Following 6 months of reduced services operating due to the Coronavirus we are excited to announce that today, Monday 5th October, all our bus services return to their previous timetables; apart from a few small improvements that we have taken this opportunity to make:

• Route 16 has a slightly amended timetable so that journeys from Portslade Health Centre to Hangleton leave on the hour, and services from West Blatchington School towards Portslade leave 30 mins past the hour.
• Routes 47A and 52A have been extended to the King’s School in Hangleton, and the 47A has also been extended in the other direction to start from East Saltdean.

Routes and Timetables can be found here:

Route 16

Routes 47 & 47A

Routes 52 & 52A

Route 57

Services 47A and 52A are available to members of the public as far as Brighton Station; after this they are reserved for schoolchildren in order to maximise capacity. On school services, in line with Government guidance students can use all seats on the bus, but there will be no standing capacity.

To enable all passengers to travel safely, passengers aged 11 and over are expected to wear face coverings unless they are exempt. Our drivers carry medical-grade masks on all buses for passengers who need one.

CEO Tom Druitt said

“We are delighted that following the reduced services of the the last 6 months we are now able to return services to normal, and would like to thank Brighton & Hove Buswatch, the Public Transport officers at Brighton & Hove City Council, and of course our own team who have worked very hard to make it possible.

Passenger safety is at the forefront of our minds and we have put in place a number of measures to keep our passengers safe:

• Our vehicles are “fogged” every 28 days; this is a process where the interiors are sprayed with a fine mist that kills over 99.9% of viruses and provides a protective layer that protects surfaces on the vehicle against viruses for 28 days.
• Our vehicles are also deep-cleaned daily including all touchable surfaces
• We have installed protective screens on the vehicles to protect passengers and staff
• We have installed terminals in all vehicles to allow contactless payments
• We are restricting capacity to 50% to enable social distancing
• We have signage at the entrance to our buses to remind people to wear a mask, and our drivers carry a supply with them on the bus for anyone who needs one.”

All The Big Lemon’s public bus services in Brighton & Hove have the same fares as Brighton & Hove Buses and Compass Bus, and CitySaver tickets bought on The Big Lemon are valid on all Brighton & Hove Buses and Compass Bus services in Brighton & Hove. We also accept CitySaver tickets issued by other bus companies, as well as:

• Bus ID, Key Cards and Mobile Tickets issued by Brighton & Hove Buses
• Scratchcards issued by Brighton & Hove Buses
• Concessionary Bus Passes issued by any local authority in England
• Plus Bus tickets for Brighton Area Plusbus
• Discovery Tickets issued by any participating bus operator
• Southern & Thameslink SAVER (this can also be bought on our buses)
• Carer’s Cards issued by Brighton & Hove City Council
• Staff passes issued by any bus operator in the UK