Summer Lakes by Bus Guide Published and New Buses On The Way

 

Stagecoach has published the Summer 2023 edition of its popular "Lakes by Bus" Guide timetable book, containing details of all the company's services in the Lake District. This year, "summer" lasts, very generously, from 27th March until 5th November.

The book includes timetables for buses from Lancaster (service 555) and Morecambe (755) to the Lakes and these services will continue to largely unchanged timetables. The only change that we can find is on the 555, where the slightly mysterious note on certain late afternoon journeys southwards from Kendal that they "can run up to 10 minutes late from Helsington, Lumley Road" has disappeared!

Otherwise the 555 continues to run hourly (two-hourly on Sundays) between Lancaster and Keswick with extra journeys that run via the M6 between Lancaster and Kendal on all Saturdays and Monday to Friday in July, August and September.  Service 755, which runs from Ocean Edge Holiday Park in Heysham to Bowness-on-Windermere will have four through journeys a day (seven days a week) with an extra northbound trip on Saturday, Sunday and school holidays.

The new timetables are here:

555 Lancaster - Keswick

755 Ocean Edge - Bowness-on-Windermere

and the full Lakes by Bus Guide is here

Printed copies of the Guide will also be available on the buses on the 555 service as well as from libraries and Visitor Information Centres.

X8 Chorley - Keswick 

Not included in the Guide, presumably because its operated by a different bit of Stagecoach, is the X8 limited stop service from Chorley to Keswick, which north of Preston operates on the M6 and calls at the Lancaster Park & Ride site at Junction 34, Caton Road.  

This year the service will operate on Saturday only  and we will post details of the timetable when they become available.  The £2 fare cap and Concessionary passes are not valid on the X8 although a cut-price Explorer ticket is available to pass holders.

Bargain Fares

Until the 30 June, the England-wide £2 maximum single fare cap applies to  services 555 and 755, meaning that a trip to Kendal, Bowness-on-Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere or even Keswick costs just £2 (plus £2 for coming back). Even if you want to break your journey and visit, say, Kendal and Ambleside or Grasmere and Keswick, you can still make a saving over the Explorer ticket price.

After the end of June, or if you will be using more than six buses in the day, the North West Explorer ticket at £12.50, which you can buy from the driver on any Stagecoach bus, is still good value.

New Buses for the 555

The Bus Users' Group understands that a fleet of new buses is being delivered to Stagecoach for use on service 555 and should be ready for the start of the new timetable, or if not, shortly afterwards. They are an updated version of the buses currently used on the service and will again feature more comfortable seats than the usual standard as well as the latest low-emission diesel engines.