Rail replacement bus service

File:Buses replace trams, c.1962 (2742915440).jpg, Australia, after the replacement of trams by buses, 1962]]

In Australia, a permanent or temporary rail replacement service change is often referred to as bustitution.{{cite journal|publisher=Action for Public Transport (New South Wales)|journal=Media Release – Newsletter|title=Bustitution over Xmas|url=http://www.aptnsw.org.au/newsletters/19931.html|issn=0155-8234|volume=1993|issue=1|date=February 1993

|access-date=22 June 2009}}

In November 1941, the Western Australian Government Railways introduced its first rail replacement service, which operated a service from Perth to Kojonup via Boddington.[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/intranet/libpages.nsf/WebFiles/Royal+Commission+WA+Government+Railways/$FILE/WA+Government+Railways.pdf Royal Commission into the Management, Workings & Control of the Western Australian Government Railways] Government of Western Australia December 1947 page 92 By 1949, there were 28 buses,[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59494145 WAGR buses shift 360,000 in a year] The Sunday Times 28 August 1949 page 3 and by 1959, there were more than 50.[http://www.pta.wa.gov.au/PublicationsandPolicies/AnnualReports/tabid/106/Default.aspx Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2003] Western Australian Government Railways Commission

The Sydney Metro Northwest line used human-driven single-deck buses late at night from Wednesdays to Sundays and operated a red Metro bus-like service with a frequency of approximately every 10 minutes until November 2019. That measure was in place since the line was deemed "ready" 10 months ahead of schedule.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sydneymetro.info/article/nsw-budget-12-billion-metro-rail-revolution|title=NSW Budget: $12 billion for metro rail revolution {{!}} Sydney Metro|website=www.sydneymetro.info|access-date=6 May 2019}}

On the Queensland Rail network, to relieve congestion on the single track Sunshine Coast line, the rail service is supplemented by a bus service operated by Kangaroo Bus Lines on weekdays between Caboolture and Nambour as route 649.[https://jp.translink.com.au/plan-your-journey/timetables/bus/T/649 Route 649] TransLink NSW TrainLink, Transwa and V/Line all introduced extensive networks in New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria in the 1970s and the 1980s that replaced regional trains.

Via Rail, the operator of the national passenger rail network, uses the term "bustitution" to refer to rail replacement with buses.

File:1126358 at Xi'erqi Subway Station (20231215135127).jpg rail replacement bus from Xi'erqi to Zhuxinzhuang after the Changping Line train collision, December 2023]]

After the train collision on Changping line, Beijing Subway between Xi'erqi station and Life Science Park station on 14 December 2023, train services between Zhuxinzhuang and Xi'erqi were temporarily suspended on the following day. Beijing Public Transport provided free shuttle bus services between Zhuxinzhuang and Xi'erqi.{{cite news|url=https://news.bjd.com.cn/2023/12/15/10649081.shtml|title=北京地铁昌平线今日分段运营，地铁站外开通摆渡专线|publisher=Beijing Daily App|date=2023-12-15|language=zh|accessdate=2023-12-16}}

File:Brno, nám. Míru, smyčka, Irisbus Citybus 12M č. 7630.jpg]]

Substitute bus transport ({{langx|cs|náhradní autobusová doprava}}) is governed by the Road Traffic Act (111/1994 Coll.), which allows the operator of a national, regional, tram, trolleybus or special line to operate substitute transport for up to 90 days in the case of interrupted or temporarily-restricted traffic on the line without the requirement to apply for a bus line license and have approval of the line's schedule. The law also mandates vehicles used for substitute transport to be marked as such.

In municipal public transport, substitute transport often takes on the number of the line that it replaces, prefixed by the letter X, and the original line is detoured. In cities with trolleybus systems, rail replacement buses also occasionally used for substitute transport and is then called substitute trolleybus transport ({{langx|cs|náhradní trolejbusová doprava}}).

As in the United Kingdom, buses have replaced rail services on closed lines. The most recent example can be found in County Wexford. where upon the suspension of rail services between Rosslare Europort and Waterford in 2010, Bus Éireann route 370 was introduced. However, the bus takes considerably longer than the train journey and fails to serve Waterford railway station.{{Cite web |url=http://buseireann.ie/timetables/1425905570-370.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=18 June 2017 |archive-date=8 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708033420/http://buseireann.ie/timetables/1425905570-370.pdf |url-status=dead}}

File:Higashi shikagoe building and bus.jpg, Minamifurano, Hokkaido, Japan. (September 2021)]]

Busses have replaced rail in Japan when rail service must be suspended because of disaster, accident, economics, or engineering works. Notably, in some cases. those rail lines are closed permanently, and some of the former rail rights-of-way are converted into bus rights-of-way to provide grade-separated bus rapid transit service.[https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXDASDG1701L_X10C12A8CR8000/ JR気仙沼線の線路跡、バス専用道一部完成] Nikkei

