Brighton & Hove Coaster routes

Coaster is the brand name given to a series of bus routes operated by the Brighton & Hove bus company, running between Brighton and Eastbourne in East Sussex, England.

Coaster
11X, 12, 12A, 12X, 13X
A Coaster 12 Wright StreetDeck at Brighton Station in November 2023
Overview
Operator	Brighton & Hove
Vehicle	Wright StreetDeck Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC
Began service	1 January 1986 (1986-01-01)
Night-time	N12, N14
Route
Start	Brighton station
Via	Kemp Town Rottingdean Saltdean Telscombe Cliffs Peacehaven Newhaven Seaford Seven Sisters Country Park East Dean
End	Eastbourne
Stops	108 (Route 12)
Service
Level	12/12A/12X: Daily 13X: Daily in summer, Sundays only in winter 11X: Summer Sundays only
Frequency	Up to 14 buses per hour
Journey time	75–100 minutes depending on route
Annual patronage	>5 million
Timetable	Coaster 12 timetable

The service has been praised for its scenic route, which takes riders along the Sussex coast atop the Brighton to Newhaven Cliffs, with Richard Coles declaring it "the best bus in the world" in 2022. The route has ranked high in various polls for the UK's most scenic bus routes, placing fourth in a 2023 list by Snaptrip ranking the country's top bus routes on value and scenery and ranked the second most popular route in the country for scenery following social media research by SunLife in 2022.

Coaster 12 / 12A / 12X

Route 12, along with its variants 12A and 12X, is the main service within the Coaster family. In 2018, these routes had a combined annual ridership of over 5 million. The routes connect the coastal settlements of Brighton, Rottingdean, Saltdean, Telscombe Cliffs, Peacehaven, Newhaven, Seaford, Friston, East Dean and Eastbourne. They also serve a number of tourist sites within the South Downs National Park, including the abandoned village of Tide Mills and the Seven Sisters cliffs.

Route 12 mostly follows the course of the A259 road along its entire journey, except briefly in Newhaven to serve the railway station interchange and the retail park. Route 12A deviates from the A259 to additionally serve the Denton neighbourhood in Newhaven and the Chyngton housing estate in Seaford. Route 12X follows the A259 throughout, and furthermore runs limited-stop between Brighton and Seaford town centre.

Frequencies

The daytime Monday–Saturday service pattern consists of a bus every 20 minutes each way on each of the three routes, with most route 12 services only running between Brighton and Seaford. This gives the combined service pattern of 9 buses per hour (Brighton–Seaford) or 6 per hour (Seaford–Eastbourne). During the weekday afternoon peak, the frequency on route 12X briefly increases in the eastbound direction to every 10 minutes.

On Sundays routes 12 and 12A run every 30 minutes each, giving a combined 4 buses per hour throughout. Route 12X does not operate on Sundays or on weekday evenings, and route 12 runs through to and from Eastbourne during these times.

Coaster 13 / 13X

Route 13X runs mostly on public holidays or during the summer, and is a primarily tourist-oriented service. It also links Brighton with Eastbourne, and its course is mostly identical to that of route 12X (including its limited-stop nature between Brighton and Seaford), except near its eastern end where it additionally serves the popular cliffside destinations of Birling Gap and Beachy Head. In 2018, the route had an annual ridership of under 300,000.

The 13X runs most frequently on Sundays between April and October, with buses every 30 minutes each way. Less frequent services also operate on Sundays for the rest of the year, as well as on weekdays and Saturdays during the summer peak.

Route 13 operates one day per year, on Boxing Day. Like the 13X, it serves Birling Gap and Beachy Head, but it calls at all stops west of Seaford like route 12.

Coaster 11X

Route 11X operates only on summer Sundays, with three journeys per day in each direction between Brighton and Eastbourne. Unlike the 12s and the 13X, it runs further inland between Newhaven and Eastbourne: it follows the A26 and A27 roads, serving several local attractions such as Middle Farm, Charleston Farmhouse and Drusillas Zoo Park, as well as the town of Polegate. It runs limited-stop between Brighton and Newhaven and between Polegate and Eastbourne.

Coaster Local 27 / 27B / 27C

Coaster Local
27, 27B, 27C
A 27 at Surrey Street in April 2013
Overview
Operator	Brighton & Hove
Began service	27 December 1992 (1992-12-27)
Route
Start	Westdene / Withdean
Via	Prestonville Seven Dials Brighton station Kemp Town Rottingdean
End	Saltdean
Stops	49
Other routes	27B, 27C
Service
Level	Daily
Frequency	15 minutes
Journey time	1 hour
Annual patronage	>1.8 million
Timetable	Coaster Local 27 timetable

Route 27, together with its variants 27B and 27C, is branded Coaster Local. It runs entirely within the boundary of Brighton and Hove, linking the suburbs of Westdene and Saltdean via Withdean (including Withdean Sports Complex), Prestonville, Seven Dials, the city centre, Kemp Town and Rottingdean. The route runs along the coast between the city centre and Saltdean, sharing this section with the Coaster services. In 2018, the route had an annual ridership of over 1.8 million.

Buses on this route run every 15 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, and every 20 minutes on Sundays.