

 

[507021]

Arriva North West don't have a vehicle numbered "666" in their fleet, that particular batch of vehicles (Optare Solo) is registered in order, however they are numbered 660-5/667-70. However there are vehicles in Arriva North West's fleet numbered 2666 (Wright Pulsar) and 4666 (Alexander Dennis Enviro400).

Interestingly, there is a number 13 on my road.

 

[Strathclyder]

First Glasgow did have at least two buses with 666 in the fleetnumber:

• 61666; a East Lancs EL2000-bodied Scania K93CRB.
• SV666 (local fleetnumber predating the national numbering system); a Wright Eclipse Metro-bodied Volvo B7L (still in service as 61664).

As far as I'm aware, the only route in the Strathclyde area with '13' in it's number is the school-days only 313 (Alexandria Bonhill - Balfron High School via Balloch, Gartocharn, Croftamie & Killearn), operated by First Scotland East.