When train services operated by Transdev in Auckland train services are sometimes replaced by a bus, the resulting service is called Rail Bus.[http://www.maxx.co.nz/info/how-to-travel/ride-the-train/how-to-use-a-rail-bus.aspx "How to use a railbus]". Auckland Transport, assessed 7 July 2013 Historically, New Zealand Railways Road Services replaced many train routes with buses.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}

An incident occurred in Singapore on 7 July 2015 after a mass shutdown on the North–South and East–West lines caused by a power system failure. The operator SMRT and rival SBS Transit did not activate bus bridging but made all bus services free islandwide because of the sheer scale of the disruptions.{{Cite news|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/smrt-to-be-fined-s-5-4m/2146104.html|title=SMRT to be fined a record S$5.4m for July 7 MRT breakdown|work=Channel NewsAsia|access-date=18 June 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=28 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928212709/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/smrt-to-be-fined-s-5-4m/2146104.html|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.mot.gov.sg/News-Centre/Viewpoint/Free-bus-services-during-extended-MRT-disruption/|title=Free bus services during extended MRT disruption |publisher=Ministry of Transport, Singapore|website=www.mot.gov.sg|language=en|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929213812/http://www.mot.gov.sg/News-Centre/Viewpoint/Free-bus-services-during-extended-MRT-disruption/|archive-date=29 September 2015|url-status=dead}} The Land Transport Authority made travel free available for any bus services passing MRT stations that were affected during the train disruptions, and during a massive disruption affecting at least two lines, bus travel islandwide was made free.

While the reconstruction of Slussen, the western terminal of Saltsjöbanan, is in progress, trains on line 25 run only to Henriksdal, one station short of Slussen, with the segment between Slussen and Henriksdal served by a replacement bus 25B that is timed to match the train times at Henriksdal.

File:SL line 7 bus.jpg

Sometimes, buses can be seen running on line 7, the Spårväg City tram line, even when trams are running normally.

In the night after 01:00, there is no service on the Stockholm Metro and the commuter rail, and night buses run along the line instead.

File:Au Morandarte Flickr DSC01816 (10522333236).jpg Alexander ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident 2 in London in 2013]]

File:Taunton station - Roselyn RO62LYN.JPG in Taunton in April 2018]]

During the British Railways Board's railway rationalisation in the 1960s, known as the Beeching cuts, bus substitution was an official policy for replacing train services on closed lines. The policy was largely unsuccessful, however, as the bus services were usually far slower than the train services that they replaced, and many passengers gave up on public transport altogether.{{cite book|last=Henshaw|first=David|year=1994|title=The Great Railway Conspiracy|publisher=Leading Edge Press and Pub. |isbn=0-948135-48-4}} A report published in 2018 identified successful, and surviving, examples of this policy as the present Excel route operated by First Eastern Counties between Norwich and Peterborough,{{cite report|author1-last=Luke|author1-first=Dylan|author2-last=Steer|author2-first=Jim|author3-last=White|author3-first=Peter|title=Interurban Bus: Time to raise the profile|url=https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/download/e89fe6a994e7118e537af4f366465d8ff7a65457904b18796904a8571c1c211d/3288759/IU%20Bus%20Rpt%20final%20version%20090318.pdf|publisher=Greengauge21|chapter=3.0 – Case studies: single route Interurban Bus services|pages=21–23|access-date=21 August 2023}} and the Brighton & Hove Regency Route between Brighton and Tunbridge Wells, which partly replaces a route closed by Beeching.{{cite report|author1-last=Luke|author1-first=Dylan|author2-last=Steer|author2-first=Jim|author3-last=White|author3-first=Peter|title=Interurban Bus: Time to raise the profile|url=https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/download/e89fe6a994e7118e537af4f366465d8ff7a65457904b18796904a8571c1c211d/3288759/IU%20Bus%20Rpt%20final%20version%20090318.pdf|publisher=Greengauge21|chapter=3.0 – Case studies: single route Interurban Bus services|page=23|access-date=21 August 2023}}

Rail replacement bus services have been used to operate parliamentary train services.

