Public transport in the Fylde

Public transport in the Fylde is available for three modes of transport—bus, rail and tram—assisting residents of and visitors to the Fylde, a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England, to travel around much of the area's 64 square miles (170 km²).

As of 2026, seven operators provide 46 bus and coach services in the Fylde, the largest being Blackpool Transport, which also operates the Blackpool tram network. With Blackpool being the main public transport hub, most of Blackpool Transport's 16 bus routes have stops in the town. Services with the most frequency include three of "the 5s" (the 5, 5A and 5B), which serve Blackpool Victoria Hospital; the 5C, meanwhile, travels to Knott End-on-Sea via Poulton-le-Fylde. Coastal routes include the Resort Rider 1 (Fleetwood to Blackpool's North Pier), the Cleveleys Connection 7 (Cleveleys to Blackpool) and the Lytham Lines 11 (Lytham to Blackpool).^[1]

The next-most-popular operators are Archway Travel, which runs 14 routes, and Transpora North West (11 routes), which replaced Nuttall's Coaches in 2007. Some of their routes serve the Fylde's numerous schools. One of Transpora's most popular regular services is the 24, which runs between Fleetwood and Blackpool town centre via Thornton and Poulton-le-Fylde.^[2]

Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire operates one route out of Blackpool: the 42 (to Lancaster via Garstang). Its route 88 runs between Knott End and Lancaster, while the 89 adds Garstang to the route. Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire runs the Preston-bound 61 and 68.^[3]

The Fylde is home to 11 railway stations, each of which is on one of the two Blackpool branch lines. The two train operators are Avanti West Coast and Northern Trains.

Although Blackpool, the most populous settlement in the Fylde, has an airport, Blackpool Airport, it is no longer used for commercial flights.

In 2024, Lancashire County Council unveiled an "Any Bus" smart card scheme, enabling travellers to transfer between buses—regardless of the company operating them—and Blackpool trams. Initials plans were to roll out the initiative in phases, with the aim of cover the whole of the Lancashire by 2029, but the Fylde coast will be the first area to benefit from the full scheme. No date has yet been announced for its introduction.^[4]

Seven bus operators serve the Fylde: Archway Travel, Blackpool Transport, Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire, Preston Bus, Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire, Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire and Transpora North West.^[5]

22 bus routes either begin, end or pass through Blackpool: Blackpool Transport's routes 1, 3, 3A, 5, 5A, 5B, 5C, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18 and X2; Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire route 42; Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire routes 61 and 68; Archway Travel's route 76; Transpora North West's routes 21 and 24; and National Express.

Cleveleys is served by nine routes: Blackpool Transport's 1, 3, 3A, 7 and 8; Transpora's route 21 and 24; and Archway Travel's route 74 and 75.

Poulton-le-Fylde is served by seven routes: Blackpool Transport's route 5 and 5C; Transpora's route 24; Archway Travel's routes 74, 75 and 76; and Stagecoach North Lancashire and Cumbria's 42 to Blackpool or Lancaster via Garstang.^[6]

Lytham and/or St Anne's-on-the-Sea is served by six routes: Blackpool Transport's 7 and 10; Archway Travel's 76 and 78; Transpora's route 21; and Stagecoach South Lancashire & Merseyside's 68 to Preston or Blackpool.^[7]

Fleetwood is served by five routes: Blackpool Transport's 1 and 14; Transpora's route 24; and Archway Travel's routes 74 and 75 to Preston.^[8]

Thornton is also served by five routes: Blackpool Transport's 5C and 14; Transpora's route 24; and Archway Travel's routes 74 and 75.

