An unguided network built as part of the new town extension of Runcorn[3] The busway is 14 miles (22 km) 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.
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
A61 Scott Hall Road and King Lane, four sections, 1 mile (1.5 km), opened 1995 while A64 York Road / B6159 (formerly A63) Selby Road, three sections, 1 mile (2 km), opened 2001.
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.
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.
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.
The 29-stop scheme extends a total of 14 miles (22 km). 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 4 miles (7 km) 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 9 miles (15 km) 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.
Running a 6 miles (9 km) 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 875 yards (800 m) road link under the Tinsley Viaduct at Meadowhall.
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.
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.
Birmingham. Tracline 65 was an upgraded route with the first guided busway in the UK. There was a 600-metre section of guideway in Erdington. It opened in 1984 and closed in 1987.[18]
Edinburgh, Edinburgh Fastlink operated by Lothian Buses. Originally called WEBS, the West Edinburgh Bus Scheme, a group of bus priority improvements that included a 1 mile (1.5 km) section of guided busway.
Stenhouse - Broomhouse, opened in December 2004, designed to be used for Line 2 of the Edinburgh Tram Network.[19] In January 2009 it closed to enable conversion to tramway. The two bus services using the guideway were re-routed.[20]
Future systems
Under construction
ColchesterRapid Transit: In January 2023, Essex County Council announced a rapid transit system for Colchester, set to be operational in 2025 or 2026. The planned route will connect from the A12Park and ride (including the Colchester Community Stadium and Northern Gateway development nearby), to the University of Essex and new garden community due to be built near Wivenhoe. The system will also see the construction of a corridor along Northern Approach, which has been in planning since 2006. The corridor construction, which started in August 2023, has notably caused damage to properties next to the route. [21]
DoverFastrack: A new BRT route in Dover similar to the Fastrack scheme in Gravesend, being built to connect new housing developments in Whitfield to Dover. It will be Kent’s first zero-emission bus service. It is planned to open in Autumn 2023.
West MidlandsSprint. A limited stop service with dedicated bus lanes, with a total of 7 routes to be operational by 2026.[22]
Glasgow, Clyde Fastlink, along the north bank of the River Clyde, with segregated running for the majority of its length outside the city centre.[24] It has been approved by Scottish ministers and is expected to be ready for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.[25]
Glasgow City Centre - Glasgow Harbour with the majority of the route segregated.[26]
Leeds, following refusal of funding for the proposed Leeds Supertram, a replacement system was proposed by the government,[28] which included a three-line 12-mile (20 km) trolleybus network.[29] 38% would run on guideways or on bus lanes.[30] The scheme received a negative assessment from the inspector at a public inquiry, and approval was refused in May 2016.
Bath, Somerset, the Department of Transport approved funding with 1 mile (1.4 km) of busway,[31] but this has been abandoned.[32]
Millennium Transit, a segregated busway intended to link the Millennium Dome with Charlton and Greenwich railway stations, part of which was to include a 1 mile (1.3 km) section of electronic guidance.[citation needed] Intended to be operational when the Dome opened, the electronic guidance technology was abandoned following concerns that neither the system nor the driver was in a position to avoid sudden obstacles.[33] The busway was later replaced by a dual carriageway due to safety concerns.[34]
Stoke-on-TrentStreetcar, primarily to link the railway station to the city centre, but would have also linked the rest of the city's six towns and neighbouring Newcastle-under-Lyme and Kidsgrove. Major destinations included both universities, the hospital and both major football stadia.