This is a list of the past, present, planned or abandoned guided bus systems or bus rapid transit schemes in the United Kingdom, including segregated busways. Not included are bus priority schemes, 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 have any implementations or proposals for rubber tyred trams such as Translohr or Bombardier Guided Light Transit.
| Location | System | Operator | Specification | Timeline | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast, Northern Ireland | Glider | Translink | |||
| Ipswich, Suffolk | Ipswich Rapid Transit (Superroute 66) | First Eastern Counties | It is a 2000NaN0 guided busway section. | Kesgrave - Grange Farm opened in 1995,[1] it was regauged in 2005 for larger double-deck buses[2] and second stretch of busway has been abandoned. | |
| Runcorn, Cheshire | Runcorn Busway | Arriva North West | An unguided network built as part of the new town extension of Runcorn[3] The busway is 22km (14miles) long, with an elevated section into a shopping area at the intersection[4] | Phase 1 completed in 1971[5] as the world's first BRT system.[6] Phase 2 completed in 1977. | |
| Redditch, Worcestershire | Matchborough Circular | Red Diamond and First Midlands | An unguided network 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 | Transport for London | Unguided with sections of segregated running | First phase (Ilford to Barking Riverside) completed in February 2010. Phase 2 (Beacontree Heath to Dagenham Dock) opened in 2013. Phase 3 (Little Heath to Barking Riverside) opened in 2017. | |
| Thames Gateway, Kent & Essex | Fastrack | Arriva Southern Counties | Unguided with sections of segregated running using standard buses. | Opened in phases in concert with planned local development: Route A (Dartford - Bluewater) opened June 2007 while Route B (Dartford - Gravesend) opened March 2006 | |
| Leeds, West Yorkshire | Leeds Superbus | First West Yorkshire | Corridors with sections of guided busway,[7] | A61 Scott Hall Road and King Lane, four sections, 1.5km (00.9miles), opened 1995 while A64 York Road / B6159 (formerly A63) Selby Road, three sections, 2km (01miles), opened 2001. | |
| Bradford, West Yorkshire | Manchester Road Quality Bus Initiative Bradford end | First West Yorkshire | 2.3km (01.4miles) of guided busway[8] | A641 Manchester Road, opened October 2001. | |
| Crawley, West Sussex | Crawley Fastway | Metrobus | A 24km (15miles) two-route system with segregated lanes and 1.5km (00.9miles) of guided busway. | Southgate Avenue opened August 2003 and Fastway opened December 2004. | |
| Gateshead, Tyne & Wear | Centrelink | Go North East | Was an infrastructure project including an exclusive busway for bendy bus services | From Gateshead to the Metrocentre.[9] In 2020, bendy bus services are long gone and the Centrelink project turned into a bus lane along the river with no priorities. | |
| Luton, Bedfordshire | The Luton to Dunstable Busway | Arriva, Centrebus and Grant Palmer | It runs for 6.1 miles, 4.8mi are guided track with a maximum speed of 50 mph. | Runs between Luton Airport and Houghton Regis via Dunstable following the Dunstable branch line, which closed in 1989, running parallel to the A505 (Dunstable Road) and A5065 (Hatters Way). The £91 million scheme opened on 25 September 2013. | |
| Cambridgeside | Cambridgeshire Guided Busway | Stagecoach in Huntingdonshire & Whippet | BRT corridor incorporating "just over 16 miles"[10] 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 in January 2007[11] [12] and opened to traffic on Sunday 7 August 2011. Cambridge railway station - Trumpington Park & Ride opened 7 August 2011.[13] | |
| Gosport and Fareham, Hampshire, | South East Hampshire Bus Rapid Transit | First Hampshire & Dorset (Eclipse) | 4.5km (02.8miles), unguided, between constructed by Hampshire County Council using the route of the former Gosport to Fareham railway line to reduce congestion on the parallel A32.[14] | 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. It opened in April 2012. | |
| Leigh, Salford & Manchester, Greater Manchester | Leigh-Salford-Manchester Bus Rapid Transit | Transport for Greater Manchester | The 29-stop scheme extends a total of 220NaN0. The route is 80% segregated along its length. | From Leigh and Atherton to Manchester via Tyldesley and Ellenbrook. It partial use of a former railway line to form a 7km (04miles) guided busway between Leigh, Tyldesley and Ellenbrook; it then joins the East Lancashire Road running on a bus lane. A Park and Ride site has been constructed where the road reaches the M60 motorway. Buses continue through Salford, into Manchester city centre along 15km (09miles) of segregated bus lanes and continuing through the centre along Oxford Road to the University of Manchester and Manchester Royal Infirmary. Road junction works began in late-2011 and the full busway opened on 3 April 2016.[15] It forms part of the wider Manchester Quality Bus Corridor (Manchester QBC) and Cross City Bus network. | |
| Sheffield, South Yorkshire | Bus Rapid Transit North | First South Yorkshire | Running a 90NaN0 route. Otherwise the service runs over a similar specification route to those provided for stopping buses.[16] Between Sheffield Interchange and Rotherham Interchange opened in September 2016. The designated 'X1 Steel Link' route runs every 10 minutes at peak. Includes an 8000NaN0 road link under the Tinsley Viaduct at Meadowhall. | ||
| Bristol | MetroBus | First West of England | Only the Ashton Vale to Temple Meads route runs along a guided busway track; on the other two routes the BRT services share buslanes with stopping buses - except for a reserved newbuild junction onto the M32 motorway. | Three routes opened in May 2018; Ashton Vale to Bristol Temple Meads station (AVTM) and two routes from the North Fringe towards Bristol City Centre and Hengrove Park respectively.[17] |
Leeds, unguided, operated by First Leeds from 2007-2012, after the end of FTR services the buses were rebranded Hyperlink and redeployed alongside Yorks on the 72 route between Leeds and Bradford before being replaced by conventional double deckers in 2016.
York Between Acomb and University of York, from 2006-2012 operated by First York.
Swansea (Wales), unguided and operated by First Cymru branded Swansea Metro. Services started in September 2009 from Morriston Hospital to Singleton Hospital via Morriston, Swansea railway station, the Kingsway, Swansea bus station, the Civic Centre and Swansea University. Withdrawn in August 2015 and replaced with standard single deck buses, later in 2015 the two way bus lane was replaced with a conventional one way system in response to high-profile accidents, the 'bendy buses' were returned to service in 2016 as a student shuttle between Swansea University campuses.