Brighton & Hove Regency Route

The Regency Route
The Regency Route
	Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TL on route 29A in November 2023
Overview
Operator	Brighton & Hove
Former operator(s)	Arriva Southern Counties ; Stagecoach South East ;
Routes	Regular28 Brighton – Lewes – Ringmer – Hailsham – Polegate – Eastbourne 29 Brighton – Lewes – Uckfield – Crowborough – Tunbridge Wells 29A Brighton – Lewes – Isfield – Uckfield – Heathfield Limited29B Brighton – Lewes – Ringmer – Uckfield – Crowborough – Tunbridge Wells (1 bus per day each way)29X Tunbridge Wells – Crowborough – Uckfield – Lewes – Brighton (1 southbound bus per day)
Route map
	Legend
	Kent
	East Sussex
	East Sussex
	Brighton & Hove
	Brighton
	City Centre
	This diagram: view ; talk ; edit ;

Last updated October 08, 2024

The Regency Route is a name given since 1977 to a regular bus service between Brighton in East Sussex and Tunbridge Wells in Kent, both towns with a Regency heritage.^[1] The route runs via the East Sussex towns of Lewes, Uckfield and Crowborough.

The Brighton to Tunbridge Wells route is one of few successful examples of bustitution, as it replaced through trains from Brighton via Lewes and Uckfield to Tunbridge Wells withdrawn in the 1960s when the railway lines from Lewes to Uckfield and Eridge to Tunbridge Wells were closed by British Railways.^[2] The bus route now provides access to the Lavender Line and the Spa Valley Railway preserved railways which run on lengths of those two railways. The journey from end to end is timed at between 1¾ and 2 hours.

Originally operated jointly by Southdown Brighton & Hove (now Brighton & Hove), Southdown East Sussex (now Stagecoach in East Sussex), and Maidstone & District Motor Services (now Arriva Southern Counties), the service is now operated solely by Brighton & Hove. Since April 2011, Brighton & Hove has used the Regency Route branding for the route 28 service from Brighton to Lewes and Ringmer as well as the 29.

History

1977: The route number 729 and Regency Route name were introduced by Southdown Motor Services operating between Brighton and Tunbridge Wells, a joint operation with Maidstone & District Motor Services. Service 28 was a shortened variant of the 128/728 route to Eastbourne, running as far as Ringmer.
1 January 1986: Formation of Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company from the Brighton operations of Southdown Motor Services. The route remained a joint operation with Southdown (from its Lewes depot) and Maidstone & District.
1998 - Maidstone & District Motor Services was acquired by Arriva to form Arriva Kent & East Sussex
26 September 2004 - 729 renumbered to 29.
25 September 2005 - Stagecoach and Arriva withdraw from joint service, route entirely Brighton & Hove.
9 April 2009 - A night bus service running three days a week, the N29, was introduced over the route between Brighton and Uckfield.^[3]
17 April 2011 - 28 and 29 both branded as Regency Routes; combined 10-minute frequency between Brighton and Lewes.
2019 - Some of the buses used were painted in a purple and gold livery and given purple upholstery.
2022 - Some of the purple buses were decorated for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and later some were given icons of Brighton (i360 tower), Lewes (castle) or Tunbridge Wells (Spa Valley Railway locomotive).
23 July 2023 - 28 extended beyond Ringmer to/from Hailsham, Polegate and Eastbourne; new Route 29A between Brighton, Uckfield and Heathfield; services via Halland reduced to just one bus per weekday each way and renumbered 29B.^[4]
22 September 2024 - evening and Sunday services on Route 28 now also extended to/from Polegate and Eastbourne (previously these started/terminated in Hailsham).^[5]

Current services

The Regency Route currently consists of the following services:^[6]

Route 28 links Brighton with Eastbourne, running via Falmer, Lewes, Ringmer, Hailsham and Polegate. On weekdays and Saturdays the service frequency is every 30 minutes each way running the full route between Brighton and Eastbourne, plus there is an additional one bus per hour running only between Brighton and Lewes. On Sundays, services run hourly on the full route.
Routes 29/29B/29X operate between Brighton and Tunbridge Wells via Falmer, Lewes, Uckfield, Crowborough and Eridge (with buses on route 29B additionally serving Ringmer and Halland). Route 29 operates every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays and hourly on Sundays. Routes 29B and 29X both have a very limited service on weekdays only, with the former operating one bus per day in each direction and the latter operating a single early-morning journey towards Brighton.
Route 29A operates between Brighton and Heathfield via Falmer, Lewes, Isfield, Uckfield and Blackboys. Buses operate hourly on all days of the week.

