We are pleased to announce that this year, we are planning to run the Imberbus service on
Saturday 17th August 2024
when several vintage former London Transport Routemaster buses (plus a few newer ones) will again provide a bus service from Warminster Station to Imber and other isolated locations on the Salisbury Plain between 10am and 6pm.
Once again our event will be a Car Free Day, with the only access to Imber on 17th August being on the buses operating the Imberbus service. These special arrangements successfully eliminated the severe traffic congestion that we experienced around Imber in 2019, but they do mean that there are some restrictions on what you can and cannot do when you get there, details of which will be confirmed during the summer.
The timetable for this year’s service will also be published during the summer and is expected to be very similar to the one used in 2023. Buses will run from Warminster Station to Imber every 15 minutes, with the first bus departing at approximately 9.45am and the last bus returning at around 6pm. Please note that you cannot book in advance to travel on the Imberbus service – just turn up on the day and pay the conductor on the bus, or purchase a ticket from our ticket booth outside Warminster Station on the day.
If you have not travelled on the Imberbus service before and would like to know more about it, please visit our website at www.imberbus.org which contains details about the history of Imber and the background to the service. We have also retained on there, details of the arrangements that applied for Imberbus 2023 plus our popular Frequently Asked Questions page, to give you an idea of what to expect and we will update this information during July and then email you again, once the final arrangements for this year have been confirmed.
Last year the Imberbus service raised more than £35,000, which was donated to various charities including St. Giles Church, the Royal British Legion, The General Artillery Volunteers, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Macmillan Cancer support, Salisbury Hospital Stars Appeal. Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust, The Bristol Omnibus Vehicle Collection, The London Transport Museum and various community groups in and around Salisbury Plain. We would obviously like to be able to improve on this figure in 2024 and so we do hope that you will be able to join us in August.
However if you cannot wait until the summer to visit Imber, we understand that St. Giles Church and the road through Imber will be open to everyone over part of the Easter weekend in April (although you will obviously need your own transport to get there on those dates). Further details of those openings are available on the Imber Church website events page , but please remember to check this again shortly before you travel as there is always the chance that access to the road through Imber may have to change at short notice if required for military training.
Imberbus 