| X4 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Operator | Stagecoach Midlands |
| Garage | Kettering |
| Route | |
| Start | Northampton |
| Via | Wellingborough Kettering Corby Oundle |
| End | Peterborough |
| Length | 50 miles (70 km) approximately [1] |
| Service | |
| Operates | Daily |
Stagecoach Gold bus route X4 is a bus route in England that links Northampton and Peterborough via Wellingborough, Kettering and Corby. This service is operated by the Stagecoach Midlands bus company.
This route was launched on May 28, 2000 as a Stagecoach Express service between Northampton and Peterborough. [2] [3] In April 2004, the route extended from Northampton through to Milton Keynes. [4] Over the years, the X4 route has linked the main towns of the county of Northamptonshire with Milton Keynes and Peterborough enabling better east-west county public transport links than has previously been possible. [5] From end to end, the average journey time is 3 hours and 30 minutes and the distance approximately 70 miles (110 km) [1]
In May 2018, the service runs between Northampton and Peterborough only. [6] Initially Stagecoach X7 ran between Northampton and Milton Keynes instead (as well as to and from Leicester), but this was also cut back leaving the X6 as the main link between the two towns.
The X4 inter-urban bus service benefited from £4.4 million ODPM Growth Area Funding between 2003 and 2006 and has seen annual passenger numbers rise from 325,000 in 2003/04 to over 500,000 in 2004/05. [5]
(certain journeys)The service runs seven days a week. Monday to Saturday daytimes, there is a half-hourly service between Northampton and Peterborough.
Evenings and Sundays there generally is a two-hourly service between Northampton and Peterborough and a two-hourly service between Northampton and Corby. An hourly frequency on the core part of the route between Northampton and Corby.
To comply with drivers’ hours regulations, the route has registered in two parts between, Northampton & Corby and Corby & Peterborough. [7]
In November 2011, this route became a Stagecoach Gold branded one with Stagecoach Midlands spending £1.9 million on a fleet of 13 new Scania ADL Enviro400 buses based at the Kettering depot, halfway along the route. [8] [1]
These buses have Lazzerini leather seats and free wireless internet [9] [7]
In October 2018 the fleet was replaced by 13 Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC buses by Alexander Denis at a cost of £3.1million [10]
Northamptonshire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland, and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire to the south, and Warwickshire to the west. Northampton is the largest settlement and the county town.
Wellingborough is a market town and civil parish in the North Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is 65 miles (105 km) from London and 11 miles (18 km) from Northampton, and is on the north side of the River Nene.
Kettering is a market and industrial town in the North Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It forms a civil parish called Kettering Town. Kettering is located 67 miles (108 km) north of London and 15 miles (24 km) north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place of Ketter's people ".
The Borough of Wellingborough was a non-metropolitan district and borough in Northamptonshire, England, from 1974 to 2021. It was named after Wellingborough, its main town, but also included surrounding rural areas.
The South Midlands is an area of England which includes Northamptonshire, the northern parts of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire and the western part of Bedfordshire. Unlike the East Midlands or West Midlands, the South Midlands is not one of the NUTS statistical regions of the United Kingdom.
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Wellingborough railway station is a Grade II listed station located in the market town of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, England. It lies on the Midland Main Line and is 65 miles (104 km) from London St. Pancras. The station is operated by East Midlands Railway, which is also the primary operator serving the station with passenger services under the Luton Airport Express brand.
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Corby railway station, owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway, is in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. The current station, opened on 23 February 2009, replaces an earlier one dating from 1879, first closed on 18 April 1966 but reopened between 1987 and 1990.
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Redhill Grange or (Redhill) is a purpose-built settlement in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. It is situated just north from the Redwell area in the market town and eleven miles from the county town Northampton, forming part of the district authority of the borough of Wellingborough, now in North Northamptonshire.
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United Counties Omnibus was an English bus company, operating in Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and parts of surrounding counties.
The Northamptonshire Football Association, also simply known as the Northamptonshire FA, is the governing body of football in the English county of Northamptonshire.
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The East Midlands Rugby Football Union (EMRFU) is a governing body for rugby union in part of The Midlands, England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union for the counties of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire and the Huntingdonshire and Peterborough districts of Cambridgeshire and administers and organises rugby union clubs and competitions in those areas. It also administers the East Midlands county rugby representative teams.