More UK buses to run on Christmas Day than at any time in last five years

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About 100,000 people expected to travel on 25 December, up from 60,000 in 2019

Long-distance coach operator National Express expects to run 340 journeys connecting 95 destinations on Christmas Day.

More UK^▸ buses and coaches are expected to operate on Christmas Day than at any time since figures were first collected five years ago.

The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), an industry body, estimates that the number of people catching a bus on 25 December this year will hit 100,000.

The figure in 2019 was 60,000 and this grew steadily to 87,000 last year.

Bus operators are in part reacting to rising demand, which comes amid falling car ownership among young people, the CPT said.

Alison Edwards, director of policy and external relations at the CPT, said buses and coaches were the nation’s most popular form of public transport.

“Where they see demand on Christmas Day, commercial operators are stepping up and running services,” she said.

“Although many of us may be putting our feet up for the day, there are plenty of people who want to get around – to visit extended family, to get to work, to visit friends in hospital or simply to get a breath of fresh air.”

Edwards added that we should also remember “that a fifth of UK households have no access to a car”.

Long-distance coach operator National Express expects to run 340 journeys connecting 95 destinations on what is this year forecast to be an extremely mild day. FlixBus is scheduled to run services linking 70 destinations.

Other operators with Christmas Day services include:

Brighton and Hove buses, including the Coaster route along the Downs between Brighton and Eastbourne.

Lothian buses in Edinburgh, which will run 11 routes, including its city sightseeing tour.

Stagecoach will run free services on 10 routes in Liverpool on behalf of Merseytravel.

Seven routes will run in Portsmouth and five on the Isle of Wight.

The number of Christmas Day buses is rising but for people in the vast majority of places, including London and Newcastle, there will be no local services. The UK’s passenger rail network will also be completely shut down.

Department for Transport figures show 22% of households in England in 2023 had no access to a car or van.

Separate statistics reveal that 29% of people aged between 17 and 20 held a full driving licence last year. That is down from 37% five years earlier.

A survey of people in that age range suggested the most common reasons for not learning to drive are the cost of lessons (38%), insurance (29%) and buying a car (28%).