The Trans-Pennine Ten Pound Challenge

Can you cross the Pennines by bus for a tenner?

With the £2.00 single fare in full swing on our buses, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to some weird and wonderful places for the price of a red top tabloid’s holiday offer. As well as offering great savings on a bog-standard journey from Preston to Walton-le-Dale, it offers potential for lengthier trips if you don’t mind travelling at a more leisurely pace.

Terrific Two Quid Bus Trip Tips

Scenic single journeys on a £2.00 single ticket

Three months on from the start of Greater Manchester’s £2.00 fare scheme, the Department for Transport began a similar scheme at the start of this month. In many parts of the UK, a £2.00 bus trip typically covers six stops. Outside Greater London, a five mile journey could be as high as £4.70 one way, encouraging many passengers to plump for the operator’s day rover tickets or season tickets.

The Wight Way To See The Isle of Wight: Now You Know What I Did This Summer, 2022

A look at what the Isle of Wight’s public transport network has to offer

The British Isles has more than 6,200 islands. As well as the mainland, this includes the Channel Islands, Western Isles and the Isle of Man. South of The Solent is the Isle of Wight, up to an hour on Wightlink and Red Funnel ferries from Southampton, Lymington and Portsmouth.

Time for a Cross-Boundary Bus Strategy?

Could affordable cross-boundary express routes be a missing link in improving the attractiveness of our bus routes?

England’s deregulated bus network has a fair few cross-boundary routes. Many are conventional stage carriage services where the travel-to-work area happens to be a county or unitary authority away. One example is the 237 route from Ashton-under-Lyne to Glossop via Stalybridge. Another one is the 125, a Stagecoach Gold route between Preston and Bolton.

Fun With Bus Route Branding

A fun little article on How to brand or rebrand our bus routes

One of the key parts of the Department for Transport’s National Bus Strategy is local branding based on community focus instead of operational needs. At present, there are some examples of best practice with Transdev and The Go-Ahead Group marketing its bus routes under memorable names. So much so that passengers are able to remember their bus routes by name instead of number.

Bus Back Better: Towards a Second Bus Renaissance?

With the possibility of bus franchising in Greater Manchester and improved local networks, has the government fallen in love with our buses?

There are four things that the creator of this blog shares with Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, otherwise known as Prime Minister Boris Johnson MP. One of them is a lackadaisical approach to haircare, plus we share the same horoscope (both myself and the PM are Geminis). We also have impeccable taste in doggies with Jack Russell Terriers. The fourth one is a love of buses.

Book Review: British Football’s Greatest Grounds

Not only a coffee table book for groundhoppers; a must for any football fan

• Title: British Football’s Greatest Grounds: One Hundred Must-See Football Venues;
• Author: Mike Bayly;
• Photography: various contributors including David Bauckman, Paul Paxford, Colin McPherson, Andy Nunn, Stuart Tree, Ben Webster,
• Publisher: Pitch Publishing Limited (2020);
• Recommended Selling Price: £30.00 (hardback).

At this moment in time, you may be missing your football fix if you often go out to see your favourite team. Due to the lockdown, only Elite League football teams (National Leagues North and South upwards) can continue their season. In what is now known as The Trident Leagues (Northern Premier, Southern and Isthmian leagues), league football has been suspended till further notice. Likewise with its regional feeder leagues.

Exact Fare Policy Raises More Than £122k for NHS Charities Together

Stagecoach passengers thanked for supporting major donation to the NHS Charities Together Covid-19 Appeal

• Over £122,000 raised by Stagecoach passengers for NHS charity with £19,271.72 raised by Stagecoach Greater Manchester passengers;
• Passengers thanked for their support in the exact fare scheme, though passengers still encouraged to use contactless payment wherever possible.

The Stagecoach Group has thanked its customers across the UK for helping to raise more than £122,000 for the NHS Charities Together COVID-19 Appeal. As part of this total amount, Stagecoach Greater Manchester’s contribution was £19,271.72.

Rail Franchising, 1994 – 2020: An Honest Obituary

System exacerbated fragmented nature of National Rail network

Rail Franchising, a part of British railway policy since 1994, was laid to rest at the age of twenty-six. Its original aim was to raise standards across the rail network and improve on services launched by the outgoing British Railways Board. Today, it was announced by Transport Minister Grant Shapps that all franchised operations will be replaced by Emergency Recovery Management Agreements for six to eighteen month periods.

Seven Bus Station Wonders of the United Kingdom

Britain’s most iconic bus stations – past and present

In the great scheme of things, architectural critics look at structures like Egypt’s Great Pyramids, St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, and the vertical skyline of New York City. Sports venues around the world are revered for their iconic status due to famous victories or unique atmosphere. To get to any of these places may require a bus or two. (Well, other private or public modes of transport are available).