Bus Journey

[Rod Serling]

Is it possible to use my free bus pass to travel from the South West in England to the North East, albeit over a couple of days?

Should at least save a bob or two in coach/train/travel costs!

[Old_Geezer]

Are they all the same company ? Do all the areas recognise free bus passes ?

[THECORBYLOON]

From my Council's website,

"Older person's bus pass

 

This pass provides free travel on local buses anywhere in England, from 9:30am to 11pm on weekdays, and all day at weekends and on bank holidays."

https://www.northnorthants.gov.uk/buses-and-transport/older-persons-bus-pass

[Buenchico]

^^^ It's the word 'local' in TCL's post that's important.  You can't use a senior bus pass on pre-booked long-distance coach services, such as those run by National Express or Megabus.  You obviously can use such a pass to get around a town or from one village to a neighbouring one.  It's when considering certain long-distance, 'pay-on-boarding' services that some grey areas might possibly occur. 

The official definition of a 'local bus service' states:
"A local bus service uses public service vehicles (PSVs) to carry passengers who pay separate fares over short distances.

The route can be any length, as long as passengers can get off within 15 miles (measured in a straight line) of where they got on".

Most long-distance ('pay-on-boarding') services will have stops which are within 15 miles of their next ones.  So bus passes will be valid.  However there might be a few long distance services with bigger gaps between stops, meaning that bus passes can't be used.

As an example though, bus passes CAN be used on the Stagecoach X5 service, that runs between Cambridge and Oxford, irrespective of journey length.

[Buenchico]

This journey planner should help but it throws a wobbly if there are too many steps within a journey.  So you'll need to look at a map and break your journey down into separate stages:
https://www.traveline.info/

(Use 'More options' and 'Choose travel mode' to deselect everything except buses).

[Buenchico]

Relevant, I think:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1jpy7g06n9o

[jourdain2]

It's a good idea if you can work it out.  That could be complicated - but think how much you ould save!  I'm inclined to start working out if we can get from East Yorkshire to Exmouth for free ........ but I suspect it might involve an overnight stay..... = bigbucks.

[barry1010]

You can travel from Exeter to Durham for £29 by coach in 11 hours. No hanging around between end of night service and start of day service

[barry1010]

That's without any concessions for oldsters 

[jourdain2]

 Worth thinking about Barry, thanks.  I may get onto it once MrJ2 is out of hospital (in again today, mysterious temperatures etc. again).  My widowed sister and I woud like to go on holiday together and OH is not really up to being left alone, but perfectly capable of a bus journey  to Devon where his son could host him for a couple of weeks. Food for thought.

[barry1010]

Hope they can get to the bottom of it and get him right, Jourdain

[jourdain2]

So do I, thanks, barry.  They have lots of info now and really seem to have the bit between their teeth, as far as finding out what is behind all this goes.  Down to something lurking in lung somewhere or something to do with R. enlarged kidney (my favourite punt).  It's a horrible strain. Thank you for asking.x

[mushroom25]

any journey out of the south west by service bus and planned by "traveline" includes the need to use Stagecoach's "Falcon" service from Plymouth to Bristol. Are passes valid? there's no notification online that they're not, but equally no notification that they are. Stagecoach helpfully note that concession passes are valid on "most" of their routes.

[gylly]

No, you can only use it to board a local bus in the area the pass was issued.

[barry1010]

You are wrong, gylly.

A senior's bus pass issued in England is valid on all local  buses anywhere and everywhere in England (after 9.30am Monday to Friday, anytime Saturday and Sunday). The pass is only valid on local trains.

Same applies to Scotland and Wales - valid everywhere in the country it is issued.

 

[bhg481]

Something to bear in mind is that the "stopping" services only average about 12 mph and routes covered by different bus companies might not have good connections time-wise, reducing the average speed to about 10mph. As a rough guide to travel 300 miles will take around 30 hours or more or about 3 days at 10 hours a day. As a further disincentive the seats on local buses are not designed for comfort nor is there likely to be much space to carry any luggage.

As an example, in the early days of us having the free pass we decided to have a trip from our home on the western edge of Reading to Basingstoke, which had to be via Newbury, so two journeys of a dozen or so miles each in each direction. Because we were unable to leave  before 9:30 and the wait for connections we just had time for a cup of coffee in Basingstoke before retuning home just in time for our nevening meal.

I think you'll find a Nationalm Express (or similar) is a better way of making the trip.

[Khandro]

I think someone once travelled Land's End to John O'Groats on a bus pass - or at least some remarkable long distance. It wasn't done out of economy - it took a long time & many buses - but for the adventure of it as I remember. 

[bhg481]

barry - when you say the pass is only valid on local trains I would emphasise it's only valid for trains in the area where it is issued. eg, we had to pay for a tram in Birmingham and Blackpool since our pass is issued by West Berkshire.

[barry1010]

Yes, that's right about trains, thanks for clarifying, I should have been clearer.

[Old_Geezer]

I simply note that I've yet to be offered any bus pass. So if they are valid for, and used all over the country, some of us must be being discriminated against. Not that I have much use for one.

[barry1010]

Khandro, are you referring to this lady? https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/pensioner-travels-2200-miles-around-25628101?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

(Awful article full of adverts but the facts are there).

She travelled free throughout England but had to pay in Scotland