Freedom Pass workout – Manchester to Woodford for free

“The best things in life are free.”

Having recently reached the state pensionable age of 66, my London-wide Oyster 60+ card was replaced with a Freedom Pass, which additionally gives free off-peak bus travel anywhere in England. When I first turned 60 I tested my 60+ Oyster Card by visiting within a week all of the then 668 Underground, Overground, DLR and National Rail stations and tram stops that one could get to for free. I couldn’t let the acquisition of my Freedom Pass go by without a similar test of its capabilities.

I chose to visit Manchester, the city where I had been a student when I turned 18, and then return home to Woodford, on the borders of Greater London and Essex, for free. I travelled up to Manchester by train on the Friday and spent the day revisiting as many of my old haunts that still existed – discovering that many have now disappeared. The reason for going on a Friday was that to travel back for free the following day, it would have to be on a Saturday, so that I would not be constrained by not being able to use the Freedom Pass before 0930 on a weekday.

What follows is a brief account of my journey from Manchester to Woodford on Saturday 23rd March 2024. The times shown against each bus journey are those scheduled according to the timetable, not the actual times.

192 bus – Manchester Piccadilly (0547) to Stepping Hill (0622)

My first bus was waiting at its starting stop when I arrived after a short walk from my hotel. It was an earlier bus than necessary, as I wanted to allow contingency. Also I was a little concerned that I might have to find someone to let me out of the hotel that early in the morning, but the time I had allowed for that wasn’t necessary. Being first on the bus I bagged an upstairs front seat, to be shortly joined by another passenger sitting in the one opposite. Shortly after the bus departed, it started raining hard causing the windows to steam up. After passing through the centre of Stockport I got off in the Stockport suburb of Stepping Hill and let the bus continue on its journey to Hazel Grove. A fair few other people also got off at this stop – it looked liked they were on their way to work at the nearby hospital.

199 bus – Stepping Hill (0639) to Buxton (0739)

It was a cold wait at the bus stop in Stepping Hill and my next bus, which had come from Manchester Airport, was a few minutes late. The single-decker bus soon left the Greater Manchester conurbation and starting climbing into the Peak District – first in Cheshire, then Derbyshire. When we reached Chapel-en-le-Frith it started snowing, with the snow settling on the roofs of houses and parked cars. On the way to Buxton, the bus gained passengers at each of the villages it passed through, mainly elderly women who seemed to know each other, although I did not manage to work out why they were all travelling to Buxton so early. They all alighted together near the railway station in Buxton, while I carried on to the final stop of the bus in Buxton Market Place.

TP3/TP2 bus – Buxton (0828) to Derby (1026)

I had hoped to get some breakfast at one of the many cafes surrounding Buxton Market Place, but none of them were open that early in the morning. Fortunately, a supermarket was open and it sold takeaway coffee – so I had coffee and croissant for breakfast in the bus shelter. The TransPeak service to take me south arrived on time. After about an hour it arrived in Matlock, where many of the passengers got off the bus and and it filled up again with new ones. At Matlock, technically, the service changes from a TP3 to a TP2 without you having to get off. As we approached Derby, my fellow passengers who looked like they were going walking had been replaced with those going shopping. The bus arrived at Derby’s modern bus station on time.

Skylink bus – Derby (1040) to Leicester (1225)

It was only a short wait for the next service – a Skylink bus to Leicester via East Midlands Airport. Not many people got on or off at the airport, although we did acquire a fractious toddler and his father. Apparently, the toddler had been promised a day looking at planes, but the viewing area was closed. Whichever seat he sat on on the bus was the wrong one. Just south of Loughborough, where we had changed drivers, the dual carriageway A6 was closed, so we had to take a diversion through some of the normally bypassed villages. The diversionary route was jammed with traffic, causing us to arrive about 20 minutes late into Leicester St Margaret’s Bus Station at 1245.

X7 bus – Leicester (1307) to Northampton (1444)

It is a short walk from Leicester’s St Margaret’s Bus Station to Haymarket Bus Station, from where my next service was due to depart. The late arrival into Leicester meant that there was not enough time to stop off for a bit of lunch, which was my original intention. When I arrived at Haymarket Bus Station there was already a crowd of people waiting for the X7 bus to Northampton. The due departure time came and went without a bus appearing, although it unhelpfully disappeared from the departure board at the stand. Using the live bus tracker on the bustimes.org website, I could see that the incoming bus was still approaching the bus station. When it did appear (five minutes after it should have left), the driver got off and went for a break. When he came back, boarding was very slow as his card reader was rejecting most people’s payment cards at their first attempt. We eventually left about 20 minutes late. The bus was very busy, picking up further passengers as we left Leicester, including a man who was carrying a bath! Any hope of making up lost time was dashed, but things thinned out a bit after Market Harborough and we eventually arrived in Northampton still 20 minutes late.

