List of guided busways and BRT systems in the United Kingdom

A Lothian Buses guided bus traversing the former Fastlink guided busway in Edinburgh (alignment now used for Tram Line 2)

A First York operated Wright StreetCar
on an FTR bus rapid transit scheme in York

This is a list of the past, present, planned or abandoned guided bus systems or bus rapid transit schemes in the United Kingdom, including segregated busways. Not included are bus priority schemes, bus lanes or local authority bus company quality contracts that do not involve guidance, significant segregation from the public highway or other bus rapid transit features. The UK does not have any implementations or proposals for rubber tyred trams such as Translohr or Bombardier Guided Light Transit.

Past systems

• Birmingham. Tracline 65 was an upgraded route with the first guided busway in the UK. There was a 600-metre section of guideway in Erdington. It opened in 1984 and closed in 1987.^[1]
• Edinburgh, Edinburgh Fastlink operated by Lothian Buses. Originally called WEBS, the West Edinburgh Bus Scheme, a group of bus priority improvements that included a 1 mile (1.5 km) section of guided busway.
  • Stenhouse - Broomhouse, opened in December 2004, designed to be utilised for Line 2 of the Edinburgh Tram Network.^[2] In January 2009 it closed to enable conversion, with the two services using the guideway being re-routed.
• Leeds, Swansea and York
  • FTR bendy bus route unguided, operated by First Leeds from 2007-2012, after the end of FTR services the buses were rebranded Hyperlink and redeployed alongside Yorks on the 72 route between Leeds and Bradford before being replaced by conventional double deckers in 2016.
  • FTR bendy bus route Between Acomb and University of York, from 2006-2012 operated by First York.
  • FTR bendy bus route Swansea, South Wales, unguided, operated by First Cymru branded Swansea Metro. Services commenced in September 2009 from Morriston Hospital to Singleton Hospital via Morriston, Swansea railway station, the Kingsway, Swansea bus station, the Civic Centre and Swansea University. Withdrawn in August 2015 and replaced with standard single deck buses, later in 2015 the two way bus lane was replaced with a conventional one way system in response to high profile accidents, the 'bendy buses' were returned to service in 2016 as a student shuttle between Swansea University campuses.

