List of guided busways and BRT systems in the United Kingdom

A Lothian Buses guided bus traversing the Fastlink guided busway in Edinburgh (no longer in use, due to become part of 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 notable segregated busways. Not included are bus priority schemes or 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 as yet 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, as part of an experiment in bus improvement measures by the West Midlands PTE. There was a 600-metre section of guideway on Streetly Road in the Erdington area of the city, at the northern end of the 65 bus route. It opened in 1984 and closed in 1987. A small number of MCW Metrobus Mark IIs were acquired and fitted with guide-wheels. After the trial ended these buses remained in normal service, with the last one withdrawn on 26 April 2008.
• Edinburgh, Edinburgh Fastlink operated by Lothian Buses. Originally called WEBS, the West Edinburgh Bus Scheme, a group of bus priority improvements that include a 1 mile (1.5 km) section of guided busway.
  • Stenhouse - Broomhouse, opened in December 2004. From the outset, the guideway was designed to be utilised for Line 2 of the Edinburgh Tram Network. In January 2009 it closed to enable conversion, with the two services using the guideway being re-routed to regular roads.

Present systems

• Ipswich, Suffolk, Ipswich Rapid Transit operated by First Eastern Counties, branded Superroute 66, incorporating a 200-m section of guided busway
  • Kesgrave - Grange Farm, opened 1995
  • regauged in 2005 for larger double-deck buses
  • a second stretch of busway has been abandoned
• Runcorn, Cheshire, Runcorn Busway, operated by Halton Transport and Arriva North West and Wales, an unguided system built as part of the new town extension of Runcorn The busway is 14 miles (22 km) long, with an elevated section into a shopping area at the intersection
  • 1971 - Phase 1 complete
  • 1977 - Phase 2 complete
• Redditch, Worcestershire, Matchborough Circular, operated by Red Diamond and First Midlands, an unguided system 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 system 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 system with sections of segregated running, opened in phases in concert with planned local development. Operated by Arriva Southern Counties using standard buses, with an upgrade to Streetcar-type vehicles in future.
  • Route B - Dartford - Gravesend, opened March 2006
  • Route A - Dartford - Bluewater, opened June 2007
  • Route C - Ebbsfleet circle, expected 2011
  • Route D - Dartford - Bluewater, northern route, expected 2018
• Leeds
  • Leeds Superbus, corridors with sections of guided busway, operated by First Leeds
    • A61 Scott Hall Road, four sections, 1 mile (1.5 km) in total, opened 1995
    • A64 York Road / A63 Selby Road, three sections, 1 mile (2 km) in total, opened 2001
  • FTR bendy bus route unguided system operated by First Leeds
    • Between Pudsey and Whinmoor - started 2007
• Bradford Manchester Road Quality Bus Initiative Bradford end, including 1 mile (2.3 km) of guided busway
  • A641 Manchester Road - opened October 2001
• Crawley, West Sussex, Crawley Fastway, operated by Metrobus, a 24 0 two-route BRT 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
  • Route 19, a bus route in North Tyneside, operating over a section of exclusive busway, accessed through guidewheel gates. Operated by Go North East using guide-wheel-fitted buses.
• York, FTR bendy bus route, an unguided system operated by First York
  • Between Acomb and University of York - started 2006
• Luton, Bedfordshire
  • The Luton to Dunstable Guided Busway runs between Luton Airport and Houghton Regis via Dunstable following the Dunstable Branch Lines which closed in 1989, running parallel to the A505 (Dunstable Road) and A5065 (Hatters Way). The busway runs for 6.1 miles, of which 4.8 is guided track with a maximum speed of 50mph. The £80 million scheme opened in September 2013.
  • FTR bendy bus route Train2plane, an unguided system operated by First Capital Connect. The service between Luton Airport Parkway railway station and Luton Airport runs every 10 minutes, 19 hours a day.
• Swansea, South Wales, FTR bendy bus route, an unguided system operated by First Cymru branded Swansea Metro.
  • The route runs from Morriston Hospital to Singleton Hospital via Morriston, Swansea railway station, the Kingsway, Swansea bus station, the Civic Centre and Swansea University.
    • Phase 1 - between the railway station and the Kingsway, was completed in November 2007
    • Phase 2 - between the Kingsway and the Civic Centre, was completed in April 2008.
• Cambridgeshire Guided Busway: a BRT corridor incorporating "just over 16 miles" 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 but heavily delayed. The service finally opened to traffic on Sunday 7 August 2011.
  • Cambridge railway station - Trumpington Park & Ride: opened 7 August 2011.
• Luton, Bedfordshire, the Luton to Dunstable Busway: Guided busway runs between Luton airport and Houghton Regis via Dunstable following the Dunstable Branch Lines which closed in 1989 which run parallel to the A505 (Dunstable Road) and A5065 (Hatters Way). The busway runs for 6.1 miles of which 4.8 is guided track with a max speed of 50mph. The £80 million scheme opened in September 2013.

