The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United Kingdom and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(November 2015) |
A coachway interchange (also transitway station, busway station) is a stopping place for express coach services near the trunk road/motorway road network. It relies on available local transport modes to complete individual journeys. Coachway interchanges help to achieve low overall journey times by avoiding operation through congested urban centres. [1] [2]
The Milton Keynes Coachway was the first to be called a coachway and has been in operation since 1989. [3] [4]
Alan Storkey, a transport economist, proposed a motorway based coach system based on Coachway interchanges to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee in May 2006 [5] and was promoted by George Monbiot in 2006. [6]
The South East England regional assembly gave support to the High Wycombe Coachway in December 2009. [7]
In January 2010, the South East England regional transport board criticised the plans published by the development authority for the 2012 Summer Olympics for not providing plans of a credible long term coach network saying 'The ODA has been working on an extensive network of coach services... [but] the lack of reference to this work [in the plan] is both intriguing and at the same time concerning.' [8]
Other coachway interchanges are less formal. The Reading Coachway on the M4 motorway is more like a bus stop in a supermarket car park.
The M40 motorway links London, Oxford, and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately 89 miles (143 km).
Meadowhall Interchange is a transport interchange located in north-east Sheffield, consisting of a combined heavy rail station, tram stop and bus and coach station. The second-busiest heavy rail station in the city in terms of passenger numbers, Meadowhall Interchange provides connections between National Rail services, the Sheffield Supertram light rail network, intercity coach services and the city bus network.
The city of Glasgow, Scotland has a transport system encompassing air, rail, road, and an underground light metro line. Prior to 1962, the city was also served by trams. Commuters travelling into Glasgow from the neighbouring local authorities of North and South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, and East and West Dunbartonshire have a major influence on travel patterns, with tens of thousands of residents commuting into the city each day. The most popular mode of transport in the city is the car, used by two thirds of people for journeys around the city.
Broxden Junction is one of the busier and more important road junctions in Scotland. It is located on the outskirts of Perth, and is one of the city's two major roundabouts – the other being Inveralmond Roundabout, where the A9 meets the A912 Dunkeld Road, 2.3 miles (3.7 km) to the north-northwest. The roundabout, oval in shape, is an important hub of the Scottish road network, a major junction on the A9 north–south route, and the UK's northernmost motorway junction, being junction 12 of the M90 motorway. Prior to Dunfermline's ascension to city status, all of the seven cities in Scotland were signposted from its exits.
Milton Keynes Central railway station serves Milton Keynes and surrounding parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire (England). The station is located on the West Coast Main Line about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of London. The station is served by Avanti West Coast intercity services, and by West Midlands Trains regional services.
Arriva Shires & Essex is a bus operator providing services in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, with services extending to Oxfordshire and Greater London. Until 2002 its operations included Colchester. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.
Transport in Cardiff, capital and most populous city in Wales involves road, rail, bus, water and air. It is a major city of the United Kingdom and a centre of employment, government, retail, business, culture, media, sport and higher education.
Luton is a town in the United Kingdom less than 30 miles (50 km) north of the centre of London, and has good transport links via the motorway network and the National Rail system. Luton is also home to London Luton Airport, one of the major feeder airports for London and the southeast. The town is also served by buses run by Arriva Shires & Essex and other operators and has a guided busway. As a Unitary Authority, Luton Borough Council is responsible for local highways and public transport in the borough.
The transport infrastructure of Greater Manchester is built up of numerous transport modes and forms an integral part of the structure of Greater Manchester and North West England – the most populated region outside of South East England which had approximately 301 million annual passenger journeys using either buses, planes, trains or trams in 2014. Its position as a national city of commerce, education and cultural importance means the city has one of the largest and most thorough transport infrastructures which is heavily relied upon by its 2.8 million inhabitants in the Greater Manchester conurbation and further afield in the North West region. Public transport comes under the jurisdiction of Transport for Greater Manchester.
