From Epic Transit Journeys

Southbound schedules

There are quite a few possible route options. This route goes through the middle of the Peak District, a particularly scenic area. It would be possible instead to go through the Potteries and Birmingham, and maybe even get to zone 1 the same day.

This itinerary is for a typical weekday; Saturday times are similar, but Sundays are not. (In particular, the X60 and X61 do not run on Sundays any more.) Most of the buses are normal buses, but a few (notably the Transpeak) are more like coaches (but reservations aren't needed or, as far as I know, accepted). This itinerary hasn't been tested so please check before travelling.

Unfortunately single fares on UK buses are not usually advertised. Day passes are, but these tend to be restricted to single operators, and many of the links are operated by smaller companies that aren't covered by these passes. A particularly useful one is offered by Stagecoach to cover the Leicester to Luton segment; Morecambe to Manchester is also probably cheaper with a pass than by paying cash, especially on Saturdays (or the rest of the week if travelling in the opposite direction).

Step	Operator	Route	Boarding Location	Alighting Location	Boarding Time	Alighting Time	Travel Time	Adult Cash Fare
1	Stagecoach in Lancaster	40	Morecambe Bus Station	Preston Bus Station	0600	0719	1:19	Lancashire dayrider £6.50 (Saturdays only), North West explorer £9.75 (Mon to Fri)
2	Stagecoach in Lancashire	X61/X60	Preston Bus Station	Manchester Shudehill	0740	0933	1:53	use Lancs dayrider or NW explorer
3	Trent Barton	Transpeak	Manchester Chorlton Street Bus Station	Derby Bus Station	1115	1420	3:40	£6.50
4	Kinchbus	Skylink	Derby Bus Station	Leicester Bus Station	1435	1610	1:35	£6.00
6	Stagecoach in Northants	X7	Leicester Bus Station (bay 19)	Northampton Greyfriars Bus Station	1620	1800	1:40	dayrider gold £10.30
7	Stagecoach in Northants	41	Northampton Greyfriars Bus Station (bay 5)	Bedford Bus Station	1820	1922	1:02	use dayrider gold
8	Stagecoach in Bedford	81	Bedford Bus Station (bay 8)	Luton Galaxy Centre	1930	2025	0:55	use dayrider gold
Beware - this is the last bus on the route, if you miss it it'll be mainline (FCC) trains or a night in Bedford!
9	Red Rose Travel; timetable	321	Luton Church Street (stop C9)	Croxley Underground Station	2105	2213	1:08	?
10	London Underground	Metropolitan Line	Croxley Underground	Baker Street	2224	2306	0:42	£6 (£3.50 with Oyster)

There are other ways into central London (e.g. alighting the 321 at Watford Junction at 2201 and using London Overground, or even normal London buses); this is probably the easiest option though.

Rail alternatives

I have generally omitted rail services (except the London Underground) as there is no sharp dividing line in the UK between "local" trains (that in the US would be run by a commuter transit agency) and mainline ones; the same tickets are usually valid on both and commuters tend to use long distance trains whenever appropriate to their commute.

The St Albans Abbey line, however, can't reasonably be called a national long-distance line. So, bending the rules slightly, gives us this possibility:

Step	Operator	Route	Boarding Location	Alighting Location	Boarding Time	Alighting Time	Travel Time	Adult Cash Fare
9	Red Rose Travel; timetable	321	Luton Church Street (stop C9)	St Albans Abbey Station	2105	2137	0:32	?
10a	London Midland	Abbey Line	St Albans Abbey Station	Watford Junction	2154	2212	0:18	£4.30 (£10 to London, see below)
11a	London Midland		Watford Junction	London Euston	2233	2252	0:19	£8.30 (£4.30 with Oyster)
or TfL alternative for the same fare
11b	London Overground	Watford DC Line	Watford Junction	London Euston	2221	2310	0:49	£8.30 (£4.30 with Oyster)

A single from St Albans Abbey to London Euston is £10.00 so anyone without an Oyster card should buy a ticket to London instead of separate tickets to and from Watford. Oyster cards are available for a refundable £3 deposit at all staffed Tube and Overground stations except Watford Junction, which is unfortunate. If you do already have an Oyster card, however, it's cheaper to use it for the journey from Watford.

Some people might argue that anything within the Network Railcard area that isn't obviously a long-distance train is acceptable. Lenient passengers, or those who can't afford to be strict because they missed the last 81, can use Thameslink.

Step	Operator	Route	Boarding Location	Alighting Location	Boarding Time	Alighting Time	Travel Time	Adult Cash Fare
8a	First Capital Connect	Thameslink	Bedford Railway Station	London St Pancras	1952	2052	1:00	£18.90

(They can also use East Midlands Trains, but these really are intercity trains so beyond the scope of the website. The fare's the same.)

It's also possible to get a London Midland train from Northampton. It's dubious whether it can really be classed as a "local" service as it accepts (but doesn't require) reservations and starts from either Birmingham or Crewe, but it does have doors in the middle of the carriages rather than at the ends, and it does run three times per hour for most of the day. (The stopping patterns vary; the xx05 trains stop at the most stations, and the xx50, which starts from Crewe, at the fewest.) If you do do this you won't need a dayrider gold from Leicester as a single to Northampton will almost certainly be cheaper. It's an option worth considering if you're running late as UK buses tend to thin out in the evening much more than UK trains do.

Step	Operator	Route	Boarding Location	Alighting Location	Boarding Time	Alighting Time	Travel Time	Adult Cash Fare
7a	London Midland		Northampton Railway Station	London Euston	1825	1929	1:04	£24.40

(If you're much earlier than this you might run into a time restriction; if you do, the fare's a few pounds more.)

People who really love trains will have already noticed that there are London Midland services from Crewe and Birmingham to London, and from Liverpool to Birmingham. They're also relatively cheap if you're happy to arrive after 1300 and if you're going back the way you came (return fares on UK trains are often a negligible amount more than singles). Going one way it's roughly the same fare wise as the original bus option, and it's a lot quicker. The Virgin train is of course an intercity train; for the same price there are TransPennine services from Lancaster to Preston and Northern services from Preston to Liverpool as alternatives. If you're going one-way only, you can save another 10p if you don't set off until after 0830; for 10 pence it's not worth worrying about.

Step	Operator	Route	Boarding Location	Alighting Location	Boarding Time	Alighting Time	Travel Time	Adult Cash Fare
1a	Northern Rail		Morecambe Railway Station	Lancaster Railway Station	0703	0714	0:11	£16.00 (£16.20 return)
2a	Virgin Trains		Lancaster Railway Station	Wigan North Western	0738	0809	0:31
3a	Northern Rail		Wigan North Western	Liverpool Lime Street	0828	0920	0:52
4a	London Midland		Liverpool Lime Street	Stafford Railway Station	1004	1109	1:05	£25.40 (£25.50 super off-peak return)
5a	London Midland		Stafford Railway Station	London Euston	1121	1349	2:28

Intercity equivalents

For comparison purposes, the equivalent journey using intercity trains would be:

Step	Operator	Route	Boarding Location	Alighting Location	Boarding Time	Alighting Time	Travel Time	Adult Cash Fare
1a	Northern Rail		Morecambe Railway Station	Lancaster Railway Station	0703	0714	0:11	£76.50 (£77.50 return)
2a	Virgin Trains		Lancaster Railway Station	London Euston	0738	1012	2:34

Advance tickets (much cheaper) are available, of course; they have the usual airline-style "must use your booked train or pay full fare" rule. Full fare is £144.50, or £289.00 return, and applies if you want to travel earlier than this.