The 2024 Imberbus event will be held on Saturday 17 August, organisers have confirmed. It will again see the customary largely vintage bus service run between Warminster and the long-abandoned village of Imber and other points of interest on Salisbury Plain.
2023’s Imberbus raised a record £38,000 for good causes. It saw around 25 heritage buses operate alongside a smaller number of newer vehicles – including a battery-electric BYD Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV double-decker from the Abellio London fleet.
Imberbus has gone from strength to strength since its debut in 2009. According to the organisers, it was founded after a discussion around the most unlikely place to run a bus service. 2024 will represent the 15th occasion of the event’s staging. The first year saw the use of just four buses.
Imber residents were removed in 1943 to allow an uplift in military training on Salisbury Plain ahead of the D-Day landings. Despite a promise that they could return after World War II, the village has remained closed ever since.
The successful 2023 event involved the operation of services beyond Imber to other places on the Plain. Imberbus has been gained significant industry buy-in, with multiple operators providing vehicles to deliver the gathering, and suppliers supporting its event programme. That publication in 2023 included a timetable laid out in the traditional London Transport format.
Imberbus in 2024 will represent one of the few opportunities for the general public to reach Imber, which remains within military occupation and is subject to access restrictions.