Eden, known more popularly as the Eden Centre, is a shopping and entertainment complex in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire in the south east of England. With a floor area of 850,000 square feet (79,000 m2), it is the 37th largest shopping centre in the United Kingdom and the largest in the surrounding area.
The United Kingdom has a number of intercity coach services.
Park and ride bus services in the United Kingdom are bus services designed to provide intermodal passenger journeys between a private mode of transport and a shared mode bus. The common model of bus based park and ride model is transfer from a private car to a public transport bus, although schemes may also be used by pedestrians and cyclists. "Park and ride" commonly refers to permanent schemes operated as part of the public transport system, for onward transport from a permanent car park to an urban centre. ‘Park and ride bus’ can also be used to describe temporary and seasonal schemes, services operated for private or specialised users, and services that do not necessarily serve an urban centre. Bus services can be permanent, seasonal, or only operate on specific days of the week, or for specific events.
Transport in Buckinghamshire has been shaped by its position within the United Kingdom. Most routes between the UK's two largest cities, London and Birmingham, pass through this county. The county's growing industry first brought canals to the area, then railways and then motorways.
Megabus is a long-distance intercity coach service operator owned by Scottish Citylink and based in the United Kingdom. Founded by Stagecoach Group in August 2003, it operates using low-cost fares, formerly starting at £1, based on a yield management model.
The Milton Keynes Coachway is a Coachway interchange close to junction 14 of the M1 motorway on the eastern edge of Milton Keynes, north Buckinghamshire, England. It supports National Express intercity coach services to cities, towns and airports on the M1, and on into Scotland, to Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton Airports, as well as Stagecoach East's route X5 between Oxford and Bedford, and interchange between these services. There are also local bus services and nearby, a park and ride site. It is the second busiest coach station in the United Kingdom. Dating from 1989, it was the first of the UK's Coachway interchanges.
The High Wycombe Coachway is a coachway interchange close to junction 4 of the M40 motorway to the west of High Wycombe opened on 16 January 2016. Prior to its establishment, some 150 coaches on the Oxford to London coach route passed High Wycombe each day without stopping because it would cause too much delay for other passengers were they to go via the town centre. The concept is based on the very successful Milton Keynes Coachway next to Junction 14 of the M1 and other coachway interchanges.
Buses in Milton Keynes are run by a mixture of operators on a network of urban and rural routes in and around the Milton Keynes urban area. These services have a varied history involving five different companies. At the foundation of the 'New City' in 1967 and for some years afterwards, Milton Keynes was served by a rural bus service between and to the pre-existing towns. Apart from a small-scale experimental service, urban buses arrived on the scene with deregulation in 1986. Since April 2010 the core local services have been provided by Arriva Shires & Essex. Long-distance coach services also serve MK, often via the Milton Keynes Coachway located near junction 14 of the M1 motorway.
Stagecoach X5 is an inter-urban bus service linking Oxford and Bedford via Bicester, Buckingham and Milton Keynes
Transport in Bedford provides links between the town and other parts of England. Road access to and from the town is provided by the A6 and A421 roads; the former connects the town with Kettering to the north-west, and Luton to the south, whilst the latter connects the town with Milton Keynes and the M1 to the west, and the A1 to the east via a bypass, with both being around 10 miles (16 km) away. Other roads that serve or skirt the town include the A422, which runs westwards into Milton Keynes, and the A428, which runs between Coventry and Cambridge.
Milton Keynes bus station may refer to one of a number of possible topics:
A coachway is defined as a coach station built adjacent to a motorway interchange to allow regional coach services to serve the local area while allowing the integration of local feeder services serving the adjoining urban and rural areas. This will enable residents of the area to have access to existing regional coach services and also to potential new services. It is our aspiration that the coachway facility will enable local residents to access a regional coach network, with services to Oxford and London, to the Thames Valley and potentially north of High Wycombe. Access to key facilities such as airports is also expected to be improved