A canny Derbyshire day-tripper enjoyed an amazing 137 mile bus tour in one day for just £10 - after taking advantage of a bus fare cap

Andrew Cowell, 47, set off from his home in Allestree, Derby, and arrived in Whitby, North Yorkshire, ten hours later after travelling on five buses.

The 137 mile journey should have cost Andrew around £38 but because of the government's £2 fare cap on bus fares in England, he only paid £10.

Andrew first got the Trans Peak bus from Allestree to Matlock at 6.40am and at 8am, he caught the X17 to Barnsley which arrived at 10.55am.

After a five minute change over, he caught the 96 from Barnsley to Wakefield and then caught the 110 to Leeds, which arrived at 12.51pm.

Around 25 minutes after arriving in Leeds, he caught the 840 Coastliner which arrived in Whitby three and a half hours later at 4.40pm.

Railway worker Andrew said: "It was partly inspired by a woman who travelled from London to Scotland on buses. I knew I was going to have some holidays between jobs so I just looked where I could get from Derby that was sort of a pleasant place to spend the night.

"I've got a little bit of background knowledge because I work in public transport but I planned it out and researched it on the bus companies' websites."

Despite people often thinking that buses are delayed or cancelled, Andrew said that 'everything worked faultlessly' and all the buses 'arrived and departed right on time.'

He said: "The coast liner which I was catching was the last one from Leeds to Whitby. I had a five minute connection in Barnsley so I was a bit worried but everything worked faultlessly and arrived and departed right on time."

Andrew said that his favourite bus route was the 840 Coastliner which goes from Leeds to Whitby through the Yorkshire Moors.

The rail operation planner said: "The Coastliner goes right through the Yorkshire Moors and then it goes to where they film Heartbeat. It was a sunny day so it was a nice journey from the top deck of the bus.

"It's three and a half hours but to be honest, it doesn't feel like that when you're on the top deck as there's a lot to keep you interested as soon as you're out of Leeds."

Andrew has said that although the 'industry is under threat' with rising costs, his journey proved that 'buses turn up' and that they aren't 'as bad as what people think.'

He said: "The industry is under threat like never before with rising costs and the bounce back from Covid. But I think as this journey proved, the basics were right and the buses turned up so it's probably not as bad as what people think."

Andrew added: "I have a car like a lot of people but I use it when there isn't an alternative. I think the thing is about public transport is that it tends to be looked at as a profit for loss but it provides a safe service for quite a few older people.

"It combats loneliness and gives access to people with jobs who otherwise wouldn't be able to have that job if the bus wasn't there. You need to value the bus because you won't know what you've lost before it's gone."