• When North London Railways services between Watford Junction and Croxley Green were withdrawn in March 1996, to avoid the legal complications and costs of actual closure, train services were replaced by buses. The service was withdrawn when the branch was formally closed in September 2003.[http://www.railchronology.free-online.co.uk/Croxley%20Green%20branch.htm Croxley Green LNWR Branch Passenger Closure] Rail Chronology
• After the withdrawal of Central Trains services between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent, to facilitate the West Coast Main Line upgrade at the request of the Strategic Rail Authority in May 2003, BakerBus route X1 was introduced to serve Norton Bridge, Stone, Barlaston and Wedgwood stations.{{cite news |date= 16 May 2003|title= Stations close to trains|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/3032447.stm|work= BBC News|access-date= 28 September 2018}}{{cite news |date= 13 November 2013|title= Fewer buses for Barlastan|url= http://www.stonegazette.co.uk/2013/11/fewer-buses-for-barlaston/|work= The Stone & Eccleshall Gazette|access-date= 28 September 2018}} When the train service was reintroduced by London Midland in December 2008, only Stone regained a rail service, and the other stations continued to be served by route X1.[https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/new-timetable-means-new-services-for-stoke New Timetable Means New Services for Stoke] Network Rail 14 December 2008Stone station is re-opened The Railway Magazine issue 1294 February 2009 page 64 In October 2017, the Department for Transport (DfT) declared Norton Bridge station closed but continued the partial funding of the replacement bus service until March 2019.[https://web.archive.org/web/20171029111437/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630198/summary-responses-consultation-proposed-closure-norton-bridge-station.pdf Summary to the responses to consultation to proposed closure of Norton Bridge Station]. Department for Transport 2017[http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/25875/norton-bridge-closure-ratification-notice.pdf Closure Ratification Notice – Norton Bridge Station Office of Rail & Road 26 October 2017] As of 2023, Barlaston and Wedgwood stations continue to be served by D&G Bus replacement route 100. The DfT funds the contractual service while it seeks a solution to demands for the restoration of the train service. The bustitution has existed for 19 years, as of 2023.
• After the withdrawal of services by Arriva CrossCountry between Reading and Brighton in December 2008, which provided the only passenger services on three short sections of line between Ealing Broadway and Wandsworth Road, a replacement weekly bus service was introduced.{{cite news |last= Swaine|first= Jon|date= 7 January 2009|title= Government runs 'ghost bus' to avoid admitting it scrapped rail service|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/4158734/Government-runs-ghost-bus-to-avoid-admitting-it-scrapped-rail-service.html|work= The Daily Telegraph|access-date= 28 September 2018}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20161115213122/http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/3666/closures-ekw-dft-consultation.pdf Withdrawal of Scheduled Passenger Services Between Wandsworth Road, Kensington (Olympia) & Ealing Broadway] Office of Rail Regulation 10 May 2012 The service ceased in June 2013, after a formal closure process had been completed.{{cite news |date= 11 June 2013|title= 'Ghost bus' makes final journey|url= http://www.itv.com/news/london/update/2013-06-11/the-end-of-the-road-for-the-ghost-bus/|work= ITV News|access-date= 28 September 2018}}Last Olympia – Wandsworth Road Today's Railways UK issue 140 August 2013 page 19

{{clear}}

File:NYC Transit Orion VII CNG 7763.jpg provides shuttle service in the Bronx because of construction on the New York City Subway.]]

Rail-replacement bus services occurred on a large scale after the dismantling of the street railway systems of many cities in North America in the mid-20th century.An example from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, may be seen in a picture caption: {{cite web|url=http://www.thetransportco.com/id10.html|title=Motor Coaches of The Brew City|access-date=21 June 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bera.org/articles/newpcc27.html|title=Newark PCC 27 Arrives at the Museum|date=14 October 2001|publisher=Shoreline Trolley Museum|access-date=21 June 2009}} Replacement of existing rail services with buses after World War II is one of the largest reasons that so few US cities have rapid transit systems.

The temporary substitution of buses for trains may be done with Amtrak's Amtrak Thruway service.{{cite web|url=http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/Title_Image_Copy_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1080080554556&ssid=192|title=Thruway Motorcoach Service and Accessibility|publisher=Amtrak|access-date=21 June 2009}}

The G Line (formerly the Orange Line) of the Los Angeles Metro runs along a paved closed course on the easement from the original Southern Pacific Railroad Burbank line, which was later used by the Pacific Electric Railway. It may eventually be converted back to light rail with Measure M funding, but that is not currently scheduled to happen until around 2050.

Rail-replacement bus services are common among urban rail transit systems, mainly because of unexpected service disruptions. For example, one of the effects of Hurricane Sandy in New York was that the New York City Subway required replacement bus service for several subway routes.{{Cite press release|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pr2012/pr12_64.shtml|title=NYC DOT and MTA/NYCT to Establish Dedicated Shuttle Bus Routes Between Brooklyn and Midtown Manhattan as Storm Repairs Continue|date= 31 October 2012 |website=New York City Department of Transportation}} As the subway runs 24/7/365, replacement bus service is also provided when subway lines were closed for regularly-scheduled maintenance and so interruptions in subway service require replacement bus service, even during off-peak hours.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}

{{portal|Buses}}

• {{section link|Abandonment (legal)#Abandonment of public transportation systems}}
• Beeching cuts, an example of bus service replacing rail service
• Bus rapid transit
• Effects of the car on societies
• Rail trail
• Transport economics

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Rail substitute bus transport}}
• {{Wiktionary-inline|bustitution}}

{{buses}}

{{Public transport|state=collapsed}}

Category:Public transport

Category:Bus terminology

Replacement bus service

Category:Types of bus service