Have free bus pass, want to travel.

LesD

Ice wrote: »

way to go...:jI would love to start seeing england...and am going to start soon as I can as I am disabled but have gone back to work part-time now (something to do with my pension if I don't) I get 2 weeks off come 1st December so would love to go christmas shopping in London anyone know how I can go from whitby north yorkshire to london for free...

Hi ICE,

That was a challenge I couldn't pass up! But, as posted earlier it would take several days each way to do it completely free. Which would then cost on accommodation.

A far better way would be to go for Nat. Express funfares from Middlesbrough to London. They can be got for £5 or £7 each way. (Sometimes even a £1 fare pops up.)

So, here goes.....

Dep 08:45 Whitby Arriva X56
Arr 09:51 Middlesbrough Bus Station
Dep 09:55 Middlesbrough Bus Station Nat. Exp. 426
Arr 16:10 London Victoria

You'll notice two problems? Firstly, leaving before 09:30 from Whitby. So, you'd have to do it on a Sat. or Sun. These are times for a Sunday - giving the second problem, not much connection time at Middlesbrough!

Saturday would be easier - more early busses.

Return is also easier:

Dep 09:30 London Victoria Nat. Exp. 426
Arr 15:50 Middlesbrough Bus Station
Dep 16:15 Middlesbrough
Arr 17:52 Whitby.

These are obviously based on current timetables. December will be different.

System

adouglasmhor wrote: »

Just thought I would add, every resident of pensionable age can get free bus and train journeys in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, so if two countries on one island can manage that, why are our 3 countries making one big country not up to the job?

Now that really is interesting. Hopefully we have a starting point to use this information.

harryhound

From the North East Megabus might be a cheaper alternative.
http://www.megabus.com/uk/timetables/middlesbrough_london_bus.php
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=10911685&highlight=megabus#post10911685 this has a link to a blog which explains how the cheap fares work.
Obviously it is still too early to plan Xmas trips.

Merrywidow

I get a regular email from National Express with all their latest offers - you could sign up for that. Current offer is £11 each way to the North East, but then it is summer Good luck

EdInvestor

Some councils and bus companies are now complaining that they are losing out due to inadequate funding of the free bus pass scheme from central Government.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article4272279.ece

LesD

EdInvestor wrote: »

Some councils and bus companies are now complaining that they are losing out due to inadequate funding of the free bus pass scheme from central Government.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article4272279.ece

Very interesting. If concessionary travel was previously funded at £1 billion for only local schemes, how did they think it would cost only a further £212 million to go national?

I used to think our illustrious leader was good with numbers but was merely mis-guided about the politics. Now it seems he must even have difficulty adding up!

dzug1

Evesham to Poole by National Express 335 is supposedly a 'registered section' and therefore free. 5hrs 35 minutes.

System

Given that we travel to Poole several times each year, I'm interested in this. What or who or how do you find out which section is registered?. Who knows, maybe the section prior to this or earlier in our route from Northampton is registered.

Edinburghlass_2

dzup1, sorry but I've had to delete your two posts, I've tried to tidy up the first one but even at that its still incredibly long. Is there a link anywhere to this list of bus numbers that you can post so people can check themselves?

dzug1

Edinburghlass wrote: »

dzup1, sorry but I've had to delete your two posts, I've tried to tidy up the first one but even at that its still incredibly long. Is there a link anywhere to this list of bus numbers that you can post so people can check themselves?

Sorry - I wish I could remember where I downloaded them from. I just have them as a .pdf on my PC so can't (and wouldn't want to anyway) link to them.

The copy/paste did seem to add loads of blank lines unfortunately.