Tag: travel

Real Time Information at the bus stop

by Jim
The display at Heysham Towers (c) Graeme Austin

Reports are coming in of the new real-time information displays that are being erected at bus stops in a number of places in the Lancaster District.

Being provided with funding from the government through the county council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, the displays show forthcoming departures from stops and the actual time at which the buses can be expected to arrive.

So far, they have been seen at Heysham Towers, Euston Road, Morecambe and in Carnforth.

The displays show the name of the stop and the current time, followed by details of the next six buses due to arrive. Each line shows the service number, destination, arrival time and bus operator for the journey.

Common sense

It is unclear as to how far AI (“artificial intelligence) has played a part in the system, but it is good to see that “common sense” has been employed and the screens correctly describe the 755 as going to “Carnforth and Bowness”. This service has to registered in two parts, either side of Carnforth, to get round comply with the rules on working time for drivers, which are different for long-distance services. Many systems can’t cope with this and would erroneously show “Carnforth” as the destination, treating the extension to Bowness as a separate service and causing confusion to anyone expecting a bus to Bowness.

The bottom line of the display currently confirms that the system is still being tested, but presumably could be used for messages to be displayed to passengers in times of major disruption. As things are still under test, the county council would welcome any feedback and we will be happy to pass on any observations left in the comments below or on our Facebook page.

Meanwhile…

Lancaster’s earlier real time information display, at the bus station, has been out of use for some time, but we understand that moves are being made to get it operational again, hopefully before too long,

Summer 2026 Buses to the Lakes

by Jim
The Summer 2026 Lake District timetables have been published

Stagecoach has published details of the summer 2026 timetables for services in the Lake District that start on 23rd March, including the 555 Lancaster – Keswick and 755 Heysham – Bowness buses. Most of the changes are for the better. The new Guide can be downloaded here.

Service 555

The big news on the 555 is that there will be more journeys running via the motorway, which saves almost 40 minutes between Lancaster and Kendal compared to the standard route via Carnforth and Milnthorpe.

“Motorway” buses will leave Lancaster at 0810, 0914 and 1214 on Monday to Saturday throughout the season, which ends on 1st November. These will be supplemented by departures at 1014, 1114, 1314, 1414 and 1514 that will run every Saturday and on Monday to Friday between 29 June and 18 September. All these journeys continue to Keswick.

Fast buses will return from Kendal 1340 (1200 from Keswick); 1640 (1500 from Keswick) and 1740 (1600 from Keswick on Mondays to Saturdays throughout the season, with additional journeys at 1240 1440 1540 and 1840 on all Saturdays and Monday to Friday between 29 June and 18 September. All these buses will start at Keswick 1h 40m before the Kendal times. However, the existing fast buses at 0633 and 0720 from Keswick to Lancaster are withdrawn.

On Sundays and Public Holidays there will be fast motorway buses at 0814 and 1014 from Lancaster to Keswick, returning at 1600 and 1800 from Keswick (1735 and 1930 from Kendal). The “winter” journeys at 0820 from Kendal and 1845 from Lancaster are withdrawn.

The Bus Users’ Group has previously called for more, faster buses between Lancaster and Kendal and is pleased to see that our pleas have not gone unnoticed.

The new 555 timetable is here.

Service 755

The changes to the 755 are more modest and are designed to provide a more regular timetable. On Saturdays, the 1840 Bowness to Morecambe bus is extended to Ocean Edge arriving at 2035. There will also be evening journeys from Ocean Edge to Morecambe, Euston Road at 2005 on Monday to Friday; 1830 on Saturday and Sunday and 2040 on Saturday only,

The new 755 timetable is here

The new 2026 Lakes Guide can be downloaded here.

Even Faster to the Lakes on the X8

Not included in the new Guide, although hopefully it will be in the future, is service X8, which runs on summer Saturdays from Chorley to Keswick that runs fast via the M6 and A591 to Windermere, then Keswick. For the 2026 season the service will call at Lancaster Bus Station at 1005 for Keswick and at 1820 for Preston and Chorley. As this is an express service, the £3 fare cap will not apply and concessionary bus passes are not valid, although passholders can buy a discounted North West Explorer ticket at £9 (full price £12). This ticket gives a days travel on all Stagecoach buses in Lancashire and Cumbria and you can buy it on any bus that you need to catch into Lancaster to connect with the X8.

The X8 will operate on Saturdays from 28th March until 31st October 2026 and the timetable is on this link.