These services combine to give an off-peak service of a bus every 10 minutes in each direction between Brighton and Lewes on weekdays and Saturdays, and a bus every 20 minutes in each direction on Sundays.

Related Research Articles

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Wealden is a local government district in East Sussex, England. Its council is based in Hailsham, the district's second largest town. The district also includes the towns of Crowborough, Polegate and Uckfield, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The district's name comes from the Weald, the landscape and ancient woodland which occupies much of the centre and north of the area.

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Isfield is a small village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex in England, located north-east of Lewes.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polegate railway station</span> Railway station in East Sussex, England

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Southdown Motor Services was a bus and coach operator in East and West Sussex and parts of Hampshire, in southern England. It was formed in 1915 and had various owners throughout its history, being purchased by the National Bus Company (NBC) in 1969. The company fleet name was lost when it was acquired by the Stagecoach Group in 1989 but buses operated under that legal name until 2015 when the operating licence was transferred to another company within the Stagecoach Group and 1915 company became dormant but still owned by the Stagecoach Group.

The Cuckoo Line is an informal name for the now defunct railway service which linked Polegate and Eridge in East Sussex, England, from 1880 to 1968. It was nicknamed the Cuckoo Line by drivers, from a tradition observed at the annual fair at Heathfield, a station on the route. At the fair, which was held each April, a lady would release a cuckoo from a basket, it being supposedly the 'first cuckoo of spring'. The railway line served the following Sussex communities: Polegate, Hailsham, Hellingly, Horam for Waldron, Heathfield, Mayfield, Rotherfield and Eridge. Services continued through Eridge and onward via Groombridge to Tunbridge Wells.

The Wealden Line is a partly abandoned double track railway line in East Sussex and Kent that connected Lewes with Tunbridge Wells, a distance of 25.25 miles (40.64 km). The line takes its name from the Weald, the hilly landscape the lies between the North and South Downs.

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References

↑ Kaye, David (2006). Old Buses. ISBN 978-0-7478-0650-9 . Retrieved 18 August 2011.
↑ Luke, Dylan; Steer, Jim; White, Peter. "3.0 – Case studies: single route Interurban Bus services". Interurban Bus: Time to raise the profile (PDF) (Report). Greengauge21. p. 23. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
↑ Lewes, Uckfield, Newhaven and Seaford to get Brighton night buses Worthing Herald
↑ "Regency Route Extension". Brighton & Hove Buses. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
↑ "September Service Updates". Brighton & Hove Buses. 22 September 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
↑ "Regency Route Map" (PDF). Brighton & Hove. Retrieved 18 September 2023.

External links

Route 28 Brighton & Hove
Route 29, 29A, 29B & 29X Brighton & Hove

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[1] Kaye, David (2006). Old Buses. ISBN 978-0-7478-0650-9 . Retrieved 18 August 2011.

[2] Luke, Dylan; Steer, Jim; White, Peter. "3.0 – Case studies: single route Interurban Bus services". Interurban Bus: Time to raise the profile (PDF) (Report). Greengauge21. p. 23. Retrieved 21 August 2023.

[3] Lewes, Uckfield, Newhaven and Seaford to get Brighton night buses Worthing Herald

[4] "Regency Route Extension". Brighton & Hove Buses. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.

[5] "September Service Updates". Brighton & Hove Buses. 22 September 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.

[6] "Regency Route Map" (PDF). Brighton & Hove. Retrieved 18 September 2023.

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