This time, I sample Stagecoach’s extended routes between Stevenage & Bedford, where I ride various town services including the successors to the Routemasters which operated here in the late 80s & early 90s.

***Bedford Bus Map showing the principal routes in the borough. Includes services by the main operator, Stagecoach, plus those of Grant Palmer and UNO.***

Route 9A: Stevenage - Bedford

My day began at Stevenage Interchange, to which point the Stagecoach 9 group of routes between Bedford & Hitchin was extended in February 2024, competing with parallel Arriva services over the new section. This was the first time for me to sample the revised service, which restored Stagecoach (and its predecessor United Counties) to Stevenage, which once ran an infrequent service to the town from Biggleswade. The service runs every 30 mins M-F daytimes/early evenings and Hourly on Sats, alternately on the “A” and “B” variants. On Sun daytimes, an Hourly service runs on a composite variant 9D between Stevenage & Hitchin with a 2 Hourly service on to Bedford. At one time, the Hitchin - Bedford routes were numbered 181/182, but were redesignated 9A/9B some years ago.

Whilst the occasional double decker appears, the service is mostly in the hands of Enviro200 single decks, both “classic” and MMC versions being seen when I travelled. One of the former, 37213 in the new dark blue livery, was on stand when I arrived and I duly boarded when it pulled into the departure stand on the 9A. Interestingly, a large crowd boarded the Arriva 101 which largely parallels the route to Hitchin and left just ahead of us, leaving us with just a single digit load. We picked up a couple more in Stevenage Old Town but dropped most of our passengers at Lister Hospital. Then it was a fast run along the A602 to Hitchin in hot pursuit of the Arriva bus, although we took a different route to St Mary’s Square than the 101 which continued along Stevenage Road whilst we turned off via Whitehill Road, which parallels Arriva’s 100 variant.

A few more joined us in Hitchin Town Centre, before we made our way north through the outer areas of the town to the village of Ickleford, with its pleasant little church. Then on, under the East Coast Main Line, with a fast run through the country to Arlesey, where we served the village centre (again with picturesque little church), before sweeping round to Arlesey Station and crossing the bridge back across the railway.

The main intermediate town between Hitchin & Bedford is Shefford, where temporary lights delayed us slightly and we exchanged a few passengers in the High Street. After this, we sped up as we entered the countrified section past Chicksands Turns, Deadman’s Cross and Haynes Turn, before being checked by a new 30 mph zone into the new development at Shortstown, on the edge of Bedford Borough. As we approached, a good view of the massive hangers at Cardington, which once housed airships, but are now repurposed as film studios.

Between Shortstown and Bedford, we became essentially a local service, picking up many in the suburban sprawl through Cauldwell and were virtually full and standing as we came into the town centre, passing the Stagecoach Depot on our right. Bedford may not be the most beautiful of towns, but it has its nice corners, such as where the bus passes over the River Great Ouse bridge, with its adjacent tree-lined embankment. Many of our passengers disembarked at Bedford College, but I continued with the remainder into the Bus Station, arriving virtually on time after a journey of 1h40m from the start.

Stagecoach Enviro200 37213 at Stevenage Bus Station / Interchange in the latest dark blue livery before my journey aboard to Bedford on the 9A. Routes 9A & 9B operate between the two towns via different intermediate routes north of Hitchin.

*The 9 group of routes was extended from its traditional southern destination of Hitchin to Stevenage in February 2024, competing directly with Arriva 100/101 over this section.*

Route 1: Bedford - Kempston - Bedford

Bedford is a place I first discovered decades ago when I rode United Counties Bristol Lodekkas on local routes. I followed this in 1990, when I returned to ride former LT RMs, which ran principally on local route 101 between Kempston & Woodside via the Town Centre in a smart green livery with orange, yellow and white stripes and large “Routemaster” fleet names. I also rode the similar RM operation on Route 1 in Corby on another occasion. Since then, I have covered most of the main out of town Stagecoach services from Bedford, to places including Luton, Ampthill, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Kettering, St Neots and Cambridge.

