Bus and coach timetables/literature

The bus in the previous three photographs had worked the 1110 PTT service from Luzern to Rotkreutz via Udligenswil. This was the timetable for the service current from 31 May 1987 to 28 May 1988.

October 1980 saw the deregulation of express coach services which opened up the possibilities for enterprising coach operators. One newcomer at the time was Stage Coach which began operation of services between Scotland and London (and also within Scotland). The two word business name became one word and the small business was to become one of the largest and very familiar bus and coach operating groups following the privatisation of the National Bus Company during the 1980s. This is one of the company’s early leaflets for the Summer period of 1981. (An A4 sheet printed both sides and folded). Side 1 of 2.

October 1980 saw the deregulation of express coach services which opened up the possibilities for enterprising coach operators. One newcomer at the time was Stage Coach which began operation of services between Scotland and London (and also within Scotland). The two word business name became one word and the small business was to become one of the largest and very familiar bus and coach operating groups following the privatisation of the National Bus Company during the 1980s. This is one of the company’s early leaflets for the Summer period of 1981. (An A4 sheet printed both sides and folded). Side 2 of 2.

Europabus was a network of coach routes controlled by the Railways of Europe. Unlike Britain which had a countrywide coach service network most European countries did not have such networks and their railways provided trunk services fed by more localised road services. It was difficult for coach operators to set up point-to-point scheduled services like those that exist on the Eurolines network and other services like Flixbus today. During the 1950s a small number of services were established between key European tourist centres which were aimed at travellers wanting the freedom to create their own itineraries. In this extract from a 1980 Europabus leaflet a service from London (England) to Athens (Greece) is shown. (I don’t know for certain but I don’t think this was a through service and may have involved at least three different coaches - London-Dover/Folkestone; Oostende-Munich; and Munich-Athens). Departing London on Friday evening the arrival in Athens was Tuesday afternoon. The first part of the journey was from London to Munich (Germany) taking around 23 hours. Passengers then stayed overnight in Munich on Saturday night. On Sunday travel was to Maribor (Yugoslavia/Slovenia), a journey of about 10.5 hours. On Monday and into Tuesday the journey continued Belgrade (Yugoslavia/Serbia) reaching Thessalonki (Greece) early Tuesday morning and and Athens mid-afternoon. The northbound service departed Athens at mid-day on Thursdays arriving London on Sunday morning. In later years the London-Athens route marketed by Eurolines involved coach travel to an Italian port connecting to ferry services for the onward journey to Greece. (Note at bottom left that the leaflet was ‘Published by the British Railways Board’)

Always having had a fascination with bus timetables I was quite impressed by this leaflet issued by West Nottinghamshire College showing the network of student services for the 2022-2023 college year. Inter-connecting buses from a number of different routes to give options to multiple college sites. The content consists of six A5 sized pages in a single fold-out sheet (three pages each side).

Always having had a fascination with bus timetables I was quite impressed by this leaflet issued by West Nottinghamshire College showing the network of student services for the 2022-2023 college year. Inter-connecting buses from a number of different routes to give options to multiple college sites. The content consists of six A5 sized pages in a single fold-out sheet (three pages each side).

Always having had a fascination with bus timetables I was quite impressed by this leaflet issued by West Nottinghamshire College showing the network of student services for the 2022-2023 college year. Inter-connecting buses from a number of different routes to give options to multiple college sites. The content consists of six A5 sized pages in a single fold-out sheet (three pages each side).

Birmingham based L F Bowen had quite a range of Summer Saturday holiday services with pick-up points from a very large catchment area of the West Midlands. The coaches operating the service to Great Yarmouth (and the holiday centres between there and Lowestoft) travelled along the A11 taking refreshment breaks at either Red Lodge or Barton Mills. The earliest pick-up time was at Wolverhampton with the latest in Coventry. I seem to recall the breaks occurred around 1030-1100 when heading eastbound and 1630-1700 heading westbound. This is the Summer 1991 timetable.

The ‘Universal’ bus service in Cambridge, provided by the University of Cambridge and operated by Whippet Coaches, had originally commenced in July 2016. In September 2023 it was re-launched with the delivery to Whippet Coaches of nine Mellor Sigma 12 electric buses. The service links Eddington (a relatively new community on the north-west side of the city which is still growing) with the Biomedical Campus (a large site to the south of the city which houses Addenbrooke’s Hospital and a growing number of medical institutions) travelling via various academic properties on the west side of the city.