X6 bus – Northampton (1517) to Milton Keynes (1559)

Having arrived at Northampton Bus Station Bay 3, my next bus was due to depart from Bay 18. Except that when I went to find it, the highest numbered bay in the bus station was 14. I eventually worked out that the so-called Bays 15 to 18 were actually located on a street around the corner from the bus station. When I got to the stop a few minutes before my bus was due to leave, I was pleased to see it waiting there. However, the driver was just getting off and, as there was no replacement driver waiting, he locked up the bus and left the queue of passengers outside on the pavement. The due departure time came and went without a driver showing up. A group of teenagers who were also waiting, were expressing rather crudely what I was inwardly thinking about the tardiness of the driver. He eventually showed up, spent what seemed ages getting things ready and we departed ten minutes late. This was very annoying as I had a scheduled six minutes connection time for my next bus. Once the bus reached the outskirts of Milton Keynes it caught up a bit of time and arrived at Milton Keynes railway station six minutes late. I jumped off and ran to the stop from where my next bus was due, but it had gone. As the following bus was not for an hour, I had to console myself by visiting a pub for some refreshment.

MK1 bus – Milton Keynes (1705) to Luton (1802)

The MK1 bus left Milton Keynes railway station a minute early, as I suspect its missed predecessor must also have done. At its next stop in central Milton Keynes there was such a throng of people waiting to board, that it took over five minutes for them all to get on. At further pick-ups leaving Milton Keynes more time was lost. The MK1 was the only bus of my trip to travel on a motorway. However, as we approached the junction where we joined the M1 there were signs warning of lengthy delays on the M1 between Milton Keynes and Luton. I resigned myself to missing my next connection and was worried that I might not make the one after that. The delays on the M1 were not as bad as the warnings had predicted, but the approach to Luton town centre was very slow, meaning that we arrived at Luton station about 12 minutes late, with no chance of catching the 1805 departure.

321 bus – Luton (1834) to Watford Junction (1945)

There is an express Green Line 757 bus from Luton to London, but Freedom Passes are only valid on it to, and not from, Luton. So I had to catch the 321 bus from Luton station instead. The stops at Luton station were particularly busy, as due to engineering work there were no trains running through Luton that weekend. For once, the replacement driver to take over the bus when it arrived was already waiting at the bus stop. When it eventually came, just a couple of minutes before it was due to leave, the departing female driver complained to her colleague that the traffic had been awful all day and that she had had no rest time throughout her shift. As we left Luton, darkness fell and the bus continued to battle heavy traffic as it left the town. There was also congestion in Harpenden and St Albans, but the bus travelled at speed between these places – so much so that the bus rattled loudly and the engine was making very strange noises. At times, given the apparent unhealthy state of the vehicle I wondered if it would actually make it all the way to Watford. But we did arrive at Watford Junction more or less on time at 1945.

London Overground – Watford Junction (2000) to Euston (2053)
Freedom Passes issued to residents of Greater London allow use on the whole of the London Overground. This is despite Watford being in Hertfordshire and Hertfordshire concessionary pass holders not being able to use the Overground, even for journeys wholly within Hertfordshire. The departure boards at Watford Junction incorrectly informed me about which platform the next Overground train would depart, but as there was only one Overground train in the station it was not difficult to work out which was the right platform. Not long after we departed I was approached on the train by someone conducting a passenger travel survey. First of all she asked me what type of ticket I was using for my journey today, and then she asked where had I started my journey. When I answered Manchester, disappointingly she said she only wanted to know where I had got on this particular train and to where I was intending to travel on it.

Northern Line, Central Line – Euston to Woodford
After arriving on time on the London Overground at Euston station, I transferred to the Underground. A couple of tube trains later I arrived at Woodford station and a ten minute walk later I was home. Manchester to home had been completed for free, but it took almost exactly 16 hours, rather longer than the journey in the reverse direction the previous day. The Freedom Pass had been duly tested!