On this visit, I attempted to recreate the former 101 with rides on the equivalent current routes (or as near as possible), beginning with Route 1 to Kempston (to the south west of town) and back. A 15 min service operates M-F daytimes, 20 min Sat daytimes, 30 min Sun daytimes and Hourly M-S evenings. The route is mainly double deck with Enviro400s of both traditional and MMC versions seen.

I had Scania Enviro400 15216 in the relatively new but now superseded “Local Livery” of mainly white with blue, green and orange stripes. Inside, high back leather seats provided a touch of class, with unusual messages such as on the stairs, where each step starting at the bottom going up bore a word which read in succession “Yes - you’re - a - top - deck -person”, whilst small notices by the seats stated “Give us a ding ding!” - potentially confusing as it then went on to exhort passengers to ring the bell once to alight the bus!

A reasonably busy run, as we departed the Bus Station and called at St Paul’s Square, before crossing the railway to serve Bedford Hospital, where a few short-riders got off. We continued past the park into Kempston, where there was a short 2 min hesitation at the Saxon Centre shops. Then we continued on the long double loop section to serve the various estates in the area, which describes what looks like a horizontal figure of eight. The schedule seemed ample for the free-flowing traffic at this time of day and having completed the loops, we arrived back at the Saxon Centre and returned back to town via the reverse of the outward route. The 101 used to take a different (single) loop around Kempston back in RM days, but essentially followed the same trunk section. We arrived back at the Bus Station after a total journey time of a little under 50 mins, slightly early on the schedule.

Stagecoach Scania Enviro400 15198 in the now superseded “Local Livery” at the Woodside terminus of Route 5 in Bedford during my ride on it. This was the only double decker on the service and was said by the driver to be a rare occurrence.

*The high backed coach type leather seating can be glimpsed inside.*

Route 5: Bedford - Woodside - Bedford

Back at the Bus Station, I moved to the nearby stand for Route 5, which broadly covers the other section of the former 101 out to Woodside, north east of the town. A 30 min service runs M-S daytimes, Hourly M-S eves and Sun daytimes. Sister route 7 also operates to Woodside via a different intermediate route, providing with the 5 a joint 15 min frequency M-S daytimes, 30 min eves & Suns. These routes are usually single deck with Enviro 200s but I was lucky to find a lone double deck working provided by another Enviro400, 15198.

We departed virtually on time with a reasonable load and made our way through the town, passing along the embankment beside the river for a short distance. A typical suburban service along estate roads, through Putnoe to Woodside, where we continued beyond the traditional terminus through more recent housing and retail developments to Elms Farm. A short 5 min hesitation, during which the driver informed me that it was quite unusual to have a decker on the route, before returning via the reverse of the outward route, picking up at most stops back into town. A 55 min run in total.

Enviro400 MMC 10873 in Stagecoach “Distance Livery” at Bedford Bus Station on Route 41 to Northampton. The route was due to pass to Grant Palmer from 2nd March 2026, whose Volvo B9TL Optare Olympus 708 is seen out of service on the right.

*I travelled aboard similar Enviro400 MMC 10872 in the same livery on Route 6 to Brickhill and back on this trip.*

Route 6: Bedford - Brickhill - Bedford

Next, I switched to another local service, the 6, a fairly short route to Brickhill, north of town. A 20 min headway applies M-S daytimes, Hourly eves & Suns. 2 buses are required, one of which was an Enviro200 single decker, the other an Enviro400 MMC 10872 in yellow and mushroom “Distance Livery” - not really appropriate for this route and showing the pointlessness of having variable liveries when buses are switched between local and out of town services!

I boarded the double decker on its next trip and settled into my high backed front seat upstairs. A gentle amble out of the town centre and then uphill to Bedford Heights, a large glass building formerly the home of electronics giant Texas instruments, but now a workspace comprising conference centre, gym & wellness studio and hotel. Then on along Brickhill Drive, calling at the local shops before a terminal loop around estate roads, our driver having to dodge low hanging tree branches on this section. A good number picked up before returning to town via the reverse of the outbound route. Just under 40 mins to complete the rounder.

