A lot of the Bristol RELH/ECW coaches were used on each company’s express coach services, especially as the country’s motorway network was being built at the time. When the vehicles were built each company marketed it’s own express services, see under each individual company for details of services, and examples of early advertising material. The only publicity for the coach network on a national basis was the ‘ABC coach guide’.
Some of the companies had formed groups, such as ‘Associated Motorways’ and, after it’s formation in 1969, the National Bus Company set about integrating most of the express services to form a common network. By 1974 this had produced a UK wide timetable and the introduction of the National Express livery. As an example, the following is a list of the National Express services that each company was running, in the winter of 1974/1975. There is of course no guarantee that the RELHs were ever used on these services.
At this time ‘Associated Motorways’ was still in existence and all services that were run as Associated Motorways are shown below, however this will include services that were provided by some of the members that did not have any of these coaches.
Operator | NX Route no | Places served |
---|---|---|
Bristol Omnibus | (Also formed part of Associated Motorways) | |
600/601/602 | Weston super Mare – Bristol – Swindon – Reading – London | |
Crosville Motor Services | (Also formed part of Associated Motorways) | |
For details of Crosville’s express services, see the details for AFM103G. | ||
Eastern Counties | (Also formed part of Associated Motorways) | |
081 | London – Ipswich – Felixstowe | |
082/083/181 | London – Bury St Edmunds – Great Yarmouth | |
095/097/098 | London – Cambridge – Norwich | |
185 | London – Hemsby | |
Eastern National/Tillings Travel | 084/184 | London – Colchester – Walton on the Naze |
112 | Southend on Sea – Luton – Birmingham – Liverpool | |
Lincolnshire | (Also formed part of Associated Motorways) | |
460/462/466/470 | Grimsby/Boston – Lincoln – London | |
480 | Nottingham – Skegness | |
Midland General | 554 | Alfreton – Derby – Northampton – London |
Oxford – South Midland | London – Oxford – Worcester | |
Red and White | (All of Red and White’s year-round services were operated as part of Associated Motorways) | |
South Wales – Blackpool (Summer only) | ||
United Automobile | 201-209 | Ashington – Newcastle upon Tyne – Sunderland – Darlington – London |
313 | Newcastle upon Tyne – Leeds – Birmingham – Coventry | |
319 | Newcastle upon Tyne – Durham – Scarborough | |
320 | Ashington – Newcastle upon Tyne – Bridlington | |
350/352 | Newcastle upon Tyne – Leeds – Lowestoft/Clacton | |
395 | Newcastle upon Tyne – Leeds – Hanley | |
398 | Newcastle upon Tyne – Leeds – Liverpool | |
United Counties | (Also formed part of Associated Motorways) | |
550/555 | Nottingham – Leicester – London | |
551/552 | Corby – Daventry – Northampton | |
554 | Alfreton – Derby – Leicester – Northampton – London | |
556 | Northampton – Luton – London | |
Rushden – London | ||
West Yorkshire | 210 | Keighley – Leeds – Nottingham – Birmingham |
216 | Hull – Nottingham – Birmingham – Cheltenham | |
217 | Barnsley – Blackburn – Preston – Blackpool | |
223 | York – Bradford – Leeds – Barnsley – Sheffield – Cheltenham | |
281/282/286 | Leeds – Bradford – Preston – Blackpool – Fleetwood | |
288 | Leeds – Bradford – Skipton – Morecambe | |
293 | Leeds – Bradford – Wigan – Southport | |
296-298 | Harrogate/Doncaster – Huddersfield – Preston – Blackpool | |
300 | Bradford – Leeds – Sheffield – Luton | |
301-303 | London – Sheffield – Leeds – Bradford/Harrogate/Halifax | |
304/305 | London – Sheffield – Hull/Rotherham | |
306/311 | Bradford – Leeds – Sheffield – London | |
308 | Keighley – Bradford – Wakefield – London | |
313 | Newcastle upon Tyne – Leeds – Birmingham – Coventry | |
395 | Newcastle upon Tyne – Leeds – Hanley | |
397 | Leeds – Huddersfield – Manchester – Liverpool | |
399 | Middlesborough – Leeds | |
Western National (Royal Blue) | (Also formed part of Associated Motorways) | |
026 | Margate – Brighton – Portsmouth – Bournemouth | |
027 | Totnes – Exeter – Southampton | |
700/701 | London – Southampton – Bournemouth | |
704/705/706 | Plymouth – Exeter – Bristol – London | |
709 | Exeter – Truro – Penzance | |
725/727 | Bournemouth – Exeter – Ilfracombe/Plymouth | |
737 | Hitchin – Salisbury – Exeter | |
744 | Exeter – St. Austell | |
745 | Plymouth – Perranporth | |
748 | Bournemouth – Weymouth – Exmouth | |
769 | Hitchin – Southampton – Bournemouth | |
Associated Motorways | 183 | Ipswich – Oxford – Cheltenham |
400/401/406 | Birmingham – Bristol/Weston super Mare/Minehead | |
402 | Birmingham – Monmouth – Cardiff | |
414 | Cheltenham – Great Malvern – Wolverhampton | |
428/429 | Leicester – Coventry – Barry Island/Minehead | |
440 | Great Malvern – Worcester – London | |
605 | Cardiff – Swansea – Milford Haven | |
610/611 | Southend on Sea – London – Oxford – Cheltenham | |
612 | Gloucester – Stroud – Swindon | |
616 | Treherbert – Monmouth – Birmingham – Nottingham – Mansfield | |
620/621 | Cheltenham – Cardiff – Swansea – Llanelli | |
622 | Cardiff – Barry | |
616 | Mansfield – Monmouth – Llanelli | |
630/640 | Cheltenham – Hereford – Brecon – Pembroke Dock/Aberystwyth | |
650/651 | Cheltenham – Birmingham – Derby – Heanor/Tamworth | |
660/670 | Cheltenham – Newark – Lincoln – Grimsby/Scunthorpe | |
681/690 | Cheltenham – Kettering – Peterborough/Norwich | |
715/716 | Swansea/Cheltenham – Minehead | |
730 | Cheltenham – Bristol – Exeter – Paignton | |
736 | Cardiff – Bristol – Taunton – Exeter | |
746 | Northampton – Oxford – Bath – Exeter | |
750 | Cheltenham – Bath – Weymouth | |
759/760/761 | Cheltenham – Salisbury – Bournemouth | |
763/764 | Bristol – Salisbury – Bournemouth | |
767/768 | Birmingham/Aberdare – Oxford/Bristol – Southampton – Bournemouth | |
770/771/772/774 | Cheltenham/Treherbert/Bristol – Swindon – Portsmouth | |
777/778 | Birmingham/Northampton – Oxford – Portsmouth | |
790 | Cheltenham – Swindon – Brighton |