A number of InterConnect-branded interurban bus routes with fixed timetables are complemented by demand-responsive, flexible CallConnectminibuses, on which journeys must be booked in advance. Many of the InterConnect services are provided by Stagecoach in Lincolnshire; CallConnect services are run by a variety of operators including TransportConnect Ltd who are a wholly owned company of Lincolnshire County Council.
InterConnect was first established in 1999, when the existing Lincolnshire RoadCar "Connect 6" Lincoln–Skegness bus (introduced in 1998 as part of Route 6's rebrand) was rebranded and its service frequency increased.[1] CallConnect was established in 2001. The network and its services are subsidised by Lincolnshire County Council and Norfolk County Council. Some services were scaled back between 2011 and 2012, following cuts to local government funding and reductions in the Bus Service Operators Grant fuel duty subsidy.[2][3]
The various models of double and single-decker buses used by Stagecoach in Lincolnshire for its InterConnect services are painted in a special purple livery with the strapline "Connecting people with places" and the logos of the network's council partners also applied.[5] Before the network was rebranded in 2023, buses formerly had a version of the previous Stagecoach livery in purple-and-gold branding, with some buses featuring route-specific numbered branding, in particular the flagship InterConnect 6 service,[6] and a "Coastal Connect" brand used on the routes serving towns and villages on the Lincolnshire coast. Buses from the other InterConnect operators tend to carry that operator's standard paint scheme.
Former routes
Route name
Destinations
Operator
Date introduced
Date removed
InterConnect 5
Boston–Spalding
Brylaine Travel
July 2001
Route Rebranded to B3 (not Newark). The directions stayed the same.
There are two kinds of CallConnect services – entirely demand-responsive 'dial-a-ride' services which serve an area with no fixed route or timetable, and semi-flexible services which run to a timetable but which deviate off the route to serve smaller villages. Journeys on CallConnect must be booked in advance on a mobile app, or on the CallConnect website or over the telephone in areas not served by the app. Fares are calculated in six radial 'zones' based from the pick-up point of the journey.[7]
In 2011, Lincolnshire County Council reported a 23.5% increase in usage of CallConnect compared to the previous year.[8]
CallConnect areas
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Routes need to be verified and new timetables added in the table. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2023)
CallConnect services operate in 14 named areas across Lincolnshire, including the north side of the city of Lincoln and its nearby villages, and extending into neighbouring counties) – only the remainder of Lincoln and the surrounding area, as well as the unitary authority of North East Lincolnshire, are not covered by CallConnect. The areas covered are:[7]
^This service was originally numbered InterConnect 3 and the route formerly continued to Cleethorpes.
^ abcdThis route is divided into two, in order "to comply with Department for Transport guidance". Connections are guaranteed at the route dividing point, and the journey often continues on the same vehicle.
^Does not serve any stops between Market Rasen and Grimsby.
^Continues from Skegness to Chapel St Leonards and back and also has Boston College as the start and end of route.
^This route originally only ran between Skegness and Mablethorpe, but in 2009, the route was extended to Louth on Monday to Saturday.
^Early-morning departures from Scunthorpe serving Queen Elizabeth High School in Gainsborough.
^This route still runs as Interconnect 53, but with it only running between Lincoln and Grimsby.
^Lincoln to Skegness "the quick way": first ran in the 2012 school summer holidays; added to the main timetable in March 2013. 20% faster than the basic number 6 service; does not serve Raithby, Spilsby, Partney or Burgh-le-Marsh.
^For unknown reasons, the 6x was withdrawn in 2014.