***Short Enviro200 37282 on Stagecoach Route 8 to Great Denham at Bedford Bus Station after my round trip on the route.***

*This is another bus in the new dark blue livery.*

Route 8: Bedford - Great Denham - Bedford

Having sampled most of the double deck offerings on local routes, I turned to the single deck operated 8, which runs between the Town Centre and Great Denham, a new suburb to the west. A single short Enviro200 provides an Hourly service M-S including evenings and Sunday daytimes, the vehicle on duty being 37282 in the latest dark blue livery.

I boarded at the Bus Station for a packed and standing trip, which proceeded via fairly narrow streets through the Queens Park area of town, where most alighted. At the end of the traditional housing, a short stretch of “Bus Only” road continues on to the new Great Denham area, which comprises lots of new housing built in traditional almost Georgian style with sash windows and heavy wooden doors. Passengers on and off in ones and twos, with a 5 min pause at the small local shopping centre. Then on around the by-pass, before serving more of the new development and then back to Queens Park and into town again.

Back at the Bus Station, all alighted but the bus continues on an inner town loop, mainly designed to serve the North Wing of Bedford Hospital. Only 2 other passengers on this section, which mainly duplicates other services. I arrived back at my Bus Station start point after a round trip of just under the hour. An unusual route, which could probably do with a frequency increase to encourage usage on the Great Denham section as just one bus an hour seems a bit stingy.

I then had a short time to observe other operations from the Bus Station before returning home.

Not a route I travelled on, but Stagecoach Enviro400 MMC 10874 in Bedford Bus Station illustrates the usual fare on the long X5 to Oxford via Milton Keynes. This service was once even longer until the Bedford - Cambridge section was hived off to the 905.

*The dirt on the side panels demonstrates the downside of the dark blue livery.*

Other Operators

Whilst Stagecoach are the principal operator in Bedford, Grant Palmer have built a significant presence, operating services to places including Ampthill, Biggleswade, Dunstable, Flitwick and Hitchin, many of which were routes abandoned by Stagecoach over the years. At the time of this visit, they were due to take over the 41 (Bedford - Northampton) from Stagecoach in early March 2026. Their fleet majors on Enviro200 single deckers, but a few Volvo B9TL double deckers appear in the area.

The other operator seen in Bedford on this visit was UNO, who run a number of routes serving Cranfield University, which is situated between Bedford and Milton Keynes. Double deck Enviro400 MMCs are supported by Wright StreetLite and Mercedes Citaro single deckers, all in a special “Cranfield Connect” livery.

***Grant Palmer’s services in Bedford are represented by Enviro200 212 seen here in the Bus Station between trips on Route 74, which operates between Bedford & Hitchin via Biggleswade.***

UNO operate a series of services between Bedford and Milton Keynes via Cranfield University. ADL Enviro400 MMC in “Cranfield Connect” livery prepares to depart from Bedford Bus Station on the C10 variant.

Route 9B: Bedford - Stevenage

For my return journey to Stevenage, I opted for the 9B variant, which takes a different intermediate route to the “A”. Another “classic” Enviro200, 37230, with considerable numbers boarding at the various Town Centre stops. Unfortunately, afternoon traffic had built up by now and we were stuck in a slow moving queue for ages on the section up to the Stagecoach Garage. After traversing the suburban section, we were 15 mins late by the time we arrived at Shortstown on the edge of town.

A slow run through the new 30 mph section to Haynes Turn, where we turned off the main road to serve Haynes Village. Then a narrow country stretch back to the main road at Chicksands Turn, having to pause on occasion when we met vehicles coming the other way. A reasonable run then to Shefford, before again parting company with the 9A to continue via Henlow and Henlow RAF Camp and back to Hitchin that way, rather than via Arlesley and Ickleford. Most alighted in Hitchin Town Centre, but we again had several local travellers between Hitchin & Stevenage abstracted from the parallel Arriva 100/101. A very long 2 hour journey, arriving back at Stevenage Interchange some 20 mins down on schedule, disappointing given that my other rides had all been more or less on time throughout the day, but a sad reflection on modern day traffic conditions.

However, it had been a successful trip in general, enabling a good overview of routes around Bedford, although whilst some have been improved, many services in the area seem to be less frequent than they once were.

Watton

Retracing Routemasters in Bedford

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