- Author, Heidi Booth
- Role, BBC News, Derby
A man who used the government’s £2 bus fare scheme to travel hundreds of miles across the country is preparing for a new challenge.
Andrew Cowell, 47, has previously travelled by buses alone to Whitby, Penzance and Poland, from Derby.
He now plans to spend 13 days travelling on a total of 84 service buses and one ferry around the coast of England and Wales.
Mr Cowell estimates he will spend nine hours a day on a bus.
Mr Cowell said his latest trip is part of his fundraising efforts for the Railway Children charity.
He said: “I’m actually participating in the three peaks challenge at the end of June and so I’m using this as an opportunity to boost fundraising.
“It’s also partly for just personal amusement, just to see if I can do it, and thirdly to raise awareness of local buses which are under threat, particularly in rural areas.”
Mr Cowell, who works in railway operational planning, said his latest journey would still make use of the £2 bus fare, but that only applies in England.
The trip will start in Derby on 10 June with the first day involving six buses to get Mr Cowell to Lancaster.
He said he is “looking forward” to the second day of the trip as that will take him through the Lake District to Keswick, which is known as being a scenic route.
He added: “I’ve always liked travel, I’ve always liked just looking out of the window and just seeing different things, just those sort of incidental things as you go past.”
Mr Cowell estimates the trip will cost him £170 in total.