Present systems

• Ipswich, Suffolk, Ipswich Rapid Transit operated by First Norfolk & Suffolk, branded Superroute 66, incorporating a 200-m section of guided busway
  • Kesgrave - Grange Farm, opened 1995^[3]
  • regauged in 2005 for larger double-deck buses^[4]
  • a second stretch of busway has been abandoned
• Runcorn, Cheshire, Runcorn Busway, operated by Halton Transport and Arriva North West and Wales, an unguided network built as part of the new town extension of Runcorn^[5] The busway is 14 miles (22 km) long, with an elevated section into a shopping area at the intersection^[6]
  • 1971 - Phase 1 complete^[7]
  • 1977 - Phase 2 complete
• Redditch, Worcestershire, Matchborough Circular, operated by Red Diamond and First Midlands, an unguided network built as part of the new town extension of Redditch. The system carries over 1.5 million passenger journeys per annum.
• London
  • East London Transit, unguided with sections of segregated running: first stage Ilford to Dagenham Dock completed February 2010. Phase 2 (Barking Riverside) to open 2013.
• Thames Gateway, Fastrack, unguided with sections of segregated running, opened in phases in concert with planned local development. Operated by Arriva Southern Counties using standard buses,
  • Route A - Dartford - Bluewater, opened June 2007
  • Route B - Dartford - Gravesend, opened March 2006
• Leeds
  • Leeds Superbus, corridors with sections of guided busway,^[8] operated by First Leeds
    • A61 Scott Hall Road, four sections, 1 mile (1.5 km), opened 1995
    • A64 York Road / A63 Selby Road, three sections, 1 mile (2 km), opened 2001
    • Between Pudsey and Whinmoor, opened 2007
• Bradford Manchester Road Quality Bus Initiative Bradford end, including 1 mile (2.3 km) of guided busway^[9]
  • A641 Manchester Road, opened October 2001
• Crawley, West Sussex, Crawley Fastway, operated by Metrobus, a 15 miles (24 km) two-route system with segregated lanes and 1 mile (1.5 km) of guided busway.
  • Southgate Avenue, opened August 2003.
  • Fastway, opened December 2004.
• Tyne and Wear
  • Centrelink, an infrastructure project including an exclusive busway on the south bank of the River Tyne, for bendy bus services from Gateshead to the Metrocentre, operated by Go North East^[10]
  • Route 19 in North Tyneside, operating over a section of exclusive busway,^[11] accessed through guidewheel gates. Operated by Go North East using guide-wheel-fitted buses.
• Luton, Bedfordshire
  • The Luton to Dunstable Guided Busway runs between Luton Airport and Houghton Regis via Dunstable following the Dunstable branch line, which closed in 1989, running parallel to the A505 (Dunstable Road) and A5065 (Hatters Way). t runs for 6.1 miles, of which 4.8 is guided track with a maximum speed of 50 mph. The £91 million scheme opened on 25 September 2013.
• Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, a BRT corridor incorporating "just over 16 miles"^[12] of guided busway, using the alignments of the former Cambridge and Huntingdon railway and also of the Varsity Line.
  • St Ives Park & Ride - Milton Road, Cambridge: construction begun January 2007; was due to open in February 2009^[13] but heavily delayed.^[14] The service finally opened to traffic on Sunday 7 August 2011.
  • Cambridge railway station - Trumpington Park & Ride: opened 7 August 2011.^[15]
• South East Hampshire Bus Rapid Transit, 3 miles (4.5 km), unguided, between Gosport and Fareham, Hampshire, constructed by Hampshire County Council using the route of the former Gosport to Fareham railway line to reduce congestion on the parallel A32.^[16] The scheme was proposed following the collapse of the light rail scheme using the same route and funding was approved in July 2009 for the £20m scheme. It opened in April 2012 with services provided by First Hampshire & Dorset using specially branded "Eclipse" buses.
• Leigh-Salford-Manchester Bus Rapid Transit, from Leigh and Atherton to Manchester via Tyldesley and Ellenbrook. The 29-stop scheme extends a total of 22km; and makes partial use of a former railway line to form a 4 miles (7 km) guided busway together with pedestrian, cycle lane and bridleway between Leigh, Tyldesley, and Ellenbrook relieving heavy congestion. It then joins the East Lancashire Road running in a dedicated a bus lane. A Park and Ride site has been constructed where the road reaches the M60 and buses continue through Salford and into Manchester city centre along 9 miles (15 km) of segregated bus lanes; continuing through the centre along Oxford Road to the University of Manchester and Central Manchester Hospitals. The scheme will be 80% segregated from highway along its length. The scheme is costed at £68m for the guided busway and £122m for the total project. Road junction works began in late-2011 and it opened on 3 April 2016.^[17] It will form part of the wider Manchester Quality Bus Corridor (Manchester QBC) and Cross City Bus network.
• Sheffield Bus Rapid Transit North running a 9km route between Sheffeld and Rotherham, and opening in September 2016. The route designated 'X1 Steel Link' runs every 10 minutes at peak. Total cost was £29.8m, most of which was for the construction of an 800m road link under the M1 viaduct at Meadowhall. Otherwise the service runs over a similar specification route to those provided for stopping buses.^[18]

Under construction

• Belfast: Since 2008 Belfast has been formally exploring the idea of a rapid-transit system. This quickly settled down to be a high-quality bus-based system, with modern vehicles with a tram-like feel with off-vehicle ticketing and fast journey times that hinge on the use of a dedicated traffic lane that is not used by general traffic. The ultimate ambition seems to be for routes running from the city centre to the north, east, south and west with an additional line to Titanic Quarter. The network is in the middle of being constructed and is planned to be opened by 2017/18.^[19]
• Bristol: Bristol City Council, in conjunction with the West of England Partnership, approved three MetroBus routes currently under construction which consists of Ashton Vale to Temple Meads (AVTM), the North Fringe to Hengrove Park, and the South Bristol Link (SBL) and will be operational by 2017.^[20]

