Route X53 took a different route between Burnley and Rawtenstall, via Water and Waterfoot in the upper Irwell Valley. In the early 1960s these journeys were 4-hourly and started/ended at Burnley. By the 1970s frequency had declined to a southbound morning and northbound evening peak working, but it survived to be renumbered 753 when X43 became 743. It was withdrawn along with the 743.