Revised Guidance to Run International Bus or Coach Services and Tours

Members will have received notice from DVSA of revisions to the guidance available for coach operators running international journeys.

The new guidance came into effect on 1st April and in practical terms has minimal impact on the vast majority of journeys operated by UK operators.

Those run under Interbus authorisation are unaffected by the latest change, the journey forms (waybills) remain the same and the types of journey applicable under Interbus remain unchanged – “closed door” trips which involve single journeys in either direction to participating countries with corresponding empty legs, or tours to Europe starting and ending in the UK. These are classed as liberalised, occasional journeys.

What you need to know

The ‘Run international bus or coach service and tours’ guidance outlines what UK bus and coach operators need to do to provide services, tours, holidays and trips into Europe.

DVSA has updated the guidance to include:

• new application forms to run regular service or special regular services and an explanation of what form you need to use

• confirmation that UK operators can apply to run international regular service or specific regular services from the UK to:

• EU countries or Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Moldova from 1 April 2025

• Ukraine from 1 May 2025

• updated guidance on running occasional services with information on:

• what the different types of occasional services are (liberalised and non-liberalised)

• how to apply for approval to run a non-liberalised service

Non-liberalised, occasional journeys are typically shuttle services and any service which has no fixed passenger list (ie isn’t a “closed door” service), which are outside the scope of Interbus and must be run under an authorisation.

There is new guidance on obtaining these from DVSA.

There should be minimal disruption as the new rules are similar to the previous temporary arrangements between the UK and EU, but members are urged to familiarise themselves with the latest guidance.