Planned systems

• Coventry Sprint. A proposed application of the FTR (bus) over a 19 miles (30 km) route, 34% segregated^[21]
  • Nuneaton - Coventry - Kenilworth, route consultation ongoing
• Glasgow, Clyde Fastlink, along the north bank of the River Clyde, with segregated running for the majority of its length outside the city centre.^[22] It has been approved by Scottish ministers and is expected to be ready for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.^[23]
  • Glasgow City Centre - Glasgow Harbour with the majority of the route segregated.^[24]
• London
  • West London Transit, being considered following the abandonment of plans for the West London Tram in August 2007

Abandoned proposals

• Leeds, following refusal of funding the proposed Leeds Supertram, a replacement system was proposed by the government,^[25] which included a three-line 12 miles (20 km) trolleybus network.^[26] 38% would run on guideways or on bus lanes.^[27] The scheme received a negative assessment from the inspector at a public inquiry, and approval was refused in May 2016.
• Bath, Somerset, the Department of Transport approved funding with 1 mile (1.4 km) of busway,^[28] but this has been abandoned.^[29]
• London
  • Millennium Transit, a segregated busway intended to link the Millennium Dome with Charlton and Greenwich railway stations, part of which was to include a 1 mile (1.3 km) section of electronic guidance.^[30] Intended to be operational when the Dome opened, the electronic guidance technology was abandoned following concerns that neither the system nor the driver was in a position to avoid sudden obstacles.^[31] The busway remains in use, unguided.
    • Route M1, Charlton - Millennium Dome
    • Route M2, Greenwich - Millennium Dome
  • Greenwich Waterfront Transit, planned for completion by 2011, abandoned in 2008 due to cancellation of Thames Gateway Bridge.
• Stoke-on-Trent Streetcar, primarily to link the railway station to the city centre, but would have also linked the rest of the city's six towns and neighbouring Newcastle-under-Lyme and Kidsgrove. Major destinations included both universities, the hospital and both major football stadia.

See also

• List of bus rapid transit systems

References

1. City Transport.info web site, Bus Priority Systems page Guided Buses In Britain section
3. Simon Smiler. "Kesgrave - The First 'Serious' British Installation". Garden.force9.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
4. Simon Smiler. "Bus Priority Systems web page, 2006 information update sub heading". Garden.force9.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
5. Halton Council website page about development of Runcorn New Town
6. "Description of the Runcorn Busway" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-09-08.
7. "Runcorn buses enthusast site detailing the busway". Members.lycos.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
8. "Leeds, United Kingdom" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-09-08.
9. "First group Bradford guided busway page". Firstgroup.com. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
10. Tyne and Wear PTE (Nexus) Centrlink page
11. Tyne and Wear PTE (Nexus) Route 19 page
12. Cambs County Council - Other guided busways
13. "Cambridgeshire County Council's guided busway site". Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
14. Cambridgeshire News: Growing fears that guided buses won’t run until 2011
15. "Cambridgeshire guided busway opening date announced". BBC News Online. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
16. Archived 12 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
17. http://www.tfgm.com/buspriority/Documents/12-1209-Bus-Priority-Higher-Folds.pdf
18. £29.8 million Bus Rapid Transit scheme set for launch Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council 2 September 2016
19. "Belfast Rapid Transit System". Wesleyjohnston.com. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
20. "MetroBus | Travel in the West of England". Travelwest.info. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
21. Sprint Website Route Alignment page
22. Glasgow Council Fastlink description
23. "BBC Ministers approve Glasgow Fastlink". Bbc.co.uk. 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
24. Archived 19 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
25. Department for Transport Leeds BRT statement
26. "West Yorkshire Metro - Projects and Plans - New Generation Transport - Trolleybuses". Retrieved 23 January 2009.
27. http://www.yhassembly.gov.uk/dnlds/RTB%20Additional%20Papers%20150607.pdf
28. https://web.archive.org/web/20090715110006/http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/BathNES/transportandstreets/transportpolicy/plansandstrategies/bathpackage/Newbridge+BRT.htm. Archived from the original on 15 July 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
29. "Bath drops BRT route and Eastern P&R site". Transportxtra.com. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
30. "London Bus Routes, route 486, successor to the Dome link". Londonbusroutes.net. Retrieved 2016-09-08.
31. "Specification Change to Create Havoc for Millennium Transit Engineers". Ivsource.net. Retrieved 2016-09-08.

External links