Have free bus pass, want to travel.

tanith

If it is just a normal bus on a normal route that happens to go the airport then that is ok , but if its a private company's shuttle bus then NO...

chesky369

and the whole National Express coach (which go to airports) area is a real can of worms, since nobody is entirely sure if they allow bus passes or not.

dzug1

chesky369 wrote: »

and the whole National Express coach (which go to airports) area is a real can of worms, since nobody is entirely sure if they allow bus passes or not.

It depends whether they are 'registered sections' or not. I've got a document that lists them, but I can't remember where I downloaded it from.

London to Heathrow
Luton to Stansted
Milton Keynes to Stansted
Brighton to Gatwick
some Manchester airport services (or parts)

seem to be the main ones serving airports where passes are valid. But if you pre-book you have to pay - it's only walk on passengers who are free.

LesD

dzug1 wrote: »

It depends whether they are 'registered sections' or not. I've got a document that lists them, but I can't remember where I downloaded it from.

London to Heathrow
Luton to Stansted
Milton Keynes to Stansted
Brighton to Gatwick
some Manchester airport services (or parts)

seem to be the main ones serving airports where passes are valid. But if you pre-book you have to pay - it's only walk on passengers who are free.

I'm also not sure if NE coaches actually stop at all stops if they don't have pre-booked customers waiting! Can anyone confirm this?

donnajunkie

has anyone experienced bus drivers taking an interest in were you are from when you show your pass? i did a few times when i went to the lakes for the weekend. one said i've been there. i was so tempted to say you poor thing.

dzug1

LesD wrote: »

I'm also not sure if NE coaches actually stop at all stops if they don't have pre-booked customers waiting! Can anyone confirm this?

If they are on a 'registered section' they should stop (or at least drive past being prepared to stop) at every advertised stop. Unless they are full and couldn't take a casual passenger anyway.

Wouldn't like to guarantee it though.

moanymoany

Excuse me for being confused....

I thought that the free bus pass for over 60's now covered the whole country. Yet there are posts saying not. Can someone please tell me if one can use a bus pass from anywhere in Britain for anywhere in Britain?

dzug1

moanymoany wrote: »

Excuse me for being confused....

I thought that the free bus pass for over 60's now covered the whole country. Yet there are posts saying not. Can someone please tell me if one can use a bus pass from anywhere in Britain for anywhere in Britain?

No you can't. You can use it to travel anywhere in England. Possibly just across the border on some routes.

Wales and Scotland have their own, separate, schemes.

System

At the risk of being shot down, I think that maybe you ought to read some of the original posts where everything was explained. I tried to summarise recently for the benefit of newbies, but was corrected. However I'll try again.

In effect we do have free local transport throughout England (Scotland/Wales slight variations).

But, some local authorities have stated that their area will commence the free service at 9.30am Mon-Fri, whilst others allow ALL day. (even now I read that 9am in used in some places).

For Sat/Sun, it seems there are NO restrictions.

As for you, or indeed anyone else. It is best to enquire what YOUR area have set in place. Even this can have anomalies.

In the county of Northamptonshire for instance, the county town (Northampton) has the 9.30am start time, whilst everywhere else in the county is all day. So should anyone journey to N'ton very early that's OK, but if you want to return from N'ton before 9.30, you have to wait.

Even as we speak, there are individuals trying to collate information about free travel and place this on websites such as :-

http://buspasscentre.co.uk/default.aspx

what I would suggest is that you type in :-

http://www.*******.gov.uk/Transport/PublicTransport/allbusservices_serviceorder.htm

where I have placed ********you type in your county and this should bring up all your bus services and study them. Then with your knowledge about your start up time you then have the open road at your finger tips.

LesD

dzug1 wrote: »

No you can't. You can use it to travel anywhere in England. Possibly just across the border on some routes.

Wales and Scotland have their own, separate, schemes.

Thought you might all like to see a reply I've had from Munros of Jedburgh who run an interesting route from Berwick on Tweed (Northumberland) to Galashiels (Scottish Borders)...

Hi,

English bus passes are valid for travel to and from all points between the border and Galashiels, providing the journey starts or finishes in Northumberland.
They are not valid for local travel within Scottish Borders.

Kind Regards

Ewan Farish