Stagecoach has unveiled its Lake District winter timetable, which starts on Monday 2 November, keeping the extra journeys added last winter and improving links to the Yorkshire Dales.
The flagship 555 between Keswick and Lancaster, via Grasmere, Ambleside, Windermere and Kendal, retains its additional journeys. Buses run every 30 minutes between Keswick and Kendal at the busiest times of day, with 19 departures from Keswick Monday to Saturday and 14 on Sundays. Late evening buses from Kendal to Grasmere continue Monday to Thursday, thanks to funding from Westmorland and Furness Council.
In West Cumbria, the X4/X5 continues every half hour between Workington, Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith, Monday to Saturday, and hourly on Sundays. The first weekday bus leaves Workington at 5.05am, and on Sundays buses leave hourly from 7.15am to 5.15pm. A late bus leaves Workington for Keswick at 11.15pm on Fridays and Saturdays, returning at 12.15am. At Penrith, a now permanent integrated rail and bus ticket links the route with the West Coast Main Line. The improved Keswick to Penrith frequency is also supported by Westmorland and Furness Council.
The 554 runs six times between Carlisle and Keswick, Monday to Friday, and five times on Saturdays and Sundays. The 78 to Borrowdale continues hourly to Seatoller, with open-top buses seven days a week.
The 567 to Ingleton is much improved. Last winter only two weekday buses ran beyond Kirkby Lonsdale; this winter five will run each way Monday to Friday, roughly every two hours, calling at Kendal College, Westmorland General Hospital, Endmoor, Lupton and Kirkby Lonsdale. An extra service will run during school holidays, and the Saturday service continues with five journeys each way, starting from Kendal at 8am.
Elsewhere, the 599 between Bowness, Windermere, Ambleside and Grasmere runs daily, hourly from Bowness between 8.30am and 5.20pm. The 505 to Hawkshead and Coniston and the 516 to Elterwater and Dungeon Ghyll also run daily, with slightly earlier departures from Windermere. The 6, X6 and 755 have near-identical timetables to last winter.
The X5, 555 and 599 will run a special Boxing Day timetable, with the 555 and 599 offering a limited service on New Year’s Day. Services 30 and 300 in West Cumbria will also run on Boxing Day.
Tom Waterhouse, Managing Director of Stagecoach Cumbria and Lancashire, said: “Winter is a wonderful time to explore the Lakes, and we want people to be able to rely on the bus to get them there. Last winter’s improvements were really well used so we’re pleased to be keeping them in place.”
On the X4/X5, he added: “The X4/X5 is a lifeline for people across West Cumbria, whether they are heading to work, school, or out into the fells. We’re pleased to continue with a frequent half-hourly service through the winter, with late buses at the weekend too.”
Thanks to the national fare cap, no single journey will cost more than £3 until 31 December, and £2 from 1 January 2027.
Summer-only routes, including the 77/77A, 509 and the 508’s extension to Windermere over Kirkstone Pass, return when the summer timetable resumes on 22 March 2027.
With darker evenings ahead, Stagecoach asks passengers waiting at stops in poorly lit areas to help drivers see them by waving clearly, using a phone torch or screen, and wearing bright or high-visibility clothing if practical.