Brighton & Hove Regency Route
The Regency Route is a name given since 1977 to a regular bus service between Brighton in East Sussex and Tunbridge Wells in Kent, both towns with a Regency heritage. The route runs via the East Sussex towns of Lewes, Uckfield and Crowborough.
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Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TL on route 29A in November 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Operator | Brighton & Hove | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former operator(s) |
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Routes |
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The Brighton to Tunbridge Wells route is one of few successful examples of bustitution, as it replaced through trains from Brighton via Lewes and Uckfield to Tunbridge Wells withdrawn in the 1960s when the railway lines from Lewes to Uckfield and Eridge to Tunbridge Wells were closed by British Railways. The bus route now provides access to the Lavender Line and the Spa Valley Railway preserved railways which run on lengths of those two railways. The journey from end to end is timed at between 1¾ and 2 hours.
Originally operated jointly by Southdown Brighton & Hove (now Brighton & Hove), Southdown East Sussex (now Stagecoach in East Sussex), and Maidstone & District Motor Services (now Arriva Southern Counties), the service is now operated solely by Brighton & Hove. Since April 2011, Brighton & Hove has used the Regency Route branding for the route 28 service from Brighton to Lewes and Ringmer as well as the 29.