The ‘Universal’ bus service in Cambridge, provided by the University of Cambridge and operated by Whippet Coaches, had originally commenced in July 2016. In September 2023 it was re-launched with the delivery to Whippet Coaches of nine Mellor Sigma 12 electric buses. The service links Eddington (a relatively new community on the north-west side of the city which is still growing) with the Biomedical Campus (a large site to the south of the city which houses Addenbrooke’s Hospital and a growing number of medical institutions) travelling via various academic properties on the west side of the city.

The ‘Universal’ bus service in Cambridge, provided by the University of Cambridge and operated by Whippet Coaches, had originally commenced in July 2016. In September 2023 it was re-launched with the delivery to Whippet Coaches of nine Mellor Sigma 12 electric buses. The service links Eddington (a relatively new community on the north-west side of the city which is still growing) with the Biomedical Campus (a large site to the south of the city which houses Addenbrooke’s Hospital and a growing number of medical institutions) travelling via various academic properties on the west side of the city.

The ‘Universal’ bus service in Cambridge, provided by the University of Cambridge and operated by Whippet Coaches, had originally commenced in July 2016. In September 2023 it was re-launched with the delivery to Whippet Coaches of nine Mellor Sigma 12 electric buses. The service links Eddington (a relatively new community on the north-west side of the city which is still growing) with the Biomedical Campus (a large site to the south of the city which houses Addenbrooke’s Hospital and a growing number of medical institutions) travelling via various academic properties on the west side of the city.

The ‘Universal’ bus service in Cambridge, provided by the University of Cambridge and operated by Whippet Coaches, had originally commenced in July 2016. In September 2023 it was re-launched with the delivery to Whippet Coaches of nine Mellor Sigma 12 electric buses. The service links Eddington (a relatively new community on the north-west side of the city which is still growing) with the Biomedical Campus (a large site to the south of the city which houses Addenbrooke’s Hospital and a growing number of medical institutions) travelling via various academic properties on the west side of the city.

The ‘Universal’ bus service in Cambridge, provided by the University of Cambridge and operated by Whippet Coaches, had originally commenced in July 2016. In September 2023 it was re-launched with the delivery to Whippet Coaches of nine Mellor Sigma 12 electric buses. The service links Eddington (a relatively new community on the north-west side of the city which is still growing) with the Biomedical Campus (a large site to the south of the city which houses Addenbrooke’s Hospital and a growing number of medical institutions) travelling via various academic properties on the west side of the city.

Libertas Dubrovnik timetables and map for the suburban bus services to places East of the city taken from the company website in late October 2023. The city area of Dubrovnik is on the left of the map. The distance from Dubrovnik to Vitaljina (on the far right of the map) is 46 kilometres/28.5 miles. From Dubrovnik to Srebreno (11.5km/7.2 miles), to Cavtat (21km/13m), to Dubrovnik Airport (22km/13.7m) and to Gruda (32.5km/20m).

Richard W. Chenery operated a Monday to Friday service to London from Dickleburgh, Norfolk where the company was based. Front and back content of two different issues of their single sheet A5 leaflets are seen here.

Two pages (8 and 9) taken from the 1967 tour brochure of Maidstone & District Motor Services Limited which show a four day tour based at the Royal Hotel in Norwich. The tour covered quite a number of East Anglian towns and resorts. Barton Mills even gets a mention on Friday's itinerary but only to show the route taken.

Prior to the deregulation of express coach services in October 1980 one of the longest coach services in Britain, if not the longest, was operated by Rennie’s Lion and Comfort Coaches Limited (later renamed Rennies of Dunfermline Limited) between Dunfermline and Plymouth. I believe it came about as a result of the demand for families of Royal Navy personnel to travel between two centres with a strong navy presence namely the dockyards of Rosyth and Plymouth. After deregulation Rennies continued to operate a service which was expanded to run from Aberdeen to Plymouth together with a service from Dunfermline to another famous English Royal Navy town at Portsmouth. An undated timetable from the deregulated 1980s. A large amount of the leaflet was printed in reversed out blue block. (See next slide in black and white should more clarity be necessary).