Skylink (bus service)

Skylink is the brand name for bus services that serve East Midlands Airport in Leicestershire. Services are presently operated by Kinchbus and trentbarton, both a part of Derbyshire-based Wellglade Group.

SkyLink
A Skylink branded Mercedes-Benz Citaro in Leicester in 2017.
Service areaEast Midlands Airport
Nottinghamshire
Leicester
Coalville
Loughborough
Service typeBus services
StationsSt Margaret's Bus Station
Derby Bus Station
East Midlands Airport
DepotsNottingham and Loughborough
Fleet23 Enviro200 MMC and 2 Wright Solar
OperatorTrentbarton & Kinchbus
Websitewww.skylink.co.uk

History

Nottingham City Transport previously operated the Skylink Nottingham service until 2012 when the service was replaced by a new Skylink service operated by trentbarton via Long Eaton, which also replaced the indigo service between Long Eaton and Loughborough via East Midlands Airport and Sutton Bonington that ran between 2002 and 2012.

Following a local petition,[1] an hourly extension service to Coalville via Shepshed was introduced in September 2015.

Kinchbus have operated the Skylink service between Leicester and Derby since April 2009. The route was originally called AirLine Shuttle, and ran between Loughborough and Long Eaton then Derby via the airport.[2]

Arriva Midlands previously operated a limited-stop service (coloured light green) between Leicester and the airport via New Parks and the M1 between 2006 and 2009, this service was replaced by an extension of the now branded Skylink Derby service which runs down the A6 to Leicester via Birstall.

Services

Skylink buses operate 24 hours a day 7 days a week on the Leicester/Derby and Nottingham routes, the Skylink Express buses no longer operate overnight but do operate from 4am until midnight.

Service Route
Skylink Leicester & Derby Leicester (St Margaret's Bus Station) - Birstall - Loughborough - Kegworth or Long Whatton/Diseworth(until 2 October 2022) - East Midlands Airport - Castle Donington- Shardlow - Alvaston - Derby [3]
Skylink Nottingham Nottingham - Beeston - Long Eaton - Castle Donington - East Midlands Airport - East Midlands Gateway
Most journeys then continue to either: Coalville via Shepshed or Loughborough via Sutton Bonington [4]
Skylink Express Nottingham - Clifton - fast along Remembrance Way - East Midlands Airport [5]

Although not a part of Skylink brand, trentbarton also operate hourly extensions to East Midlands Airport on their My15 route between Ilkeston and New Sawley, while Diamond East Midlands extended their service AirLine 9 to East Midlands Airport in 2019, connecting the airport with Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Swadlincote and Burton-upon-Trent..[6]

Service Cutbacks

During August 2022, Trent Barton and Kinchbus announced from 2 October 2022 that Skylink routes would undergo an overhaul[7][8]

The planned changes are:

• Skylink Derby buses will have all journeys serving East Midlands Gateway and Kegworth.

• Skylink Derby journeys via Long Whatton and Diseworth will be withdrawn and replaced by a re-routing of Skylink Nottingham journeys to/from Coalville will now serve Long Whatton and Diseworth but journeys between 8pm and 5am will be withdrawn.

•Skylink Nottingham journeys to/from Loughborough were planned to be withdrawn but funding has allowed these to be retained until at least April 2023.[9] These were withdraw from 15 May 2023.[10]

• All Skylink Nottingham and Skylink Express journeys will now serve the new Broadmarsh Bus Station in Nottingham.

Fleet

Trent Barton operate 11 Enviro200 MMCs on their Skylink Nottingham route while the Skylink Express services are currently using Wright Solars which will be replaced by newer buses which are surplus from other trentbarton services.

Kinchbus upgraded the Leicester-Derby route with 12 ADL Enviro200 MMCs to help meet the Leicester clean air zone requirements which came into force during late 2020.[11][12] These new buses replaced Mercedes-Benz Citaro's.

References
  1. Jarram, Matt (13 December 2014). "Petition launched to get Skylink stop for Shepshed". loughborough. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  2. "Vehicle Operator Licensing". www.vehicle-operator-licensing.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  3. "Service map - skylink Derby - operated by Kinchbus".
  4. "Service map - skylink Nottingham - operated by Kinchbus".
  5. "Service map - skylink Nottingham - operated by Kinchbus".
  6. "welcome - my15 - run by trentbarton". www.trentbarton.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  7. "Skylink 2022 changes".
  8. Garrett, Lee (12 September 2022). "Under-threat airport bus route saved from axe". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  9. Moorhouse, Sam (27 February 2023). "Crucial cross-county Skylink bus 'must be saved' say residents". West Bridgford Wire. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  10. "Student news - Changes to bus services - University of Nottingham". www.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  11. "Fleet News". www.derbybusdepot.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  12. "Alexander Dennis secures order for green buses". Daily Business. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
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