Under construction

• South East Hampshire Bus Rapid Transit is a 3 miles (4.5 km) unguided busway between Gosport and Fareham, Hampshire, currently under construction by Hampshire County Council using the route of the former Gosport to Fareham railway line to reduce congestion on the parallel A32 between the towns. 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. The route is due to open in April 2012 with services provided by First Hampshire & Dorset using specially branded "Eclipse" buses on all routes utilising the busway.

• Leigh-Salford-Manchester Bus Rapid Transit - a BRT corridor running from Leigh (one of the largest towns in Great Britain without a railway station) to Manchester via Salford. The 14 stop scheme makes partial use of a former railway line to form a 4 miles (7 km) dual tracked guided busway together with pedestrian, cycle lane and Bridleway between Leigh, Tyldesley, and Ellenbrook relieving heavy congestion in and around the roads of Leigh, it will then join the East Lancs Road with the construction of an additional bus lane in stretches where none is currently present. A Park and Ride site will be constructed at the point the road reaches the M60 then the bus will continue along the road through Salford and into Manchester along a total of 9 miles (15 km) of segregated Bus lane. The scheme will be 80% segregated from highway along its length and utilise a Trambus hybrid fleet. The scheme is costed at £30m for the guided busway and £76m for the total project. Initial road junction works began in late 2011 and it was originally due to open in Spring 2013 however major works were delayed as finance was diverted to more urgent projects and it will not now begin construction until 2013 and open until 2015. It will form part of the wider Manchester Quality Bus Corridor (Manchester QBC) and Cross City Bus network.

Planned systems

• Bristol: Bristol City Council in conjunction with the West of England Partnership is proposing BRT routes from Ashton Vale to Temple Meads, the North Fringe of Bristol to Hengrove Park, and the A370 Long Ashton bypass to Hengrove Park.

• 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, although 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 plan is to build three initially and to have them operating by 2017/18.

• Coventry Sprint. A proposed application of the FTR (bus) over a 19 miles (30 km) route, 34% segregated
  • Nuneaton - Coventry - Kenilworth, route consultation ongoing

• Glasgow, Clyde Fastlink, a BRT corridor along the north bank of the River Clyde, with segregated running for the majority of its length outside the city centre. It has been approved by Scottish ministers and is expected to be ready for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
  • Glasgow City Centre - Glasgow Harbour with the majority of the route segregated.

• Leeds, following refusal of funding the proposed Leeds Supertram, a BRT replacement system has been proposed by the government and awaits local authority plans, which include a three-line 12 miles (20 km) trolleybus network. 38% would run on guideways or on bus lanes.

• London
  • West London Transit, a bus scheme being considered following the abandonment of plans for the West London Tram scheme in August 2007

• Sheffield, The Sheffield to Rotherham Bus Rapid Transit Scheme, approved recently by the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly's Regional Transport Board. It will operate on bus lanes on two lines:
  • Sheffield to Rotherham via the Waverley Development site, which will include employment and housing
  • The Northern Route, via Meadowhall and Templeborough
  • A circular line to link these two routes is planned, but yet to receive approval.

Abandoned proposals

• Bath, Somerset, the Department of Transport approved funding for a BRT system with 1 mile (1.4 km) of busway, but this has now been abandoned.

• 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. 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. 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, as well as 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