Kirkham is also served by five routes: Archway Travel's routes 74, 75, 76 and 78 and Stagecoach South Lancashire and Merseyside run the 61 to Blackpool or Preston.^[9]

Established in 1885 and owned by Blackpool Council, Blackpool Transport serves Lytham, St Annes-on-the-Sea, Blackpool, Bispham, Thornton, Fleetwood, Cleveleys, Poulton-le-Fylde and Knott-End-on-Sea.^[5] Its main bus interchange is the Blackpool Bus Hub, on Market Street and Corporation Street in Blackpool town centre, which replaced Blackpool bus station.^[10]

There are 16 routes in operation,^[11] although route 12 will be withdrawn on 29 March 2026. At that time, the section between Victoria Hospital and Poulton, on which the majority of customers travel, will be added as an extension to service Local Link 18, running hourly during Monday to Saturday daytimes.^[12]

In November 2023, Blackpool Transport announced merges of and additions to existing routes. A Route 1A will run seasonally between Cleveleys and St Annes. Route 3A will run between Cleveleys Park and Mereside, having previously been part of route 3. Route 5 gained the most changes: the base route was extended to Poulton-le-Fylde (formerly part of route 2). Route 5A will run from South Shore to Staining, initially following the base route, then taking the former route 15 to Staining. Route 5B adds a stop at Blackpool Zoo. Route 5C is a "reimagined" 2C from Blackpool to Knott End with increased frequency. Route 6 was extended from Grange Park to the Department of War Pensions office at Peel Park, with hourly extensions to Whitehills Business Park. Route 7 dropped the leg to Lytham, which will now be part of the 11A. Route 7A is a revamped route 9 which runs between Cleveleys and Blackpool via Bispham and Layton. Route 11A continues from Starr Gate to Lytham. Route 17 (Blackpool to Lytham via Common Edge) was rebranded as Route 11B. Route 18 will continue to run hourly, while the changes to the other routes have resulted in shorter connection times (between 9 and 20 minutes for most routes).^[13][14]

In April 2025, they announced the introduction of a new route 2 and combined the route 1 with the route 2 for a combined "Resort Rider" brand.^[15] The new route 2 runs from Fleetwood's Cala Gran Holiday Park to Blackpool Zoo every 60 minutes. With this, the 1A, which extended the 1 to St Anne's Square during the season, was discontinued.

Four months later, Blackpool Transport adjusted its timetables, including the extension of route 5 to include Thornton and Cleveleys, as well as amending routes to accommodate Blackpool and the Fylde College's campus in Bispham.^[16]

Begun in 2011, Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire runs three routes in the Fylde:^[17][18]

Operates two regional bus and coach services in and out of Blackpool:

A rebirth of Nuttall's Coaches and established in 2007, Transpora serves Blackpool, St Annes, Cleveleys, Thornton and Fleetwood.^[5]

Eleven routes exist:^[19]

Fourteen routes in operation:

National Express coaches serve Blackpool's Central Coach Station.^[5]

The Fylde has eleven railway stations. Each is on one of the two Blackpool branch lines, while those between Kirkham and Wesham and Blackpool North are also on the Calder Valley Line, which continues on towards Preston. The two train operators are Avanti West Coast and Northern Trains.

Northern operate an hourly service to York and Liverpool Lime Street via Wigan from Blackpool North, and a service to Manchester Airport every thirty minutes.^[35] From Blackpool South, Northern operate an hourly service to Preston.^[36]

Avanti West Coast operate one train a day to Euston, leaving Blackpool North at 5:35am (weekdays only).^[37]

From west to east:

• Ansdell and Fairhaven
• Blackpool North
• Blackpool South
• Blackpool Pleasure Beach
• Kirkham and Wesham
• Layton
• Lytham
• Moss Side
• Poulton-le-Fylde
• Squires Gate
• St Annes-on-the-Sea

An 11-mile (18 km) dual stretch of tramways run between Starr Gate, in Blackpool's South Shore, and Fleetwood.^[5] Blackpool Tramway, operated by Blackpool Transport, was established in 1885.^[38] It carried 4.9 million passengers in 2022–23.^[39]

In April 2025, over £4m of funding was to be spent on improving bus services in Blackpool, including upgrading shelters. It was part of the town's Bus Service Improvement Plan, which sets out a number of priorities, including bus lanes on Talbot Road, replacing worn out bus shelters and general cleaning. It also includes rolling out more Real Time Information screens at town-centre bus shelters.^[40]

The funding included £2.5m of capital and almost £1.7m of revenue funding allocated to the council by the Department for Transport.^[40]

• Poulton & Wyre Railway Society